1/21 Question

Although Bisclavret’s wife betrayed him and leaves him as a werewolf in the woods, she keeps the clothes capable of turning him back. Why do you think this is? Is there underlying guilt or hope that one day she can turn him back? Or she did not want to risk him finding them? Since Bisclavret probably would’ve been able to find the clothes on his own if he would’ve looked, why do you think he accepted his fate in the woods so submissively?

13 thoughts on “1/21 Question

  1. I think Bisclavret’s wife keeps the clothes because she fears that he may find them if she does not keep them hidden. Her eagerness to betray Bisclavret demonstrates that she feels absolutely no remorse about the situation. As soon as she comes up with a plan of escaping her marriage, she sends a messenger to her suitor saying “I grant you my love and my body, too/ Take me, make me your lover, you”. Clearly she does not hesitate to move on from Bisclavret and offer herself to another man. Even though she made many promises to Bisclavret to remain faithful and loyal, she betrays him the second she can. There is no underlying guilt or hope; just a selfish woman betraying her man.

    • I agree that Bisclavret’s wife does not seem to feel remorse for betraying Bisclavret because she drops him like an 8AM lecture after finding out about his condition. She already had someone lined up. I think it is interesting, however, that she does not avoid Bisclavret and the King when she learns that they are returning to the forest. The text reads, Bisclavret’s wife knew it; she dressed / Herself in her attractive best, / Next day, to go speak to the King” (7). She actively goes to the King and Bisclavret in her finest clothing, and I cannot reconcile that with the idea of a character who is afraid of what Bisclavret could do and a woman how has no remorse for what she did.

      • I think Wilson is exactly right about her holding no hope for Bisclavret’s return as her lover. In the lay there is no evidence at all that she feels remorseful in her decision to have the knight steal away his clothes. In fact, the only real motivation behind the decision was a sexual one, since “she didn’t want ever to share his bed.” Her first reaction after discovering the truth was even sexualized, as she contacted the knight whom she had “never loved” and offered him “[her] body.” She mentions nothing of her care for Bisclavret’s character, but only focuses on the fact that this truth about him puts a barrier between their most primitive connection — a sexual one. Her dressing her best to speak to the King, in my interpretation, does not prove her remorseful of her act. In fact, it proves her truly proud of what she has done. She isn’t bowing down at Bisclavret’s feet to apologize. She is dressing her best and showing off the fact that she is completely unfazed by his absence in her new life. Avoiding Bisclavret would have actually shown more remorse than simply strutting in front of him in her “attractive best.”

    • I agree that the wife is evil in the intent that she leaves the marriage by betraying him, but I also believe that the only reason she kept the clothes instead of destroying them was to keep two men at bay and make one suffer along the way. Knowing she has the power to keep him as a werewolf might make her happy in some twisted way. I’m not sure Bisclarvet if I missed it stating whether or not he knew she still had the clothes but I think the only reason he didn’t try to search for them is because he didn’t know she still had them.

      I also believe that he had faith in his king to aid him as he continued to serve as a loyal subject even as a werewolf. He had hopes that if he were to change back that would be his best bet. Given the history of all the Knights meeting, he knew a chance would arise.

  2. Perhaps she has some underlying guilt for the sheer fact that she kept the clothes. After all, if she didn’t want him ever to turn back into a man the natural conclusion would be to destroy the clothes. As for why he simply accepted his fate, I believe it had a bit to do with social pressure. “Having lost him so often, indeed / Everyone generally agreed / That he had finally left for good”. His wife assumed he was having an affair and that’s why he disappeared for long periods, and from that line it is my opinion that everybody else assumed he was having an affair as well. Knowing this, the Bisclavret probably felt that it was better for everyone to think he had left with his mistress than know he was a werewolf.

    • I actually disagree that she felt guilt. She was so determined to have her way in getting rid of her husband, she was willing to seduce another to use as a pawn in her scheme. “She sent him to get his clothes./Thus was Bisclavret betrayed/And by his own wife waylaid.” There’s no hint of remorse in her actions, just the facts.

