A College Student’s Approach to Courtly Love
The term "courtly love" is a highly ambiguous one. As it applies to works of literature, it spans over hundreds of years and over a half dozen countries. Hence finding its specific literary and allegorical definition and impact on literature is difficult. It is important to understand the roots of courtly love. To do so means that one gains a greater understanding of the most foundational element of any society- the relationship between men and women. If a student of literature holds only a vague understanding of courtly love, then he or she holds only a vague understanding of medieval culture. In turn when this student moves on to various other periods of British literature, they will have a nearly impossible time determining in what ways the dynamics of romantic relationships and marriage have changed.
In this paper I will work to find a concise yet comprehensive definition for courtly love that may be useful to students of literature. Additionally I will explore the impact of courtly love on the literature in which it makes appearances. Finally I will examine the contemporary understanding of this term and how it is relevant to contemporary times.
Gaston Paris first coined the term "amour courteious" in 1883. In this, it is clear that the French have had a tremendous impact on the spread of this phenomenon in literature (as with the French troubadours). Courtly love certainly functions on two levels. We must distinguish these two uses of the word- to describe experience and to denote a genre. In the first it is a set of codes that regulates the interaction between two lovers. There are set rules that were often unspoken at the time. In this sense it is not so much a term ...
... middle of paper ...
...e if we have no starting point? Women searching for liberation from social customs and restrictions cannot find it without empathizing with those who came before them. Inner conflicts between human nature and social well being that men experience must be dealt with in some way. If he knows the attempts proposed before him, he can save time and effort in reserving from investing in these. For any reader of any time period of the courtly love tradition, these questions and should remain in mind. The answers may give us a new direction to move in as we reread the classics and write our own.
Works Cited
Ford, Boris. Medieval Literature. Part Two: The Eurpean Inheritance. New York, 1983.
O’Donogue, Bernard. The Courtly Love Tradition. New Jersey, 1982.
Stevens, J.E. Medieval Romance. London, 1973.
Zumthor, Paul. Speaking of the Middle Ages. Lincoln, 1986.
Elements in the poetry of courtly love express the need for a love affair to remain secret. The object of a poet’s love in these poems is typically a married woman, or unattainable by some other means. Andreas Capellanus’s The Rules of Courtly Love captures this element of forbidden love by saying, "marriage (was) no real excuse for not loving" (Cap 115-116). As Patrick Ford wisely pointed out, the need to maintain secrecy in a forbidden affair is not a new idea to modern readers. These elements of courtly love do not escape Dafydd’s poetry. His poem "Secret Love," among others, emphasizes the level of secrecy necessary in maintaining a love affair. Dafydd considers himself a learned lover, who found that "The best form of the words that work / Is to speak love in secrecy" (Sec 1-2).
William & Torres provided a table to reflect hospitals ownership, and noted that some hospitals, while owned by one type of entity, may be operating under a contract by another entity, such as a hospital management company (Williams & Torrens, page 185). Some of the largest groups of hospitals in the nation are nonprofit community hospitals (Williams & Torrens, page 185). Nonprofit entities, including hospitals, function under special provisions of corporation law in each state, and under federal and state tax provisions that recognize their community service function (Williams & Torrens, page 185). The nation has approximately 1 million nonprofit entities of various sorts and hospitals have long been a traditional service provider in the nonprofit sector (Williams & Torrens, page 185). Nonprofit entities are generally exempt from most taxes at the federal, state, and local levels including income and property taxes (Williams & Torrens, page 185). These facilities are governed by a community based board that has ultimate authority for running these entities. Sponsorship for a nonprofit can come from various organizations, unlike other hospitals with traditional religious sponsorship (Williams & Torrens, page 185). A small percentage of the nation’s hospitals are operated by for-profit businesses (Williams & Torrens, page 186). For-profit hospitals have owners and issue stock to those owners to reflect their equity position (Williams & Torrens, page 185). For-profit hospitals are not just accountable to the community but must also provide a return on investment to the shareholders; they expect to generate a profit to pay a return to the equity inves...
