Yvain - The Knight with the Lion

Women play an important role in The Knight with the Lion. They play a role not only in influencing the heroes, but also in influencing the events of the story and the storyline itself. It is also clear that those women have the authority to act peacefully and independently of men. It appears that the Knights do not have the authority to decide what to do (Beck 342). Rather, the knights gathered in halls at the request of maidens, damsels, or women. This demonstrates that women had an impact on social issues. Furthermore, the Knights' courtesy and virtue did not allow them to ignore the wishes of damsels. A woman character who is portrayed as active and authoritative is Queen Guinevere (Beck 337). She is painted as a female who is somewhat strong as she manages to detain her husband in bed in the duration of Pentecostal feast. Despite King Arthur being the host of the event, he falls asleep beside his queen. This is one of the reasons as to why Queen Guinevere is perceived to be an active character. While The Knight with the Lion is dominated by male characters, female characters play significant roles in the story, acting as the embodiment of reasons in the story, besides having autonomy and individuality defined through mannish signifiers.
The queen's potency and force are evident when Guinevere becomes almost confused and presses Calogrenant to carry on with the story about his disgrace. At this point, the powers of the queen at the court become open once again. The queen is the only female figure in this communal gathering of knights (Priestley 28). The Knights' conversation is shaped by her influence. She is approved in the midst of men, an act that confers her with the power to do something as well as to impact on the event. Kay is rebuked by the Queen for making fun of Calogrenant's story. However, Kay reminds the queen of her role after being reprimanded by Guinevere.
In The Knight With the Lion, women have the autonomy, and their individuality is defined through mannish signifiers. Yvain pleads with every woman he comes into contact with, most particularly Laudine (Priestley 40). This is shown by his statement that he is destined to be in Laudine’s power from that time. Instead of Yvain being the authority, he willingly makes himself Laudine’s servant. Laudine's notion is that she does not need a man to structure her might, and although her husband is murdered, on the burial day, a few hours after the killing, she stops her sobbing claiming that it is not proper for a high born lady like her to persist in mourning for so long. Her sorrow is subsided for her to show her potency. Her right over sphere requires being enforced by a man so that she can have a knight that will allow her to defend her territory. For that reason, she marries Yvain, outlining that he will be her husband and the Lord of her land (Priestley 62). She uses possessive nouns carefully, and in this case, Yvain is her husband; she is not his wife, meaning that she is the one to make decisions on whatever they feel like doing. Additionally, when an additional maiden wants to be rescued from a monster, and damsel wishes to be saved from capital punishment order on a false charge of disloyalty, Yvain yields his self-sufficiency to take action on their behalf. The maiden's abstinence is conserved by the masculine act, just as the innocence of the damsel is resolute by Yvain’s battle (Sullivan 560). These women’s identities are validated by masculine action. After Yvain met a maiden and proved to her that, he is man enough and not afraid, the maiden agrees to serve him and honor him too. He is hidden from his enemies, cared for his wounds, besides being fed by her. However, his real injury that could not easily recover was taken care of because the maiden had dedicated her love wholly to him. Although his mission was initially projected for the reason of attesting himself in the battle as well as seeing newfangled wonders, it demonstrates that competence also attracts real women.
In the story, we learn that a woman who is unable to carry a shield is capable of improving and strengthening her position by marrying a great Aristocrat. Moreover, since a woman goes for the mainly flourishing Knight to see that she raises her status, a woman's love as well has a result of validating the achievement of a knight (Samuelson 340). The people who exhibit the best logic of chivalry, however, are also required to verify the level of chivalric worth that a man has attained. Even though Yvain had gone out of the King's court as a means to break away from the scheme and revolt in an attempt to only pay attention on his accomplishments, getting love in a different court shows that the structure of courtly love, as well as chivalry, were unavoidable (Gifford 83). It was to be expected that in the hunt for competency, he would get women's love, more particularly in a community that treasured knights who wanted to verify themselves along with facing trials endlessly.
If chivalrous love demonstrated by women in the story would be as simple as the thought that both men and women significantly need one another so that they can be able to add to their reputation and respect, the tale of The Knight with the Lion could end after captivating Laudine's love. On the other hand, unlike Cliges, Lancelot, and Erec, Yvain tried to do his best to break out of love constraints and focus exclusively on his achievements as a knight not handcuffed by love. Gawain triggers Yvain’s need for exploration through abusing the knights who enter marriage, forgetting their extra responsibilities (Gifford 120). Gawain, being a known knight for his devotion to chivalric obligation, gives Yvain some reasons on the importance of him leaving his wife to go and seek explorations. He first says that love cannot thrive if the worth of one of the associates declines. In addition to that, he says that the admiration one enjoys as well as one's internal value is improved through that persons' involvement in the life of the court and tournaments. With the intention of making his friend guilty on an individual level, he says that even if Yvain accompanies his Gauvain to contests, their togetherness will be intact in spite of the marriage (Fowler 50). He finally appeals to the associations through reminding Yvain that the happiness of love is bigger when there are hindrances to its comprehension. Gawain, in this act, has reserved on the narrators' voice, and he points out the opinions by Chrétien that love has to at all time rank under courtliness, which is the final goal. By means of his conceit and obligation to his friends, respect, and line of work in jeopardy, Yvain takes a leave of Laudine and travels for a year, as he does not have a choice. As trimmings to his achievement, his wife along with his associates, Knight, takes up Yvain's pronouncement to carry on with his mission for ability and honor. On the other hand, they only concur while his pursuit at the same time remains inside the limits of his love relations. His wife comprehended his requirement to leave. Nevertheless, she limited him, allowing him to be out for one year and she made sure that he would maintain a balance and not to forget about love.
After the stipulated time for Yvain to be out-passed, a maiden was sent to him by Laudine. This maiden was to reproach Yvain for the lack of loyalty. This hit on his relationship, along with failure to bear in mind his obligations in all aspects of his life, brought him terrible shame, and resulted to self-hatred. He had no one to comfort him in the bereavement he had brought unto himself (Sullivan 48). We are told that a violent tornado broke loose in his head, making him go mad. Yvain tried to relinquish the confusions of love in his trail for triumph. However, when he mislaid all contact with features of chivalrous love, he mislaid all contact with people. Noble love is essential for a knight to stay put and stranded in his new pursuits (Schiff 340). Because of focusing, largely, on his chivalric and knightly duties, Yvain did not have balance in addition to that he lost power over himself.
Opportunely, Chrétien offers a remarkably alike case in which Blancheflor persuades a very innocent and unidentified Perceval to sort her drive. He appears to her overwhelmed fortress looking for protection, which she is willingly given. Afterward, in the heart of the night, distressed with qualms for her protection, she makes an entry into the room in which Perceval is and cries over him until he wakes up (Anderson 75). She then goes on to inform him of her plot to kill herself. She tells him she intends to kill herself if her fortress cannot be safeguarded. She says Clamadeu will not possess her body until she is dead for she keeps in one of her boxes a knife of faultless steel which she intends to force into her body. Chretien claims that this is not true, the reason being that she had arrived to weep for no other motive, other than pretending. He says that it would be better if she inspired in him the longing to take on the battle (Fowler 43). She is then invited by Perceval to share a bed with her (Beck 330). Perceval places her gently and in a comfortable way under the bedspread, she allows him to kiss her, and she does not get satisfied. This act is not different from the woman who tries seducing Gawain. However, in this situation, Blancheflor acts in her curiosity. Gawain has hidden motives, and in addition to that, she is not lined by lust akin to chansons to get a woman.
As much as needed, her hard work works and Perceval heeds to her request to fight for her. On the other hand, when he makes a request for them to be lovers, Blancheflor replies that she does not declare that he would make a step to die for her on the circumstance that she becomes his sweetie, claiming that that would be largely ill fated as he is not old enough nor healthy. She goes on assuring him to ever hold himself in skirmish or fight in opposition to a knight who is more robust and tall like the one that was waiting for him. Regardless of her seeming doubts, one can straightforwardly envisage how her uncertainties would make Perceval to battle harder; furthermore, this is her objective. She fabricated to dishearten him by her words; even nonetheless she wished that he fought. However, it happens over and over again that a person hides his/her true wishes when he/she sees someone enthusiastic to ratify them, in a bid to augment his wish to accomplish them (Sullivan 35). As a result, she acted smartly. Perceval is manipulated by Blancheflor from the start to the ending of his time in her company. Even while he feels like leaving to see if his mother is still alive, she employs all her tricks to see that he stays. She even goes a mile to command her folks to plead with him (Priestley 102). Even though he leaves, and meets the King, Blancheflor comes up with an outstanding base for strong females in romances as well as showing how Chrétien tries to pose the questions of male supremacy in the fight with feminism.
