In what ways do you feel that the character of the faery queen in Lanval is or is not treated like an object? How much power does the faery queen’s objectification give to the faery queen? How much power does this obectification give to Lanval?
ENGL 365 | Medieval Object Ecologies
Dr. Myra Seaman | Fall 2014
The faery queen seems to become an object in both poems when Lanval uses her as a boast, “I have loved a fayryr woman than thou ever leydest thyn ey upon” (Sir Launfal, lines 694-695). She then moves from a multi-faceted, relational force to something highly valuable that Lanval possesses. I found it ironic that this is the same moment in which he seems to lose her. Maybe that was the point.
I feel like the story treats the faery queen as an object in the sense that she exists so that Lanval can discover his sexuality and mature throughout the lais. She speaks independently and has a sort of power over Lanval, but this becomes superficial when she saves him from the court despite him breaking his one promise. He boasts to the court about his new found love and uses her as an object of desirability and a tool to prove his innocence. The faery comes and saves him regardless of the promise breaking, which removes any level of consequence found within the story, as well.