La relevancia de lo femenino frente a la fragmentación de la identidad masculina en "Tristán e Isolda"

Resumen

The main purpose of this paper is the analysis of masculine and feminine characters in one of the most important medieval legends, Tristan and Isolde. More specifically, it has been tried to show not only how feminine characters transgress their moral and social duties but also how they impose their own desires, even if these desires involve men’s inability to act as they are supposed to do following the orders of a patriarchal society (just the one we can find in the Middle Ages). As a matter of fact, the most important hero of our legend, Tristan, seems to be mystified by the eroticism which comes from feminine power (particularly from Isolde). This dangerous power will compel our hero to forget his epic duties in such a way that his identity will be fragmented and this fragmentation will involve our hero’s transgression, so his new identity will be always defined by means of woman’s actions and desires.