From that point, the two women begin a strong and affectionate correspondence. But later in life, after Marie has become abbess, the two women meet again, not quite as equals, but as two female leaders who understand each other’s struggles better than any of their companions could. Eleanor and Marie initially seem to be opposites, and the scene where Eleanor tells Marie she is to be sent to an abbey seems cruel and mocking, especially as the reader knows that Marie is in love with Eleanor. In time, Marie herself becomes a powerful figure in England, in spite of or because of her plain appearance.īased on the life of Marie de France, Matrix examines both the power that medieval women held and the limitations. One of Marie’s greatest strengths is the ability to see the potential and the danger in the women around her. Instead of assigning each nun to tasks she is poorly suited to, with a goal of fostering a Christ-like humility, she reverses the abbey’s practices and assigns the women jobs according to their strength. She brings a secular view to abbey administration and an independent noblewoman’s head for business. Initially acting as prioress, Marie slowly gains more control over the running of the abbey. The abbess is kind but ineffective as a leader. Declared too tall and too plain for marriage, she is banished from Eleanor of Aquitane’s court and sent to a failing abbey, where the nuns are dying of starvation. Seventeen-year-old Marie does not meet medieval expectations of femininity.

Matrix review groff