Tristan and Iseult is a tale made popular during the 12thcentury through Anglo-Norman literature, inspired by Celtic legend.
It has become an influential romance and tragedy. The tragic story is of the adulterous love between the Cornish knight Tristan and the Irish princess Iseult.
The narrative predates and most likely influenced the romance of Lancelot and Guinevere in the Matter of Britain and has had a substantial impact on Western art, the idea of romantic love, and Western literature since it first appeared in the 12thcentury.
Genre: novel
First edition: 1972
Themes: love, madness, potions, magic, drama, jealousy, betrayal
The novel can be divided into 9 phases:
1. The Irish giant
2. The dragon
3. The love potion
4. A deadly trap
5. The lovers’ flight
6. Iseult’s trial
7. Tristan’s exile
8. Iseult of the white hands
9. The black sail
Narrative Outline
Tristan and Iseult is a narrative text, and therefore follows the classic narrative outline. It tells of the passion which unites Tristan and Iseult and which defies all human and divine laws. Initial situation: this is the beginning of the story, the moment where the author sets the scene and introduces the characters; the situation is stable, which means that it has no reason to develop.
King Mark reigns over Cornwall, surrounded by his vassals and his barons. His nephew Tristan’s exceptional qualities make him the worthiest of his defenders.
Disruptive element: this is an event which disturbs the initial situation and triggers the beginning of the story.
The king’s barons demand that he take a wife in order to produce an heir. Tristan leaves for Ireland in search of the only woman the king will consent to marry: Iseult the Fair. On their way back, however, Iseult and Tristan drink the love potion meant for Iseult and Mark, and are joined by an unbreakable Love. Tristan becomes the king’s rival.
Developments: these are the events caused by the disruptive element and which bring about the actions undertaken by the protagonist to resolve the problem. There are two major developments in the story:
When the potion takes effect
Tristan and Iseult are so in love that they are careless, but every time they are saved at the very last moment, up until the day when they are caught. When the are condemned, they flee and take shelter in the forest, where they live in poverty. Nonetheless, the potion spares them from physical and emotional suffering: they are together, and that is all that matters.
When the potion wears off
The lovers are no longer under the magical protection of the wine. They then feel all the pain of the existence they are leading and become worried about their fate: it is time for them to separate. They still love each other, but with a human love; from that moment on they experience the anguish, doubts and torments of their passion. Iseult returns to the king and the couple that was initially planned are back together. However, Tristan and Iseult pine for each other, which causes Tristan to return to the queen repeatedly.
Outcome: this puts and end to the developments and leads to the conclusion.
During a last adventure, Tristan is injured and poisoned for the third time. Nobody can treat him, expect Iseult the Fair. At the same time, Iseult of the White Hands learns the truth about her husband’s past. She is jealous, and now her only desire is to take revenge. She therefore lies to Tristan, which leads to his death.
Conclusion: this is the end of the story. The situation is once again stable, like the initial situation, but transformations have taken place.
Iseult the Fair dies of despair over her lover’s body. Their bodies are sent back to Cornwall to King Mark, who forgives them and buries them side by side. The lovers are eternally reunited in death. The two shrubs which grow from their time and intertwine their branches symbolise their unbreakable love.
A novel which borders on the magical
There are a lot of magical elements in the story (the love potion, the dragon, the giant, the magic ring etc.) may also bring to mind the tale form, as may the fact that certain scenes are repeated. Moreover, the legend was circulated by storytellers who saw the magical obligation represented by the potion as an alibi for the lovers and a way of inviting the audience to sympathize with the protagonist’s suffering and to forgive them.
The tale of potion-induced passion has proved irresistable to artists in all media, from literature to visual arts to music, to the point that Wagner's opera Tristan und Iseult is now more famous than the text on which it is based, the thirteenth century Tristan and Iseult of Gottfried von Strassburg. Virtually all versions of the legend revolve around conflicting themes of romantic love and political loyalty, though no two tellings treat these themes identically.
Sources:
http://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/theme/tristanisolt
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tristan_and_Iseult
https://books.google.ru/books/about/Tristan_and_Isolde_by_René_Louis_Book_A.html?id=JZN5DQAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y
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