Courtly And Secular Love Analysis

The Lais of Marie de France is a collection of poems that tell enchanting stories of handsome knights, kings, queens, and romance. Although the lais varied in content; the subject of romantic love is the common theme. Since romantic love is the central theme of the lais it is important to define the term. According to the article, The Social Psychology of Love and Attraction romantic love is defined as, “a love that is supposed to stand the test of time, enduring all hardship. Romantic love emphasizes being in love with a certain individual” (Braxton-Davis 1). In the lais Bisclavret, Equitan, Laustic there is a conflict between love and moral responsibility. Many of the characters experience love and tragedy; yet, Marie de France provides a witty insight into loves immoral issues. In the lais loneliness, greed, excitement, and lust are the motivations for many of the characters reckless actions. Marie de France demonstrates how these characteristics combined with romantic infatuation, passion, and a yearning desire; influences corrupt behavior. This behavior then manifested into character traits such as betrayal, adultery, and cruelty that are revealed throughout the lais.

The admiration of courtly love is no more prevalent theme in Marie's lais than on “Yonec” and “Lanval”. These two lais are showing very aristocratic views on socially states; love of nobility. A love that cannot be explained by a commoner or peasant that cannot show status has nothing to offer, for courtly love because a peasant has no chivalry. This courtly love is often secret in that a knight and a lady are not married to one another but to a different partner making the story adulterous. That secret at the end makes the story ecstatic and tragic; the adhesive of the story is the passion of love that is displayed making the store ecstatic and the secret is the tragedy that love cannot be acknowledged. The principal argument of this essay is to understand courtly love in Marie de France’s lais.

In the play `Romeo and Juliet` the writer William Shakespeare uses the theme of love as a main feature to push the story along. Presented are a plethora of variations of love including family love, true love and courtly love. This essay aims to analyse these three types of love chosen.

According to American mythologist, Joseph Campbell, “The greatest love was during the Medieval Ages, when noble hearts produced a romantic love that transcended lust” (Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth with Bill Moyers [2001]). The Lais of Marie de France are primarily concerned with this idea of love--specifically, courtly love--between a man and a woman. Courtly love, a union modeled after the feudal relationship between a knight and his liege lord, became a popular convention in the 12th century (“Backgrounds to Romance: ‘Courtly Love’”). Instead of proving loyalty to a lord, the man would have to prove his love to a woman. Marie de France, however,

1862 England (Victorian Era) was somewhat of an uptight society, especially compared to today. The majority of people, especially those in the upper class, were expected to be utmostly prim and proper and follow societal norms at all times. This included love, or what love was defined as during the period. George Meredith, in his poem aptly titled “Modern Love”, sets a scene where a husband and wife are sleeping side by side, both reflecting sorrowfully on their melancholy marriage. Meredith argues in this poem that the institution of modern love is inherently flawed, by exposing to the reader that while the husband and wife still care for each other, they want to leave each other because they are both scared of “modern love”. By doing so, Meredith is able to justify his overarching message that applies to all: love is a feeling that cannot be artificially replicated, and attempting to do so is only a detriment.

To effectively support this argument, it is vital to analyze different aspects of love as discussed by Beauvoir in her account of The Woman in Love. The first basis of this narrative portrays man as a superior being to whom an inferior has to submit. He is a god in his woman’s eyes modeled just a little lower than the angels . While the man occupies his rightful status as a god, the woman is deemed as the worshipper. Both eventually become the other’s prisoner. In this vulnerability, women are ready to submit completely to their husbands whose image they hold in high regard.

While the theme of love itself, may it be positive or negative, is reoccurring, Marie’s presentation of romantic relationships and their differing qualities can be considered a theme alone. In “Guigemar”, the relationship between the knight and his lady represents loyalty, and an ability to heal or cure. Yet, the relationship between the beast and his wife in “Bisclavret” demonstrates the selfish and traitorous behavior that can occur between partners, especially if one has proved to be adulterous.

In the Middle Ages it was very common for people to follow the methods of Courtly Love. Courtly Love is the way they chose to find love, they worshiped the woman to get her attention and they also did things such as show noble and heroic character by doing deeds. This method of love came with a set of rules that some chose to follow while others didn’t. The lovers were knights and they were chivalrous men with noble standards. When dealing with love we all want to know if its true or non existent. The two people of this story chose to follow the rules of courtly love to find out.

Till Death Do Us Part: Courtly Love in the Middle Ages The Medieval Times were a terrible time to live in. There was sickness and gloom everywhere and happiness seemed nowhere to be found. Then the idea of courtly love came about and happiness seemed to be restored throughout the land. It consumed everyone’s time and thoughts as men constantly lusted over women.

This research project has given me an opportunity to explore how the Troubadours in the Middle Ages composed and what influenced them. The reason I chose to expand my research on Courtly Love because I was fascinated that it had nothing to do with marriage. In, fact many documents stated that it was impossible to experience courtly

It is suggested that Courtly Love became a common practice due to the generality of arranged marriages to increase the wealth and status of families. Courtly love moreover emphasized nobility, and it was strongly related to Chivalry, the

The emergence of the “romance” as a literary genre occurred during the 12th century. The content most typically included amatory themes such as love, sex, and marriage written in verse narrative containing octosyllabic couplets. The content of these romances were largely influenced by the development of courtly love and chivalry. Courtly love was a literary phenomenon born out of the zealous relationship between a knight and his lady, predicated by the feudal relationship between the knight and his liege lord. This type of relationship couldn’t exist between a husband and wife; rather both the knight and lady were often married to other people. Alongside the inspiration of courtly love came the civilizing influence of ladies in society. The lady served as the governor of the relationship, in complete control of the knight’s actions that owed her “absolute obedience and submission without hope of tangible reward”

During the Middle Ages, Courtly love was a code which prescribed the conduct between a lady and her lover (Britannica). The relationship of courtly love was very much like the feudal relationship between a knight and his liege. The lover serves his beloved, in the manner a servant would. He owes his devotion and allegiance to her, and she inspires him to perform noble acts of valor (Schwartz). Capellanus writes, in The Art of Courtly Love, “A true lover considers nothing good except what he thinks will please his beloved”. The stories of Marie de France and Chrétien de Troyes illustrate the conventions of courtly love.

The modern concept of love owes a great deal to the Humanist tradition of the Renaissance. The humanists focused on perfection and exaltation of this life as opposed to the afterlife. In Tristan and Iseult the seeds of Renaissance love are present in the Middle Ages. To the modern eye, it is a mystery how the period of the Middle Ages produced the seeds of the diametrically opposite Renaissance. Yet it is necessary to understand this transformation if one is to fully comprehend the forces that helped produce the modern consciousness. Courtly Love is a transitional concept that emerged in the Middle Ages. It is transitional because it emerged early and acknowledges God as the creator of love,

Poets use many ways when they want to communicate something using poems. Poems are used as a means of passing ideas, information and expression of feelings. This has made the poets to use the natural things and images that people can relate with so that they can make these poems understandable. The most common forms of writing that are used by the poets are the figurative language for example imagery and metaphors. In addition, the poets use the natural landscape in their attempt to explore the philosophical questions. Therefore, this essay will explore the forms that have been used by the poets in writing poems using the natural landscape. The essay will be based on poems such as ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ by