Shape-shifting in The Lais of Marie de France
The Shape-shifting Lais of Marie de France
True to the new tradition of the folktale, Marie de France’s Lais represent—as Max Lüthi calls it—“an experience of the world.” That this experience is contemporary as well as personal is important to note. Marie believes in the world she recalls in her tales—as her predecessors have and as her readers must if they are to fully appreciate the tales’ scope. Marie, of course, is not the first to record oral tradition; and Ovid is certainly her most famous precursor. While tales and motifs from Ovid are echoed throughout, the concept of transformation itself finds expression in the very composition Marie undertakes. In her hands, the oral tradition of her time undergoes a metamorphosis from ever-changing, flexible, and socially adjustable tales to definite and defined stories that have been stripped of their multiple meanings and complex symbolism and left standing in a way that best fits Marie’s intention. That she is aware of the change she forces upon her tales becomes obvious not only in the lais that overtly deal with physical metamorphoses, but also, and perhaps even more distinctly, in tales in which only the motif of shape-shifting underlies the narrative.
While I will discuss three tales—two that overtly deal with shape-shifting (Bisclavret and Yonec) and one which only has the concept of change at its core (Eliduc)—Bisclavret is certainly the best and most obvious echo of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, where we find the tale of a werewolf related in The Story of Lycaon, the Arcadian tyrant who was turned into a werewolf by Jove in order to make his form resembles his character. In Marie's rendition, the motif of the werewolf has been stripped of its symbolical significance. Lycanthropy is no longer a direct result of human evil, nor a form of divine punishment. The why and how of the metamorphosis become insignificant in the context of the folktale, and instead human nature and human existence are moved into the foreground. Thus, rather than adopting Ovid’s stories, Marie adopts his style: it is Ovid’s exploration of mind and body that Marie pursues in her Lais. Like Ovid, she too will delve deep into the crevices of the human mind, and, like Ovid, she too will tell tales of physical change. Unlike Ovid, however, Marie will not record classical mythology; instead, her vehicle is the folktale. No longer do gods rule the world. In Marie’s world, humans are in control of their destiny. The simplicity and transparency of the folktale, in which stories exist independent of historical personae, places and periods, equip Marie with an opportunity to create multiple layers of meaning: knights remain knights but become something else on the outside—human nature is the constant while the body is being transformed.
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