All that is known of Marie de France, one of the
first women writers in French literature, comes
from her texts. At the end of one her tales, she
writes, “My name is Marie and I come from
France.” Most of her work was written between
1175 and 1190.
Marie wrote lais, short narrative poems, and
translated some of AESOP’s fables and a saint’s life of
Saint Patrick. In her work, she demonstrates familiarity
with classical literature and contemporary
Latin and Anglo-Norman literature. Most scholars
believe that she either lived or spent time in
the courts of Henry II and Richard I of England;
the English and French kings were related, and the
two courts strongly influenced each other. Marie
wrote her poetry in Anglo-Norman French, which
was a widely used and easily understood dialect.
Marie’s poetry has survived because of its sophisticated
narrative voice and condensed structure.
“Chevrefoil” (“Honeysuckle”), her most
famous lai, focuses on an episode from TRISTAN
AND ISEULT, the most famous love story of the MIDDLE
AGES. In this poem, Tristan has been banished
from court, but he sends Queen Iseult a secret
message carved on a hazel branch. It compares
their love to the honeysuckle that entwines the
hazel tree; neither of them can live without the
other.Marie’s use of a specific object integral to the
plot as a metaphor for the story’s theme occurs in
several of her other lais, and it shows the elegant
economy and sophistication of her style.
English Versions of Works by
Marie de France
The Lais of Marie de France. Translated by Glyn S.
Burgess. New York: Penguin, 1999.
The Lais of Marie de France. Translated by Robert
Hanning and Joan Ferrante. Durham, N.C.:
Labyrinth Press, 1982.
A Work about Marie de France
Mickel, Emanuel J., Jr. Marie de France. New York:
Twayne, 1974.