The Lais of Marie de France - Essay Example

Protagonist In various literary works, we have protagonists who stand for various causes that they pursue with the different abilities that the writer has endowed them. Protagonists can be portrayed as heroes or heroes due to the central role they have been given in the play or literary work. The abilities that the main characters are given helps them liberate their people from situations of oppression (Green, 2010). However, the protagonists have their faults that make them odd and at times, they cross with the society that demands its values and norms to respect. The Lais of Marie de France (Penguin Classics) In The Lais of Marie de France a collection of twelve different poems, the main characters are built based on their individuality contrary to their level of integration with the society. The theme of love in the collection is associated with a lot of sufferings, and nearly half of the characters including the main characters in some poems are involved in extramarital affairs. In “Equitan”, infidelity and adultery are gravely condemned but astonishingly the poet finds it merited because the relationship the protagonist is engaged in is cruel, and it deserves deception rather than a loving relationship that requires loyalty. The message being communicated through the extramarital affairs in the poems is that, if an envious society does not appreciate those who are in love, the lovers might end up deserting the society, or they end up dying leading to the society being poorer of love and heroism. Heroines in he Marie’s Lais who are women of high stature, end up defying the traditions of the church by seducing men, and they engage in adulterous affairs with them. The women gave the reason to the infidelity; it was an avenue to help the women escape from loveless marriages. The relationships depicted are mostly with older men, giving the impression that women ought to have sexual freedom. The reason for strong women and having power is to discredit the church teachings on marriage and virginal love although the heroines end up in sufferings. After the infidelity in marriage, their husbands later put the women under close surveillance by being imprisoned such as in “Guigemar” where the woman is put behind the walls of a castle that is directed to the sea. While in “Laustic” the woman is carefully monitored by the husband when he is around and when he goes away he has her watched. Guigemar, who is a hero by the virtue of his bravely as a knight and distinguished through valor by accepting to fighting in France, is the protagonist in the poem “Guigemar”. He is odd because he shows no interest in love, and he is considered a “lost cause” by his enemies and friends. One day, while he is hunting, accompanied a number of followers, he encounters a great white deer. Guigemar releases an arrow that fatally strikes the deer, but the arrow rebound back at him and injures his thigh. He declares that he would not get a cure for his wound unless he gets a woman who would suffer for his love and him to suffer for hers. Guigemar feels that he would not get a woman who would be so devoted to him and so he feels worried. He later goes to a shore and decides to sit in a ship but when he wakes up; he finds that the ship had sailed to another destination. The knight is having nothing else that he could do because the ship was being propelled by wind he accepts his fate and goes to sleep still writhing in pain (0rr, 2011). When the ship approaches a tower that a lovely lady was living, but imprisoned by an old jealous husband and watched by castrated men; the lady tells her maidens to see what was on the ship and they reported what they had seen to her. The young man in the ship attracted the lady due to his handsomeness, and she decided to treat his wound. When the lady was treating the wound of Guigemar, they both felt a mutual feeling of passion towards one another and they lived for one and a half year in a jubilant communion. As a way of expressing fidelity to their relationship, the lady offers to tie a knot on Guigemars shirt so that no other lady had the ability to untie the knot. After the knot had been tied, the husband busts them together and the knight is taken back to Brittany. When two years had passed since Guigemar’s escape, the lady became so sorrowful that she decided to commit suicide. Coincidentally her prison had been unlocked, and nobody was watching her, on her way to the sea to drown herself, she finds an awaiting ship and she sails using the ship. The ship eventually lands in another castle ruled by Meriaduc, and she is received well, but Meriaduc also offers to marry her. The lady declines the offer due to the love she had for Guigemar. When the lady faints, Meriaduc tries to untie her belt, but he is unsuccessful. After the incidence, Meriaduc invites Guigemar for a tournament to select an ally in a war against his enemy. When the lady and the knight are in the same hall, and the lady hears his name, she grows faint but Meriaduc insists she attempts to untie the knot. Due to his instance, the lady easily unties the knot and to Guigemar’s surprise, she was wearing his belt. However, Meriaduc refuses to let Guigemar take his lady who makes him fight for her. After he emerges victorious, the lady and the knight live to fulfillment and maturity. “A Simple Heart” in "Three Tales." A Simple Heart is a story that revolves around a servant girl known as Felicite. She is just paid four pounds in a