SOURCE: "The Image of the Tournament in Marie de France's 'Le Chaitivel'," in Romance Notes, Vol. XVI, No. 3, Spring, 1975, pp. 686-91.

In the following essay, Cowling refutes critical opinion that the lady in the lai "Chaitivel" is selfish and cruel.

That the lais of Marie de France concentrate upon delicate feelings and exquisite emotions has long been recognized. Years ago J. D. Bruce wrote [in The Evolution of Arthurian Romance From the Beginnings Down to the Year 1300, 1928] of the romantic charm and grace of the lais, and Gaston Paris characterized the tone of Marie's work as "tendre et mélancolique" [La Litterature française au moyen age, 1909]. More recently John Stevens has argued that in the lais Marie creates images—objects, incidents, or characters—which convey or serve as the focus for the "feeling" of the narrative ["The granz biens of Marie de France," Patterns of Love and...