The Role Of Unrequited Love In The Arthurian Legend

Love as a concept in general has evolved greatly over the several millennia of human civilization, but in particular the concept of courtly love has changed greatly in perception. Courtly love is the concept of a noble and pure but illicit love, often between a knight or nobleman and a married noblewoman. Courtly love was seen as a beautiful thing in the high Middle Ages, but throughout the late Middle Ages and on to modern times the concept of courtly love has taken on much more negative contexts; being seen as, among other things, infidelity, extramarital affairs, cheating, and adultery. Currently, there are many varying viewpoints on whether courtly love is wrong or not, but in the high Middle Ages it was seen as noble and pure.

In today's world people do not do much relating to Queen Guinevere, however, people have affairs with other people in their marriage. Like her, many women may have been beautiful and kind, but they also showed qualities of betrayal and dishonesty. Queen Guinevere had been know as everything from a character that is week and discreet to a character is who godly and virtuous. She is, however, a traitor to her people and her husband, King Arthur. Sir Lancelot was chosen by the king to be his friend, and strongest knight, because he believed he was courageous and filled with strength. King Arthur was later proved wrong when his strongest knight fell in love with his wife. Guinevere was in love with Lancelot and ruined her trust with the king, causing the king to attempt to burn her to death for her sins and wrong doings. Guineveres relationship with Sir Lancelot shows the audience qualities of true love and following her hear, however, it shows dishonesty and betrayal.

Although I believe that, in Shakespeare’s Othello, one could make a compelling argument to support the fact that any number of themes i.e. race, jealousy, hatred, envy, pride or good versus evil, to name a few, could be considered the “main theme”; I feel that there appears to be more evidence to suggest that the idea of, belief in or the concept of “love” is greater than all of the others. In this case “love” as a feeling, emotion, sense, drive or by whatever definition one chooses to use or label that is put on it, is the underpinning on which everything rests and as a result, in the end, it is love or the perversion of what manifested as a result of love that leads not only to the tragic ending of Othello but also many of the other characters.

Merriam-Webster's on-line dictionary defines chivalry as "the system, spirit, or customs of medieval knighthood." As Leon Gautier, author of Chivalry, defines this "system" and "spirit" of knighthood by identifying rules of chivalry, two of which are well illustrated in Lanval, "TheWife of Bath's Tale," and "The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnel:" "Thou shalt never lie, and shall remain faithful to thy pledged word," and "Thou shalt be generous, and give largess to everyone"(qtd. in Chivalry). All three stories seem to suggest the predominant theme of a knight living up to his word. This is shown by the fact that, in each story, the knight's oath is taken very seriously, is treated as a contract, and is

The Middle Ages is the time of discovery of courtly love and it became a very dominant period in arts, philosophy, and even religion. As illustrated by the many stories in existence about the Middle Ages, love was a target that one could successfully obtain. The woman was seen as something that could be owned and possessed by a man (Muir, 72). If a man was to profess attraction to a woman, the woman was expected to drop everything and take the man to bed immediately. In the case of married couples, some secrets would destroy a marriage. Many stories of this period revolve around actions of revenge resulting from forbidden affairs or betrayal. Today, the concept of love has changed and it is described like a fairy tale. The man has to get a girl after the completion of an almost impossible task (Glendinning 101). Some aspects in the middle ages have continue into the present time although with a bit of modification. For instance, one individual in the relationship is expected to rule over the home while the other, often the woman is expected to keep the room tidy and meet the needs of the other and obeying every command (Herlihy 112). This is wrong as both individuals should provide the necessary effort in making the relationship work and this can only be possible with compromise.

In Le Morte d’Arthur love plays a very important part in people’s motives and in the way Malory wants us to think about characters. On their quests knights like Gawaine and Balin meet quite a lot of people who are ready to kill themselves because a lady does not answer their love. There are also a lot of star-crossed lovers in Le Morte d’Arthur, like Tristram and Isoud and Launcelot and

During the Medieval Times Culture was a significant part of everyday life. Compared to today there are some differences, yet there are some similarities. The case for women was disparate from what women are seen as today, and corresponding to men as well. Furthermore, the ideology of “Love” was big during the medieval times, accompanied by chivalry. First and foremost, the case for women was not what it was today.

Society today is fascinated with learning about the history of human culture and society with new information and revelations being made almost daily. Although with new technology discovering the past is becoming easier and easier, due to the massive span of human existence, relatively little, in regards to the grand span of things, is truly known. As time continues to pass, ancient artifacts continue to deteriorate and history is lost. When The Epic of Gilgamesh was rediscovered in the nineteenth-century, a whole new perspective on life in the past was opened. This story allowed greater insight into the large flood that occurred many years ago and helped to put the Hebrew Bible into a time perspective.

They also do not span over the entire life of a certain individual. This book

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.

tomorrow- I shall tarry no more- I want to leave in the morning, when I see the

As singer Alexander Nestor Haddaway once sang, “What is love?” It is an enduring question, and one that many artists have attempted to answer throughout the centuries. Today however, the focus is on one artist (Virgil), one book (The Aeneid), and one character (Aeneas). According to Aeneas, there are two fundamental kinds of love, passionate love and pious love. With the use of fire imagery, Virgil makes references to these two forms of love. However, he makes it clear that they are very different and are not to be confused with one another. A conflict occurs between these two different forms of love which causes each to highlight the other.

Whether by explaining the origins of civilizations and nations or by creating explanations to the many mysteries of existence, myths play a huge role on tales and validate cultural and social history. In particular, English myth aims at validating the history of England as well as creating a set of rules for society. In the Arthurian legend, King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table, learn a series of morals. The lesson about love triangles is seen in the cases of Uther, Igraine and Gorlois, Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot and Mark, Tristan and Isolde. Indeed, English warns against the tragedies of love triangles.

Back in King Arthur’s time’s romance was way different than how we see it in our society. Back then they didn’t have all the movies and the usual romance where the man falls in love with a woman and so on. The romance now a days I don’t even think we can call it romance anymore. Back then guys didn’t even have to think about opening the door for his lady or opening the car door for her or just little things like that, it all just seemed to come natural to them. In todays’ society it seems as if guys have to think about how to do romantic things for girls. But I also do believe that girls today don’t understand how to do romantic things for their man either.

King Arthur’s legend has it’s engaging attraction, and it is caused by the story itself and the Church teaching’s reform. As a legend, it’s literature value is bigger than its for history. From the story, we can not only get know of ancient England, but also study how a religion uses legends to reinforce itself and expand.