This document provides summaries of several literary works discussed in a power point for Week 6. It summarizes Marie de France's lais, including "Lanval" which explores gender roles and the dangers of isolation. It also discusses "Laustic," a short tale about an adulterous love triangle. Finally, it summarizes major themes in The Thousand and One Nights, such as gender dynamics and fear of female sexuality, concepts of justice, and how the character Shahrazad restores balance and order through her stories.

1. WEEK 6 POWER POINT
MARIE DE FRANCE’S LAIS AND THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS

2. AFTER THE FALL
OF ROME
The rise of Christianity – the new religion
answered longings for a “mystical faith that would
provide a sense of purpose” (Norton 1137)

3. AFTER THE FALL
OF ROME
The spread of Islam, based upon “the revealed
book and the life perfectly led” (1139). The spread
occurred through cultural and religious means but
also through military conquest.

4. AFTER THE FALL
OF ROME
The invention of “the West” (synonym for Christian
Europe, a more homogenous society than the
Islamic world) – at this time people defined
themselves by religious orientation first, and
ethnic orientation second (1143).

5. MARIE DE
FRANCE
“Her poems stand at the
intersection of oral and
written forms of literature,
as well as at the crossroads
of culture” (1405). She was
the first to bring the King
Arthur mythos into the
mainstream (1406).
In her “Prologue” (1406-
1407), she looks into the
question of why she
writes:
1) she feels she has a
duty to use the talent
God has given her;
2) work and diligence are
guards against vice;
3) she wants to preserve the tales
and legends that have been told
to her. In this sense she can be
seen as a precursor to writers like
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, with
their zeal to preserve the
folktales that have been passed
down orally through generations.

6. LANVAL AND
LAUSTIC
“Lanval” tells the story of a knight’s
encounter and love affair with a faery
woman. Major themes:
1) gender roles – though Lanval is a skilled and
honorable knight, his faery mistress is the one with
the power in the relationship (see p. 1410).
2) the dangers of isolation – twice in the story we
see Lanval bereft of friendship and support
3) the “forbidden thing” – if he does the one thing she
tells him not to do, he’ll lose all he has gained and be
worse off than before. But as always happens in stories
of this kind, he does that one thing.
4) a“Laustic” – very short tale of an adulterous love
triangle. Marie writes about the affair with
sympathy, yet the two adulterous lovers are made
to suffer.

7. THE THOUSAND
AND ONE NIGHTS
– MAJOR THEMES
1) gender dynamics, and how:
a) fear of female sexuality – while men have harems, a woman who has sex with
a man other than her husband deserves to die.
b) The story of the demon and the woman in the glass chest (1750-1751) puts
this into focus. The woman evades the demon’s efforts to contain her, literally
and figuratively. The two kings sympathize with the demon rather than with his
captive.
2) justice – the men in power respond out of proportion to
a wrong done them:
a) Shahrayar’s bloody marriage campaign creates general chaos (1752); the
demon in Shahrazad’s first story wants to kill a man in revenge for what is clearly
an accident (1757)
3) balance/order – Shahrazad restores it
a) In her stories, women may be destroyers (e.g. the jealous wife in the First Old
Man’s Tale, the adulterous wife in the Third Old Man’s Tale), but they may also be
healers and preservers. In all three old men’s stories, justice is served and honor
is restored by women.