The Lais Of Marie De France Character Analysis
The Lais of Marie de France
The Lais of Marie de France are a collection of short stories that depict situations where love arises. The author presents love as a complex emotion and demonizes it and praises it in certain instances. She is not always in favor of love as is described by the outcomes by some of the lovers in the story, such as when they either end up dead in the end or banished because of their love. The author presents this notion of love because she believes it is not always justified to love someone. In the book, two distinct types of love are shown. There is selfless love and selfish love which are compared throughout the multiple stories in The Lais of Marie de France. By comparing the two distinct types of love, a universal truth about love can be derived to explain when love is and is not justified.
The story Guigemar demonstrates selfish love and how this love can be justified even if adultery is involved. Guigemar, a king from Bisclavret, traveled on a boat to a new kingdom and met a lovely woman when he arrived, and began to fall in love with her: “Love struck him to the quick;/ great strife was in his heart” (379-380). However, the woman that he loved also had a husband. The love that …show more content…
He doesn’t want to win by cheating and use the potion, which becomes his downfall: “He reached the top of the mountain in such pain/ that he fell there, and didn’t get up;/ the life went out of his body” (203-205). Because he was so tired from his journey to the top of the mountain, he passed away when he reached the top. If he would have drank the potion, it is likely he would have survived. This story contrasts with the previous story because the devotion had for the woman became his downfall. He was blinded by the love he had for the woman, and lost self control. One’s love for another should be strong; however, it should not blind them from obvious consequences of their
The Lais of Marie de France are a collection of short stories that depict situations where love arises. The author presents love as a complex emotion and demonizes it and praises it in certain instances. She is not always in favor of love as is described by the outcomes by some of the lovers in the story, such as when they either end up dead in the end or banished because of their love. The author presents this notion of love because she believes it is not always justified to love someone. In the book, two distinct types of love are shown. There is selfless love and selfish love which are compared throughout the multiple stories in The Lais of Marie de France. By comparing the two distinct types of love, a universal truth about love can be derived to explain when love is and is not justified.
The story Guigemar demonstrates selfish love and how this love can be justified even if adultery is involved. Guigemar, a king from Bisclavret, traveled on a boat to a new kingdom and met a lovely woman when he arrived, and began to fall in love with her: “Love struck him to the quick;/ great strife was in his heart” (379-380). However, the woman that he loved also had a husband. The love that …show more content…
He doesn’t want to win by cheating and use the potion, which becomes his downfall: “He reached the top of the mountain in such pain/ that he fell there, and didn’t get up;/ the life went out of his body” (203-205). Because he was so tired from his journey to the top of the mountain, he passed away when he reached the top. If he would have drank the potion, it is likely he would have survived. This story contrasts with the previous story because the devotion had for the woman became his downfall. He was blinded by the love he had for the woman, and lost self control. One’s love for another should be strong; however, it should not blind them from obvious consequences of their