Love And Suffering In Marie De France's Lais

The tale that will be discussed within Marie de France’s Lais is Guigemar. The tale of Guigemar begins with a knight who demonstrates braveness and valor in service of his lord, but is unable to recognize love in any lady. One day Guigemar was out hunting when he came upon hind, who set a curse upon him. The hind states that if Guigemar is unable to find a woman who is willing to suffer for him equally as much as he would suffer for her, he will die from his wound. There are two major themes within the tale of Guigemar. The first theme is selfless love and the second theme is the suffering related to love. The relationship between love and suffering is the more apparent theme. The idea that there is a relationship between love and suffering

is introduced by the curse that is put upon Guigemar by the magical hind. Initial, Guigemar’s suffering was simply just of this physical body, which had been injured by his own arrow.

It is not until Guigemar arrives to the distant land and is treated by the Queen in which a new feeling begins to overpower him. The Queen can relieve Guigemar of his physical pain due to hind’s curse is gone, but a new pain arises even greater than the physical pain before. The new pain felt within Guigemar is a result of his love for the queen. Guigemar believing that this love is one sided, he lives in torrent and suffering of the thoughts of the Queen. Rather then Guigemar expressing his feeling of love to the Queen, he withholds them, demonstrating the suffering in relation to love. Although not known to Guigemar, the Queen too shares similar feelings of love and passion. Much like Guigemar, the Queen suffers at the thought of her love for Guigemar. With the assistance of the Queen’s maid, Guigemar expresses his passion and love for the Queen, which leads to their union of love. Guigemar was able to find a woman would was willing to suffer for him equal to him suffering for her, lifting the curse of the hind. Once Guigemar and the Queen confessed their love for each other, they could love and live in happiness without pain for a

year. The suffering of their love eventually returned when their affair is discovered. Through the use of the magical ship, Guigemar is able to escape, but at the cost of leaving his love behind. The pain of the Queen not having her love is powerful enough to bring her to the act of suicide, but through the intervention of magical elements, she can escape her tower and find the magic ship. Finding land, she is taken by a ruler named Meriaduc, who tries to interfere with the Queen’s and Guigemar’s love. Meriaduc invites Guigemar to his land in an attempt to find allies in his war. Much like the Queen, Guigemar remained faithful to his love and had suffered greatly in their separation. In the name of love, Guigemar joins Meriaduc’s enemies and lays siege to castle. Guigemar finds victory against Meriaduc and is reunited with his love. As illustrated above, Marie de France demonstrates that for one to love, they must also experience a pain greater anything physical. One cannot truly love someone else without feeling the pain and suffering that is present with the union of love. The second theme within the tale of Guigemar is selfless and selfish love. Upon both Guigemar and the Queen falling in love, a sense of equality is seen in their feelings for each other. Even when separated by distance, both Guigemar and the Queen remain true to each other’s love and remain faithful demonstrating selfless love for each other. Within the tale of Guigemar there are two characters who do not love selflessly, but instead in a selfish manner. The first character who loves selfishly is the Queens’s husband. The King represents aristocratic marriage within medieval society, the marriage to secure political ties. The fact that that the King and the Queen’s marriage is arranged for political gains, the Queen is nothing more than a possession of trade. Like any object, the King tries to hide this wife away because of his own insecurity. The Queen’s social marriage to the King only further demonstrates the lack of true love within their relationship. The Queens’s marriage is not based in the equality of love and passion, but rather a means to secure social power. This lack of equality and selfish love within the King’s relationship with the Queen is why their marriage ultimately fails. The second character who demonstrates selfish love is Meriaduc. Upon Meriaduc finding the Queen, he tries to have her. The Queen being a selfless lover denies Meriaduc because of her devotion and selflessness to Guigemar’s love. Meriaduc primary reason for wanting to have the Queen is her beauty and the belief of her being noble. The idea of marriage solely because is a relatable status, rather then for love is seen by Marie de France as a false love. Meriaduc’s desire to have the Queen because of her social status demonstrates his own selfish desires and thoughts about love. Meriaduc’s selfishness in preventing the Queen from being with Guigemar ultimately lead to his demise with Guigemar laying siege to his castle. Only Guigemar and the Queen’s love remains selfless, they both choose to suffer rather then give up their love for each over. Overall, Marie de France’s representation of love only successes if both lovers love is equal and true. If there is no equality in love, the relationship will ultimately fail.