      When she’s caught, she also shows no sign of remorse. She’s tortured and out of fear of either being caught or fear of her Lord, she confesses. “From pain just as much as from fear,/She told him her lord’s whole affair:/How she’d betrayed him”.

      The wife kept the clothes out of security so she could cover her own ass. There was no guilt written there, only selfish desires.

      • Agreed, it is doubtful from the text that the wife of Bisclavret felt guilt – more likely it seems she began to loathe him. The quotes you’ve provided are more than enough evidence that the author wishes us to think the wife a villain. What’s more interesting is why would our werewolf of the lay accept a life in the woods? Perhaps he had faith that his form would be restored? His submissive nature towards the King is typical of chivalrous knights in those days, so much so that others are convinced that the “garwolf” is human. Maybe the subtext here is to enforce the morality of the feudal system that the Normans instituted. Among the knights, close to the King.
        Every man thinks it a precious thing,
        For it’s so gentle, well-bred, polite,
        It never would do what isn’t right.
        Wherever the King might go
        It didn’t want to be separated, so
        It went along with him constantly.
        That it loved him was easy to see.”
        There isn’t enough to go on in the text to say for sure, but that’s my guess.Agreed, it is doubtful from the text that the wife of Bisclavret felt guilt – more likely it seems she began to loathe him. The quotes you’ve provided are more than enough evidence that the author wishes us to think the wife a villain. What’s more interesting is why would our werewolf of the lay accept a life in the woods? Perhaps he had faith that his form would be restored? His submissive nature towards the King is typical of chivalrous knights in those days, so much so that others are convinced that the “garwolf” is human. Maybe the subtext here is to enforce the morality of the feudal system that the Normans instituted. Among the knights, close to the King.
        Every man thinks it a precious thing,
        For it’s so gentle, well-bred, polite,
        It never would do what isn’t right.
        Wherever the King might go
        It didn’t want to be separated, so
        It went along with him constantly.
        That it loved him was easy to see.”
        There isn’t enough to go on in the text to say for sure, but that’s my guess.

  3. It is in my opinion that Bisclavret’s wife decides to keep the clothes of her lord for two reasons. Firstly, the maiden is aware of her husband’s obsession with honor. As recognized by his knightly peers, Bisclavret is of too high honor to reveal his beastly transformation before the king. Surely, the knight would not cause panic to his old hall simply to look for clothes he is not sure still exist. Perhaps his wife felt some form of guilt over her actions but I agree with Wilson in that she was very quick to hop on the the other knight’s sword. Instead I would say she was acting tactifully in keeping the last pair of garments Bisclavret was known to wear as evidence of his final departure. As Bisclavret would to some level recognize the betrayal long before he ever saw it with his own eyes, it is only the sight of his good king that he even tries to save some purpose to his suddenly uncivilized condition.

  4. In the beginning of the poem when Bisclavret and his wife are newlyweds they are described as happy and in love. But his wife becomes worried about his activities and this is when she begins questioning him and where he goes for three nights out of the month. It is then that he reveals that he is a werewolf and he reveals the hiding place for his clothing that turns him back into a human. The lady plots against her husband and takes his clothing, making him a permanent werewolf.

    I believe that Bisclavret’s wife kept his clothing instead of destroying it because she had initially loved her husband and did keep it out of guilt. She never intended to leave Bisclavret- but she left him out of fear or, perhaps, shame of the beast that he really was. de France says that when Bisclavret’s wife hears of his adventures “In terror she blushed all bright red.” To me, this sounds like shame or embarrassment. At this point, the lady begins planning her escape. She knows there is a knight that loves her but she never “let him think her love was his” because she had always been in love with her husband. However, once she realizes that the husband she loves is a sort of beast, she decides that she must leave him and marry the knight. So, I think she kept the clothing out of guilt or maybe as a token of her lost love.

