Love And Suffering In Marie De France's Lais

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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 …show more content…

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

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