The ' Lanval ' By Marie De France

Once discovered in the meadow by the fairy queen’s maidens, he is taken to meet her where he is immediately awestruck by her incomparable beauty as well as her lavished castle. Ireland describes this seen as the “Court of Love” where Lanval and the fairy queen establish a comitatus amongst each other (Ireland 134). Lanval’s love for the fairy queen is infact so great he claims to her “I shall obey your command; for you, I shall abandon everyone. I want never to leave you. That is what I most desire.” As described earlier, knights displayed the utmost respect and admiration for women, especially, as in Lanval’s case, a lady is was trying to court. The only stipulation is that Lanval my keep their relationship a secret or he will “never see [her] again possess [her] body.” Promptly after their comitatus takes life, Lanval becomes seduced by his King’s wife, Queen Guinevere. During his encounter with Queen Guinevere, sir Lanval acts chivalrous in every way except one (much more then sir Launcelot can say). He responds the Queen’s advances by emphasizing his loyalty to the King. His only misstep and lack of judgement comes from insulting the queen: “any one of those who serve her, the poorest girl of all, is better than you, my lady queen, in body, face, and beauty, in breeding and in goodness.” Admitting this single instance of failure to the code, the more important aspect details his insistence of protecting his pact with the fairy queen. As seen with other Knights in the tales of King Arthur and the knights of the round table, some fail to retain perpetuate the virtue of chastity, while sir Lanval yet again displays why the fairy queen chooses him over other

Marie De France’s Lanval is a remarkable short narrative that engages the reader into a world filled with unrealistic elements, but enhances on the true meaning of romance, chivalry and nature during the years that King Arthur reigned. “Sir Gawain and The Green Knight” unfortunately does not have an author that can be recognized but this epic poem demonstrates the ghastly adventure of a knight who decides to defend the honor of young King Arthur against a supernatural being in this malicious game of cat and mouse. Both of these pieces of literature have enchanting characteristics that define them as a masterpiece of their era and that’s why they both are easily compared and contrasted. In addition, both Lanval and “Sir Gawain and The

“Lanval” by Marie de France and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” by Geoffrey Chaucer are both medieval romances that put a knight on trial by a queen’s court for his treatment of a lady. Throughout the course of this paper, readers will get the opportunity to travel back in time to the Middle Ages and that during the twelfth-century women were superior to men, specifically in their relationships and marriages; however, today men dominant individuals, especially in working world.

This was considerate behavior because even though he was angry, he was polite and allowed them to leave safely. The warning also showed his courtesy because he could have not told them in anticipation of their return in order to kill them because of their disagreement. These two examples of King Arthur’s respect for the Lady of the Lake and the Roman ambassadors made him a model knight since he was obeying the code of chivalry.

During a high point in medieval chivalric romance, both Marie de France’s Lanval and the anonymous Sir Gawain and the Green Knight tell fanciful tales of knighthood, chivalry, and spiritual and temporal (courtly) love. Both Lanval and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight portray their female characters as possessing considerable power and influence, within the events in the story and in the structure of the plot. Indeed, the female characters in both works function as the catalysts of the events within the stories, and also as instruments for each author's conveyed meaning. While Lanval presents its female characters in an unorthodox reversal of gender roles, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight employs the female characters as moral and spiritual trials for the hero, Sir Gawain. I will examine how the fairy princess and Queen Gwenevere in Marie de France's Lanval present a reversal of gender roles as was traditionally understood; she presents femininity as powerful, inspiring, and morally dynamic (for a woman can be ideal, or she can be corrupt). I will compare this to the representation of Lady Bertilak and Morgan le Fay in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, in which they are used to convey a “Biblical” warning for an ecclesiastical audience; particularly that of moral failure and the temptation of the flesh.

Throughout the Lais of Marie de France there are several themes presented as central to the various stories. Some of these themes are present in all of the lais. One such example is that of courtly love and it's implications. Courtly love being one of the more prominent themes in all of medieval literature, it is fittingly manifested in all of the lais as well. Another theme present in two of the lais is isolation. The theme of isolation plays a large role in the stories of Guigemar and Lanval. In each of these lais we see isolation as a factor in determining the fates of the central figures. Within each lai isolation is represented on several different occasions, each time having a direct impact on the outcome. These instances of

The Queen Guinevere's pride was wounded when she gets rejected by Lanval. Queen Guinevere offers herself to Lanval saying he could have anything he desires. Lanval rejects her by telling her he won't betray his king and that he

On the other hand, Lanval promises the mysterious lady that he would let the lady take control of his life, and therefore he is weak in his own character. On page 74, Lanval states that “Fair lady, if it were to please you to grant me the joy of wanting to love me, you could ask for nothing that I would not do as best I could, be it foolish or wise. I shall do as you bid and abandon all others for you.” In other words, Lanval is offering to do anything to just have her to want to love him. When he states that he would do anything she asks, “be it foolish or wise”, he essentially announces that he would do anything for the woman with reckless abandon. He, therefore, denies the ability to tell the lady “no”. His reckless abandon reveals that he does not value himself, which demonstrates

Two conflicting disciplines are prevalent throughout Arthurian Legend; that of chivalry and that of courtly love. The ideal of each clash throughout the medieval tales, and it is impossible to interfuse the two models for society. Chivalry is a masculine code, an aggressive discipline, whereas courtly love is based upon women - their needs, wants, and desires. The consistent problem if Lancelot and Guinevere’s adulterous relationship in different tellings of the affair relates back to the differences presented in chivalric code and courtly love ideals.

