Marie Antoinette

Marie De France’s portrayal of “Bisclavert” is a commentary on the expected social roles during the mediaeval time period and how deviations from upholding these expectations lead to undesirable consequences. Loyalty is when a person provides continues support to someone and remains faithful to that individual. Her allusions throughout the text towards the importance of maintaining loyalty and chivalry allows one to determine the significance that these values held in mediaeval-society. All…

Love & Nightingales in the Lais In the Laustic by Marie de France we hear a story about an affair, between two neighbors. The fable tells us about the love between a married women and the knight that lives next door. In the story they mention a nightingale, a song bird, which is used as a metaphor to represent their love for one another. The affair is short-lived, and can be interpreted in a few different ways. When reading the fable, you can see it either as a sad tragic ending to a…

Marie De France’s Lanval is one of the two Arthurian stories in her collection of Lais. Lanval is a work of a courtly romance and deals with issues of both sexuality and colonialism. More specifically, the text illustrates how women’s sexualities are treated differently in direct relation to their status within colonialism. I will argue that because Guenevere is English, her defiance is not addressed in this text because of the underlying proto-nationalist themes present in Marie’s imagining of…

Within the lays of Marie de France, a fascination for both man and beast runs rampant throughout. This focus, however, comes not without its own particular purpose, and indeed, the line between the realms of humanity and savagery is deconstructed with the intent of creating an overlap. One simply cannot exist without the other, and no better is this seen than in “Bisclavret,” the tale of man supposedly cursed with the malevolent affliction of lycanthropy. Still, Marie does not include this lay…

Milun: A Tale of Love and Loss Milun, transcribed and composed by Marie de France, is a love story that intertwines readers into the tragic sequence of events, drama, and imaginable love within the poem. The author, Marie de France, wrote The Lais- twelve short stories written around 1170. Marie de France 's lais, told in octosyllabic, or eight syllable verse, are prominent for their celebration of love, uniqueness of character, and vividness of description – hallmarks of the emerging…

The Unexpected Dimensions of “Lanval” The time period spanning from the fall of Rome in the fifth century all the way to the end of the fifteenth century is what most refer to as the Middle Ages. This period in time lasted nearly a thousand years and with it many great works of literature came about. Some which are still studied in the modern day. These works were passed down orally from one generation to the next as many were illiterate, books at the time were mainly written in Latin, and only…

time. While there are elements of each of these aspects in Marie de France’s works, many of her lais have a strong focus on the desires of her female characters and differ slightly from the works of romance written by her contemporaries. The male writers of her time were largely interested in chivalry and courtly responsibilities of knights, however, Marie went in a different direction and focused more her female characters. The fact that Marie de France is a female writer in a patriarchal…

Romantic love is a significant theme in Marie de France’s Lay of Lanval and The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu. Both novels center on the romance of courtly love, however, Lanval concentrates on the love for one lady, while The Tale of Genji is a search for the perfect lady. Lanval’s acts of love are honor and secrecy, until the queen angers him into spilling the secret of his true love. Since the beginning of time, men and women have committed many different acts in the name of love.…

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…

When people follow their own rules, they will suffer consequences. To show that this is true, we will examine Paris Trout, the main character in a novel called “Paris Trout” by Pete Dexter who follow his own rules and suffer consequences. After this is completed, we will examine the four people in our society who follow their own rules and suffer consequences. Paris Trout is a well respected white citizen living in Cotton Point, Georgia with his beautiful wife, Hanna Trout a…