Writing

Supposedly you are going to write an essay (of about 2,000-2,500 words) whose
title is “Political conflicts in Marie de France’s ‘Lanval’”. Write out an outline of
arguments you will develop for your essay.
One paradox Marie criticizes in "Lanval" is the way the right of primogeniture
produced a lower class of alienated younger sons who were forced to rely on
more powerful benefactors for financial assistance. The younger sons of lords
were frequently given to more powerful and affluent lords to be reared and
encouraged because they did not have the possibility to inherit land and money.
Younger sons of nobility were forced to live in a paradoxical situation where they
were expected to carry on their families' riches and rank yet frequently lacked the
resources to do so since these lords' failure to provide for those who relied on
them undermined the primogeniture right's supremacy (Finke and Shichtman
481). This custom is portrayed in "Le Fresne" when the lord decides to transfer
one of his sons to be reared by his aristocratic neighbor, probably as his heir, due
to the birth of two heirs. In "Lanval," the knight Lanval is described as being
"removed from his history" despite being the son of a high-ranking king and
having aristocratic ancestry (27-28). Because Lanval is distant from his house, it is
likely that he is a younger son who has been appointed to King Arthur's court. He
must consequently rely on King Arthur to provide him both territory and a
woman.