Marie De France College Essays Samples For Students

Introduction

Even though her works were exemplary, she was little known to the world; after all, Marie de France was not her original name. All her fame came from her distinct poetic works. Information about her birth place remain scanty, however, there is a strong belief that she was French born but raised up in England; all this is disputed for one reason or another (Bloch 160). It is believed that Marie lived in the 12th century. Putting her debatable biographic information aside, her poetic works remain iconic; in fact, they are an everyday inspiration for upcoming poets. Through her ...

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Since time immemorial, the issue of gender has been subject to much debate. Literature captures gender perceptions of people in the past and the widespread sentiments of gender roles and equality back then. More often than not, women and men were boxed into the same set of roles in many classical literary pieces. Women were always portrayed as frail, gentle, submissive and passive. They obeyed their husbands and fathers without question. Men in classic literature always took on roles that characterized them as brave, strong, aggressive and initiator. Decision-making was their turf and they occupied positions of ...

The medieval times or the middle ages witnessed the inception of the ‘Romance’ literature. This kind of literature was inspired into being by the knights’ usually idealistic courtly love of the noblewomen they interacted with on occasion.

What was model knightly behavior in the 12th and 13th centuries?

Using Chretien as an example, knights were held very highly and they were expected to solve dilemmas, which ranged in nature from psychological to ethical dilemmas. A typical knight had a good grip of combat tactics as well as the ability to display martial prowess in rescuing ladies from monsters, giants, and wicked knights (Greenblatt, 8). Knights, such Alexander’s knights accompanied the ...