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{{Short description|Breton lai, a narrative poem, written by Marie de France}}
{{more citations needed|date=March 2023}}
"'''Equitan'''" is a [[Breton lai]] (a type of narrative poem) written by [[Marie de France]] sometime in the 12th century.<ref name="Bussell 2003 7–48">{{Cite journal |last=Bussell |first=Donna Alfano |date=2003 |title=The Fantasy of Reciprocity and the Enigma of the Seneschal in Marie de France's Equitan |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44634590 |journal=Le Cygne |volume=2 |pages=7–48 |issn=1087-9501}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brumlik |first=Joan |date=1988 |title=THEMATIC IRONY IN MARIE DE FRANCE'S GUIGEMAR |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40551424 |journal=French Forum |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=5–16 |issn=0098-9355}}</ref> The poem belongs to what is collectively known as ''[[The Lais of Marie de France]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pipkin |first=Christopher Lee |date=2019-07-01 |title=Love Without Mesure: Proverb Problems in the Lais of Marie de France |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s11061-019-09597-7 |journal=Neophilologus |language=en |volume=103 |issue=3 |pages=307–321 |doi=10.1007/s11061-019-09597-7 |issn=1572-8668}}</ref> Like the other lais in the collection, ''Equitan'' is written in the [[Anglo-Norman language]], a [[dialect]] of [[Old French]], in rhyming octosyllabic couplets.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Frey |first=John A. |date=1964 |title=Linguistic and Psychological Couplings in the Lays of Marie de France |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4173444 |journal=Studies in Philology |volume=61 |issue=1 |pages=3–18 |issn=0039-3738}}</ref> In this 320 line poem, the author cautions that those who plot to harm another person may find only their own misfortune.
==Plot summary==
Equitan, the king of
As the affair progresses, Equitan's advisors pressure him to marry. One day, the seneschal's wife
Later on, the king and the seneschal go on a hunting trip. They stay in a lodge where there are two bathtubs side by side in the bedroom.<ref name=":0" /> When the seneschal goes out to fetch something, the king and the woman prepare their trap, then they have intercourse. The seneschal returns to the lodge and finds the bedroom door locked. He bangs on the door so persistently that the door bursts open, showing the couple in each other's arms. The king, ashamed by his nakedness, tries to hide himself and runs straight into the tub of boiling water. The seneschal, angered by his wife's infidelity, tosses her into the tub as well, and the unfaithful couple are scalded to death.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rothschild |first=Judith Rice |date=2005 |title=The Brutish World of Marie de France: Death and Violence in the Lais |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44634600 |journal=Le Cygne |volume=3 |pages=23–34 |issn=1087-9501}}</ref>
==Themes==
The purpose of Equitan seems to be didactic. Marie
The love described is irresponsible because the lovers give in to passion while knowing the negative consequences, it is unbalanced, and it prevents the king from having a legitimate heir, a cause of social insecurity. It is inappropriate because it causes the king to break the bond of loyalty to his seneschal and the wife to break marriage vows with her husband without good reason.
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*[[Medieval literature]]
*[[Medieval French literature]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://
* [http://www.english.ufl.edu/exemplaria/marie/equitan.pdf English verse translation by Judith P. Shoaf, in PDF format] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060902094018/http://www.english.ufl.edu/exemplaria/marie/equitan.pdf |date=2006-09-02 }}
[[Category:French poems]]
[[Category:Lais of Marie de France]]
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