Representations of Desire and Love Using Fire and Light: Symbolism in The Romance of Tristan Anonymous College

In The Romance of Tristan and Iseult, Tristan and Iseult surrender their will to a powerful love potion that bonds them for eternity. The potion makes them betray their loyalties to King Mark and commit sinful acts in the name of chivalry and love. Though Tristan and Iseult’s love is enhanced by the love potion that they drank, there is still an underlying element of purity. Fire and light in the novel reflect the complex conflict between feudal law and chivalry, respectively. Because the narrators favor laws of chivalry to feudal laws, references to light start to replace those of fire as the story progresses in order to convince the reader that the love is true. The narrators use imagery of light to portray the purity of Tristan and Iseult’s love, which contrasts heavily with the portrayal of desire, symbolized by fire, as evil and immoral.

The fire in the novel represents the evil of the lovers’ desires for each other, as they are breaking feudal law to be together. As a vassal, Tristan was bound by loyalty and duty to serve King Mark. Tristan’s main job under feudal law, the main system of rules at the time, was to obey the king and ensure the king’s satisfaction and happiness. By sneaking around with King Mark’s wife...