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danycatreader 's review for:
Le Lai de Lanval
by Marie de France
Lanval, a small pretty book, is quite interesting, actually. It follows a simple structure: boy meets girl, girl is a fairy with conditions, boy doesn’t follow conditions because he’s threatened by the queen, fairy girl rushes in to save him. But it is set as an Arthurian knight: Lanval is the greatest, most interesting and nicest being on the planet but! no! one! recognizes! his! worth! Lanval as a character is almost like if you put a Mary Sue and an Emo in a blender. It is *hilarous* how he mopes around after breaking his deal with his fairy sugar mama. His friends have to actually check if he ate or drank water because the drama fest is too strong. I had a blast reading about him, even if there were problematic bits. But besides from that, he is not more of a character. Why was it called Lanval, again?
What bothered me the most was this awful trope of the wife who seduces the hero but blames him as a rape attempt. Of course paragon Lanval wouldn’t do such a thing and Guinivere is *evil* because she wanted to commit adultery and is now convicting an innocent man. It is a trope that exists everywhere in fiction but not a lot in reality. Are men so afraid of this happening that they write about it over and over again? Or is it a mustache-twirling trope to discredit women and victim-blame them so hard that no one believes them after they are actually assaulted? (For the record, I know it is wrong to put one’s current social issues into a medieval poem, but sue me. I cannot believe this is a trope as ancient as this. And I know it was written by a woman but I digress.)
Nevertheless, I liked this poem. My translation (it’s different from this but a valid source I swear) is pretty and has great rhymes that do not feel forced (which is something we take for granted). Also, it was interesting to see women take power, even if it is as *evil seductresses*, because, like I said earlier, Lanval is not much of a character. But the two ladies fighting for him should just kiss already with all that beautiful characterization and defiance of the Courtly Love Code. Also, there are certain sexual motives that peek through and are referred to by the editor and that was also very fun. It felt like opening a window into the courtly love society, with its paragon knights, fairies and romantic misadventures.
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(Note to myself: when did the terms of endearment come around?)
What bothered me the most was this awful trope of the wife who seduces the hero but blames him as a rape attempt. Of course paragon Lanval wouldn’t do such a thing and Guinivere is *evil* because she wanted to commit adultery and is now convicting an innocent man. It is a trope that exists everywhere in fiction but not a lot in reality. Are men so afraid of this happening that they write about it over and over again? Or is it a mustache-twirling trope to discredit women and victim-blame them so hard that no one believes them after they are actually assaulted? (For the record, I know it is wrong to put one’s current social issues into a medieval poem, but sue me. I cannot believe this is a trope as ancient as this. And I know it was written by a woman but I digress.)
Nevertheless, I liked this poem. My translation (it’s different from this but a valid source I swear) is pretty and has great rhymes that do not feel forced (which is something we take for granted). Also, it was interesting to see women take power, even if it is as *evil seductresses*, because, like I said earlier, Lanval is not much of a character. But the two ladies fighting for him should just kiss already with all that beautiful characterization and defiance of the Courtly Love Code. Also, there are certain sexual motives that peek through and are referred to by the editor and that was also very fun. It felt like opening a window into the courtly love society, with its paragon knights, fairies and romantic misadventures.
.
(Note to myself: when did the terms of endearment come around?)