Biography EssayGottfried von Straßburg was highly regarded by writers who came after him, and his reputation was never greater than it is today. His work, like that of most writers of the high m...
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The German poet and romancer Gottfried von Strassburg (ca. 1165-ca. 1215) wrote "Tristan und Isolt," the best-known version of that famous love story.There is little information about the life of Gott...
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Gottfried von Straßburg was highly regarded by writers who came after him, and his reputation was never greater than it is today. His work, like that of most writers of the high medieval period,...
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In the following excerpt from his Beroul's Romance of Tristran, originally published in Italian in 1963, Varvaro examines the episodic structure of Tristran, noting that individual episodes are...
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In the essay below, Bromiley focuses on instances of narrative repetition in Tristran, concluding that Béroul often repeats older material just before introducing an original passage.
At lin...
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In the essay below, Curtis discusses Béroul's handling of the love potion in Tristran, asserting that the author does not use it merely as a stock device to advance the story, but rather...
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In the following introduction to Spector's translation of the later prose Tristan and Isolt, Vinaver briefly touches on the origin and central themes of the legend, as well on differences from ...
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In the essay below, Ditmas outlines the evidence for Béroul's knowledge of contemporary Cornwall, citing details of Cornish history and topography interwoven into the romance.
This st...
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In the following excerpt, Noble discusses the characterization of Iseut and Tristran respectively, emphasizing their wit and resourcefulness in difficult situations.
One of Beroul's great st...
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In the following essay, Hyatte examines Béroul's use of weapons imagery in Tristran, noting that its main function is to delineate levels of knightly worth, to accent the theme of retrib...
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The following is an excerpt from an 1882 edition of the prelude to Tristram of Lyonesse.
Love, that is first and last of all things made, The light that has the living world for shade, The spirit t...
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In the following essay, Bédier examines the origin and development of the Tristan and Isolde legend and maintains that there was one single source poem from which the extant versions proceeded....
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In the following essay, Loomis comments on the critical reception Gertrude Schoepperle's 1913 study of the Tristan legend received, and discusses the origin, development, and transmission of th...
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In the following excerpt, Schoepperle examines the treatment of love in the estoire (the French source believed by some critics to be the source of extant versions, including the Germanic and English ...
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In the following essay, Leach examines the characteristics of the Scandinavian version of the Tristan legend, which was derived from Thomas's Anglo-Norman version of the late twelfth century.
...
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In the following excerpt, Schofield compares the versions of the Tristan legend written by the Anglo-Norman poet Thomas and the Norman Béroul and offers a discussion of Thomas's version,...
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In the following essay, van Hamel studies the details of the dragon-slaying episode in the Tristan legend and compares these elements as they appear in different versions of the legend.
When Trista...
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In the following essay, Loomis examines several areas of critical disagreement regarding the Tristan legend: the influence of the Welshman Bleheris on the development of the legend, the relation of th...
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In the following essay, Vinaver reviews the critical debate surrounding the nature of the origin of the extant versions of the Tristan legend. He also examines the treatment of the love potion motif f...
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In the following essay, Bruce maintains that most modern critics agree that a “single primitive Tristan romance” is the source of all extant versions. Bruce then surveys those versions, ...
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In the following essay, Frank maintains that the Chievrefueil, a lay by Marie de France, was derived from longer versions of the Tristram (Tristan) legend.
Chievrefueil, the shortest and perhaps th...
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In the following essay, Newstead traces the literary history of the “tryst episode” of the Tristan legend, finding that it originated in three Celtic stories before it developed in vario...
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In the following essay, Newstead evaluates the significance of the role of King Mark of Cornwall in the Tristan romances, observing that the character figures prominently in the stories, as does the s...
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MILAN, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Milan's La Scala opens its new
opera season on Friday with Richard Wagner's five-hour-plus
spectacle "Tristan and Isolde". The gala event in the historic heart of Italy's ...
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Images of fire, floods and even naked bodies flash on a giant video screen above the stage as the concert hall fills with the sounds of Richard Wagner's doomed lovers playing out their tragic story...
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MILAN, Dec 7 (Reuters) - La Scala's performance of Richard
Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" drew a 20-minute applause on the
opening night of the opera house's new season, which attracted
statesmen, ...
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In 1875, Clara Schumann, the widow of the composer Robert Schumann and the most celebrated female pianist of the 19th century, attended a performance of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde and afterw...
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In 1875, Clara Schumann, the widow of the composer Robert Schumann and the most celebrated female pianist of the 19th century, attended a performance of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde and afterw...
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Daniel Barenboim made a triumphant debut Friday night as principal guest conductor at La Scala's gala opening-night premiere of a new staging of Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde," receiving 20 minutes ...
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Question 1 of 10:James was suspected of favouritism when he judged the County Fair Pet Show. What did he award first prize?a) A goat (0)b) A cat (0)c) A hamster (0)d) A goldfish (1)Question 2 of 10...
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No costumes. No scenery. Just pure music.Only the orchestra shared the stage with the singers Sunday, and there was not a spear or helmet in sight. With such limitations, this performance of excerp...
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MILAN, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Italy's political and financial
elite arrived at La Scala in their chauffeured cars on Friday to
attend a performance of Richard Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" on
the openi...
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For many, the operas of Richard Wagner can be a hard slog: The philosophical conundrums of the librettos, the grating consonants of the German language, and the sheer sitzfleisch needed to get thro...
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Gottfried von Strassburg
Gottfried von Strassburg
Critical Essay by Alberto Varvaro
La Scala opens new season with Wagner's "Tristan"
