Abstract
Marie de France's Lais presents a subtle play between the impossibility of describing the carnal act and the use of a studied language, which alludes to it, according to courtly codes. Lying down next to one another in a bed, laughing, playing, and talking, Marie de France's paintbrush does not proceed any further. But the intensity of sexual desire is conveyed through symbolic elements belonging to the natural world (trees, plants, birds). The lovers during their lifetime - prisoners of forbidden loves and abandoned to their sensual pleasures - risk death, but, thanks to the dialectic between love and death, their funeral beds, placed side by side, restore love mythically through the promise of an eternal fusion.
| Translated title of the contribution | Erotic scenes, courteous writing. The natural symbolism in Marie de France's Lais |
|---|---|
| Original language | French |
| Pages (from-to) | 185-195 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Clio: Histoire, Femmes et Societes |
| Volume | 31 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2010 |