Love is Caustic: A Look into the Similarities and Differences of Laustic and Bisclavret
Throughout Marie de France’s many lais, she focuses on the many facets of human nature, such as who can be trusted, who will act accordingly to their rank and status in the court, who will be honorable and treat others with respect, and most importantly, who is most deserving of the love of another. By the very definition of the lais, being a love ballad of sorts, this is nothing surprising. What is far more shocking about the works of Marie de France is that she holds nothing back when it comes to the repercussions that her characters experience for their actions. The idea that love can nurture and help one grow is noted by Marie, but the opposite being …show more content…
At first, this probably doesn’t seem like something that would have a drastic effect on how the reader feels towards specific characters, except that the details whether abundant or sparse, completely change how you read a passage. As state by Judith Rothschilde, “At the beginning of the poem, for example, the readers does not know where the husband and wife are conversing. In addition to the lack of visualizable details, there is a relative scarcity of personal emotions and reactions reported in the lay” (Rothschilde 4). By putting such a focus on the details themselves, as well as the results that follow, the reader cannot help but home in on the fact that the wife has done something dastardly in Bisclavret. In contrast, Laustic is very descriptive throughout the story, detailing the location, how it looks, what the people are like, why they are interested in each other, etc. Though the reader is not overloaded with information, it helps to dull the blow that what the wife is doing is still something morally reprehensible, and instead pulls the focus to the details which help to make her and the lover more likeable and relatable. This also helps to tie in to the consequences of each person’s actions in both lais, and how the reader is expected to respond to
Throughout Marie de France’s many lais, she focuses on the many facets of human nature, such as who can be trusted, who will act accordingly to their rank and status in the court, who will be honorable and treat others with respect, and most importantly, who is most deserving of the love of another. By the very definition of the lais, being a love ballad of sorts, this is nothing surprising. What is far more shocking about the works of Marie de France is that she holds nothing back when it comes to the repercussions that her characters experience for their actions. The idea that love can nurture and help one grow is noted by Marie, but the opposite being …show more content…
At first, this probably doesn’t seem like something that would have a drastic effect on how the reader feels towards specific characters, except that the details whether abundant or sparse, completely change how you read a passage. As state by Judith Rothschilde, “At the beginning of the poem, for example, the readers does not know where the husband and wife are conversing. In addition to the lack of visualizable details, there is a relative scarcity of personal emotions and reactions reported in the lay” (Rothschilde 4). By putting such a focus on the details themselves, as well as the results that follow, the reader cannot help but home in on the fact that the wife has done something dastardly in Bisclavret. In contrast, Laustic is very descriptive throughout the story, detailing the location, how it looks, what the people are like, why they are interested in each other, etc. Though the reader is not overloaded with information, it helps to dull the blow that what the wife is doing is still something morally reprehensible, and instead pulls the focus to the details which help to make her and the lover more likeable and relatable. This also helps to tie in to the consequences of each person’s actions in both lais, and how the reader is expected to respond to