Nonprofits are dealing with many risks that seemed especially significant. For example, Nonprofits might encounter fiscal risk caused by the difficulty of finding enough resources and funds to subsidize their mission and objectives. Throughout history, fiscal distress has been a way of life for the nonprofit sector as many nonprofits are competing to access the needed resources and raising money to fund their activities. Nonprofits also might encounter the risk of losing market shares due to the uneven opportunity in accessing resources required to establish new facilities or new programs and services in response to the rapid surges in demand. Accordingly, nonprofits are required to maintain effectiveness
In a relationship, Love is a feeling that humans share with a special person. Some bonds could be mutual, while others are dissociated. During the Medieval period, love affairs were dominated by one gender, men, and the women had little or no control over decisions. Before a gentleman married a lady, the gentleman first boasted about her beauty, championed the cause of the lady, and did whatever the lady requested. The era was influenced by knights, and dictated by honor and chivalry that each knight had to display to their king and queen. As a gentleman, a knight had to be just at all times, especially toward ladies. At this time, there was a king named Arthur. King Arthur had a flourishing kingdom that abruptly ended. Later on, many authors recounted the story of the reign of King Arthur. Sir Thomas Malory published Le Morte d’Arthur, and Geoffrey Chaucer published The Wife of Bath’s Tale. Although both of these books recount the reign of King Arthur, the stories are very diverse and unique in their own way. Both stories demonstrate for a relationship to be successful, both partners must be submissive, must be brave, and must be willing to learn from mistakes.
Renaissance Humanism became increasingly concerned with the self and the fashioning of the self. In Il Cortegiano (The Courtier), published in 1528, Conte Baldassare Castiglione's ideal courtier is an exponent of the latter. The education or the self-fashioning of the courtier involves almost everything under the sun. Therefore, as the courtier must learn the proper skills of war, he must also learn how to love. Love, the deportment of the courtier towards court-ladies, keeps recurring in the conversation in the court at Urbino during the discourses of all four nights and the many controversies generated by Gaspar Pallavicino, Lord Julian, and Bernard Bibiena all involve love and culminate ultimately in Pietro Bembo's inspired Platonic exposition.
“‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all” (Miriam-Webster 253). This quote has been used for centuries as both persuasion in favor of loving and also as comfort in times of heartbreak and loss. However, is this statement completely true, or does it offer false hope to anguishing lovers? In fact, are the rules and costs of loving and being loved so great that in fact it is actually better to never have loved at all? When pondering these questions, one must first consider the rules of loving and being loved to determine the physical, emotional, and psychological costs they entail. In order to do so, one could use Andreas Capellanus’ The Art of Courtly Love as a guideline for the rules of love. During the Medieval time period, Andreas Capellanus compiled a list of thirty-one rules/characteristics of courtly love. By definition, courtly love is “a highly conventionalized code of conduct for lovers” (American Heritage Dictionary). Capellanus constructed his list in order to provide a guide for those seeking love and those who already find themselves in love to determine if what they are looking for or already have found is indeed true love. The ideas/rules laid out in Capellanu’s list cannot only be found in the literature of the Medieval times, but in many cases are the driving theme behind these works. The same holds true for modern pieces of literature based on the medieval time period, however none more prominently than Sigrid Undset’s Noble Prize winning Kristin Lavransdatter. The story re-creates the historical setting vividly in order to enlighten readers as to the lifestyles, social configuration, and political operations of the medieval times by chronicling the life and c...
Trials have been done on children with autism, cancer patients, and those with substance use disorders. In music therapy trials done on various cancer patients, significant positive affects have occured. Data collected from a study at Wake Forest Hospital in Winston-Salem, North Carolina showed significant improvements. The patients was diagnosed with Leukemia. The music therapy type was PME and the patient showed improvements in relaxation and heart rate normality (Boehm). Music therapy not only facilitates the brain and allows the patient to relax and be in touch with their
Romance as the genre we know in modern times has greatly changed from the classical, medieval version it once was. The Medieval romance poems and stories of that time idealizes the idea of chivalry or chivalric romance. It idealizes the hero who was usually a knight and his noble deeds. Another important element of medieval romance is the knight's love for a fair lady who, unfortunately, in most cases belongs to another. The setting tends to be imaginary and vague in places like mystical kingdoms or magical forest. This romance also has elements of mystery and suspense with the use of the supernatural. The chivalric romances during this period were a style of narratives and prose that were popular among the aristocrats and upper class of the time. This essay will analyze the main characteristics of the medieval romance genre also known as “courtly love." As well as review and compare two courtly love romance stories, Marie De France “Lanval” and “Sir Gawain and The Green Knight."