year, but she remains as faithful as a dog to its master, who makes her attend to all the household chores. Having been orphaned at an early age she is described as, wearing in rags, lying down to get drinking water from the ponds, brutally abused for no reason and shivering from cold because she barely had clothes to cover her body. After a while, Felicite starts to work on a dairy farm then in another job as a cattle herder. She turns eighteen years, and she is made a servant to Madame Aubian. Her love story starts with a series of others following after she is rejected by Theodore, a man she had met at a dance in a nearby town. The man offers to escort her home, but it later turns out that he wanted to have rough sex with her. Felicite refuses his advances as she walked in resentment and protest. Theodore does not give up his quest, but he rather proposes to marry Felicite due to her consistent refusals to his advances. However, despite the proposal Theodore ends up marrying Madame Lehoussais, an old woman who could manage to pay in order to prevent him from being drafted into the Army. With frustration, Felicite moves on and becomes an outstanding housekeeper also winning the trust of Madame Aubian and her three kids including saving the family from a furious bull by throwing large pieces of soil to the bull. The story makes Felicite a local legend although she does not consider herself a heroine for saving the day. As a result of trauma due to the fright of the bull, virginie who is Madame Aubins second born falls sick an ailment related to nervousness. The sick girl is taken to the hospital at Trouville where Felicite meets her sister that annoys her employer due to the many visits her sister made together with her children. Later, after Virginie gets well she starts attending catechism classes, which Felicite faithfully accompanies her but she is later sent to a convent school, which makes Felicite mourn. For her to distract herself from the mourning she deeply falls in love with her nephew, Victor. She devotes her time on Sundays to go and mend his clothes and prepare dinner for him. However, the relationship still backfires as Victor left for Cuba, and she did not get an opportunity to bid him goodbye because the ship had already left the dock. After several months, Felicite receives a letter being informed that Victor had passed away. In addition to the loss of her beloved nephew, after some years, Virginie dies and she keeps her body vigil for two consecutive nights before the burial. Madame Aubain after the death of her daughter she started becoming desperate and the doctors forbids her from visiting her daughter’s grave. Felicite advises her employer on the need to stay strong in the memory of her daughter together with the duty she had on her son Paul. However, the situations continued aggravating because Paul, who was the only hope for her desperate mother becomes a drunkard, and several of Madames acquaintances died (Marie & Edward, 2010). The grief that Felicite and Madame Aubain went through together made them emotionally connected than never before. Moreover, as their eyes were full of tears they embraced each other passionately due to the sorrow that had equated them. Felite continued being devoted and kind through caring for cholera patients, taking care of an old man who was homeless and assisting refugees. Madame Aubain gives Felicite a parrot that she had received from an acquaintance, which she teaches to speak and bounds with him greatly. One day the parrot disappears to town, and Felicite goes to look for him, but unfortunately she catches a chill that later causes her to lose her hearing ability. Despite losing her hearing ability completely, she can still communicate with the parrot with phrases such as “You servant, sir!” "Good morning, Mariel" and "Nice boy." When the parrot dies, Felicite feels betrayed because Madame wanted him to be stuff. She decides to take the dead parrot for stuffing in Honfleur. Tragically, she is later knocked down by a wagon, and the driver beats her but she still perceives to move on and puts the dead parrot in her room. The dead bird is later painted with a cheap paint making it distinct, and the bird can be mistaken for the Holy Spirit in her prayers. The story ends with Paul getting married to the inspectors’ daughter in the registrars office, and Madame Aubain passes away, but Felicite, who is being faced with eviction threats, mostly mourns her. Conclusion In conclusion, with all the above-cited cases of protagonist as people who can be said to be successful in their own ways, it is clear that the society needs such people because they add value to the lives of the people (Whalen, 2008). However, the protagonists are not always representing ideal people in the society because they have their faults such as infidelity in the case of the ladies in "The Lais of Marie de France" and the Knight. While in "A Simple Heart" Felicite engages in a taboo to fall in love with her nephew that can be considered an abomination in the society. The faults of the main characters make them odd from what the society expects. References Green, A. Brief Lives: Gustave Flaubert. French Studies 65.1 (2010): 111-112. Web. 2010. Print. Orr, M.ARSENIC AND OLD PLUSH? SINISTER DEATHS IN UN COEUR SIMPLE BY GUSTAVE FLAUBERT. French Studies Bulletin 32.120 (2011): 62-65. Web. Whalen, Logan E. Marie De France And The Poetics Of Memory. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2008. Print. Read More