In Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, the Wife of Bath, Alysoun, tells an Arthurian story. She spins a prologue of her lifely woes, talking of, “[her] tale of tribulation in marriage,” (187) and speaks freely of how her fifth husband “gave the bridle all into [her] hand,” (204). She values her own sovereignty above all else, and would rather be her own master than be married. This is why she tells the tale she does. It depicts a knight of Arthur’s court raping a young maiden. When he is brought forth in court, the Queen says she will spare his life if in the span of one year, he could find the answer to the question, “What thing is it that women most desire” and relay it back to the Queen (207). He travels the land and finds a wide variety of answers, ranging from nice clothes to wealth to happiness, but no one could agree on the same thing. On his last day of travel back to the court to face execution, he comes across a circle of dancing women. They vanished, leaving one old woman behind. She speaks to the knight, and whispers in his ear an answer he finds pleasing, as he then rides for court to present his answer to the queen. In her presence, he presents his answer as such, “Women desire the self-same sovereignty / Over a husband as they do a lover, / And to hold mastery, he not above her. / That is your great desire, though you me kill; / Do as you wish; I am at your will” (211). The Queen finds this answer true and grants him his life, where he then marries the woman who told him this. He makes a comment about her being an old maid, where she then reminds him that she can choose to be who she wants- and she will change that based on his attitude towards her. Chaucer creates a tale speaking to early feminism to empower women who desired equality with their husbands. 

Marie de France does not form a clear opinion on feminism, as she writes two women, one the hero and one the villain. In the lai “Lanval”, the Queen Guinevere has mastery over herself and abuses this power. She approaches the knight Lanval, and seeks to have an affair with him, offering “drueries” (L 266) or tokens of love in court to him. He refuses, claiming loyalty to his king and saying, “I’ll never compromise my oath,” and leaves her (L 272). Being spited, the Queen then goes to King Arthur and says Lanval demanded a druerie of her, and when she refused, he called her lower than the worst maidservant of the castle, a grave insult to speak to the queen. While Lanval did indeed say that a maid was worth more than she, he said so after the Queen disputed his honor and implied he was not attracted to women, but rather men, which was considered incredibly immoral and unnatural at the time, and  would have been as great an offense. Guinevere, due to her self mastery and position of power over herself and Arthur, was able to convince Arthur of Lanval’s false transgressions, and is able to speak against him in court, a clear opposition to the Queen in Chaucer’s tale, who uses her mastery to save the knight from death and offer him a second chance. Lanval sends for his lover, and she arrives in court to vouch for him and for his love for her. She says, “…Thou, king must know / the queen was wrong; it was not so, / he never sought her love at all!” (LL. 619-621). She is able to speak in a court of men, and in doing so saves Lanval’s life. Marie de France shows women as men are often portrayed- both with flaws and with goodness. It is a more accurate depiction, to show the duality of womanhood that is so often thrown by the wayside. Chaucer, while not criticising the feminine nor feminist ideals, also does not criticize the downside of women that exists. Marie de France and Lanval both show that women with self mastery and self sovereignty are powerful and can do good for people in the world, but Marie de France takes the step further to say that women are truly similar to men in their faults and in their qualities. They can use their mastery for their own benefit and for the downfall of others, but can also choose to do good. Both tales speak to the want for sovereignty and mastery over themselves, which can be considered a brave view for their time.