Two of the werewolf lays, Biclarel and Melion, conclude with a warning for husbands to never fully trust their wives. Each narrator treats the scene where the wife abandons her werewolf husband with a matter-of-fact tone paralleling the description of the protagonist's transformation into a werewolf. In each lay, Bisclavret, Biclarel, and Melion reveal their secret to their wives during a hunt. These hunting scenes are the last moments of normal chivalric activity until King Arthur arrives and they demonstrate the honor of each protagonist through a demonstration of prowess and loyalty to their wives. How does the lay's brisk narrative style impact our sympathy for the werewolf and his wife once he tells her about his secret? Which of the three ladies committed the deepest betrayal and is her punishment at the end justified?
In each lay, the narrator threatens that the honorable knight who retains his wits will descend into bestial behavior until the king arrives and indicates a return to chivalry and order. The knight retains his human rationality and displays his humanity when he approaches his king in the form of a wolf, which juxtaposes his wife’s behavior. There is evidence of a full character arc in the final scenes, but only for the knight and not his wife. Bisclavret, Biclarel, and Melion demonstrate a moral decision when each attacks his wife and her new husband. This is a decisive choice between right and wrong. Likewise, the wolf won’t transform back into a man in public, as compared to when he changed for his wife as a display of his love for her. The bookends of these episodes happen under circumstances determined by chivalric codes and involve violence of some kind, signifying that the structure provided by chivalry trumps even the supernatural.
Each knight plays different roles ranging from dutiful husband to wolf-man to honorable knight. Even with a complex hierarchical society, Biclarel’s wife defines companionship, “Companionship must be uniform,/It must not be concealment or mastery,/ Because when one hides or conceals/ Good companionship dissolves” (l. 93-96, Biclarel). The best display of this kind of companionship is when each knight, in wolf form, submits himself before his king. In turn, the knight does not know the dark nature of his king like each lady learned about her husband. Given the similar events that occur in all three lays there is a strong argument, according to these authors, that secrecy creates better relationships. Does the narrator really underline the best moral that we can take away from these lays? Is it actually the one that is explicitly stated in the final lines of Biclarel and Melion?
When thinking about the moral of this story, I can't help but think that the whole "never trust your wives nor tell them secrets" is an extremely offensive moral from a feminist standpoint. But Maddie is right in that the moral is directed towards secrecy being implied as the way towards healthy relationships, but what should be highlighted is that it is not secrecy in general but secrecy on the part of WOMEN. What is perhaps a more interesting twist on the moral is that perhaps men are possessive ,as Melion points out in his words "Que nul autre home eüst amé,
ReplyDeleteNe que de nul eüst parlé" which are roughly translated into the fact that Melion looked for a women who not only had never loved another man but who had also never spoken of another man. This highlights the possessive nature of men. Also, the whole concept of the men becoming beasts highlights their savage nature and in an effort to take a stab at the anti-femminist moral of this story I would like to point out that portraying men as savage beasts could be emphasiszing their savage nature in regards to sexual pursuits. Unfortunately however, these morals are less obvious and it seems as though the more obvious moral was directed at undermining women and reducing them to untrustworthy temptresses. Their power is not celebrated but rather it is denounced.