Lanval's women
"We don't know a lot about Marie de France, but we do know that she is Marie, not Marc" and in the times of medieval romance a female writer was one to be looked down upon, just as the women in most stories were seen and treated as inferior. A woman in Marie de France's Lais normally follows suit. Her role in the more traditional lay is to serve and fulfill her knight's beckon call while her own desires are pushed aside or disregarded. However, in Marie de France's Lanval, our lady, and the very well known Gueneviere, certainly turn the tables. Our lady in de France's lay Lanval is immediately given a more powerful stance than those seen in the more traditional stories. She sends her women to alert Lanval of the lady's desire to have him in her tent, and he follows. This shows that the lady is, indeed, making the first move -- which is a contradiction in courtly love custom where the knight will worship the lady from afar first, and make his move without his
His clothes have changed, his attitude has changed, and it is believed that because he is radiating happiness, Gueneviere must approach him. Gueneviere, having King Arthur (who has already been made to seem a lush and a bore) as her husband, pursues Sir Lanval. Using her woman-ly powers she not only calls upon him and has him come to her, but also then seduces him and wins him over via sexual prowess. In doing this, she takes the role of victim, common for women in medieval times, and also plays the part of a pride-broken man whose only answer to rejection is to turn the tables and make it seem as if he is the rejecter. Marie de France may have been using this very lay to make a point. Lanval falls prisoner to her requests, willingly, and is then also showered with gifts from his lady, as well as the promise of her body. It is at this instant the Queen is so upset and insulted that she calls him homosexual claiming that many have questioned his manhood, and runs to her room to sulk. Lanval is told to accompany the servants to the lady's room, where she is scantily clothed and laying in her bed, waiting. Later, she tells King Arthur that Lanval made advances toward her. While Lanval is standing alone, happily regardless of what is happening around him (many women have come to seduce the other men of the court), Gueneviere is intrigued. This shows that she is not only smart enough to use her sexuality to keep him in her grasps but also willing to bribe him by making him look better, feel better, and become more popular amongst his friends because of the things she does for him. Lanval's damsel also very carefully works in their relationship's secrecy, a quality most misogynistic, multi-partnering males would request and demand, showing her power to manipulate. She does so and offers more wealth and happiness and, of course, sex, but Lanval refuses her.
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Acceptance Essays
