We Have Decided

Since nearly the beginning of time, adultery has been thought of as morally wrong. Marriage, on the other hand, has been thought of as a sacred institution shared by most of the people and religions of the world. In the “Lais” written by Marie de France, we are given insight into the inner workings of five adulterous affairs, six pre-marital sexual encounters, and one instance of impure thoughts. Although Marie de France does not seem to condone adultery, she writes in a manner that allows the reader to feel possible sympathy with it, depending upon the situation. In fact, she seems to separate her lays into two categories. The first category consists of extenuating circumstances in which the reader is made (allowed) to feel empathy and compassion for the couple such as in “Yonec” and “Lanval.” The second category however seems to combine the ideas of sympathy and disdain. In this category belong only the lais of “Bisclaveret” and “Equitan.” Although the lais focus entirely on sex outside of marriage, the affairs that take place in these poems were often rewarded with various prizes that included children, wealth, healing, and loving marriages.

In the first lai, “Yonec” tells the seeming tragic tale of a beautiful young woman who is kept locked away in a castle by her rich and old husband. The poem tells us that “he kept her there more than seven years” (37), and that she was never allowed to come down not even “for a relative, not for a friend” (40). The young woman, who had no contact with anyone other than her husband’s sister, began to let herself go. “She lost her beauty, as a lady would” (48), when she no longer took care of herself. At this point in the lai, the readers feel ultimate sympathy for this unnamed woman. Although she is bound in a sacred marriage to a man, we look upon this situation as cruel and unjust. Our heart goes out to this woman. We first begin to feel sympathy for her when we are told she is married to an older man who keeps her locked away, but our sympathy deepens when we realize she is beginning to lose all hope. When we are told her beauty fades, our hearts are filled with not only sadness, but also a desire to see her made whole again. The lai continues with the woman lamenting her sorrows when she says “God, who have power over all, Please hear, please answer now my call” (62-63). These two lines set this lai apart from all other lais in this collection. The young woman, who is married, prays that God will send her someone and shortly after a hawk appears. Even though we as readers desired that she could meet someone to make her feel alive again, that fact that God steps in seems to make the situation much more acceptable. The adulterous affair becomes even more acceptable in our eyes when we realize that their affair is not about only sex, but that they share a deep and tender love. When the knight first sees the lady, he tells her, “I’ve loved you for a long time now…I never loved any woman but you” (81-84). The love and passion that these lovers share bring the woman back to life. Her beauty and zest for life returns as does her husband’s suspicion. When he realizes his wife has taken a lover, he plots to kill the hawk with spears on the windows. Once the knight is fatally wounded, the woman feels immediately sad and heartbroken until she realizes she will give birth to a son who “Someday he will kill his and her enemy, be there avenger” (102). The woman goes on with her life, remembering the love she once shared and lives now for her son. The lai continues with the boy growing up and learning the truth about his father. His mother dies when revealing the truth to Yonec, her son, and in turn, Yonec cuts off his stepfather’s head with his true father’s sword. The poem concludes by saying “All they once suffered for their love” (158). Although the poem perhaps does not turn out the way we would like it to, we are left with a sense of happiness in the end.

The next lai, “Lanval”, tells much of the same type of story. In this poem, a young knight who serves in King Author’s court, is frequently overlooked and not rewarded for his service. Distraught, the knights is wandering around when he meets two women. These very beautiful women take the knight to their maiden who is waiting for him. Again we hear of a tender love that the lady has for Lanval and that she has traveled very far to come to him. When Lanval hears this, “Love pricks him, strikes in him the spark” (49). He tells the lady “All others for you I abandon” (55), and so their love affair begins. As we read this lai, our hearts are happy with this love match because it seems the couple shares a love that is deep and true. We do not even entertain the idea that what they are doing is wrong. They are not married and therefore should not be together in such an intimate way, but that thought does not seem to cross our minds