The Reversal of Courtly Love Tradition in Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur: The Case of Tristan and Isolde

Journal Title: Söylem Filoloji Dergisi - Year 2018, Vol 3, Issue 2

Abstract

Courtly love convention is a medieval European concept of ennobling love which helped the shaping of the society and in return which was shaped by the society during the Middle Ages. The concept has its roots in many traditions such as classical literature, Hispano-Arabic poetry and philosophy, Troubadour poetry, feudalism and Christianity. However, there are also writers who were critical and suspicious of courtly love convention. Sir Thomas Malory (c.1410-1471) presents a subtle criticism of the concept in his Le Morte Darthur (1485), the first collection that brings together all the Arthurian stories in English. One-third of this work consists of a controversial love story, the case of Tristan and Isolde. Therefore, Malory’s different treatment of the courtly love tradition and the Tristan story will be illustrated with the critical information on the Celtic sources of the legend and a comparative method to other significant characters involved in the courtly love in this work.

Authors and Affiliations

Meriç Tutku Özmen, Şafak Horzum

Keywords

Related Articles

Cinema Language and Narrative Techniques in Story Analysis

Basic material of literature is words and meaning in literature is created with linguistic signs. Cinema expresses its laws with moving images. As in literature, these images are supported with new explanation possibilit...

A Different Approach to the Novel Types of Tanzimat Period

During the process after the declaration of Tanzimat, many novels and novel types take part in the lives of Turkish readers through firstly translated and later adapted and original works. Even though the first period no...

“THE INFINITE TRAVEL OF HERO” IN THE NARRATIVE OF EMREN THE SON OF BEGİL

Dede Korkut narratives which have an important place in terms of Turkish language, culture and literature, display Turkish people’s lifestyles, world-views/perceptions. Emren, son of Begil, which is located in Dresden Tr...

The Symbolic Discourse of Popular Sufi Preaching The Example of Fazilet-Name

One of the features that make the literary work impressive and long winded is quality of its language. Religious culture, philosophy and many discipline which feed from these, sometimes prefer to be permanent through sym...

Turkish Becoming Rich in Literary Texts

From past to present, language is undoubtedly one of the most important elements that influence the existence of humankind. Even though there are many criteria about the richness of languages, the most salient of them is...

Download PDF file
  • EP ID EP428832
  • DOI 10.29110/soylemdergi.479048
  • Views 65
  • Downloads 0

How To Cite

Meriç Tutku Özmen, Şafak Horzum (2018). The Reversal of Courtly Love Tradition in Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur: The Case of Tristan and Isolde. Söylem Filoloji Dergisi, 3(2), 168-187. https://europub.co.uk/articles/-A-428832