Essay Comparing Chaucer And Marie De France

Geoffrey Chaucer and Marie de France have strikingly similar themes within the Breton Lai’s they have produced within their works. A Breton Lai is a narrative form of English and French Medieval literature that usually consist of tales of Courtly love, Chivalry, and often using supernatural elements within the story as well. Both Chaucer’s work of The Wife of Bath’s tale and Breton Lais produced by Marie de France such as Bisclavret and Lanval incorporate all of these elements and they will be examined and compared in this response. The Earliest Breton Lai’s were written by Marie de France and although we have no way of knowing whether or not Chaucer read Marie de France’s works, we can clearly see a connection between the two authors as shown in The Wife Of Bath’s Tale. There is the theme of Chivalry already presented in the beginning of the tale when the Knight must prove his self-worth and innocence to the accusations of rape by finding the answer the queen so desires to …show more content…
Lanval is extremely loyal and courteous to the mysterious woman that saves his life in King Arthur’s court only revealing that he had met her to save his life and never mentioning her once as asked. The same goes for the Knight in Chaucer’s tale proving his loyalty to the agreement him and the loathly lady he came upon that also saved his life. Theseare all aspects that both Marie De France’s and Chaucer’s Lai’s share in their pieces of work. One difference I can recognize between the two is the theme of love. Love isn’t a very major theme in the Wife of Bath’s tale as it is in Lanval. Although both show devotion to the women they come across, Lanval seems to be more in love than the Knight in Chaucer’s tale. Bisclavret also shows a theme of love and how upset the aspect of love has made him due to his transformations. This seems to be a major difference between the