Where It All Goes Down
Fantastic Medieval Cornwall and Brittany; Bedroom and Forest
In a world… where lords battle for control… over territories near and far… with the help of loyal knights… who defend them other lords… and from the supernatural…
This is the world of Tristan.
But seriously, folks, this is a pretty awesome place. It's one in which the magic of a love potion can change the course of a character's destiny. It's one where treasured values—feudal loyalty and romantic love—don't always co-exist easily. This general setting is typical of a medieval romance, a genre in which brave knights prove themselves by overcoming physical and psychological challenges to their identity as knights.
The setting of Tristan differs from that of many other medieval romances, though. Guess why! That's right—because so much of it takes place in the bedroom. Oh, yeah. Most heroes in medieval romances are out on quests trying to find themselves. What they want most is public renown as knights, so they spend a lot of time in court halls, jousting plains, and battlefields. Not Tristan. Tristan is a lover. That's what makes him who he is. It's even the basis of his identity as a knight. So Tristan spends a lot of time in the bedroom, which is usually where the women spend their times in these kinds of stories.
Tristan and Yseut also spend a lot of time in the forest. In medieval romance, the forest is the opposite of civilization. It's a place on the margins of society, where society's rules don't apply and anything can happen. Sounds like the perfect place for Tristan and Yseut, since their illicit love places them on the margins of acceptable social behavior. It's like their time in the forest is a vacation from society's rules, though this is not always pleasant. As Tristan says, "I have forgotten chivalry and the life of a knight at court. I am an exile in this country and there is nothing left of the light and grey furs I had. I am not in the company of the knights at court" (11.96).
Either way, the forest is a place where Tristan and Yseut can allow their love to develop. "They were a long time in the forest of Morrois. Each of them was suffering equal hardship, but neither was distressed on the other's account" (9.85). Even if things are hard, they still have each other. When the magic potion wears off, though, Tristan and Yseut immediately become more concerned with the impropriety of their behavior. They return to court and re-establish their identities as members of medieval society.
You know, until they get it on again.