Masaryk University of Brno

MASARYK UNIVERSITY OF BRNO FACULTY OF EDUCATION Bachelor thesis Brno 2015 Martina Eklová Masaryk University Faculty of Education Department of English Language and Literature Concept of Love Triangle in Medieval Romance Bachelor thesis Brno 2015 Thesis supervisor: Author: Mgr. Jaroslav Izavčuk Martina Eklová Anotace Příběhy, jejichž hlavním tématem je milostný trojúhelník a nevěra, zažily ve středověké literatuře velký rozvoj. Mezi nejznámější patří příběh Tristana a královny Isoldy, stejně jako vyprávění o královně Guinevře a Lancelotovi. Bakalářská práce analyzuje a porovnává tyto dva milostné trojúhelníky a zároveň zkoumá možný vliv Tristanova příběhu na vznik legendy o Lancelotovi. První část bakalářské práce se týká žánru středověké romance a jejích prvků. Další kapitoly zahrnují analýzu milostných trojúhelníků na pozadí středověké společnosti a tehdejšího pojetí manželství a nevěry. Annotation The stories with a love triangle and adultery as its main theme developed significantly during the Middle Ages. Among the most popular ones belong the story of Tristan and Queen Iseult as well as the tale about Queen Guenever and Launcelot. The bachelor thesis analyses and compares these two love triangles and it examines the possible influence of Tristan‟s story on the legend about Launcelot. The first part of the bachelor thesis comprises the genre of medieval romance and its elements. The next chapters involve the analysis of the love triangles against the background of medieval society and its concept of marriage and adultery. Klíčová slova Středověká romance, milostný trojúhelník, manželství, nevěra, Román o Tristanovi a Isoldě, Artušova smrt, Malory, Bédier Keywords Medieval romance, love triangle, marriage, adultery, The Romance of Tristan and Iseult, Le Morte d‟Arthur, Malory, Bédier 1 Affirmation I hereby declare that I have worked on the bachelor thesis independently, using only the sources which are listed in the Bibliography. I agree that the thesis will be deposited in the library of the Faculty of Education at Masaryk University and that it will be accessible for studying purposes. Brno, March 25, 2015 ..................................... 2 Acknowledgments I would like to thank Mgr. Jaroslav Izavčuk for his patient supervision of my thesis and for his priceless advice and guidance. 3 Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................... 5 1. Medieval romance ................................................................................................ 7 2. Society ................................................................................................................ 15 2.1. The kings ........................................................................................................ 15 2.2. The queens ...................................................................................................... 20 2.3. The knights ..................................................................................................... 23 3. Marriage ............................................................................................................. 28 4. Adultery .............................................................................................................. 38 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 50 Bibliography ................................................................................................................. 51 4 Introduction The theme of love and adultery has been popular in literature since its beginning. People will always adore stories about betrayals and piteous romances mainly because they do not want or cannot experience it themselves. Thus, the works concerning topics such as immortal love are very popular and encourage authors to write about them. One of the most favourite medieval stories is about the passionate and fateful love between Tristan, a knight of Cornwall, and the Irish princess Iseult. Their tragic tale dates back into the 12th century and it became the inspiration for many authors of medieval literature in Europe. The aim of this thesis is to compare the love triangle of Sir Tristan, Queen Iseult and King Mark with another famous one consisting of King Arthur, Sir Launcelot and Queen Guenever. Moreover, the thesis will try to analyse the possible influence of the Cornish triangle on the origin of the Arthurian one. The aim will be accomplished by the analysis of the stories about Tristan and Launcelot and the consultation of the secondary sources, such as historical books. The comparison will be inspired by two versions of the stories, one written by Joseph Bédier named The Romance of Tristan and Iseult and the other one by Sir Thomas Malory and his Le Morte d’Arthur. Even though Joseph Bédier began his work at the end of the nineteenth century, and therefore he does not belong among medieval authors, he wanted the story to remain as authentic as possible. Consequently, he drew inspiration from French author of the twelfth century called Béroul, who is the author of the oldest preserved version of the legend. However, his work has not remained whole, thus Bédier filled the missing parts with the versions of other medieval authors, such as Thomas of Britain, or with anonymous extracts. Thomas Malory, the author of Le Morte d’Arthur, included the romance of Tristan and Iseult in his work, too. He was inspired by the Prose Tristan and not by Béroul or Thomas of Britain. Consequently, the storyline in his book is slightly different from the version of Joseph Bédier. Nevertheless, Sir Thomas Malory compiled in the fifteenth century a vast work about Arthur and his knights. The legends of Tristan and Launcelot are included in the book as they are the Knights of the Round Table. In Malory‟s days chivalrous deeds were not popular as they were before in the society. Alexander points out that “he [Malory] knew well that the chivalry he portrays in his central 5 books of Sir Gareth, Sir Tristram and the Grail was not to be found” (70). Probably, the author wanted to bring the chivalry back, at least in the stories. He wanted people to remember the legends of the Knights of the Round Table. Therefore it is important to carry on his legacy and to write about the knights and their deeds so that the age of chivalry will not be forgotten. The thesis is divided into four chapters. The first chapter includes information about medieval romance as such, about its characteristic traits and whether those traits fit the romances about Tristan and Launcelot. The second chapter offers a view into medieval society and its nobility while comparing the kings, the queens and the knights of the Middle Ages with the main heroes of the stories. The third chapter will deal with the marriages of the Middle Ages and with their purpose in reality and in the narratives. The last chapter introduces the extramarital relationships and the attitude towards adulterous men and women in medieval society in comparison with the stories. 6 1. Medieval romance The legends of the Round Table, as well as the romance of Tristan and Iseult, belong to the literary genre called medieval romance, popular mainly during the High Middle Ages. The cradle of the genre was France, where many poets began to spread popular literature in the eleventh and the twelfth centuries. Hollister acknowledges University of Paris as “the home of many of medieval Europe‟s most distinguished scholars and writers” (94). Moreover, Sampson points out that the country “had been swept by a wave of popular love-poetry which brought in its wake the music of the troubadours” (25). The aim of the troubadours was to amuse their audience and to attract attention to their stories. Thus, they often addressed their listeners to create the right atmosphere: “My lords, if you would hear a high tale of love and of death, here is that of Tristan and Queen Iseult; how to their full joy, but to their sorrow also, they loved each other, and how at last they died of that love together upon one day; she by him and he by her” (Bédier “The Childhood of Tristan”). France had an immense impact on foreign literature. Sampson suggests that not only was the French literature influencing other stories, it was also “importing plots, scenery and so forth, from many lands, Wales and Brittany, Greece and the further East, and giving new French forms to them, which were admired and, as far as possible, borrowed by foreign nations, according to their several tastes and abilities” (34). Generally, other countries adapted French style to their own needs and purposes, leaving out anything they did not consider important, but keeping everything which was interesting, usually the storyline and the action. However, the origins of the medieval romance can be found even in the earlier stages of history: “Before the Middle Ages, and the first usages of the Old French grapheme, “romanz,” to signify an expanding category of fabulous narratives of a literary kind, something, we feel, existed that was already romance-like, that preceded the medieval concretions” (Heng 1). Romances were created even before medieval times, although their expansion came especially with the era of knights. Noble men who fought for their kings and queens were seen as the heroes. The word romance was applied to narratives about knights and heroic deeds. Curtius claims that “the idea of the hero is connected with

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