Introduction

My chosen monster will be the werewolf in reference to the story by Marie de France “Bisclavret.” Bisclavret directly translates to “the Werewolf” as this text was originally written in French. The passage that I have chosen describes when Bisclavret was hunted, however kissed the King’s feet to ask for mercy. When he showed respect and loyalty to the King, the King saw “a man” in Bisclavret and decided to take him in to protect him. In the passage it writes that “he loved the wolf and held it dear… for his love, guard it (Bisclavret) well and not mistreat the animal.” (line 169-172) The whole passage shows how much the King valued and loved Bisclavret, and very much describes his cherishment and love towards the animal. Bisclavret would do anything for his King who took him in and protected him from the wilderness of the outside world. 

Bisclavret is seen as non-violent, whether he be a man or a werewolf. The only time he was seen as vicious or violent was towards his ex-wife, who was unfaithful to him.  Now that he was a werewolf “forever” (at this point in the story) those qualities of him never changed. I felt that this artifact was appropriate as the King took the animal in even when others were trying to do him harm, because he saw “a man” in the animal; who showed him all the qualities that Bisclavret has. Loyalty, Respect, and Protection to those who are honest and true are themes that I see in the story. Werewolves are seen as vicious and evil monsters as seen in my chosen image. However, the image does not capture what Bisclavret is like and quite frankly shows the complete opposite of his personalities and humanness. Bisclavret loved his wife and always wanted to protect her, thus was the reason why he did not tell her where he was when he turned into a werewolf. The way he is decribed in the passage and the loyalty and love he has for the King who rescued him from the wildnerness shows that he is compassionate and would never hurt anybody, even though he is seen as a "mosnter." The image depicts werewolves as evil, who goes around torturing the people, thus described as "Crazed man." But Bisclavret is not like this werewolf as seen in the image and is completely a different breed shown through his humanness and personality.