In Lanval by Marie De France, Lanval acquires bottomless riches which he spends generously on strangers and friends who love him in return. Do you consider this love “bought” by Lanval? Discuss whether these relationships are meaningful beyond the riches.
ENGL 201 | British Literature to 1800
Myra Seaman | Fall 2012
Lanval, having immeasurable wealth, shares his riches with everyone, including the minstrels and the prisoners. His generosity expands beyond the class system of the time, and he is loved very much by the people who shares his wealth with. This isn’t a love that fades when Lanval stops giving out gifts though. His men continue to serve him when he is accused of insulting the queen, caring for him, making sure he eats.
(I didn’t finish the previous comment.) The community’s love for Lanval is not abandoned in his time of trouble, proving that despite having won over these people with money, the love lasts through to the bad times.
I agree that Lanval does not “buy” his love through riches. Lanval uses everything he has to treat and spoil the people who need it the most, as previously mentioned. If the people that he had purchased gifts for had betrayed him during his trial, then I think that the relationships would have been superficial. But, because these people stand by and support him during his time of need, I think their love for Lanval is genuine. Also, the poem stated that there were over 100 people who wanted to see Lanval be free and not have to suffer the consequences of the trail because they felt that he was “wrongly accused.” Real love does not abandon people in their time of despair, and Lanval’s friends did not do that to him.
After doing the reading, I felt that he did not share his riches to buy love but out of respect of sharing his wealth and success with others who are less fortunate. he being a popular knight which one can tell from the way the Queen throws herself at him. When he is accused of coming on to the Queen, his friends still support him and try their best to get him off the trial. They do all of this without Lanval giving anything to them.
I agree with Cassie Moore that he did not necessarily buy his love through his unending wealth. One of the reasons why I believe this is true, is because during that time period, material gifts in return for loyalty, love and service was still very common. The giving of gifts was another way to show his appreciation for the current/ or future loyalty that the people would give him later on. There is a part of me, however, that wonders what would have happened if Lanval did NOT share his wealth with the people. Would they still have backed him up during the trial? I have a feeling that they wouldn’t have gone to the pains they did to support him if they weren’t getting anything in return. I’m not trying to contradict my previous statement, but I think that he gave his wealth without trying to buy people’s love, yet if he didn’t, I don’t think the love would have been as strong. Probably would still have supporters, just not necessarily as many.
In a modern day reader’s perspective it would seem that Lanval was “buying” the love of his friends and family but in this period of time it was not a superficial act to share your wealth with other people in your community. Going off of the comment above with the “100 people wanted to see him be free”, says a lot about his character and that the people genuinely cared about his well being and wanted justice for him. If Lanvals love was not real and he just wanted to bribe these people to follow him then they would have been able to see through him and not help him in his time of need. But the people all stuck together and they trusted that Lanval was telling the truth and the Queen was lying. Because of the peoples support Lanval did get the justice he needed. I agree with the fact that true love will stick by you no matter what, for richer or poorer. It is important that the people in Lanvals community stuck by him because he was genuine with his gift giving, and the people did not give up on him in his time of need after everything he has done for them.
Maybe we can go further back to the beginning of the poem to answer the question of buying someone’s love by looking at where Lanval acquired this wealth to share within the community. He got it from his beloved, whom he loves for the following reasons: beauty & wealth. I would consider this love to be bought, which I thought about throughout the reading. Lanval’s beloved used her riches to buy Lanval’s love, and Lanval then used those riches to buy the love of the community. I almost disagree with previous comments that say that he didn’t buy the love of other knights and nobles; I believe he did, and that may be a modern view of the situation, but what other reason besides beauty does he have to absolutely love this woman, and what reason besides the sharing of wealth do the members of the community have to remain on Lanval’s side throughout his rough times going through trial and whatnot because of his “crime”?
I feel that Lanval is a genuine person. He wouldn’t need to buy anyone’s love or acceptance. I felt like he was doing what any person with a good heart would do–share what they had if they had a surplus. Plus the fact that there could be deeper reasons of why he loves this woman. And maybe he was a good leader and his followers would stand by him no matter how rich he was.
I agree with Zoey. It seems that this question seems to state that he gains love through his wealth rather than with it. He is rapidly losing his fortune at the beginning of the poem when he first meets his beloved and she bestows upon him all the wealth he, and his needy friends, could ever want. I believe that Lanval’s love is “bought” by his beloved’s beauty and love of him rather than her wealth. In turn, I feel that Lanval’s friends love him through his good virtues and loyalty rather than solely because of his wealth. I feel that this poem is not so much about wealth as it is about beauty, love, and loyalty.
