Analysis

Bisclavret includes many important imagery and themes within the story which tells a bigger story to the readers. Through these medieval artifacts and sources, we can better understand my chosen passage and the artifacts that illuminates one another to understand more in depth about the Werewolf monster. Bisclavret is described by De France as a loyal, respectful, and loving character where even when he would transform into this "beast" he would not harm people and would come back the same way he left. The first medieval artifact that I chose (The British Museum, The Crazed Man, 1510-1515) shows an image of a man that looks like has transformed into a werewolf, going completely crazy and ripping the people of that village into shreds. I felt as this was interesting to touch on as Bisclavret is not at all like how werewolves are interepreted as. Bisclavret even admits to the wife when he was asked where he goes for three nights out of the week, trusting his wife with his secret. When betrayed by his wife, he was stuck as a werewolf until his clothing was returned. The passage describes when the King has found him, as a werewolf - asking for mercy to not be killed by the knights. Whether he was a man or an animal, his characteristics did not change and his values and morals stayed in tact. The King recognized this and took him in- the story seems as though it is sending the readers a message that honesty, loyalty, and respect goes a long way. The second artifact that I have chosen seemed significant as clothing is a very important symbol within the story. In the print, you can see that men are begging for clothing, showing that clothing is not something that is aquired easily and only people who are seen with high status can access clothing. I thought that this was significant as clothing is the one thing that helps him get back into a human and so it is very sacred to him. The Clothes in Bisclavret is what differentiates his appearance between human and werewolf. "The return of Bisclavret's own clothing will uncover his wife's duplicity and reveal his hidden identity." (Benkov, 1988) Not only does clothing define characteristics of the story but shapes the characters. My last artifact is an animal with a face that looks noseless, and this I thought that this was signficant as the one time that Bisclavret shows violence in the story is when he finds out that his wife was unfaithful to him and betrayed him. My passage describes a lot about loyalty and how the outcome of the story for Bisclavret was in a sense a good ending, where as for the wife, her ending is birthing children without noses. The werewolf is recognized for what he is, yet his presence within society is accepted. Marie's metamorphosis is completed as well. For, if Bisclavret's uniqueness cames from the fact that he is both man and beast, then Marie's inherent uniqueness is that she is bath woman and writer. (Benkov, 1988)