Three perspectives of magic in the Lais of Marie de France : an honors thesis (HONRS 499)

Abstract

I argue that the narrative poems of the "Lais of Marie de France" have not just one form of magic, that being the obvious supernatural, but at least three, which include both courtly love and Christianity. The supernatural, courtly love, and Christianity are three things that are often focused upon in the Lais. These three elements that seem superficially different are actually manifestations of an impulse towards the magical realm, all of which contribute to the movement of the earthly to the spiritual and vice-versa. I will show this through thorough explications of three Lais: Bisclavret, Guigemar, and Le Rossignol.