The Man On The Palfrey Behind The Fairy Queen Essay

Alexandria Irion Dr. Schwartz English 349-001 December 9, 2016 The Man on the Palfrey Behind the Fairy Queen Medieval literature offers insight on gender, class, and race that our generation is still trying to understand. I aim to explore the reason why gender roles in Marie de France’s Lai de Lanval are flipped, and if this particular lai has an underlying political purpose. Marie de France was one of the most significant female writers of the Medieval Ages, and her romance work focuses on women along with their internal motivation rather than heroic acts of men. Her particular style of writing has brought attention to the way she creates her characters and plot. Several of Marie’s characters have interesting qualities, and perform certain actions that have caused the literary realm to take notice. Lanval himself—being the main character—attracts the majority of the attention: why did Marie choose to feminize him? The fairy queen also raises questions of women given masculine qualities, and why her role seemed much m ore like that of a man in the writings of other writers during Marie’s time. King Arthur and his queen, Guinevere, have a curious relationship and interact with each other—and others—in a manner that deserves a closer look. After viewing the gender roles of each of these characters, I want to discuss the possibility that Marie depicted her characters the way she did to take a political stance. However, before we can delve into the realm of underlyingShow MoreRelatedMarie De France Composed A Works Of The French Aquitanian And Champagnian Troubadours1404 Words   |  6 Pagesmaintaining a courtly affair; she shows that being open about a relationship can lead to disaster. In the story of â€Å"Lanval†, Lanval breaks the principle of mezura by rashly exposing his affair with the amie to Queen Guinevere. When Guinevere propositions Lanval, he foolishly reveals his fairy lover’s existence instead of keeping his love discrete: â€Å"Out of anger he sa id something/ that he would often regret./ â€Å"Lady,† he said, â€Å"I know nothing/ about that line of work;/ but I love, and am loved by,/ one