Breton Cycle: summary. The characters of the legend of King Arthur and the characteristics of the Breton novel. In-depth analysis of the story of Tristan and Isolde.
Breton cycle
In the Middle Ages , narrative presents two aspects that both follow French models:
- the epic narrative of military and religious inspiration or Carolingian Cycle (because it was inspired by Charlemagne );
- the profane epic narrative or chivalric romance or Breton Cycle (because it was inspired by Brittany) or Breton Romance.
The epic narrative of military and religious inspiration that has as its protagonists the Paladins of Charlemagne, is based on feudal ethics and therefore sings of loyalty, dedication, fidelity towards one’s lord, courage, love for one’s country and faith in God. Among these works we find the Chansons de Geste (The Song of Roland).
The characteristics of the Breton novel
The profane chivalric novel, on the other hand, sings the adventures and love of individual knights . Initially it is in verse, then, later, when more people are able to read, it takes the form of prose and its structure becomes more similar to what we mean by “novel” today. At that time, however, the term novel was used to indicate that the language used was the Romance language, that is, a language derived from Latin.
Chivalric romances are also classified according to the subject matter: “ancient matter” and “Breton matter”. Chivalric romances of ancient matter have as their subject the adventures of ancient characters (e.g. Julius Caesar ). Chivalric romances of “Breton matter” draw inspiration from the History of the Kings of Brittany, which was very popular at that time.
The values sung in the Breton romance are partly the same as those of the chansons de geste and partly new. In fact, it celebrates strength, courage, loyalty, the desire for individual glory, the spirit of adventure to reach perfection and to these is added love, represented in all its aspects: refined love, conjugal love, extra-conjugal love, love as absolute dedication to the beloved woman, love that allows a man to reach perfection, love understood as a physical relationship. To these aspects is often added the taste for magic and fantasy (fight against monstrous beings).
The protagonists of the Breton novel
The Breton novel tells the adventures of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table . The Knights of the Round Table were knights errant, in search of honor, glory and adventures. They are involved in adventures and duels against other knights or with monstrous beings who have magical powers. However, in the Breton novel we find a great deal of space reserved for love – which did not exist in the Chansons de Geste – often extramarital: the knight Lancelot who is in love with Queen Guinevere, wife of King Arthur or the knight Tristan who falls in love with Isolde, his uncle’s wife. The couple of lovers Tristan-Isolde is one of the most famous couples in literature of all time.
The most important writer of the Breton romance, considered the greatest medieval author before Dante, is Chrétien de Troyes , who lived in the second half of the 12th century. His works are: Erèc et Enide, Lancelot, Yvain et Perceval.
The diffusion in Italy
Over time the two cycles merge. Some aspects of the Chansons de geste pass into the more refined works of the Breton Romance while in the stories of the Paladins of Charlemagne we begin to find a taste for adventure, for the fantastic and for love stories. In Italy, the French models spread between the end of the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th century , but perhaps even earlier. They were spread by pilgrims who, following the Via Francigena, left France to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land . It is for this reason that we find among the population names of characters from the Carolingian cycle or the Breton cycle and in many churches we can observe representations representing the paladins. The Breton Romance was very successful in Italy especially among the aristocrats or the rich bourgeoisie because these works were written and the nobles and the rich bourgeoisie were the only people capable of reading. Instead the works of the Carolingian Cycle were more widespread among the more popular social classes.
Tristan and Isolde
Tristan and Isolde is the most famous Breton novel. Tristan is an orphan and is raised by his uncle, King Mark of Cornwall. He becomes a perfect knight: he knows how to handle weapons and play the harp. At a very young age, Tristan frees Cornwall from a monster. However, in the duel he is wounded by the monster’s poisoned sword and, believing himself to be close to death, Tristan gets on a boat and lets himself be dragged by the waves, waiting to die. But he does not die and the boat lands on the shores of Ireland. Here he is welcomed by the queen, who is also the sister of the killed monster, who heals him. At the court, Tristan meets Isolde the Fair, the queen’s daughter. Healed, Tristan returns to Cornwall, to his uncle. Back in Cornwall, he learns that his uncle intends to marry the woman who owns a golden hair brought by a swallow: it is a ruse because his uncle does not want to marry. Thus the kingdom will be inherited by his nephew Tristan. Tristan thinks that it is Isolde the Fair and immediately leaves for Ireland to ask for Isolde’s hand for his uncle Mark. The king and queen of Ireland accept, and the queen prepares a love potion for her daughter and for King Mark: by drinking it, the two will fall in love and live their love story happily.
However, on the journey back from Ireland to Cornwall, Isolt and Tristan drink the potion by mistake and fall in love.
Marco marries Isolde the blonde who, however, does not cease to love Tristan. One day Marco discovers the two lovers but, taken by pity, does not react. Then Tristan and Isolde decide to separate: Isolde remains in Cornwall with her husband and Tristan returns to Brittany, where, to forget the girl he marries Isolde of the White Hands.
One day Tristan, in one of his adventures, is wounded by a poisoned weapon. On the point of death, he asks for Isolde the Fair to come to him because only she can heal him.
A friend of hers agrees to go and pick up Isolt in Cornwall: on the return journey the boat will hoist a white sail if it is carrying Isolt, otherwise the sail will be black.
Tristan’s wife, Isolde of the White Hands, knows everything and when the boat enters the port, overcome by jealousy, she announces to her dying husband that the sail is black. When Isolde the Fair arrives, it is too late: Tristan is dead and she dies of grief over her lover’s body.
