Introduction

Welcome to this digital exhibition!

In this exhibition, Bisclavret from Marie De France’s Lais Bisclavret is chosen as the monster that will be explored and analyzed alongside three relevant artefacts that are pictures of pages of manuscripts with the primary focus on an illustration on each respective manuscript. Bisclavret is a Lai, which can be defined as a medieval, lyrical poem, written by Marie De France in the years between 1150-1200.

Synopsis

To sum up Bisclavret, it is a story about a knight named Bisclavret who has a secret in which he turns into a werewolf when he does not have clothes on and later tells the secret to his wife who questions his disappearances from time to time. Later, Bisclavret’s wife betrays him by getting rid of his clothes and Bisclavret was stuck in his werewolf form. The king sees Bisclavret in his werewolf form and attacks but later showed mercy when Bisclavret showed signs of gratitude. Bisclavret is later invited to the kingdom and was loyal and friendly to everyone until his wife and her new partner showed up. Bisclavret, filled with rage, attacks his wife and her new partner, terrifying everyone including the king. However, the king rationally reasons why Bisclavret suddenly turned violent and only towards the two specific individuals and figures out Bisclavret secret. Finally, the king sides with Bisclavret and banishes Bisclavret’s wife from the kingdom as punishment.

Overview

Argument/Thesis:

With the chosen passage from Marie De France’s Lai Bisclavret, this exhibition aims to argue that Bisclavret should not be considered a monster, even though he is a werewolf, due to his descriptions and actions, such as his loyalty and friendliness to the king and the people surrounding him in the kingdom, within the poem and how other characters in the poem perceive of him. In particular, Bisclavret’s loyalty to the king and his behavior described within the poem makes Bisclavret more of a guard dog (or knight in his human form) rather than a monster. Additionally, the three chosen artefacts within the exhibition will work to support this argument and other scholarly sources will offer different interpretations and invite further discussions.

Connection between monster and artefact:

The primary connection between the monster, Bisclavret, and the three chosen artefacts is that all of them represent a type of canine: werewolf, wolf, and a dog. This exhibition will explore the similarities and differences between the different types of canines and how it relates to Bisclavret and supports the argument of how Bisclavret should not be considered as a monster but rather as a guard dog for the king.