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  • Essay / Destiny and free will in Le Roman de Tristan

    Le Roman de Tristan by Béroul presents the inevitable and predetermined relationship between Tristan and Yseut. Neither Tristan, Isolde and Mark are able to interfere with the lovers' relationship, suggesting that fate takes away choice and free will in love. Other characters, like Frocin, prove that a person's destiny can be changed if one knows about it in advance and actively works to prevent that outcome. Tristan's romantic experience turns out to be dictated by an uncontrollable destiny. However, the other characters have different beliefs about the role of fate in an individual's life, suggesting that the role of fate may not be as powerful. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The love potion that Tristan and Ysolde drink makes them helpless in the face of their newfound love for each other. The element of choice is completely removed from love and their subsequent actions reflect this as well. The fate of Tristan and Yseut is therefore inevitable. When Tristan and Yseut drink the love potion, the narrator says: "Both thought it was good wine: neither knew that it would bring them a life of suffering and trials." and that he would cause their destruction and death” (Be’roul 44). .) It is destiny that brings the two together through the love potion. Even after the potion wears off, Tristan and Yseut continue to love each other, demonstrating that their love was destined all along. Tristan and Yseut deplore the chivalrous and royal life they could have led if destiny, or love, had not intervened. . When the potion no longer works, Yseut becomes queen again and Tristan returns to the forest, but they are still concerned about their loyalty to each other. This causes them to continue to fail their once lamented duties, proposing the idea that Yseut and Tristan's actions are controlled by fate. Tristan exclaims: “'What a fate! What I suffered for love!' » (Be'roul 152). Tristan speaks as if love is synonymous with destiny, and he is its eternal servant because he does not have the ability to control his desires to return with Yseut. It also becomes clear that the other characters in The Romance of Tristan cannot successfully interfere with the relationship between Tristan and Yseut. Mark is persuaded to do this by the barons, first hiding in a tree to spy on them, then cutting down the trees that "grew miraculously, one from Tristan's tomb and the other from Yseut's tomb." ; their branches intertwined above the apse” (Be’roul 165). Despite Mark's efforts to cut down the trees three times, they grow back each time. The last line of the story, “Some say it was the power of love that did this,” highlights the fate that causes their deaths and follows them to their graves (Be´roul 165). This symbolizes both the powerlessness to resist predestined love or to change one's destiny. Aside from Tristan and Ysolde's predestined relationship, destiny is not a direct causal factor in other events that take place. Frocin, the evil dwarf, is an astrologer who “knew what was going to happen in the future: when he learned that a child had been born, he could predict all the events of his life” (Be´roul 54). Frocin has a reputation for being cunning, manipulative, and malicious, which is represented by his appearance. However, the barons who advise Mark trust Frocin to preach what was believed to be the truth, demonstrating that the characters believed in fate. Frocin's ability to predict the future seems to eliminate the possibility of free will if an individual's destiny is predetermined. Frocin is able to read his own future.