Feminism, Anti-feminism and Adultery in the Lais of Marie De France

In the middle ages knights in every kingdom were expected to follow basic rules set forth by the code of chivalry. According to this code a knight was supposed to show all of the following characteristics; prowess, justice, loyalty, defense, courage, faith, humility, largesse, nobility and franchise. If a man showed these characteristics he was said to be a good "chevalier," a French word for knight (Burgess 1). Marie De France, one of the more well-known female writers of the medieval period, used the term "chevalier" quite often in her Lais when referring to respected male characters. Unfortunately for women, the code of chivalry also meant that women would be held at a lower status than men and traded between the men of the court. In the article "Chivalry and Prowess in the Lais of Marie de France," Glyn Burgess notes that "most of the characters in Marie's Lais belong to the upper classes, and thus issues of loyalty, service and expertise in battle and hunting predominate" (1). These men adhere to the code of chivalry. Sharon Kinoshita, the author of "Cherchez la Femme: Feminist Criticism and Marie de France's `Lai de Lanval'," takes the opposing position and argues that in Lanval, "the title character's ultimate rejection of chivalric society is an expression of Marie de France's feminism" (1). While some male characters in the Lais of Marie De France do indeed show elements of the chivalric code, Lanval goes against the code and is eventually praised for it. In Equitan and Laustic while some male characters adhere to the code of chivalry, in the same Lais, some men defy it. Kinoshita says Marie shows feminism in Lanval by having the male protagonist go against the code of chivalry. Unlike in Lanval, the characters...

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...categorized into feminist and antifeminist pieces. The Lais are not about the code of chivalry, but about the marriage between the characters. Marie de France is not a feminist, an antifeminist, a woman who supports the code of chivalry, nor a woman who opposes the code of chivalry. She is simply a woman who emphasizes a strong marital bond in all of her works.

Works Cited

Burgess, Glyn. "Chivalry and Prowess in the Lais of Marie de France." French Studies 37.2 (1983): 129-42

De France, Marie. Lanval. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. M.H. Abrams. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2000. 127-40.

- -. Equitan. Trans. Judith P. Shoaf. 1992.

- -. Laustic. Trans. Judith P. Shoaf. 1991.

Kinoshita, Sharon. "Cherchez la Femme: Feminist Criticism and Marie de France's `Lai de Lanval'." Romance Notes 34.3 (1994): 263-73.