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- Béroul's poem is considered quite brutal and relatively realistic. Its world is feudal and the lovers are pursued by the villainous barons, jealous of the king's preference for his nephew. Legal customs are evoked, like the condemnation of Iseult to the stake, following her judgment according to the customs of the time during a public and oral trial. The lovers are subjected to a succession of traps and denunciations from which they escape thanks to their cunning. Strong characters are drawn: Iseult is the one who reflects, wields lies and ambiguous oaths, sometimes a queen radiant with beauty, sometimes a lover subjected to the worst moral and physical suffering; Tristan is a man of action; the royal figure of Mark is weakened, sometimes ridiculed. Dramatic and theatrical scenes are shown, like the scene where Iseult escapes the stake but is given to the lepers, the scene where the pursued lovers take refuge in Morois and are discovered by the king, and finally the scene where Iseult publicly justifies herself and proclaims her innocence. (en)
- Thomas chose a tone very different from Béroul's for his story. The feudal conflict between Mark and Tristan is left aside, and speeches and monologues multiply in order to explain the characters' feelings. The passion is not due to the magic of a potion, but to the choice of each of the lovers for the other. Guilt does not exist because the conduct of Tristan and Iseult is entirely justified here by the courtly morality that exalts adulterous love. Tristan is a character who indulges in introspection, is often hesitant, suffers deep torments far from the one he loves; his choices lead him towards new suffering. Tristan's existence, in the absence of any possibility of being happy with Iseult, is nothing more than a series of renunciations: of his social position, of the chivalric world, and of all personal happiness. (en)
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