By Fengying Guo (Fall 2022)
“The Lay of the Werewolf” is one of the twelve Breton lais written by Marie de France. Historians know very little about her and they believe that she is either a nun or an aristocratic woman because those are “the only literate women in medieval society,” and because of her literary achievements (Villarreal, 2019). Just like we know nothing about her identity, Marie de France’s real name is unknown. However, a work assumed to be written by her is signed “Marie,” and another work assumed to be written by her says that she is from France, thus the name “Marie de France.” She wrote the twelve Breton lais in Anglo-Norman, “a dialect spoken among the aristocracy of England and large parts of Northern France” (Shoaf, 2019). She was also credited for her contribution to the development of French and Anglo-Norman literature. Her twelve Breton lais were thought to be written in the late 12th century, and each of them conveys a message about nobility and virtue. Marie de France’s work, such as “The Lay of the Werewolf,” remains important today for its insights into gender and love in medieval society.
“The Lay of the Werewolf” is a story about a charismatic and reputable baron that lives in Brittany with his beautiful wife. They have all their love set on each other, but this love does not last long. The baroness lives in anxiety because the baron disappears for three days every week, and nobody knows what he does during those three days. One day, she tries to persuade the baron to tell her where he goes and for what, but the baron refuses to tell her, claiming that “nothing but evil [could] come” if she knew the truth, and that she would “withdraw [herself] from [his] love” (de France). Eager to know the mysterious whereabouts of the baron, the baroness does not give up asking. Instead, she “[prays] and [requires] him the more urgently, with tender looks and speech” until the baron finally confesses that he is a werewolf (de France), also called Bisclavret in Brittany. Upon knowing his secret, the baroness asks him whether he wears anything when he turns into a wolf. The baron responds with honesty that he does not wear anything when he turns into a wolf.
The baroness’s persuasion continues until the baron tells her where he hides his clothes. The baron also tells her that he will never be able to return to human form without his clothing. She thinks to herself that she “[dare] no longer to [lay] at his side” and “[turns] over in her mind, this way and that, how best she could get her from him” (de France). After creating a plan, she immediately writes a letter to the knight who has been pursuing her for a long time. In this letter, she accepts his love and asks him to marry her. However, to marry her, he needs to first get rid of the baron by stealing the baron’s clothes so that the baron can never return. The knight does everything the baroness asked him to do, and successfully marries the baroness. The baron was not seen for one year until the king went hunting in the woods that Bisclavret wanders about. In the wood, the hounds come upon Bisclavret and attempt to chase him down. Bisclavret runs to the king and “[takes] the stirrup within his paws, and [fawns] upon the prince’s foot” to beg for mercy. The king’s courtiers suggest that the king stop hunting and bring Bisclavret back to the court. The king took the advice and brought Bisclavret back.
At the court, Bisclavret and the king soon became inseparable companions. The king orders his men “neither to strike him with a rod, but ever to see that he was richly fed and kennelled warm” (de France). Everyone thinks the king “[loves] him as his friend” (de France). At a feast that the king hosts, Bisclavret meets the knight who stole his clothes. Throughout the feast, Bisclavret repeatedly tries to attack the knight, but each time it is stopped by the king. Not long after, Bisclavret encounters the baroness when she goes to give the king an expensive gift. Bisclavret attacks the baroness with “hatred and malice” and bites off her nose. After the incident, the king’s counsellor tells the king that attacking people seems to go against Bisclavret’s modest manner, and it is suspicious that he chose to attack the wife of the baron that disappeared a year ago and her new lord. The king then asks the wife for the truth, and the wife finally confesses her betrayal. The king brings back the baron’s clothes to him, and he successfully returns to his human form in the king’s room. When the king enters the room, the baron is sleeping like a baby on the king’s bed. Filled with happiness in his heart, the king kissed the baron “above a hundred times” (de France). In the end, the baron got his fief back, and the wife is chased from the realm and is never seen again.
As mentioned earlier, de France’s twelve lais are what is now considered “Breton lais.” It is arguable whether she should be considered the inventor of this genre, but her lais “represent the earliest extant and the most influential examples of the genre” (Khanmohamadi, 2011). What is considered a Breton lay has never been clear. One definition of Breton lais is any poems produced between approximately 1150 and 1450 which claim to be literary versions of lays sung by ancient Bretons to the accompaniment of the harp” (Laskaya & Salisbury, 2020). Since de France wrote the lais based on the memories of what she heard, her lais likely contain alterations based on her own understanding of the lais. Some scholars define Breton lais based on de France’s lais. A. C. Baugh defines a Breton lay as a short romance that “has its scene laid in in Brittany, contains a passing reference to Brittany, or tells a story found among the lais of Marie de France” (Laskaya & Salisbury, 2020). Therefore, “The Lay of the Werewolf” is a Breton lay in the way that its scene took place in Brittany and that it was written by de France.
