A Woman Supporting Her Man

A WOMAN SUPPORTING HER MAN “There is nothing enduring in life for a woman, except what she builds in a man’s heart.” This quote by Judith Anderson provides a very accurate description of the role a woman was expected to play in med-evil times. This is the time frame in which Marie de France wrote the lay she called Eliduc. While it is a decent story, it is hardly distinguishable from all other med-evil …

…that Guildeluec plays that make Eliduc by Marie de France a unique story. Through the course of the story Guildeluec plays the role of a supportive wife, heroine, and finally a feminist. This portrayal of a woman in multi-roles in a decidedly different approach then the med-evil belief that a woman’s only role in life was to service her lord. Or perhaps, this is just another example of a med-evil woman supporting her man.