The binary opposition between cortois and vilain underpins a whole range of medieval French texts intended for aristocratic audiences. A concern with what is courtly and what is not manifests itself in a variety of ways, from the less than flattering portraits of those outside court circles found in Chrétien de Troyes's Yvain and Le Conte du Graal to more explicit debates such as that dramatised in Raoul de Houdenc's Meraugis de Portlesguez. In this romance, two knights fall in love with the same lady: one, Gorvain, on account of her physical beauty alone, and the other, Meraugis, ‘por sa cortoisie,/ Por sa bonté sanz vilonie’ (‘on account of her courtliness, her goodness untouched by ill-breeding’, vv. 573–4). Raoul's hero makes it quite clear that if Lidoine had shown any hint of uncourtly qualities, then he would have found it impossible to love her:

Counter-arguments are sometimes made, as in a jeu-parti by Pierre de Beaumarchais in which the poet and a lady discuss whether it is better to love a man who has prouece but no cortoisie, or a courtly man who demonstrates no prowess. The lady opts for the former, declaring that a noblewoman should be prepared to overlook any lack of courtly qualities in a knight and be content with his prowess: ‘Si s’en doit bien bele dame paier/ Et oublier tote sa vilenie’ (‘So a fair lady ought to be satisfied with this and turn a blind eye to all his uncourtliness’).