Passion, love, and romance take center stage in Medieval chivalric literature. As we survey some of the greatest works of that genre, we'll find answers to the following questions:
- How does Tristan and Iseult highlight the tension between marriage and love that was commonplace in the past?
- What light does Tristan and Iseult shed on the nature of love versus loyalty?
- Why is the chivalric idealization of woman such an important development in the context of Christendom and Western culture?
Recommended Reading: The Romance of Tristan & Iseult. Retold by J. Bédier. Translated by H. Belloc, George Allen & Company, Ltd., 1913. de Troyes, Chrétien. Arthurian Romances. Translated William W. Kibler and Carleton W. Carroll, Penguin Classics, 2004. Early Fiction in England: From Geoffrey of Monmouth to Chaucer. New York: Penguin Classics, 2015.
