A man once said “Love has no age, no limit, and no death” (Galsworthy). Love is often depicted as a life changing experience, yet many fail to realize that love can be secretive and destructive. There are two particular stories from Marie De France, “Yonec” and “Lanval” that captivate how hidden love impacts and sabotages those involved. Within the story of “Yonec”, an old man married a young and breathtaking woman, but kept her locked away because of his fear of losing her. As the woman spent her days within the chamber, she reached a breaking point when she acknowledged how constrained she was in the tower. The woman “mourned and sighed greatly and, weeping, she lamented: “Wretched me,” she said, “I was born in an evil hour” (de France 65-67). She continued with the reasons why she was heartbroken about her life and spoke of how “knights would find maidens to their liking, noble and beautiful, and ladies found lovers who were handsome and courtly and valiant” (96- 99). Right after that moment of expressing her melancholic feelings, a hawk flew through the window and transformed into a handsome knight whose name was Muldumarec. Within this…show more content… Vengeance was prophesied to the woman when the knight spoke to her saying, “She should name him Yonec: he will avenge him and her, he will kill his enemy” (350-352). This particular passage proves that keeping love a secret can cause revenge to birth within the heart of those involved. The knight gives the woman a sword to keep for their son, which he will later use to kill the husband and gain revenge for killing the knight. The woman stayed married to her husband, and the son grew up and became a knight himself. As the husband, the woman, and the son “Yonec” went to a feast, the abbot asked to show them the town. On their tour, they came across a tomb, and the mother told her son Yonec that it was his father’s tomb. The woman told