Additionally, the king’s wife, making him not to attend the event on an important night, tricked the king. This shows how women have the power to lure men from doing certain things that may be more important just to see that their (women) interests are served. Chrétien uses this act to display the weaknesses in the king. Although the king chose to vacate the event on him, we see from the peoples’ remarks that the wife is blamed for luring the king away. The tone of this story places suspicion on the intent and morals of women as well as the deficiency of resistance men have in apprehension to this disparity. For a chivalric structure to work in the courts, women have to persist as trimmings to males. Now that danger looms for women, Chrétien shows the great ambition and pride of male knights. Once a chance for a confrontation ascends, and the king proclaims his plan to take revenge on Calogrenant, Yvain gets disappointed as he had the expectation of going there all alone. Yvain knew that Kay or Gawain would be approved the go ahead to fight first, and he also had the desire to amplify his fame. Irritated for exploit and looking ahead to new explorations that will make him test himself, Yvain prepared strategies to leave earlier than the rest of the quad. Yvain, knowing the repercussion of involving a woman in between male relationships, he discovers the importance of seeking a prowess on his own.
To sum up, women in The Knight with the Lion are portrayed as the embodiment of reasons in the story, besides having autonomy and individuality defined through mannish signifiers. Chivalric displays are praised in the first prospect of The Knight with the Lion. The initial case in the plot raises questions concerning women’s role in the court. As an outcome, the role of women in shaping love in the court is positioned in doubt as an alternative to chivalry. In the story, men appear seemingly outstrengthed or hopelessly outnumbered. The female characters presented by Chretien stresses and advocates for a love that renders men prisoners. The love depicted in the story is one that is cultivated by female characters, the epitome of the characters being Laudine and Ywaine. Overall, in the story, it is evident that in most cases, feminine individuality is represented by masculine action. There is no question of morality and ethics. For instance, we have the two sisters, an elder and younger sister who are represented by Gawain and Yvain and the law states that the elder sister is the one on the wrong. However, the battle is made anyway. The sister to win the argument is the one represented by the mightier knight. This nonexistence of reason and morality is at hand the time when Laudine’s servant tells her about the qualities of Yvain. The story largely concerns the role women, depicting them as the bedrock of reason.

Works Cited

Anderson, Brendan W. "Female Agency in the Age of Chivalry: Charting a Tradition of Mutual Chivalry in Chrétien de Troyes." Undergraduate Thesis, 2015. http://scholarworks.uvm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=castheses. Accessed 2015.
Beck, Christian. "Shaping Our (Medieval) Future through Nomadic Insurgency: A Radical Reading of Ywain and Gawain." (Mediaevalia), no. 36(1), 2016, pp. 325-351. http://thebooksout.com/downloads/shaping-the-future-through-aquatics.pdf. Accessed 2016.
Fowler, Rebekah M. "Caritas Begins at Home: Virtue and Domesticity in Chrétien's Yvain." (Arthuriana), no. 27(1), 2017, pp. 43-72. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/653504. Accessed Spr. 2017.
Gifford, David. "Sweet and Bitter Waters : Religious Themes and Imagery in Chrétien de Troyes’ Yvain." The Ashen Egg, 2014.
Priestley, Adele. "Failures of Chivalry and Love in Chretien de Troyes." (2014).
Samuelson, Charlie. "The Beast That Therefore Chrétien Is: The Poetics, Logic, and Ethics of Beastliness in Yvain." (Exemplaria), no. 27(4), 2015, pp. 329-351. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/1041257315Z.00000000078. Accessed Oct. 12., 2015.
Schiff, Randy P. "Reterritorialized Ritual: Classist Violence in Yvain and Ywain and Gawain." (Texas Studies in Literature and Language), no. 56(3), 2014, pp. 227-258. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/553064/pdf. Accessed Fall, 2014.
Sullivan, Joseph M. "Arthur of the Northeast: The Old Swedish Herr Ivan Redraws the King Arthur of Chrétien's Yvain." (Scandinavian Studies), no. 87(1), 2015, pp. 33-61. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/scanstud.87.1.issue-1. Accessed Spr., 2015.