  5. The theme of love and loss is established early on in the narrative. Bisclavret’s wife says to him, “I’m so afraid I’ll lose you, dear,” despite the fact that “every week he was lost to her.” Bisclavret’s wife’s motivations seem to lie less in her guilt, which is virtually nonexistent, given that she remarries and subsequently has numerous, well-known children, only giving the Bisclavret his clothes back after being tortured; also, “she didn’t want to ever share his bed.” Her main motivation is most likely to have control, more specifically, control over her own fear. When the Bisclavret takes form, she loses her husband all over again, which, as stated before, is a weekly basis she explicitly fears. Bisclavret experiences a similar affection for the King, in that “losing him is its only fear; that it loved him was easy to see.” In a sense, Bisclavret represents the animalistic feeling one has when they are devoid of control, loving somebody who they could lose at any moment, similar to his wife. Bisclavret’s wife doesn’t seem to feel guilty at all, selfish, maybe, in that she’s acting in her own self-interest, but, then again, only to gain control of her situation. Bisclavret doesn’t necessarily have that luxury, but he’s shown to have some degree of control in his refusal of his clothes. Now that he’s “permanently turned” (to a werewolf), his wife doesn’t have to worry about losing him, she’s already lost him; now that she’s permanently turned (to a new man), Bisclavret doesn’t have to worry about losing her, he already lost her, as well.

    • I agree; control is an important emphasis in the narrative. Bisclarvet’s inhuman nature serves as a manifestation of desire, or lack of control. Ironically though Bisclarvet may not be able to control his physical transformation, but he exhibits an internal control. An example of this is when he meets the king who recognizes his maturity and honest intentions and welcomes him into the royal courts. His wife however is ban from the courts and left noseless, what I believe is a rightful outcome of her selfishness. Bisclarvet has a devoted, reasonable love, while his wife acts on the whims of her emotions, leaving her husband for no better reason then her dissatisfaction with his physicality. Bisclarvet reveals an inner beast in his wife. Her decision of holding the clothes is just another way she seems to have control, but the narrative unravels that false cloak.

  6. I agree with what everyone has thus far said. I believe that the wife was in love with Bisclavret at the very beginning. She seemed genuinely worried for her husband when he would disappear for those nights when he was a “garwolf.” I don’t think that love disappeared once he confessed to her. I think she let her fear of his ungodly transformation contort the way she felt towards him. Notice she did not have her lover kill Bisclavret. She just had him take the clothes that he used to shift back.
    I’m not entirely sure why Bisclavret seemed to submissively accept being a garwolf. Maybe the lack of being human allowed the animal to take over. Or maybe he knew it was wife who had betrayed him and, since he loved her so much, became depressed. However, we see that his love for his wife is nothing compared to his love for his king. He recognized him and is loyal and tame and humanistic around him. However, never did he try to lead the king to where his wife was to try to find away to shift back to his human form. He seemed content being next to the king’s side, it didn’t matter what shape he had. However, when Bisclavret recognized the man who married his wife and his wife, he became angry and attacked them. Notice when he attacked his wife, the king assumed she had done something to him to make him upset. This escalated to torturing the couple to find out what they did.
    The king reacted completely different than the wife did toward Bisclavret after the truth was revealed. He did not abandon him, but allowed him to remain by his side. The king, instead, kicked the wife and her new husband and their many children out.

  7. We hear a lot about his nobility and character yet very little about hers. I think it is slightly out of loyalty to him that she keeps the clothes but also to ensure that she knows he remains a werewolf. She is guilty yet aware of what she’s done which we sense when she gives the King lavish gifts and dresses in her “attractive best”. There may be some guilt, although I am disgusted by her quick leap to another man when her husband has been nothing but loyal and loving, but she also is greatly scared of him. From the beginning, just the thought of asking him makes her nervous because “if only [she] might dare….” ask, his potential frustration “scares [her] more than anything.”

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