The Lais of Marie de France presents an unorthodox view of the attitudes and behavior of women in Medieval Europe, a view which demonstrates that the male prescriptions designed to subjugate women and control their attitudes and behavior were not always followed by women of that era.
The women portrayed in the lays written by Marie are much stronger, independent and passionate than the official powers of that era would like us to believe. This female strength meant that men were not always as strong and dominant over women as those same official powers would have it.
As Marie writes in "Guigemar," one knight's love for his woman (who was herself married to the "lord who ruled over the city") put him in a position of subjugation to her: "The knight remained alone, mournful and downcast . . . He knew that, if he were not cured by the lady, his death would be assured. 'Alas,' he said, 'what shall I do? I shall go and ask her to have mercy and pity on this forlorn wretch. If she refuses my request, or is arrogant or harsh, then I must die of grief and languish forever from this ill'" (Marie 48).
Marie in a number of her lays is careful, however, to include the proposition that adultery is permissible according to her unorthodox moral code only if the lovers believe in God. There are also instances in which the male domination over women is portrayed, but the woman invariably frees herself from this imprisonment, by conventional or unconventional means. Both of these themes are included in "Yonec."
The woman in "Yonec" is held as literal prisoner in a tower by her elderly husband. She prays to God, wishing for the love of a courtly knight. A hawk flies into her cell and is transformed into the very knight she prayed for. He pledges his love for her: "The lady, now assured, uncovered her head and spoke. She answered the knight, saying that she would make him her lover, provided he believed in God, which would make ...