Iseult's full title, "Iseult the Fair," should tell you a little something about her. Yup: she's a knock-out. She's so drop-dead gorgeous, in fact, that even the brother of Tristan's wife agrees that she's a hotter and more worthwhile love interest for Tristan than his own sister. But Iseult's not just a pretty face: she's also a skilled healer, and she's got some smarts, too. On several occasions, she's the only one in the world who has the ability to heal Tristan's poisoned wounds. As Tristan says, "She could soon cure my sickness just by calling me her love" (18.159).
Iseult wriggles out of a lot of tight spots using her cleverness. For example, when she notices Mark eavesdropping on her and Tristan, she immediately comes up with a deception to convince him they are not lovers, finishing off with a truth that's not quite true, at least as Mark would understand it: "But before God I swear I have been loyal: may He scourge me if anyone has ever had my love except the man who had me as a maiden" (2.48).
She also arranges to have Tristan dress up as a leper and carry her across a bridge so that she can honestly swear that she's had no man between her legs but Mark and the leper. In fact, on every occasion when Tristan and Iseult successfully avoid exposure, it's Iseult's quick thinking that saves the day.
Iseult is set apart from other women in this story's world not just because of her cleverness but also because of her connection with magic and healing. As far as we know, only Iseult's mother can compete with her in this realm. Just as Tristan seems destined for (unhappy) love because of his connection with love and death, Iseult's connection with magic and healing makes her seem destined for it, too. The love potion is a family recipe, after all. It's almost as if in this story, people who are more connected to magic and the irrational are more likely to experience the kind of all-consuming passion the love potion causes.
Queen and Lover
Because The Romance of Tristan is totally focused on the relationship between its main characters, it spends a lot more time than most other romances on a female character. Iseult is definitely strong, but despite all her chutzpah and cleverness, she's still subject to the rules of her society. Because she is a woman she will always be a man's possession, to be passed among them at will.
When Tristan defeats the dragon, Iseult's father gives her to Tristan, who promptly declares that he's going to give her to Mark. Nobody bothers asking Iseult, because her opinion doesn't matter: she's just property. Iseult rebels against this status, however, when she takes Tristan as her lover. Granted, she claims that the love potion made her do it, but by allowing a man who's not her husband to possess her body, she claims a small degree of authority over that body.
Like Tristan, Iseult sometimes does things that can make it difficult to totally like her. Like the time she decides to kill off Brangain the scatterbrain. Look, Iseult, we know Brangain pulled a major fail with the love potion. Got it. But she just took your place in bed with the king, she's your friend and loyal servant, and she's got your back, so what's with the execution orders?
Well, hey, sometimes a princess just has to be a princess. We're probably supposed to understand that Iseult was just freaking out: "Iseult realized that Brangain constituted a potential danger, since she alone could betray the lovers to Mark. For her own safety, Iseult decided to have Brangain killed by two of her servants" (1.45). That is a pretty scary situation. And most importantly, she let her friend live, after all. Hey, maybe she's just got an Irish temper.
Iseult the Fair Timeline
Iseult heals Tristan of a poisoned wound.
Iseult discovers Tristan by the dragon he has slain, heals him a second time, and decides not to kill him when she discovers that he killed her uncle.
Iseult's father gives her to Tristan, who gives her to Mark.
On the way to Cornwall, Iseult shares a love potion with Tristan that causes her to fall madly in love with him, and he with her.
Iseult carries on a secret affair with Tristan while married to Mark. When she notices Mark spying on her and Tristan from behind a tree, she comes up with an elaborate ruse to convince him they are not lovers.
Iseult escapes with Tristan into the forest after their affair is exposed; she lives there with him for several years.
When the love potion wears off, Iseult regrets what she has sacrificed for love. She tells the hermit Ogrin that her physical relationship with Tristan is over.
Tristan returns Iseult to Mark, but then she and Tristan continue to meet secretly.
Iseult arranges to have Tristan dress as a leper and carry her across a bridge so that she can swear truthfully that she's had no man between her legs but Mark and the leper.
Iseult tells Tristan he must flee after she helps him kill two of Mark's barons.
When Tristan returns to Cornwall disguised as a fool, Iseult refuses to believe it is really him until she sees the ring she gave him as a love pledge.
Iseult travels to Brittany to heal a dying Tristan but doesn't reach him before his death.
Mark buries Iseult's body next to Tristan's in a Cornish chapel. Two intertwining trees grow up around their graves.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iseult
https://www.shmoop.com/the-romance-of-tristan/yseut.html
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