Information AboutMaid Marian |
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The earliest Medieval Robin Hood stories gave him no female companion. The Robin Hood character at this time was rather brutish woodsman and a female companion would have been out of place. Maid Marian was originally a character in May Games festivities (held during May and early June, most commonly around Whitsun ) and is sometimes associated with the Queen or Lady of May of May Day . It has been suggested that she became associated with Robin Hood in this context, as Robin Hood became a central figure in May Day, associated as it was with the forest and archery. Marian is likely derived from the French tradition of a shepherdess named Marion and her shepherd lover Robin (not Robin Hood). The best known example of this tradition is Adam De La Halle 's Le Jeu Du Robin Et Marion , circa 1283. In narrative terms, Maid Marian was first attached to Robin Hood in the late sixteenth century as Robin was gentrified and given a virginal maid to pine after. Her biography and character have been highly variable over the centuries, being sometimes portrayed as a pagan or Saxon and other times as a high born Norman . (Marian's role was not entirely virginal in the early days. In 1592, Thomas Nashe described the Marian of the later May Games as being played by a male actor named Martin, and there are hints in the play of Robin Hood and the Friar that the female character in these plays had become a lewd parody.) Maid Marian's character evolved, becoming conflated with the Goddess Diana as she became portrayed as a skilled huntress that fought alongside Robin. In the Victorian Era she reverted to her previous role as the dainty maid. With the rise of modern Feminism in the 20th Century , the character has often been depicted as an adventurer again, sometimes as a crack Archer herself. In modern times, a common ending for Robin Hood stories became that he married Maid Marian and left the woods for a civilized aristocratic life. See also Maid Marian And Her Merry Men for a modern role reversal. LITERATURE There have been several books based on the fictional character:
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