Societal expectations and pressures notably alter gender behavior and stereotypes more so than natural or biological forces. Gender roles depend on the culture and society of a specific time. This theory often carries over to literature, depending on the society and time period of which an author lives, which can determine the behavior a character of a specific sex, is set to portray. Between Shakespeare's play, "The Tempest and Marie de Frances', "Guigemar " both pieces of literature fulfill society's expectations of gender normality, as well as several gender abnormalities by treating genders as a set of behaviors rather than a simple matter of biology. .
Marie de France's short story, "Guigemar " breaks typical cultural stereotypes of the female gender by having a woman's body provide a point of sexual desire, healing and comfort. The idea of the female body being able to heal the male form is stated in the text, the knight Guigemar must find a woman who will " suffer, out of love for you, pain and grief such as no woman ever suffered before. (de France 33). The concept continues with as soon as he finds this certain woman his external wound will be healed and instead an internal wound in the heart created by love will take it's place. The perception of the woman only changes when Guigemar's love is realized and he begins to lust after her. Within this portrayal of the woman Marie de France challenges society's stereotypical heteronomative expectations of women. the woman has all of the power in the story, she is the one able to heal both Guigemar's physical wound and heart ache, she teaches him how to love and what love truly means and eventually leads him to have sexual and romantic desire for the woman herself. The idea that the woman holds the power is different from most stories written during that specific time period. Typically, male power would dominate a plot line with weak women as supporting characters or damsels in distress.
