The author known as Marie de France was one of
the first highly educated women writers; she lived
and wrote in England in the late 12th century. The
royal court at the time was Anglo-Norman, as was
the language of literature and the nobility, and
Marie’s connections with the court are demonstrated both in her use of Anglo-Norman and in
her dedications (one of her works seems to be dedicated to King HENRY II). Although there is no reliable record to testify to Marie’s identity and her
life, three extant works are attributed to her, including a collection of LAIS, short romances that
focus on emotion, rather than action (see LANVAL);
a collection of fables after Aesop (Isopet), short
tales where animals are used to exemplify moral
lessons for humans; and St. Patrick’s Purgatory, a
translation of a Latin hagiography into Norman
French. In a fairly unconventional gesture, particularly for women writers at this time, Marie signs
each of her works to assert her authorship. The
most famous example of this occurs in the epilogue of her collection of Fables where she writes:
“I’ll give my name, for memory:/I am from France,
my name’s Marie” (Marie de France 1987, ll. 3–4).
Marie’s claim to be “from France” (or, more accurately, “of France” [“si sui de France”]), may mean
that she was born in France or that she was of the
French royal family. The latter supposition, suggested by some scholars, is probably incorrect and
Marie only intends “of France” to indicate her
place of birth. This would make sense, especially if
she were writing in England, for the Anglo-Norman aristocracy.
Scholars have long speculated concerning her
identity and have suggested figures as various as
MARIE DE CHAMPAGNE, the daughter of ELEANOR OF
AQUITAINE; Marie of Boulogne, King Stephen’s
daughter; or the Abbess of Shaftesbury, sister to
King Henry II. Unfortunately, we will probably
never know who she was, and what we do know is
limited to what we can glean from her writings.
That Marie moved in aristocratic circles, including the royal court of Henry II and Eleanor, seems
clear. Equally clear is Marie’s status as a noblewoman: Her education, the people she knew, and
the subject matter of much of her writings testify
to her nobility. Marie’s education naturally included the Bible and the classics, French and
Anglo-Norman literature, and most probably an
assortment of moral or didactic treatises. In addition to French, Marie knew Latin and English, and
was able to translate from these languages for her
Purgatory and the Fables.
Marie de France is often considered one of the
finest writers of short fiction before CHAUCER, and
her Lais and Fables reflect the milieu in which they
were produced: secular, sophisticated, aristocratic,
didactic, and, at times, political. In the Lais, Marie
draws on Breton tales either read or heard, although few of the 12 lais have direct literary antecedents. And while Marie’s Lais enjoy wide
popularity today, the number of extant manuscripts (23 of the Fables and 5 of the Lais), suggests
that her collection of Fables was more widely disseminated and probably the more popular of the
two collections in the Middle Ages. The Lais are
concerned with love, particularly COURTLY LOVE,
and are filled with passions and potions, magic and
symbolism. Attuned to courtly tastes in literature,
Marie’s Lais celebrate love (and adultery) in all
their guises, but most especially love that is impassioned and outside social boundaries. Thus, the
Lais are fantastic, entertaining, and secular in focus
and theme. Nonetheless the Lais, for all their entertainment value, do contain lessons or didactic
elements. The morality of adultery may not be
questioned, but the immorality of cruelty or lovelessness certainly finds full expression. And
notwithstanding the secular nature of the Lais,
spiritual or Christian readings are possible, especially in lais such as Yonec, where eucharistic imagery, Christian ritual, and allusions to the Trinity
give complex meaning to a tragic and adulterous
affair.
While political concerns are sometimes an allusive element in the Lais, politics and the critique
of court and aristocratic life are easily found in the
Fables. Indeed, some of the Fables are overt in their
political commentary, and it may be this aspect of
their composition that accounts for their popularity. Marie’s Fables are particularly critical of abuses
of power engaged in by the Norman aristocracy
against the feudal underclass, and if the Lais were
popular with the courtly inner circles, the Fables
possibly attracted a wider and more diverse readership. Unlike the Lais, the Fables have well-developed realistic aspects and unlike fables in general,
whose moralism is often abstract, Marie’s works
are moral and didactic in specific and often satiric
ways. Unfortunately, without a fuller knowledge
of Marie’s identity and life, scholars can only speculate about the pointed observations in her critical and political Fables.
The works of Marie de France draw on conventions of genre and translation, but manage to transcend the limitations of both. If the author is
unconventional in the assertions of authorship we
find in all of her works, she is similarly unconventional in her treatment of familiar materials. Marie
de France is aware of the moral responsibilities inherent in authorship and her works reflect her idea
of the ideal rhetorical balance between entertainment and enlightenment.
Bibliography
Burgess, Glyn S. The “Lais” of Marie de France: Text
and Context. Athens: University of Georgia Press,
1987.
———. Marie de France: An Analytical Bibliography.
London: Grant and Cutler, 1977.
Finke, Laurie A. Women’s Writing in English: Medieval
England. London: Longman, 1999.
Marie de France. Fables. Edited and translated by
Harriet Spiegel. Toronto: University of Toronto
Press, 1987.
———. The Lais of Marie de France. Translated by
Robert Hanning and Joan Ferrante. Michigan:
Baker Books, 1978.
Thiébaux, Marcelle, trans. The Writings of Medieval
Women: An Anthology. 2nd edition. New York:
Garland, 1994.
Elisa Narin van Court