Bisclavret's wife admits she's hesitant to question him specifically because she fears his anger, even though he is convincingly calm and sweet when she admits this - so convincingly that she announces, "...now I'm cured!" Let's keep in mind, the only thing she's questioning are his whereabouts over the course of three days...that's about half a week! She should be the angry one! However, I can't blame the girl. She's only trying to foreshadow the fact that half of him physically becomes a beast.
When she finally does ask, Bisclavret says, "'I become a werewolf: I go off into the great forest, in the thickest part of the woods, and I live on the prey I hunt down,'" (and how does he say he goes? Stark naked? Yeah, I'm sure you do, bud. Your side babe probably finds the werewolf fantasy sexy too.)
Bisclavret's wife responds to the apparent truth that her husband becomes a werewolf on the days he is missing without surprise; she expresses no shock or amazement that her husband does this. It's as if it's normal for people to become werewolves, and perhaps, to her, it is. Either way, her only response is to further question him - this time, on the whereabouts of his clothes. At this point, Bisclavret had already declared, "'There's nothing you could want to know that, if I knew the answer, I wouldn't tell you.'" Hence, he reveals the location of his clothes as well. It's after this truth that the wife expresses "fear" or "terror" for "the whole adventure," or the whole idea of her husband in physical beast mode. (She doesn't even want to sleep with his savage ass.) Wait...I thought the only thing she had to fear was his anger? WAIT...the beast is the anger. The husband's physical werewolf state is the symbolic representation of actual, emotional anger, which Bisclavret doesn't express at all until his wife betrays him. The wife fails to separate the physical world from the emotional one. She immediately decides to telephone a new lover, but I don't know why. Is she getting even?
The wife's betrayal seals Bisclavret in his lean, mean werewolf body forever, just like he says it would. However, the king and his court recognize that Bisclavret may look like a beast, but his mind is still human. His gratitude toward the king and his court for protecting him makes sense, and his anger towards his wife and her new husband also makes sense. I'm glad there was a handy-dandy wise man to speak up for this sense in defense of Bisclavret by informing the king that there must be a reason why the beast is nice to everyone except two specific people.
At this point in the poem, my little cheating metaphor falls apart entirely and it becomes clear that this lai is more about fear, anger, and mistrust than anything. The poem ends with the only punishment worse than death for this wife: banishment and a noseless lineage. Fine, but...is this nose thing supposed to be humurous? I agree that it would stink (no pun intended) to live without a nose, but it can't possibly have any significance, can it?
The Lais of Marie de France. Translated, with an introduction and notes, by Robert Hanning and Joan Ferrante. (1978)
It was a good idea, the metaphor of him cheating. I wouldnt have thought about that, I believed in the werewolf thing. One thing I dont understand about the poem is something you mentioned, which was why she cheated to begin with? I understand that he turns into a werewolf, but when he told her she wasnt surprised or shocked, or didnt even seem scared, so why? if she seemed content with it. Also, nice gif at the end lol
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