The Symbols Of Three Themes In The Lay Of The Werewolf

In the story, “The Lay of the Werewolf”, a faithful husband gets dishonored by his wife after the wife finds out that the husband is half werewolf. The story takes place in Ancient Greek, during the Medieval Times, where the Greeks wrote that people could be transformed into werewolves. The story really gives off a good example on how the people that you think you can trust with your life, especially in this case, can turn on you for the money, fame, power, etc. The three themes that are shown in “The Lay of the Werewolf” are betrayal, dishonor, and affection. First, the wife betrays her husband once she finds out he is part man, part werewolf. When the wife finds out that her husband has been sneaking around, she questions. Without hesitate …show more content…
After the wife’s husband had been gone disappeared into the woods for about a year. The king goes for a hunt one day, spots the werewolf, and exclaims, “hasten hither, and see this marvelous / thing. Here is a beast who has the sense of a man. He abases / himself before his foe, and cries for mercy although he can- / not speak” (Page 599). As the king spots this beast, he realizes something a little suspicious. The king has a theory that this werewolf is a human. Once the king begins to inquire people and a counselor states to him, “Sire, hearken now to me. This beast is always with you, and there is / not one of us all who has not known him for long. He goes in and out / among us, nor has molested any man, neither done wrong or felony / to any, save only to his dame, one only time as we have seen. He has / done evil to this lady, and to that knight, who is now the husband of the dame” (Page 601). Once the king finds out whom the dame is, which is the beast former wife, the king confronts her in which she confesses. Once the wife confesses, the counselor had suggested that the raiment (cloths) and the werewolf should be placed into a room together alone; therefore the werewolf could once again turn into a …show more content…
As the king reunites himself with the werewolf, which is a long lost friend. The speaker states, “The king carried the Wolf to his chamber, and shut the doors upon / him fast” (Page 602). As the reader can see, the king really cares and feels for the husband enough to arrange him with his cloths. In order for the werewolf to become human again, he must be present with his raiment. Therefore, the king makes that happen. After the husband returns to a human, the writer states, “As for the wife who had / betrayed Bisclavarent, he bade her avoid the country, and chased her / from the realm (Page 602). As you can see, the wife didn’t end up with the happy ever after either; she ended up running and avoiding people. The husband, however, was a werewolf for a year without returning to a human at days, and finally was discovered by a long lost friend, that ended up helping him track down his wife, cloths, and freedom to retuning to a human again.