The Lais of Marie de France: The Pure Forbidden Love

Throughout this course, we have looked at various authors, not just to look at what they write about but also their motives behind each piece of writing. Marie de France in Chevrefoil (The Honeysuckle) presents the love story of Tristan and Iseult which was the most popular of the different versions. This represents courtly love, which refers to a romantic relationship between two unmarried people in medieval times. These love relationships is not physical, but based on flirting, dancing, and the chivalrous efforts of knights and other noble young men to curry favor from ladies at court.

Marie seems to want to highlight a specific point in this story that didn’t have much importance in other versions. Marie de France wanted this story to be remembered not just because of what happened at the end but for the pure love between the two lovers even though it was forbidden. Along with Marie de France version, there were also many other sources to better help us analyze this story. The oral transmission of the story was the most convenient way of expressing this since she structures the story to not keep the audience guessing. She made it clear in the beginning that the lovers story will end in a tragic death. Marie wanted to more so share the passion behind the lovers since they were being pulled apart. This version showed the commitment Tristan had to see his lover once again.

Marie de France calls out the audience's attention by pointing out certain details to be recognized such as the king’s anger over the affair. As stated in the reading “King Mark was annoyed and angry with his nephew Tristan; he exiled Tristan from his land because of the queen whom he loved” (France 190). Tristan became sad when he couldn’t see his true love. This led him to going after the queen and when he found out that there would be an opportunity to see her once again he took advantage of it. Marie de France also happens to emphasize a different aspect of their love which is the joy they share when they are together. As stated “He cut the hazel tree in half, then he squared it. When he had prepared the wood, he wrote his name on it with his knife” (France 191). The theme of honeysuckle was a representation of the mutual dependence that pulls them together just as the honeysuckle depends on the hazel tree. Despite all the obstacles that prevented them from being together nothing was greater than their reunion. Marie de France motive was to show the importance behind Tristan leaving a sign that only Iseult will see and understand.

According to “The Lais of Marie De France Themes” it gives us a clear understanding on Marie’s patterns shown in her stories. The themes shown throughout all her stories was love, loyalty, possessiveness, and fate. As stated in the article “Her stories consider various perspectives on love relationships, including marriage, extramarital affairs, love between lords and vassals, and love between parents and children. Each lay considers how different types of love bring happiness”. She seems to keep a pattern throughout her stories which can also be helpful when trying to figure out the meaning behind each piece of writing. Along with the theme of love, the theme of loyalty helps to understand Marie's perspectives on the different scenarios she presents. As shown in Chevrefoil she presents Tristan’s loyalty to meeting his true love again.

As stated “the fact that it is typically beautiful young women who are controlled by patriarchal guardians provides some insight into Marie's perspective as a woman, and it also helps to understand why these women are so attracted to men who bring the potential of rescue”. She shows that although he was taken out the land, he still tries to find his way back. The theme of possessiveness is also shown in this particular story as the king is the controlling factor and Tristan is her true love that provides the love and protection that she doesn’t feel with the king. As also stated “Marie's sense of fate is quite unique, especially in terms of love. Marie never attempts to claim that people can control falling in love, and her language frequently stresses how love strikes in spite of our desires. She tends to speak of it as a force that is like fate”. This is shown with Queen Iseult in which she was arranged to marry somebody she was not interested and it led her to her true love which was the king’s nephew.
There are other elements in which can give us more of an insight on Marie de France goal when writing this lay. According to “Marie De France's Chevrefoil. ” Lovely Weather for Ducks is another source that shows why Marie de France writing differs from the rest. As stated

“Marie de France privileges their communication above their (sexual) pleasure. It is not physical entwinement with which Marie de France is concerned, but a more spiritual entanglement, represented by the mingling of minds and souls in communication, both verbal and symbolic”. Their meeting and time spent was more so pure where they felt happiness and joy and everything was complete regardless of the obstacles. The honeysuckle writing was less of a message and more of a sign, it is something which only she knows to look for and can interpret in full. Since this was something that occured in the past she knew to keep an eye out. It is stated in this article that “The message, then, is not in the name, but in the hazel; the name merely marks the hazel out to be noticed. This practically wordless communication symbolizes completely the depth of their entwinement, which goes far beyond the physical as noted earlier”. This shows the whole concept of courtly love literature which has nothing to do with sexuality or being physical, but instead based on passion and pure love. In the article it is stated that “the honeysuckle is representative of Isolt’s ability to make the leap from hazel to honeysuckle and thus decode and unpack the significations of her lover’s message.

Whether she is the honeysuckle or the hazel does not matter: she and Tristan “are so equally dependent on and tuned to one another, that they can communicate in symbols meaningless to an outsider. The fact that their relationship is so strong to where it can be clearly understood by each other without actually communicating is very significant. Which is what Marie de France wanted to portray in her writing.