Music is everywhere we go; we listen to it in the car, while doing work, and there are even people who pay to listen or watch an artist perform live. Yes, life goes on without music, but music has such an impact on our lives. Life is a rollercoaster of emotions and we have music to fit our emotions to be just as we feel. Music has a great deal of importance of many people. It can have a meaning that they cannot explain to others and are able to connect with the song. By doing so experts are able to help patients overcome many sicknesses with the help of music. Music therapy is capable of being an advantage for many individual patients, it can encourage responses from patients that other methods of therapy cannot get from them. Also, it improves the patients in distinctive ways other than for an illness.
Courtly love was a secret love or romance between the first knight and the king’s lady that would usually begin with something as small as an exchange of looks through eye glances. Next, a declaration is then discussed by both parties to pursue a relationship under the table from their king or anyone else in the castle. “Gawain glanced at the gracious looking woman …Gawain and the beautiful woman found such comfort and closeness in each other company (line 970,1010)”. Sir Gawain had courted Guinevere while he was at kings Arthurs castle but being here in Bertilak’s Castle he now found a much more stunning lady superior to Guinevere, Lady Bertilak. He had really fallen in love with lady Bertilak at first glance and Lady Bertilak was in love with his heroicness. Moreover, the relationship was established, Sir Gawain was to love her and be obedient to all of her commands as well as to always be polite, courteous and to never exceed the desires of the lover. At one point of the story, Lady Bertilak goes to Sir Gawain’s room in the morning while her husband is away and everyone is sleep because she desires to be with him, “I shall kiss at your command ...should it please you, so press me no more (line 1303). Abiding by the rules of courtly love Sir Gawain is to be a good knight and do as she pleases but
What is a nonprofit organization: A nonprofit corporation is an association that conducts business for the benefit of the general public without shareholders and without a profit motive. (The free dictionary)
In past poetry, love and romance has been interpreted in many ways but mainly in a form known as sad and heartbreaking experiences. During the sixteenth century and times before that, many authors expressed love as gloomy and also wrote in the favor of men. Two interesting portrayals of love are in the sonnet “They Flee From Me” by Thomas Wyatt and collection of sonnets “Amoretti” by Edmund Spencer. In these poems, love is described mostly in two opposite ways. While “They Flee From Me” portrays men as the victim to women and their deviousness, “Amoretti” takes an opposing turn from how most poetry of that time wrote about love by celebrating it in a positive and joyful way.
In the Middle Ages, when The Canterbury Tales was written, society became captivated by love and the thought of courtly and debonair love was the governing part of all relationships and commanded how love should be conducted. These principles changed literature completely and created a new genre dedicated to brave, valorous knights embarking on noble quests with the intention of some reward, whether that be their life, lover, or any other want. The Canterbury Tales, written in the 14th century by Geoffrey Chaucer, accurately portrays and depicts this type of genre. Containing a collection of stories within the main novel, only one of those stories, entitled “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”, truly outlines the 14th century community beliefs on courtly love.
Over the years, love has been portrayed in numerous ways. Some see love as treacherous or deceitful, but Shakespeare saw just the opposite. His work Twelfth Night shows what he believes to be an authenticity test to his view of love. The audience can come to know the similar theme of love in reading “Sonnet 116”, “Sonnet 18”, and Romeo and Juliet. In comparing Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night, Shakespeare uses various literary devices to explain an unachievable love and everlasting physical beauty.
During the 16th and 17th century, many love poems and sonnets were written and most likely circulated for amusement and satire among poets. Though every poem is written about the poet’s undying love for their beloved, they all display different attitudes to love and ways of showing it.