Tristan and Isolde

Tristan and Isolde

Love is an uncontrollable force in that once it has fallen upon the heart of a man or woman, it is unfair to hold them responsible for there actions amongst each other or those in which they attempt to reach one another. To analyze how responsible both Tristan and Isolde are for there love affair and their actions in it, one must not judge the course of there actions as a single entity or couple, but rather look at each persons case individually. I say this because before the accident occurred when they drank the love potion they were in very different states of mind. Each had very different feelings and opinions for the other pertaining to character, physical attraction, and so on.

The Love potion that both Tristan and Isolde drink upon the ship in which they are headed for Cornwall makes it very obvious that the two "victims" are helpless against the force pulling them together. It is only moments before consuming the Queens potion that Isolde is confessing her hatred and disgust for Tristan to him. Isolde is filled with many emotions pertaining to her sorrow for leaving her kingdom with the very man who was responsible for the death of her uncle and who upon victory in that duel, sent Marolds body, severed head and arm back to Isolde and her family. Astonishingly though is that once the love for him takes over her, this incident never again crosses her mind in the presence of Tristan. For this strength that the potion has on Isolde, the capability to dispatch of her hatred and fill that spot with complete desire and infatuation of him rids her of any responsibility for the situation that arises between her and Tristan and her and Lord Mark. For she desires nothing more at this point in time than to be by Tristan's side. For it is in each and every quandary in which Mark is engulfed in jealousy and