A normal human being has one hand, one body, two hands, and two feet. Nowadays, it is normal to have something wrong with any of these parts. The difference between the present day and the medieval times was that there was no way to remedy any major disabilities back then. They were blamed on devils, curses, and God. Since then, medicinal capabilities have grown an astronomical amount and so have the methods of learning about human capabilities. On the other hand, disabilities do not only include physical attributes. Another type of disability was a lack of social capabilities. During the Medieval Ages, there were many reasons with which one person could be denied or given a social status or reputation which could eventually lead to a social disability. In "The Lady and the Unicorn", many people were incapable of normal social interactions such as Nicolas de Innocents, Jacques Le Boeuf, and Geneviève de Nanterre.
Nicolas de Innocents was a very putrid man with little regard for the way he treats women. One prime example occurs very early in the book when he runs into one of the maids. She was pregnant because of him and he could neither remember her name nor have any remorse for what he did. He ended up giving her a few coins to pay for his deed. Due to his perverse nature, Geneviève does everything in her power to separate him from Claude. This socially incapacitates Nicolas from ever meeting up or communicating with Claude. Nicolas spends a majority of the novel plotting a method of meeting up with Claude and is deterred in some way by Geneviève's actions. Her last act was to let Claude "stay in a convent until her betrothalto know the value of mass, of prayer, confession, communion" (165). His lust for her was endless as even when she became betrothed, he still was anxious to talk to her. His man-made social disability, though, was enough to deter his plans as he was ultimately unsuccessful in his plight.
