• "The Nose Knows: Encountering the Canine in 'Bisclavret'"

    Author(s):
    Alison Langdon (see profile)
    Date:
    2013
    Group(s):
    Animal Studies, Medieval Studies
    Subject(s):
    Twelfth century, Thirteenth century, Fourteenth century, Animals--Study and teaching, Literature, Medieval
    Item Type:
    Article
    Tag(s):
    11th to 14th century, Animal studies, Medieval literature
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6P235
    Abstract:
    Readers are often left baffled by the bizarre retribution Marie de France's werewolf protagonist inflicts upon his treacherous wife: why bite off her nose, specifically? Though critics have offered a range of interpretations for the wife’s punishment in Marie’s lai, approaching the significance of noselessness from a dog’s perspective may deepen our understanding of the poem’s central concerns. In "Bisclavret," the wife’s noselessness is a marker of human failure of perception through her inability to recognize the truth of her husband’s character. It also signifies our overreliance on forms of communication that are much more susceptible to distortion and misrepresentation. Mouths can lie, ears and eyes can be deceived, but the nose cannot.
    Notes:
    http://hdl.handle.net/1811/69737
    Metadata:
    xml
    Published as:
    Journal article     Show details
    Publisher:
    Medieval Association of the Midwest
    Pub. Date:
    2013
    Journal:
    Enarratio
    Volume:
    18
    Page Range:
    49 - 69
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    6 years ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved
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