desire figuratively surges at the seams of the garment

 strategy is found in the fourteenth-century Canterimry Tales: the Wife of Bath's closely
tied hose express her social status as a successftil cloth maker, and Alison's belt
decorated with silk over a skirt full of gores calls attention to her comical
hSTRTiITHMhNT BENDfi
attempt at gentility in the Miller's Tale.-" Whereas the Wife's fitted attire speaks
predominantly to her position as an upwardly mobile individual in the later
Middle Ages, Mson's and Dido's banded torsos articulate more than just social
status.^' In these latter instances, desire figuratively surges at the seams of the
garment in a way that suggests a fundamental ambivalence at the heart of
clothing. On the one hand, 'le costume r v le les normes de la d cence et de La
pudeur' in that it covets naked fiesh. But it also introduces the body into 'le
champ de l' rotisme' by emphasizing its physical contours: 'L' tranglement de
la taille, par exemple, y atdre l'attention, ce qui n'est pas sans cons quences dans
la relation homme-femme.''' Indeed, Alison's outfit makes her attractive as either
a mistress for a lord or a wife for a yeoman {Canterbury Tales: Miller's Tale,
1.5268-70) ('She was a prymerolc, a piggesnye, For any lord to leggen in his
hedde,  Or yet for any good yemen to wedde'), and Dido's garment, which she
L?ons just before seducing ?neas, reveals her sensual body and produces sexual
attraction. The same is true for dght clothing in the Prise d'Orange (f.i i6o-j),'-
?mern de ?a Rose ou de GuiUmme de Dole,'''^ as well as one of the romans antiques
believed to have direcdy influenced Marie', the Roman de Th hfS {c. 11  O-O.^"*
!n these texts, the fitted bodice becomes a sign of a body in love.
Marie, too, utilizes fitted garments as an expression of aristocratic splendour
that stimulates observers in luirwa and Guigemar, the only two Ian that feature
body-hugging garments." This sartorial strategy initially appears to confirm the
clerical view that righdy clad women unleash perilous desires. In the final scene at
Arthur's court, Lanval's lover wears a form-fitting b?au  that titillates those who
look: 'Ele iert vestue en itel guise  De chainse blanc e de chemise  Que tuit 11
cost  li pareient,Ki de deus parz laci  esteient' (lines 5 59-62; 'She was dressed
in this fashion: in a white linen shift that revealed both her sides since the lacing
was along the side"). The judges who saw her 'a grant merveille le teneient' (line
?82; 'marvelled at the sight*) and were consequendy 'de dreite joie n'esehaufast'
(line 584; 'warmed with joy"). Likewise, Lord Meriaduc, in the luii de Guigemar,
.ilso behaves as if he is 'warmed with joy' when he observes a woman's figure
.iccentuated by a laced bliaut. After Guigemar's lady faints, Meriaduc proceeds
(() cut the laces of her dress and tries to unfasten her belt 'Kar de bon quor
kl peot amer' (line 720; 'because he wanted to love her with all his heart*). In
these instances, men's beha'iour may be perceived as an example of precisely
what clerics feared: upon witnessing women in fitted atdre, men not only appear
sdmulated, as in Lanval, but also take drastic measures in order to satisfy illicit
desires, the case in Guigemar.

Yet both I^nval and Guigemar depart from the common clerical view in
significantly different ways. Tight dress communicates an ethical code lacking
in Arthur's court: Lanval's lover, clothed in a revealing and erotic way, is a
tesdfying figure who dearly speaks truth and supports virnie. Her appearance
prompts Arthur's attendants to acquit Lanval from his crime so as to please
ihf well-dressed lady. Guigemar further revises clerical understanding by calling
attention to a paradox surrounding fitted attire: belts, knots, and laces serve as
important signifiers of excessive, passionate love ?12X is nevertheless honourable
MEDIUM J?VLIM i.xxvii.i
and restrained. Indeed, Guigemar's lady underscores not lascivious sexuality but
fidelity to her beloved when she reveals her belt to Meriadue.

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