Lanval stays loyal to his promise until Queen Guinevere confesses her interest in him, offering herself to him in which he then he delicately rejects her. Speaking his loyalty to King Arthur. Angry, she blames him of being homosexual, Lanval, because of Queen Guinevere’s accusation says, “The poorest girl of all, is better than you, my lady queen, in body, face, and beauty.” The queen asking to be involved in an adulterous relationship is not seen as ideal behavior for modern women or for twelfth century women. During this time men were commonly known for being dishonest and unfaithful, therefore, to have this woman do this, definitely was a different direction than expected. Hurt by the rejection and statement of Lanval, Queen Guinevere tells King Arthur that Lanval came onto her. Arthur upset at the situation orders that Lanval be sent to court where if he could not prove that such a woman existed more beautiful than his beloved queen, he shall be

Ideally, a king has an old look, a great amount of power, and naturally rules his domain with an iron fist in literature. In the two works, Le Morte d'Arthur and First Knight see two different versions of how king Arthur is portrayed. Yet the honor and respect that a king should have remains undisturbed, much like how both are products of their time. First Knight is told as a modern retelling of the legend and Le Morte d'Arthur is a minorly altered, much older work. While the depictions of king Arthur are seen as the paramount backbone for arthurian times, these two works have also proven to exhibit differences and similarities, illustrate Arthur’s figure in character, and serve as preservation of the time period.

Even though these qualities are praised in this culture, medieval narratives commonly uphold unrealistic virtues of what a perfect woman is. After Lanval vows to keep their love a secret, the queen of the court tempts the knight with her love. She says, "Lanval, I have honored, cherished and loved you much. You may have all my love: just tell me what you desire! I grant you my love and you should be glad to have me" (pp. 1771). Shortly after Lanval rejects her advances, the queen further establishes her ill will towards the good knight by saying, "I well believe that you do not like this kind of pleasure. I have been told often enough that you have no desire for women" (pp. 1771). The importance of these accusations exemplifies the queen's power and influence over Lanval. Although he graciously declines the queen's love, he regrettably reveals his love to the queen in an attempt to prove himself to the court. He says, "And I will tell you one thing; you can be sure that one of her servants, even the very poorest girl, is worth more than you, my lady the Queen, in body, face and beauty, wisdom and goodness" (pp. 1771). The manner which the queen entices Lanval reveals that both power and evil can be easily compared to this woman's actions, showing readers the other side of the coin. The division between these two women illustrates how often this society feeds off of a virgin/ whore dichotomy, branding such women

In "Lanval," the knight is asked to make a promise to his "ami" not to let anyone know of their affair. Although Lanval does not remain true to his word, the importance of the oath is made clear in the simple fact that his love trusts his word implicitly. It is important to note that, were it not for the implied oath of a knight to remain loyal at all costs to his king, Lanval would have kept his promise

The stories of Lancelot (The Knight of the Cart) and Perceval (The Story of the Grail) within Chrétien de Troyes’ Arthurian Romances depict a world of Medieval Romance that is somewhat different from one that was depicted in earlier epics. These romances are more focused on the battle between love and honor rather than on war and valor, which were depicted in earlier epics of de Troyes’ time. The tale of Lancelot follows a star-struck knight who undergoes an inner conflict between both the lover and hero inside him. His intense commitment to rescuing the queen causes him to make rash decisions which inevitably restrain him from controlling his own fate. Perceval’s story exhibits a different purpose for love in a knight’s life. Unlike Lancelot, he accepts love only when he believes it can further advance him in becoming the perfect knight. The two heroes’ actions showcase an inner conflict between maintaining their honor as knights and the love for another. Through these two tales, Chrétien de Troyes shows that that idealistic love and conscious chivalry cannot necessarily successfully coexist, yet it is the unachievable idealistic view that these two ideals do coexist.

Over the past month, we read the Story of the Grail by Chretien de Troyes. This poem details the progression of the knight Perceval. In the beginning, Perceval is not called by his name, instead he is referred to as “the youth”. This is an important detail to stress, because the poem is a coming of age story. As the poem progresses, the reader is able to see definitive changes in Perceval’s character. For example, in the beginning of the poem Perceval uses the limited knowledge that was bestowed upon him by his mother in order to complete his “knightly” duties. To make it worse, Perceval feels the need to tell everyone he meets that his mother is the one that taught him everything he knows. Eventually, Perceval outgrows this behavior and becomes a suitable knight. Throughout the poem, Perceval goes through many trials and tribulations, but for the purpose of this essay I will unravel the allegorical meaning of Perceval’s fight with the Red Knight using all four levels of interpretation.