Furthermore, “The Lay of the Werewolf” is considered a Breton lay because this story encompasses elements of romance and courtly love. Courtly love is a type of love in medieval European literature where a man, usually a knight, serves a young lady because his love is dedicated to that lady. In “The Lay of the Werewolf,” the knight loves the baroness and is willing to do anything for her. He serves the baroness by helping her to get rid of Bisclavret. The love between the baron and the baroness at the beginning of the story can also be considered courtly love because all their love is given to each other. However, some aspects of the relationships between characters cannot be fully described as courtly love, such as the conflict between the baron and the baroness, and the relationship between the king and the baron. Nonetheless, love is a crucial element in the story of Bisclavret that often acts as the driving force for the advancement of the story.
The theme of love in “The Lay of the Werewolf” can be broken down into two categories: conditional or unconditional love. The characters in the story engage in different types of love, and which type of love they engage in is partly determined by their gender. Before categorizing any feelings the characters have towards each other, it is essential to discuss the difference between conditional and unconditional love. Unconditional love is tolerant of the flaws of the individual receiving this love. An individual engaging in this type of love does not set preconceptions for the receiver nor withdraws the love when the preconceptions fall apart. A person who loves unconditionally does not expect reciprocation from the person whom they love and wants the best for that person. On the other hand, conditional love is, quite literally, love based upon specific conditions. It imposes a narrow perception of who a person is on them, restricts who this person could be, and expects this person to never change. This type of love will break apart once the condition is gone; that is, when an individual whom a person loves conditionally changes into something undesirable.
To the extent of what is being presented in this lay, the love between the baron and the baroness is conditional, while the knight and the king seem to love unconditionally. Upon knowing her husband’s secret, the baroness is quick to withdraw herself from this relationship. Her husband’s werewolf identity breaks the preconceptions that she has for him and alters the condition for her to love him; therefore, her love for him is gone too. In addition, although she does not love the knight, she is willing to marry him, perform the duty of a good wife, and bear his children. All these investments are based upon the knight’s love for her and his ability to help her and provide for her. It again implies that the baroness loves or shows love only when the receiver of her attentions fulfills certain qualities. The baron’s love for the baroness is also conditional. When he meets the baroness again in the form of a wolf, the unspeakable hatred causes him to violently rip off her nose. His act of revenge suggests that the baroness’s betrayal broke his expectations for her and obliterated any love he had for her.
Meanwhile, the knight loves the baroness unconditionally. Firstly, he accepts every aspect of her. When the baroness approaches him as someone else’s wife, he happily accepts her request to help her get rid of her husband and marry her afterward. He sees her psychological beastliness, but it does not affect his love for her. Secondly, the knight did not abandon the baroness after Bisclavret disfigured her face. Unlike the baroness, who abandoned her husband even before seeing his physiological beastliness, the knight saw and accepted her physiological beastliness. Additionally, after knowing her wrongdoing, the king “bade her avoid his country, and chased her from the realm.” She and the knight together went and “[sought] a more abiding city.” (de France) He could have abandoned the baroness, and it is even easier for him to do so due to the privilege that men experience in society. However, he chose to face the difficulty with her despite her psychological and physiological beastliness and the trouble that she is facing. All of these are evidence that the knight holds an unconditional love for the baroness.
As mentioned earlier, everyone at the court believes that the king loves Bisclavret. His love for Bisclavret is also unconditional. When the king first met Bisclavret, he “was very fearful at this sight, but presently he called his courtiers to his aid” (de France). After a brief discussion with his courtiers, he took Bisclavret back to the court and demanded his people treat Bisclavret nicely. Just like the baroness, the king is afraid of Bisclavret. However, unlike the baroness, who excludes Bisclavret from her life even before seeing his wolf form, the king chose to treat Bisclavret with sympathy and care. Moreover, after Bisclavret’s several attempts to attack the knight and the baroness, the king chooses to believe that Bisclavret did it for a reason, not because his violent nature is exposed. Bisclavret’s attacks further reveal his beastliness, but the king accepts it, which reflects his unconditional love for Bisclavret.
After examining the type of love each crucial character engages in, a gender-based pattern forms. The fact that the baroness loves conditionally, and the knight and the king love unconditionally, creates an implication that the type of love in which a person engages correlates with gender. It is crucial to note that gender inequality penetrates human history, and improvements have only been seen in the past few decades. During medieval times, when this lay was written, women, regardless of their social standing, were seen largely as possessions of men. Women’s lower status in society reflects in the story when the baroness chooses to marry another man to escape from a man. This societal context could explain why the baroness is quick to distance herself from her werewolf husband. As a woman, the baroness experiences higher levels of anxiety and fear. Although she loves the baron, the cost of loving someone unconditionally is high for her, especially when that “someone” is a werewolf.
