Adventure, Lealté, and Sympathy in Marie de France’s Eliduc

This essay argues that the resolution of Eliduc, in which Eliduc’s wife Guildeluëc brings his would-be lover Guilliadun back from the dead and takes the veil to allow them to marry, resists the social and political structures that form the lay’s background. Unlike her husband, Guildeluëc acts on sympathy formed through contemplation, rather than on her own desires, and does so using knowledge she gains by observing the natural world. This resolution subverts the lay’s seeming obsession with loyalty (lealté) and fidelity, instead favoring an ethical imperative for behavior rooted in sympathy.