The length of the lais vary greatly, ranging from as brief as 118 lines (“Chevrefoil”) to as long as 1184 lines (“Eliduc”). Marie’s lais are written in eight-syllable lines with rhyming couplets. This gives Marie’s lais a rather unique brand of morality that can drive unexpected developments in the narrative, with the possibility for both ideal and tragic endings that provide closures without the modern concept of “poetic justice”. The illicit affairs are almost never depicted negatively by Marie, in fact they seem to be deemed righteous when the love between two parties is mutual and purely stemming from affection. In these cases, the narrative may shift toward their illegitimate child, who will then seek vengeance and restore the honour of their parents’ love. One or both lovers may die, and if so, this usually occurs directly or indirectly because of a third party’s jealousy and anger. From such a premise, Marie’s lais will go on to focus on the quest for fulfillment of their love, which tends to take the form of illicit affairs and illegitimate children, with the involvement of supernatural and otherworldly elements. It is common for one of these lovers to have already been married to another, usually not out of mutual affection but through arrangement. True to the chivalric romance conventions, the lais typically depict a nobleman (often a king, or knight) and a beautiful noblewoman (often a queen or an aristocrat’s daughter) who fall in love with each other upon knowing each other’s existence.

Marie’s lais frequently feature two “destined” lovers. They are highly notable for influencing the development of the medieval romance genre, including the renowned Arthurian romance. The Lais of Marie de France are a series of twelve lai poems written by Marie de France that are primarily concerned with the ideas of courtly love and chivalric romance. Medieval Romance: Magic and the Supernatural (YHU2309)

The lais marie de france