Beginning of Essay
In Gottfried Von Strassburg’s retelling of the ancient romance, Tristan, love’s portrayal as a psychological disease is considerable. For Rivalin and Blancheflor, Tristan and Isolde, and also King Mark, the affliction causes them to act in a way that they wou ....

Middle of Essay
.... by love’s drunken haze. Broken on the wheel of love, Mark’s heart is tortured until he confesses that Isolde is unfaithful; then just as cruel, he is fooled into believing she is his. This repeated scenario of torture is by far the highest tragedy in the romance. The climax of the abuse is when Mark questions his own senses after the discovery of the couple copulating in the garden. Blinded by the violent inebriation of amour, he disavows empirical proof of Isolde’s betrayal. While through the omnipotent narration the reader sees that Isolde never loves Mark, the king is nevertheless betrayed. First of course, he betrays himself. All ind ....