Love as Depicted in Marie De France’s Lais

Love As Depicted in Marie De France’s Lais
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Love As Depicted in Marie De France’s Lais
The Lais of Marie de France are short poems written by Marie de France during the late 12th century. This paper will analyze how love is depicted in the poem of Bisclavret and Laustic. In the poem of Bisclavret, two types of love are revealed, including true and superficial love. Bisclavret shows his unconditional and genuine love for his wife when he decides to remain loyal to her by telling her about his deep secrets of where he hides his clothes when getting in the forest (Marie de France, 1999, line 93). Also, after coming back from the forest, he shows his true love to her wife through romance. In lines 37 and 38, the poem states, “He hugged her when he heard all this, drew her close and gave her a kiss.” On the other hand, the wife shows a superficial love towards his husband when the husband reveals that he turns into a werewolf after going into the forests for three days. She plans to steal his clothes from his hiding place, making Bisclavert remain a we...