Tristan

Would you consider this story to be a typical tragedy? Why or why not? What sorts of tragic elements does it contain? What elements does it contain that make it less of a tragedy?

What role do religion and ideas of right and wrong play in the story? Consider the scenes that reference God. How would you reconcile Tristan and Isolde’s adulterous love affair with the work’s implicitly Christian framework? How does the narrator view their affair?

What sorts of ideals does the story present for male and female nobles? How do Tristan and Isolde exhibit these ideals?

How does the story represent love? What kinds of changes occur in those who fall in love? Do the effects of the love caused by the love potion differ from those experienced by other lovers?

What role does fortune play in the story? How do the motifs of travel and disguise relate to the idea of changing fortunes? What kinds of fortunes does Tristan experience in the story?

What roles do loyalty and betrayal play in the story? Is loyalty always rewarded? Is betrayal always punished? What causes loyalties to change? In whom does Tristan inspire loyalty or suspicion, and when?

How does the knowledge that Tristan is fated for a life of sorrow condition one’s understanding of the narrative events? What kinds of details foreshadow Tristan’s fate? How does the poet employ dramatic irony? How does this foreknowledge impact the idea of whether the characters possess free will?

Tristan includes several images/symbols that recur in medieval and classical legend, from the white and black sails of Isolde’s ship to the blood that indicates Tristan’s presence in Isolde’s bed (a plot device that also features in some versions of the Guinevere and Lancelot story). Choose one of these elements to research. What is its significance in legend and myth broadly? How does it function in Tristan specifically?