"There is nothing enduring in life for a woman, except what she builds in a man's heart." This quote by Judith Anderson provides a very accurate description of the role a woman was expected to play in med-evil times. This is the time frame in which Marie de France wrote the lay she called Eliduc. While it is a decent story, it is hardly distinguishable from all other med-evil stories except in one instance...the role of a woman. Though the story revolves around her husband the title character, it is three different roles which Guildeluec plays that makes this story unique.

If one were to examine every great man in history, the one thing that most would have in common is a supporting wife by their side. As was John and Jackie, or Franklin and Eleanor, so were Eliduc and his faithful wife Guildeluec. The first role Guildeluec played in the story is the typical role of the supporting wife. This idea that a woman's role in life was to service her man was very typical of med-evil thinking and it is one Guildeluec plays perfectly. This is shown initially be de France telling the reader of her influential family. Having an influential family was a prized quality in a woman

Though the story focuses on her husband, it is the three different roles that Guildeluec plays that make Eliduc by Marie de France a unique story. Through the course of the story Guildeluec plays the role of a supportive wife, heroine, and finally a feminist. This portrayal of a woman in multi-roles in a decidedly different approach then the med-evil belief that a woman's only role in life was to service her lord. Or perhaps, this is just another example of a med-evil woman supporting her man.

of her day. Another quality, which Guildeluec possessed, was strength, which she shows by not only surviving separated from her husband but also remaining loyal to him. We see evidence of Guildeluec faithfulness to her lord when Eliduc returns home, "She lamented to herself and often ask him whether someone had told him that she had misbehaved or done wrong while he was out of the country, for she would willingly defend herself in

The final role Guildeluec plays is probably the most unexpected of the three...a feminist. After Guildeluec heroically asks Eliduc for a divorce she decides to become a nun. The act of becoming a nun is for all purposes the most extreme act of feminism that a woman can possi

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Approximate Word count = 811
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)