SOURCE: “The Giving and Withholding of Consent in Late Twelfth-Century French Literature,” in Reading Medieval Studies, Vol. 12, 1986, pp. 27-49.

In the following essay, Varty analyzes aspects of the Roman de Renart to illustrate and explain medieval views on rape and adultery.

My investigations into the depiction and punishment of rape in late twelfth-century literature in northern France stem from a particular interest in some of the earlier branches of the Roman de Renart. One of these early tales recounts how Renart first committed adultery with the wolf's wife, Hersent, and then how, soon afterwards, he raped her, and was seen to rape her by her husband, Ysengrin.¹ There is also a closely related story, a sequel, in which Ysengrin and Hersent complain to Noble, the lion and King of the Animals, their feudal overlord, about this crime, and seek justice at his hand.² In my efforts to see...