A Tale of Love and Death? Modern Misconceptions of the Medieval Legend of
Tristan and Iseult: the Legacy of Wagner, Bédier, and Rougemont
Presented to the Wagner Society of Washington DC, January 1999
by Joan Tasker Grimbert, of the Catholic University of America
The talk focused on modern misconceptions about the nature of the
medieval legend of Tristan and Iseult owing to three very influential
interpretations: the opera Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner (completed
in 1859; first performed in 1865); the popular modern French retelling, Le
Roman de Tristan et Iseut (1900), by the eminent medievalist Josep
Bédier; and L'Amour et l'occident (1939; trans. Love in the Western
World), the classic study of the legend by the Swiss essayist and moralist
Denis de Rougemont. Since Wagner strongly influenced both Bédier and
Rougemont, all three interpretations subscribe to a Romantic conception of
the legend as a tale of love and death. While the Liebestod can be found
in the medieval legend, it is by no means the essence of it, for the
lovers take a very different attitude from their modern counterparts
toward their forbidden love and inevitable death.
The talk consisted of several parts:
- The ecstatic description of passionate love that Diane Ackerman gives
under the heading "Tristan and Iseult" in her best seller, The Natural
History of Love: it shows how she has assimilated? and is Wagner
petuating Rougemont's interpretation of the legend?
- A slide-illustrated summary of the main events of the medieval legend as
it is found in the earliest versions of the medieval legend; this was to
give an idea of the "medieval saga" with which Wagner had to work;
- A brief synopsis of Wagner's opera, showing how he reduced the legend to
three crucial "moments" in which the lovers are seen to aspire to flee
society and actually welcome death (each of the three acts culminating in
an ecstatic celebration of a love–induced death);
- An analysis of the very different way the theme of death was treated in
three of the earliest versions of the legend by Béroul, Thomas of Britain
(both late 12th c.), and Gottfried von Strasburg (ca. 1210): although
death threatens the medieval lovers constantly, they never aspire to die
or to live outside of society but rather struggle fiercely to remain integrated within it;
- Conclusions: A complex, variegated medieval tradition has been
schematized as "myth" and transformed into "a tale of love and death." The
process begins with Wagner,whose Romantic interpretation permeates
Bédier's version, belying the medievalist's claim that he is remaining
faithful to the spirit of the "primitive" version of the legend (Béroul).
Rougemont relies heavily on both Wagner and Bédier in his discussion of
the origins and evolution of the theme of passionate love in Western
literature; his conclusion is that those who indulge in adulterous love,
which threatens the very fabric of our society, carry within them a death
wish.
last update: 08 April 2002
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