Alais and Yselda (or Iselda, from Isold) were two young noble trobairitz, probably sisters or nuns, who wrote an Occitan tenso with an elderly woman named Carenza.
Under the interpretation of Pierre Bec, however, Carenza is recommending marriage to an educated cleric, who will appreciate virginity and give her a glorious son (filh glorios).
[2] Renat Nelli explains the entire débat as a Cathar exercise in worldly renunciation, while Angelica Rieger treats it as a traditional debate tenso on the value of marriage.
Anderson theorises that the piece is a satire of Midons ("milady"), who chooses a convent for vanity's sake (a major point of the sisters' stanzas is the physical toll of marriage on the wife).
[2] Intertextually, Na Carenza has links with works by Arnaut de Maruelh and with the court of Azalais, the daughter of Raymond V of Toulouse and wife of Roger II Trencavel.