It is a gamble for the baroness to choose to trust that the baron’s werewolf identity would not negatively impact her life and that the baron will not abuse her in the future. A man who has the strength of a werewolf could severely injure or even kill her. The baron may also hurt someone else violently just like he does to the knight and the baroness later in the story, and this would damage both his and her reputation, further alienating the baroness from an already sexist society. There are too many uncertainties induced by the baron’s werewolf identity that makes her “sanguine of visage, because of her exceeding fear” upon knowing this fact (de France). When this fear and pressure seize the baroness, loving unconditionally becomes exceptionally hard for her. In comparison, she may not love the knight, but the knight has similar social standing as her and he loves her. In the eyes of the baroness at the time, remarrying the knight leads to a life with less uncertainty compared to staying with the baron.
In comparison, the knight and the king are in very different positions because they are men. Being a man means that society has a higher tolerance for them than for women, and they are given more freedom and trust than women. As a result, the knight feels less emotional burden to steal the baron’s clothing and marry the baron’s wife. In fact, the king only bade the baroness to avoid his country and only chased her from the realm, nothing was done or said about the knight. The king believes the baroness is fully responsible for this incident, although the knight is the accomplice and his own sense of morality is questionable. Higher acceptance for men in this society suggests that the knight experiences less fear and anxiety than the baroness and finds it easier to commit to someone and love a person unconditionally. It is also easier for the knight to start a new life in a new city compared to the baroness.
The same thing applies to the king. Being the most powerful person in the country, the king has courtiers and counsellors to assist him in the process of making any decisions. He is supported and protected by his people, and therefore has far less reason to be afraid of Bisclavret or feel burdened by his beastliness compared to the baroness. He also has all the resources he needs, allowing him to have no demand for Bisclavret and simply love him unconditionally. Among the male characters that engage in unconditional love, the baron is an exception as he chose revenge over forgiveness in response to the baroness’s betrayal. His werewolf identity puts him in a similar position in society as women. The line “nothing but evil can come if I tell you this secret” reveals the fear that his werewolf identity imposes on him. He cannot love unconditionally because he is oppressed by society as a monster. However, when the baroness assures him at the beginning of the story that he could tell her about his secret, he is quick to believe the baroness’s words and tells her everything unreservedly. This indicates the baron has a higher potential to trust people and therefore love unconditionally. Later in the story, he also proved himself to be only aggressive to those who hurt him and returns others’ kindness with kindness.
“The Lay of the Werewolf” is still relevant today because it reveals the complexity of humans beyond the apparent binary of evil and good. There is a strong implication of virtue in that the baroness got her punishment, and the curse of being noseless was passed down to her female descendants. However, at the end of this lay, de France emphasizes that this story “is no vain fable […] The Lay of the Were-Wolf, truly, was written that it should ever be borne in mind” (de France). This is an invitation to think deeper and to constantly consider this story; it suggests that this story is more than a fantasy that teaches the readers a lesson. Instead, it contains implications about human society that cannot be fully covered in one essay, and the relationship between gender and the type of love they engage in is one of them.
“The Lay of the Werewolf,” written by medieval writer Marie de France, explores the relationship between love and gender with a fun story that includes the element of a monster. Due to its genre, which is Breton lais, the theme of love is prevalent in the story. It is commonly agreeable that gender influences how a person loves and reacts to different situations in life. In this lay, male and female characters have different struggles when choosing to love conditionally or unconditionally, which demonstrates gender’s influence on love. Once each character reveals their complexity, readers cannot easily conclude who is evil and who is good. The baroness surely is manipulative, but the attitude society has towards her gender creates resistance that makes virtuous acts difficult for her. This element of gender inequalities and villainization of women makes this lay matter even today.
Works Cited
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Shoaf, Judy. “The Lais of Marie de France | Judy Shoaf.” Ufl.edu, 2019, people.clas.ufl.edu/jshoaf/marie_lais/.
Laskaya, Anne (Editor) & Salisbury, Eve (Editor). “The Middle English Breton Lays: General Introduction | Robbins Library Digital Projects.” Rochester.edu, 2020, d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/laskaya-and-salisbury-middle-english-breton-lays-general-introduction.
Khanmohamadi, Shirin Azizeh. “Salvage Anthropology and Displaced Mourning in the ‘Lais’ of Marie de France.” Arthuriana, vol. 21, no. 3, 2011, pp. 49–69. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23238953. Accessed 30 Nov. 2022.
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