I agree with you, Kaya. I believe that at his time of weakness, shown by him losing his monetary wealth, he gains prosperity when he meets his beloved. She bestows emotional wealth upon him with her love and compassion. Although he does gain his fortune back, it could be argued that he became wealthy than he was before. So the question really shouldn’t be that he gained love through his fortune, it should be whether he gained fortune through her love.
I think I see some truths on both sides of the spectrum. I agree that the evidence of many of the people standing by Lanval when he’s on trial suggests that their love was genuine. However, I agree with Zoey and the comments following her, in that their love might have been bought at least initially. In the beginning of the poem, it seems that Lanval isn’t anyone of the noblemen’s favorite man. Perhaps it’s not the riches that “buy” their love over to Lanval, but instead how he uses the riches in a noble manner, giving them to prisoners and anyone in need. It almost seemed like he had to prove himself as a man of character before they would love him unconditionally.
After reading Lanval by Marie De France the concentration of riches correlating with love became a main focus. However, It was clear through the text that the relationships were more than just materialistic. Even if the riches were non-existent it seemed as though the relationships would not have changed at all. When Lanval is receiving these generous riches his first thought is to spread his prosperity with others. This shows the Selflessness that Lanval represents throughout the story. Although the recipients of the riches and goods are incredibly appreciative, this does not effect the meaning within their relationships. The people are obviously very grateful and honored that Lanval would give so much care to them, however they still think as highly of them as they did before. This is clear when Lanval is in a tough position and is no longer providing the people with gifts, but they stick by his side and continue to serve him. I feel that the love-relationship between Lanval and the friends and strangers, was by no means “bought” or fake. If this were the case then the relationships would not have been consistently strong even when Lanval was going through a rough time. This proves in itself that this is a sincere love.
I agree with what the majority of the class has been saying, however I can’t help but go back to the beginning of the poem in which Lanval is first introduced to us. In lines 15- 24, Marie de France writes: “To The members of the Round Table — they had no equal in all the world — he shared out wives and land among all except one who had served him: that was Lanval, whom he did not remember, nor did any of his men favor him. For his valor, his generosity, his beauty, his prowess, most people envied him; many a one pretended to love him….”
I have no doubt that Lanval is genuine with his actions and dispersal of wealth to all in the kingdom. That is clear from this first initial description of him. So to answer the original question, I don’t believe Lanval set out to buy appreciation and love from the other knights and members of the kingdom, however it seems that the townspeople interpreted as such. They clearly were jealous of him and he was not favored, yet once he was blessed with all these riches and material things from his lover, the townspeople came flocking to him and running to his aide.
In contrast to what most of the previous comments have mentioned, I do believe that Lanval “bought” the love he received from his men as well as the strangers. In the beginning of the poem, lines 13 through 20, show how the king as well as his men did not “favor” Lanval. The King didn’t share any of his wealth with him, and the other men ignored him altogether. Lanval then goes to the meadow in despair, because he doesn’t know what he’s going to do once he’s spent all his wealth. Once his beloved gives him immense riches and wealth, he proceeds to share them with the kingdom. In return, the people befriend him. This specifically shows that they did not acknowledge Lanval before he shared his wealth amongst them. Towards the end of the poem, all the people are in dismay that Lanval may be sentenced for his crimes. I believe this is a direct result of their loyalty to Lanval because of how well he took care of all of them previously. The bond that is made between Lanval and the kingdom is done directly through wealth.
I agree with Cassie, I believe that Lanval is truly a generous person and shares his riches with people that are not so fortunate themselves. Lanval is very rich, but I do not believe that he tries to make people like him or form any relationships by showering strangers and friends with gifts. Lanval comes off to be a genuine person who really just gives from the goodness of his heart. He does not expect love in return, he just recieves it because he is a nice person. Even when he was in some trouble of his own, the people that love him were there for him the whole time and made sure he was okay. Therefore, the relationships he formed are meaningful and not made just because he gives the people gifts.
In Lanval, he does indeed shower his peers in riches; he has bottomless riches that he shares with everyone, including minstrels and prisoners. I don’t believe that Lanval buys his love. I believe Lanval’s reasoning behind showering his peers in riches consists of his want to treat and spoil his people. He wants to share his wealth and success with others, especially those less fortunate. He even distributes his money to the minstrels and prisoners, the people who need it the most. The community does not abandon Lanval in his time of need; they stand by him and support him. This proves that although Lanval has won over the community by his endless wealth, his people continue to support him even through troubled times.