highlyeccentric

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All the truly personal relationships in this poem (Yvain still) are m/m or f/f.

The heterosexual is highly emotive, but it feels STAGED. The dialogue is Ovidian. The premises are political. It's like Yvain decides he wants this woman, and Laudine decides she needs this man, so they construct the ideal courtly relationship around an essentially political exchange. They love each other as... symbols. Knight, Lady, this is what you do when you're a Knight and a Lady.

Yvain and Gawain, Lunette and Laudine: THESE are the relationships which are really personal, which are based on true personal loyalty over political, and the lack of rhetorical flourish suggest it's not performative.

Am I mad? Y/Y?

Threaded | Flat

From:

rymenhild.livejournal.com

N! You're on to something. Perhaps you could pull in Capellanus, as a model for the performance of medieval love, as you consider just how and why Yvain and Lunette, Gawain and Laudine act out heterosexuality. Then you can determine how and why the male relationships and female relationships don't limit themselves to that model... or something like that.

Incidentally, that Dating Advice page is going around again. Jeffrey Jerome Cohen blogged it at In The Middle and then one of my committee members emailed me a link to it!