When the Beast Isn't the Villian

Bisclavret is the first Marie de France story I have read that has a very clear supernatural influence and focus. Instead of being focused on a topic like coincidence, the Lai tells the tale of a knight werewolf that is betrayed by his cruel, once-loving wife. It holds some medieval romance characteristics true, but then Marie de France twists the story like she usually does. The ending is so extreme that she almost tries to make it humorous and a reflection on the usual punishments dealt out in this time period.

The idea of werewolves in this time period were massively common. They were seen as possible repercussions for sins or could be the interpretation of mental illness. With either of these explanations Marie de France plays out the story to have a large mirroring effect with the characters. A major theme within the story was the idea that someone's outsides may not always match their insides. There is a very famous theory within the Social Psychology sphere that is called the "What is Beautiful is Good" Theory. There is an idea that humans have had since the beginning of time that a physically fit or beautiful person has the best genes or the best chance at reproducing successful offspring so they automatically have the what's beautiful is good feeling. It implies that any sort of physical attractiveness has everything to do with the person's personality inside. In Bisclavret this idea is pulled upon and twisted in a way that Marie de France loves to twist things.

Bisclavret is a werewolf so when he is in wolf form he is a terrifying beast, but his heart and mind are human. His human personality traits are so genuine and good that there is a clear contrast to his outer appearance. While his wife, who is described as incredibly beautiful is terribly cruel to her husband by forcing him to stay a wolf and then betraying his love and marriage. What's outside did not predict what was on the inside of the characters; it did the exact opposite.

As well as this twist Marie lays on her readers, she takes the wife's punishment (getting her nose bitten off) to a whole new level; if that is even possible. Not only was her nose bitten off, but her children were then born with no noses while in exile. If this isn't taking it too far then I don't know what is. Marie de France took it too far for a reason; no author does things arbitrarily. For what reasons, we can only guess. The reason that would stand out the most, for her personality and other works, is that Marie wanted to make a statement on how women were punished in her day. The story takes it very far, but then again in that day it makes sense for the woman to be blamed and then severely punished for what is a relatively human reaction to something.

#literature #MariedeFrance #Bisclavret #medievalmarriages #medieval #women