Can someone summarize for me, why the story, Tristan and Isolde, is a tragic love story?

Answer 1

Well, I only saw the movie... so yeah,but here's some information that might be of help.


"There are two main traditions of the Tristan legend. The early tradition comprised the romances of two French poets from the second half of the twelfth century, Thomas of Britain and Béroul. Their sources could be traced back to the original, archetypal Celtic romance. Later traditions come from the Prose Tristan (c. 1240), which was markedly different from the earlier tales written by Thomas and Béroul. The Prose Tristan became the official medieval tale of Tristan and Iseult that would provide the background for the writings of Sir Thomas Malory, the English author, who wrote Le Morte d'Arthur (c. 1469).

The story and character of Tristan vary from poet to poet. Even the spelling of his name varies a great deal, though "Tristan" is the most popular spelling. In Béroul's Tristan and Yseut, the knight is as brave and fit as any other warrior, but he relies on trickery and does not live according to contemporary ideals of chivalry.

In Béroul's tale, Tristan goes to Ireland to bring back the fair Yseut for his uncle King Mark to marry. Along the way, they accidentally ingest a love potion that causes the pair to be madly in love for three years. Although Yseut marries Mark, she and Tristan are forced by the potion to seek one another out for adultery. Although the typical noble Arthurian character would be shamed from such an act, the love potion that controls them frees Tristan and Yseut from responsibility. Thus Béroul presents them as victims. The king's advisors repeatedly try to have the pair tried for adultery, but again and again the couple use trickery to preserve their façade ofpoo innocence. Eventually the love potion wears off, and the two lovers are free to make their own choice as to whether they cease their adulterous lifestyle or continue. Béroul's ending is morally ambiguous, which differs greatly from his contemporaries such as Chrétien de Troyes and adds a bit of mystique to the legend of Tristan.

Tristan migrates to Ireland from Cornwall to ask the hand of the princess Iseult of Ireland, daughter of King Anguish of Ireland, for his uncle, King Mark of Cornwall. After slaying a dragon that is devastating the country, he succeeds in betrothing the couple and is chosen to escort the princess to Cornwall. On the homeward journey, Tristan and Iseult drink a love potion that was prepared by the queen for her daughter and King Mark. Tristan and Iseult then go on to carry on a liaison which lasts for many years.

As with the Arthur-Lancelot-Guinevere love triangle, Tristan, King Mark, and Iseult all hold love for each other. Tristan honors, respects, and loves King Mark as his mentor and adopted father; Iseult is grateful that Mark is kind to her, which he is certainly not obliged to be; and Mark loves Tristan as his son, and Iseult as a wife.

Tristan's uncle eventually learns of the affair and seeks to entrap his nephew and his bride. Also present is the endangerment of a fragile kingdom, the cessation of war between Ireland and Cornwall. Mark gets what seems proof of their guilt and resolves to punish them: Tristan by hanging and Iseult by trial by ordeal and then putting her up in a lazar house. Tristan escapes on his way to the stake by a miraculous leap from a chapel and rescues Iseult from the leprosy house. The lovers escape into the forest of Morrois and take shelter there until they are discovered by Mark one day. However, they make peace with Mark after Tristan's agreement to return Iseult to Mark and leave the country. Tristan then travels on to Brittany, where he marries (for her name and her beauty) Iseult of the White Hands, daughter of Hoel of Brittany and sister of Sir Kahedin.

In works like the Prose Tristan, the Post-Vulgate Cycle, and Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, Tristan is wounded by a poisoned weapon, after battling with Iseult of Ireland's uncle Morholt (sometimes named Estult li Orgillusi). He mortally wounds Morholt, leaving a piece of his sword in the Irishman's skull, but Morholt stabs him with a poisoned spear and escapes. Tristan sends for Iseult of Ireland, who alone can heal him. Iseult of Brittany watches the window for white sails signaling that Iseult of Ireland is arriving to save Tristan's life with her herblore. She sees the white sails, but out of jealousy, tells Tristan that the sails are black, which was to be the signal that Iseult of Ireland would not come. Tristan dies, and Iseult of Ireland, arriving too late to save him, yields up her own life. In some sources it states that two trees (hazel and honeysuckle) grow out of their graves and intertwine their branches so that they can not be parted by any means. In others, it states that Iseult of Ireland sets his body to sea in a boat then disappears and is never heard from again.

A few later stories record that the lovers had a number of children. In some stories they produced a son and a daughter they named after themselves; these children survived their parents and had adventures of their own. In the romance Ysaie the Sad, the eponymous hero is the son of Tristan and Iseult; he becomes involved with the fay-king Oberon and marries a girl named Martha, who bears him a son named Mark"

Answer 2

I've never seen the movie, but i know about it. Apparently, Tristan is a guard or something like that in the King's Kingdom. Tristan somehow ends up somewhere else with a really bad battle wound. That is where he meets Isolde. They end up falling in love, and the Kings men are looking for Tristan. Tristan leaves Isolde hoping that they will sometime see eachother again. Tristan does eventully see Isolde, and she is betrothed to the King. They can never be together. I guess the tragic in this story is unforbidden love.

Answer 3

The Romance Of Tristan Beroul

Answer 4

Im not quite sure, but i think one of them kills herself, because HE dies.

Answer 5

Sparknotes it.