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

Year 2018, , 168 - 187, 30.12.2018

Meriç Tutku Özmen , Şafak Horzum

https://doi.org/10.29110/soylemdergi.479048

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.

Keywords

Courtly love, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Tristan, Isolde

Thomas Malory'nin Arthur'un Ölümü Eserinde Saraylı Usulü Aşk Geleneğinin Tersyüz Edilmesi: Tristan ve İsolde Meselesi

Abstract

Saraylı
usulü aşk, Ortaçağ Dönemi’nde toplumun şekillenmesine yardım etmiş ve karşılığında
toplum tarafından şekillendirilmiş, Ortaçağ Avrupası’na ait, aşığı yüceltici bir
aşk kavramıdır. Bu kavramın kökleri Antik Roma dönemi edebiyatı, İspanyol-Arap şiiri
ve felsefesi, Trubadur aşk şiiri, feodalizm ve Hristiyanlık gibi pek çok
geleneğe dayanır. Ancak, aynı zamanda bu kavrama karşı eleştirel olan ve şüphe
ile yaklaşan yazarlar da bulunmaktadır. Sör Thomas Malory (y.1410-1471) de
İngilizce yazılmış Kral Arthur hikâyelerinin ilk tam derlemesi olan Arthur’un Ölümü (1485) adlı eserinde bu
kavramı ustalıkla hicvetmiştir. Bu eserin üçte biri asırlardır tartışmalara
konu olan bir aşk hikâyesi içermektedir: Tristan ve İsolde’nin meselesini. Bu
sebeple, Malory’nin saraylı usulü aşk geleneği ile Tristan hikâyesine olan
farklı yaklaşımı, efsanenin Kelt kaynaklarıyla ilgili önemli veriler sunularak
ve eserdeki saraylı aşk yaşayan diğer mühim karakterlere kıyaslama yapılarak
verilecektir.

Keywords

Saraylı usulü aşk, Thomas Malory, Arthur’un Ölümü, Tristan, İsolde

References

• Cherewatuk, Karen (2006). Marriage, Adultery and Inheritance in Malory’s Morte DArthur. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer.
• Cooper, Helen (1996). The Book of Sir Tristram de Lyones. In Elizabeth Archibald & A. S. G. Edwards (Eds.), A Companion to Malory (183-202). Cambridge: D.S. Brewer.
• Davidson, Roberta (2006). Reading like a Woman in Malory’s Morte Darthur. Arthuriana, 16 (1), 21-33. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/27870730
• Edwards, Elizabeth (1996). The Place of Women in the Morte Dathur. In Elizabeth Archibald & A. S. G. Edwards (Eds.), A Companion to Malory (37-54). Cambridge: D.S. Brewer.
• Fisher, John H. (1957). Tristan and Courtly Adultery. Comparative Literature, 9 (2), 50-64. doi:10.2307/1768881
• Fritscher, John J. (1967). Sex and Magic in King Arthur’s Camelot: A Textual Investigation of Religion and the Supranatural in Malory’s Morte D’Arthur (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Loyola University, Chicago, IL.
• Heikel, Julie Anne (2007). Constructing Chivalry: The Symbolism of King Mark in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde (Unpublished master’s thesis). McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
• Hodges, Kenneth (2005). Forging Chivalric Communities in Malory’s Le Morte Darthur. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Horzum, Şafak (2017). Hegemonic Hospitality in Relation to Diasporic Male Identities in Hanif Kureishi’s My Ear at His Heart. In A. Deniz Bozer (Ed.), Representations of Diasporic Identities in Britain (41-68). Ankara: Hacettepe UP.
• Karr, Phyllis Ann (1997). The Arthurian Companion: The Legendary World of Camelot and the Round Table. Oakland: Chaosium.
• Kelly, Henry Ansgar (1973). Clandestine Marriage and Chaucer’s Troilus. Viator, 4, 435-457. doi:10.1484/J.VIATOR.2.301659
• Kennedy, Beverly (1997). Adultery in Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur. Arthuriana, 7 (4), 63-91. doi:10.1353/art.1997.0037
• Kerr, John Edward (1894). The Character of Marc in Myth and Legend. Modern Language Notes, 9 (1), 15-20. doi:10.2307/2918769
• Koplowitz-Breier, Anat (2005, May). The Naked Truth, or Why in Le Morte Darthur La Beale Isode May Be Naked but Queen Gwenyvere May Not. Mirator, 1-18. Retrieved from http://www.glossa.fi/mirator/pdf/nakedtruth.pdf
• Lacy, Norris J., Ashe, Geoffrey, & Mancoff, Debra N. (1997). The Arthurian Handbook (2nd ed.). New York: Garland.
• Loomis, Roger Sherman (1930). Some Names in Arthurian Romance. PMLA, 45 (2), 416-443. doi:10.2307/457801
• Lupack, Alan (2007). The Oxford Guide to Arthurian Literature and Legend. Oxford: Oxford UP.
• Lynch, Andrew (1997). Malory’s Book of Arms: The Narrative of Combat in Le Morte Darthur. Woodbridge: D.S. Brewer.
• Malory, Thomas (1954). The Works of Sir Thomas Malory (Eugène Vinaver, Ed.). London: Oxford UP.
• McCarthy, Terence (1991). An Introduction to Malory. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer.
• Moorman, Charles (1960). Courtly Love in Malory. ELH, 27 (3), 163-76. doi:10.2307/2871877
• Pearsall, Derek (2003). Arthurian Romance: A Short Introduction. Malden: Blackwell.
• Putter, Ad, & Archibald, Elizabeth (2009). Introduction. In Elizabeth Archibald & Ad Putter (Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to the Arthurian Legend (1-18). Cambridge: Cambridge UP.
• Radford, C. A. Ralegh (1976). Romance and Reality in Cornwall. In Geoffrey Ashe (Ed.), The Quest for Arthur’s Britain (59-77). St. Albans: Paladin.
• Rumble, Thomas C. (1956). The First Explicit in Malory’s Morte Darthur. Modern Language Notes, 71 (8), 564-66. doi:10.2307/3043625
• Saunders, Corinne (2010). Magic and the Supernatural in Medieval English Romance. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer.
• Schueler, Donald G. (1968). The Tristram Section of Malory’s Morte Darthur. Studies in Philology, 65 (1), 51-66. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4173591
• Sheenan, Michael M. (2004). Choice of Marriage Partner in the Middle Ages: Development and Mode of Application of a Theory of Marriage. In Carol Neel (Ed.), Medieval Families: Perspectives on Marriage, Household, and Children (157-191). Toronto: U of Toronto P.
• Windeatt, Barry (2009). The Fifteenth-Century Arthur. In Elizabeth Archibald & Ad Putter (Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to the Arthurian Legend (84-102). Cambridge: Cambridge UP.
• Zimmerman, Yekaterina (2005). Female Discourses: Powerful and Powerless Speech in Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.