SOURCE: "Love and Charity in Hartmann's Iwein" in The Modern Language Review, Vol. LVII, No. 2, April, 1962, pp. 216-27.

In the following essay, Willson explores the ethical and stylistic influences of Medieval Christianity on Hartmann's Iwein.

In ["Sin and Redemption in Hartmann's Erec," Germanic Review, xxxiii (1958),] I set out to prove that Hartmann's Erec, in spite of its 'worldly' theme, is constructed on the basis of an ultimately religious formula, a formula which lies at the very heart of Christianity itself, namely sin and redemption. What is true of Erec holds good also for its complement, Iwein, which indisputably reveals a similar structural analogy with Christian reality. Iwein is also a 'worldly' poem, but nevertheless betrays the strong influence of the contemporary theological background in its fundamental pattern, ethical outlook and stylistic technique.

The transgression of Erec, as is well known, is his failure to fulfil his chivalrous obligations...