Lesson Plan: Literary Summit: When Wives Talk Across Time

Subject: World Literature / Comparative Analysis

Grade Level: 12th Grade (Homeschool)

Time Allotment: Approximately 3 hours (can be split over multiple days)

Materials Needed

• Access to the texts:
  • "Bisclavret" by Marie de France
  • An account of the Martin Guerre case (e.g., Natalie Zemon Davis's The Return of Martin Guerre or a detailed summary)
  • Selections from Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji (focusing on the experiences of specific female characters like Lady Aoi, Murasaki, or the lady at Rokujō)
• A computer with a word processor
• Notebook or paper for brainstorming
• The "Character Dossier" Graphic Organizer (template described in Part 1)

Lesson Plan Details

I. Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

• Analyze the motivations, actions, and societal constraints of the primary female characters in "Bisclavret," the Martin Guerre affair, and "The Tale of Genji."
• Compare and contrast how each woman navigates her unique and challenging marital situation.
• Synthesize your analysis into a creative format (a script) that demonstrates a deep understanding of the characters' perspectives.
• Justify your creative interpretations with specific, direct evidence from the texts.

II. Introduction & Warm-Up: The Modern Dilemma (15 minutes)

Let's start with a thought experiment. Read the following scenario:

Your partner of five years vanishes without a trace. After three years of waiting, you meet someone new who is kind, thoughtful, and makes you happy. You decide to move on and build a new life. Suddenly, your original partner returns, but they are dramatically changed—secretive, different in manner, and they offer a wild story to explain their absence. What do you do? Who do you owe your loyalty to? The person from your past or the person in your present?

Take a few minutes to jot down your initial thoughts. There is no right answer. This exercise is designed to put you in a mindset of complex loyalty and difficult choices, which is the central theme we will be exploring in our three texts today.

The wives in the stories we are studying—from medieval France to classical Japan—faced similar, if not more extreme, versions of this dilemma, but with far fewer rights and options than a person has today.

III. Part 1: Building the Character Dossiers (45 minutes)

Before we can have our literary summit, we need to be experts on the attendees. You will act as an investigator, creating a dossier for each of our key figures. Create a simple table or graphic organizer for each wife with the following fields. Be concise, but use textual details to support your notes.

Character Dossier Template:

• Character Name: (e.g., The Wife of Bisclavret, Bertrande de Rols, Lady Aoi)
• Social Context: (What is her society? What is her status within it? What is expected of women?)
• The Central Conflict/Dilemma: (What is the core problem she faces regarding her husband/partner?)
• Her Action(s): (What decisive action does she take in response to her conflict?)
• Her Stated (or Implied) Motivation: (Why did she do it? Was it fear, love, ambition, self-preservation, honor?)
• The Outcome: (What happens to her as a result of her actions? Does her society praise or punish her?)

Your Task: Complete a dossier for:

1. The wife from "Bisclavret."
2. Bertrande de Rols (the wife of Martin Guerre).
3. A significant female character from "The Tale of Genji" who faces a difficult marital or romantic situation (e.g., Lady Aoi, Murasaki, the Rokujō lady). Choose one who you find most compelling.

IV. Part 2: The Literary Summit (Creative Application - 90 minutes)

This is the centerpiece of our lesson. Imagine these three women have been brought together across time and space to discuss their lives and choices. Your task is to write a short (3-5 page) script for this conversation.

Guidelines for the Script:

• Setting: A neutral, timeless space. A simple sitting room, a garden, etc.
• Characters: The three wives you created dossiers for, and a "Moderator" (whose role is to ask probing questions and keep the conversation moving).
• The Goal: The conversation should not be a fight, but a genuine attempt to understand one another. What would they ask each other? Would they find solidarity, or would their different cultural values lead to judgment?
• Voice: The most important part! Use your dossiers to write dialogue that is true to each character.
  • How would the pragmatic Bertrande de Rols react to a story about a werewolf?
  • How would the lady from the Heian court of Japan, concerned with poetic sensibility and decorum, view the public and brutal actions of the other two?
  • Would the wife of Bisclavret feel her actions were justified when hearing the others' stories?

Sample Opening:

MODERATOR: Welcome, ladies. I've brought you here because you each faced an impossible situation with the man in your life. Bertrande, perhaps you could begin. Tell us about the man who called himself Martin Guerre.

BERTRANDE: (Sighs, smoothing her apron) Martin... or the man I thought was Martin... was a good husband. Better than the real one, who left me. Is it a crime to accept kindness when it is offered? Some would say so.

WIFE OF BISCLAVRET: (Scoffs lightly) Kindness? My husband was a monster. He told me so himself. A werewolf! What was I to do, sleep beside a beast that could tear my throat out?

Have fun with this! Let the characters' personalities and their unique worldviews clash and connect in interesting ways.

V. Part 3: The Director's Commentary (Analytical Synthesis - 30 minutes)

After you have written your script, you will step out of the creative role and into the analytical one. Write a 1-2 page reflection titled "Director's Commentary."

In this commentary, you must answer the following questions, using specific examples from your script and direct evidence from the original texts to support your points.

1. Character Voice: Choose one character and explain the specific choices you made in her dialogue. How did you try to capture her personality, social status, and worldview? Cite a line from your script and a detail from the text that inspired it.
2. Thematic Connections: What was the most interesting point of comparison or contrast that emerged between the women as you wrote the script? Did they have more in common than you first thought?
3. Judgment and Justice: In your script, did the women find sympathy for one another, or did they judge each other? Explain why you wrote their interaction that way, connecting it back to the values of their respective societies.

This commentary is where you prove your deep understanding of the texts and demonstrate the analytical thinking that went into your creative work.

VI. Assessment

Your work will be evaluated based on:

• The Script: For its creativity, engagement, and how well it captures the distinct voices and perspectives of the three women.
• The Director's Commentary: For the clarity of your analysis, the strength of your arguments, and your ability to support your claims with textual evidence.
• Overall Effort: For the thoroughness of your Character Dossiers and your thoughtful engagement with the lesson's themes.

VII. Optional Extension Activities

• The Fourth Chair: Add another character to the summit. This could be one of the husbands (Bisclavret, the false Martin Guerre, Prince Genji) or another literary wife (e.g., Penelope from The Odyssey, Clytemnestra from the Oresteia). How does their presence change the dynamic?
• Historical Deep Dive: Choose one of the three societies (12th-century Anglo-Norman England, 16th-century France, or 10th-century Heian Japan) and write a short research report on the legal and social rights of women during that period.
• Modern Adaptation: Write a short story outline that places one of these women's dilemmas in a 21st-century setting. How would the story change?