Lanval - Marie de France

This piece by Marie de France is a free love kind of story. The knight is in love with Queen of Babylon, who is of higher nobility than he is. This relationship must be kept secret - Lanval must tell no one. King Arthur's wife, however, is in love with the knight and he does not want anything to do with her. She, having the power she does, tells her husband that Lanval and her had an affair and that he loved her, sending him to court.

"'Lanval,' she said, 'my friend, my dear, I left my lands to come where you are; to find you I have come so far! Be valiant and courtly in everything, and no emperor, count or king ever had joy or blessing above you; for, more than any thing, I love you."

She has come such a long way to see him, her true love, and he loves her as well. He will drop everything for her as he is attracted to her beauty and wealth. However, no one can know of their love which makes it seem like she might be playing him and not totally serious about her love for him, using her status to blind him and take advantage of him to get what she wants. He agrees and likes this idea, being secretive about being in a relationship with a queen. Because of this love, he does not betray the king and pursue anything with his wife which causes her to lie about an affair to hte king. He told his secret - about his relatioship with Queen of Babylon - and loses contact with her. He cannot find her, making him distraught as he lost the love of his life. He has betrayed her and because of this, he believes that she will not come back and save him from punishment in court.

"'O King, I have loved your vassal, this one, here! I mean Lanval. In your court he's accused of crime. I didn't want him to have a bad time for what he said; all along, you know, the Queen was in the wrong; he never asked anything of her; as for his boasting of his lover, if the law's satisfied by what you see, may your barons set him free!'"

She came back for him, to free him from the punishments of the court. Her love for him was real. She told the king and the court the truth about the queen lying and being in the wrong. Beucase of this and her love bringing her back to him, the knight was freed and they were able to live and love each other. Once again, this shows how Marue de France is avoiding platonic relationships and showing relationships of true love.