Evaluating Isolde in Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur and Straßburg's Tristan and Iseult-A review of the literature

Abstract

The following paper- a review of the literature is an adaption from the first thesis the author wrote at St. John Fisher College, Rochester, NY as an undergraduate in 1999. It is a preliminary assessment of how the character La Belle Isolde differs in the chapter Sir Tristram de Lyonesse of Sir Thomas Malory's (1993, 2015, 1998) Le Morted 'Arthur, and Tristan and Iseult of Gottfried Straßburg (1929). Malory's depiction of Isolde holds more negative imagery than that of Straßburg's. The latter author, however, depicts Isolde as a powerful woman, who often holds Tristan's life in her hands. However, in Straßburg's view, La Belle Isolde is the role of a strong woman who is neither subjugated nor docile. Straßburg's characterization is reflected further in Richard Wagner's romantic opera Tristan und Isolde. In this opera that debuted in Munich in 1865, Wagner keeps equal the pair of co-protagonists (Deathridge & Dahlhaus,1984; Jansen, 1998).On the contrary, Sir Malory viewed La Belle Isolde as the mere shadow of the chivalrous Tristan, albeit she had with background importance as a minor character. The following review of the literature will assess three examples of the conflicting treatments of La Belle Isolde: 1) her epithet, 2) a downplay of her medicinal knowledge, and 3) the effects of the love potion on the couple.