Some contributions to the interpretation of Gottfried von Strassburg's 'Tristan'

Abstract

This study examines some of the major elements of Gottfried's form: chapters one and two concentrate on the metaphor of the hunt of love, outlined throughout the work by the words "wilde", "wilt" and "wildenaere", and on the play on the word "vremede", both of which trace the basic paradox of the hero's life, namely that the very characteristics which make him outstanding, an artist and a hero, are the determining factors in his ultimate inability to retain his place in society. Chapter three discusses the allegorical nature of "ritterschaft" in the work: unlike the traditional hero of Arthurian Romance, Tristan takes up arms against the hostility which rages within himself and deflects onto the figures of Morgan, Morolt, the dragon and the giant, the aggression which otherwise would be directed against his major rival, Mark. Chapter four attempts to demonstrate how the poet's search for form reaches a successful climax in the cave allegory and how, paradoxically, his success is coextensive with the failure of the lovers, become 'wildenaere", to achieve the kind of social regard for their "art" which is discussed in the literary excursus. The further separation of the fate of the poet from that of his creatures is discussed in the final chapters of the study: the narrow, amoral concern of the lovers is contrasted throughout the prologue, the stanzaic extensions to this and the excursuses, with the poet's preoccupation with the wider possibilities of life and considerations of different human values. Brangaene is the final link in the chain of moral consequence which the total form has forged; it is she whose function it is to bring about final retribution: she effects the closing of the circle which opened with a woman being stolen from Mark and closes with Tristan restoring one to him. The study is based on the assumption that in some meaningful way Gottfried's work is finished, and hopes to demonstrate this in the following examination of those aspects of his form already mentioned.