Tristan and Isolde (or Iseult or Yseult or...)

In what will probably be not the last blog post about one of the many works referenced by Eliot in The Waste Land, I did some research on Tristan and Isolde and thought I would share some of the information about the story that I found. Eliot directly quotes from Wagner's 1865 opera Tristan und Isolde, which is largely based on Gottfried von Strassburg's 12th century romance named Tristan. There are several different versions of the Tristan story, but there is a main story that most of the romances follow. The basic story is that Tristan kills Iseult's fiancee and plans to take her back to his lord, King Mark, but on the way back Tristan and Iseult accidentally ingest a love potion so fall deeply in love. When they get back to Mark's castle, Tristan and Iseult are caught having an affair. Tristan then fights Mark and is mortally wounded, but he escapes to Brittany. In the later versions that the Wagner opera is based upon, Tristan then waits for Iseult to come as she could heal him, but when he believes she has betrayed him, he dies of grief. Then, when Iseult reaches him, she dies of grief as well, so not exactly a happy story.

In Wagner's opera, several thematic elements of the story are emphasized including the tragic nature of their story that seems to be out of their own control. Wagner was heavily influenced by the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, particularly his idea that people are driven by unachievable desires, which torment them when they can't be reached. The love between Tristan and Isolde is clearly an example of such a desire. Eliot includes two sets of lines from the opera in the first section of the Waste Land, and both are about looking out over the sea in longing. One describes the report heard by the dying Tristan that the sea is empty and that Isolde isn't coming to save him (which isn't true). Including such lines could refer to the theme in Tristan und Isolde that our deepest desires are unachievable in modern society and render live unsatisfying.

Below are some links to the Liebestod aria, from Isolde's death scene, one of the most famous arias in Wagner and opera in general. You might remember it being referenced in Kate Chopin's The Awakening from Sophomore year. Also I included a link to a full version of the opera if anyone wants to listen to the entire 4 hour work!