Courtly Love Tradition in Malory’s Le Morte Darthur Reconsidered

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to examine Malory s criticial attitude towards the courtly love convention in Le Morte Darthur. Malory includes three different love triangles in his work and his treatment of each triangle demonstrates his stance towards courtly love. While relating the love triangles between Uther-Igrayne-Gorlois and Tristan-Isolde-Mark, Malory is neutral and not critical. However, the Lancelot-Guinevere-Arthur love triangle is different from the other two, as Malory uses this story to illustrate the catastrophic effects of courtly love.This thesis, therefore, concludes that by employing three different love triangles, pointing out their differences and illustrating how they conform or do not conform to the courtly love convention, Malory aims to present a critical stance towards courtly love.