Name___________________________
Discussion Questions for Bisclavret. Answer in your notebook.
1) What does the main character say happens to him? Describe in detail.
2) What are we to think of the knight and his wife? Does the poem portray the knight favorably or
negatively? What about the wife?
3) How is the lady's relationship with her second husband described? Does she really love him?
Are they equally to blame for what they do to her first husband?
4) What is the significance of the werewolf's behavior towards the king? What about when he's at
the king's court? Is Bisclavret first and foremost a knight or a werewolf? Can he be both? Does
your appearance or your behavior define you?
5) Why do those at the court rationalize Bisclavret's behavior towards the second husband and his
wife, even before they know the reasons for it?
6) What did you think of the action Bisclavret takes against his wife? What about the torture of the
lady?
7) What's the significance of the fact that only female children of this lady are born without noses?
8) The poem is arguably about both monsters and outsiders. Who is the "monster" of the poem?
How is "monstrosity" defined in the poem? What qualities are identified as essentially human?
Who is identified as an outsider in the poem, and how is that identification made clear?
9) How are women depicted in the poem? Explain.