Marie De France

In this original and accessible Critical Companion to the works of Marie de France, Sharon Kinoshita and Peggy McCracken rethink standard questions of interpretation through topics with special relevance to medieval literature and culture. The multifaceted perspectives they bring to their interpretations highlight both the unity of Marie's oeuvre and the distinctiveness of the individual texts: the Lais, the Ysope (Fables), and the Espurgatoire seint Patriz. After situating the texts in their Anglo-Norman political, linguistic, and literary context, the Companion considers Marie's treatment of questions of literary composition in relation to the circulation, transmission, and interpretation of her works. Marie's social and historical engagements are illuminated by the prominence of feudal vocabulary, while her representation of movement across different geographical and imaginary spaces opens a window on plot construction. Embodiment provides an alternative to psychological motivation as a way of conceiving character. Repetition and variation are considered as a narrative technique within Marie's work, and as a cultural practice linking her texts to a network of twelfth-century textual traditions. The Conclusion, on the posterity of her oeuvre, combines a consideration of manuscript context with the ways in which later authors rewrote Marie's works. Sharon Kinoshita is Professor of Literature, University of California, Santa Cruz. Peggy McCracken is Professor of French, Women's Studies, and Comparative Literature, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.