"Courtly Love"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how "courtly love" is a term that was retroactively developed to describe a medieval French concept known as "Fin Amour." It examines how this concept became widespread in the 12th century and referred to a code of behavior that was to formulate our modern conceptualization of chivalrous romance. This concept was reflected in Francesco Petrarch's "Italian sonnets", which introduced the concept of lyrical poetry in the 14th century. It analyzes how by Shakespeare's time, a renewed interest in medieval court behavior coincided with a growing interest in Italian ducal courts as depicted in "Othello", "Romeo and Juliet" and "12th Night". It also evaluates how Shakespeare's sonnets, which differed from Petrarch's format, invoke medieval romantic concepts of unrequited love and long periods of courtship while taking a more humanistic approach to these themes.

From the Paper:

"In that jealousy ultimately destroys Desdemona and Othello, Shakespeare's portrayal of love is ultimately a tale of how people shouldn't behave when they are in love. The way that the ill-fated couple conduct themselves before they leave Venice is essentially anti-social: when they secretly marry and elope, they implicitly reject the values of society and the desires of Desdemona's family. Whereas a modern audience might see Desdemona's refusal to respect her family's wishes as a not to what were to become the cosmopolitan values of liberal, sexually and racially emancipated Europe, a Shakespearean audience would have recognized this action as a serious breach of conventional norms that characterized European society. "

More papers on "Courtly Love":

• Analytical Essay # 9239 : "Courtly Love and Popular Culture"
• Essay # 68636 : "Marie de France and Courtly Love"
• Analytical Essay # 60771 : "Courtly Love in Literature"
• Argumentative Essay # 9929 : "Courtly Love"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: