Romantic Love in Marie de France’s Poem, Lanval Essay

Romantic Love in Marie de France’s Poem, Lanval In her poem Lanval, Marie de France shares a fantasy with her readers, telling the tale of a mysterious woman who journeys from a distant land to be with Lanval, a dishonored knight of King Arthurs Round Table. Maries portrayal sets Lanvals mistress apart from the maidens and ladies in waiting at King Arthurs court, as she eclipses even Queen Guenever. Much like an editor of a modern womans fashion magazine, Marie targets her audience of mostly aristocratic twelfth-century women. She describes a mysterious lady whose retinue, meadow pavilion, clothing, figure, cultured sentiments, deportment, and conduct depict her as a superior being. Lanvals mistress is a model Maries readers†¦show more content†¦She wraps her female sexual fantasy of Guenevers humiliation around a womans perception of a male masturbatory fantasy. A handsome, dejected knight withdraws to a forest meadow next to a stream to reflect on his ill fortune. When he wakes from a nap, two lovely maidens take him to a fabulous pavilion where he spends the afternoon making love to the most beautiful woman on earth who loves him more than anything (116). Moreover, his generous lover provides him with a dowry of inexhaustible means and the opportunity to have her whenever he wishes, knowing he will circumscribe his pleasures to discrete circumstances. Maries lai reflects twelfth-century feminine tastes. The supernatural ladys love for Lanval transcends the romantic love of Maries 12th century, the courtly love of a bachelor knight and his patrons wife, ascending above Queen Guenevers communal desire for the generous and courtly (232) Lanval. In typical romantic chivalric fashion, Guenever falls for Lanval, much like she fell in love with Arthur when he helped her father defeat the King of Ireland. With three of her ladies, she admires from the sculpted window (237) of a tower a group of thirty knights taking their pastime in the garden below. Admiration turns to desire, a contagious romantic emotion. She and thirty maidens, the loveliest and most refined, (244) descend into the garden to take their delight with the knights. Breaking the rules of courtly love,Show MoreRelatedAspects Of The Arthurian Romance In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight1335 Words   |  6 PagesRomantic works of the Arthurian age have existed over a number of eons tracing back to quite a number of languages nat ive to the writers that immortalized the tales, this including Welsh, English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Scandinavian. Medieval romance is defined by the ideals that stood out from the tales including the romance, honor, loyalty and the moral authority as well as it explicated the social order which left a lot to be desired of the position of feminism in the societyRead MoreThe True Language Of Love1782 Words   |  8 PagesThe True Language of Love When reading early British texts, readers often notice that two main themes are recurring within the stories and poems of the time. These themes are love and religion; both of these were important within the culture. However, the readers may not realize that the language used in describing the two different themes is not different at all. In fact, the language of love and the language of religion are very similar, especially in medieval texts. Two texts that provide anRead MoreThe Influence of the Supernatural on Courtly Conduct, Christianity, and Chivalry in Lanval and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight2424 Words   |  10 PagesDecember 1, 2010 The Influence of the Supernatural on Courtly Conduct, Christianity, and Chivalry in Lanval and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight In the world of medieval literature the supernatural is a consistent theme, presented in extraordinary encounters, mysterious experiences and with magical objects such as potions, spells, and the prominent image of the green girdle of Lord Bertilak de Hautdesert’s wife in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Magic and the supernatural is seen as the drivingRead MoreCourtly Love and Mediieval Romance7340 Words   |  30 PagesIntroduction The familiarity with the love tradition makes it easily mistakable for a natural and universal phenomenon and even brings a laxity of enquiring into its origins. However, it is difficult of not impossible to show love to be anything more than an artistic phenomenon or construct- a literary per formative innovation of Middle Ages. Courtly love  was a  medieval European  formation of nobly, and  politely expressing love and admiration.  Courtly love was secret and between members of the  nobility