English 380 Calendar

ENGL 380: Love and Death: The Tristan Tradition
Dr. Debora B. Schwartz

Calendar, Spring, 2006

Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Aubrey Beardsley, How Sir Tristram Drank of the Love Drink (1893)

Week 1 (March 28-30)

Topic and Readings

Day 1
Introduction and background; initial handouts. GWR evaluative writing sample administered by request during office hours.

Day 2
Joseph Bédier, The Romance of Tristan and Iseult (1900). You must read the WHOLE TEXT by this class meeting! (It looks long, but is in fact a very fast read.)
Text info: Joseph Bédier based his modern French retelling of the Tristan stories (1900) on extensive comparison of the extant medieval source material; he sought in this way to recreate the lost "original" text (but in fact created a distinctly 20th-century narrative). Translated into modern English by Hilaire Belloc and Paul Rosenfeld.

Week 2 (April 4-6)

Topic and Readings

Day 1
Read through three required online readings:

Translatio (for material covered in last week's lectures; you can ignore the rest);

"Medieval Attitudes toward Vernacular Literature"; and

The Medieval Tristan Tradition (background information on various Tristan texts dating from the Middle Ages).

Please note that you are responsible for material included in required background readings (as well as "text info" listed on the course calendar) for quizzes and exams.
An episodic romance: Béroul, The Romance of Tristan. Reading assignment for today is ONLY Béroul's text, found pp. 39-148. Note that passages in italics are not from Béroul's poem -- they were added by the translator to "make ends meet" (based on Bedier's reconstruction) -- and that the episode of "Tristan's Madness" printed towards the end of the book (and assigned for our next class meeting) is NOT in fact part of Béroul's text.
Text info: Béroul wrote his romance, in French octosyllabic rhyming couplets, some time in the second half of the twelfth century; it appears to have influenced the work of Chrétien de Troyes (active ca. 1170-1190), so we assume it to predate those of Chrétien's works which show its influence. Preserved in only one manuscript, in a fragment of 4,485 lines. Part of the so-called "common tradition."
NOTE: You may also find it helpful to skim through the Introduction (9-35) -- but please note that the material you will be tested on is what's found in required online background readings or listed under "text info" in the course calendar -- not what's presented in the introduction to the text.

Day 2
Competing versions and medieval fragments: Marie de France, "Chevrefoil" (click on link and use your library barcode to print out the PDF file, 3 pp.); fragments of Thomas's Romance of Tristan (including Appendix 1, "A Note on Thomas's Tristan," and Appendix 2, "The Scene in the Orchard"; all of the Thomas readings are found in Gottfried von Strassburg, Tristan, pp. 301-364); the independent episode of Tristan's Madness (printed in Béroul, The Romance of Tristan, pp. 151-64). Follow link for a Required Online Reading with background information on the medieval Tristan tradition. Please note that you are responsible for the information in this background reading (and the information presented under "text info" on the course calendar) for reading quizzes and exams.
Note: if you have trouble accessing the PDF file of Marie de France's "Chevrefoil" from the link above, the file can also be accessed directly from the Kennedy Library web page, where you will find it on the Electronic Reserve List for ENGL 380.
Text info:

Marie de France was active ca. 1160s-1190s at the Anglo-Norman court; "Chevrefoil" is one of her collection of twelve lais, or short narrative poems in French octosyllabic rhyming couplets.

Thomas wrote his romance, also in French octosyllabic rhyming couplets, ca. 1170-75 for the Anglo-Norman court; eight fragments totalling more than 3000 lines have been preserved in five different manuscripts. Part of the so-called "courtly tradition."

There are two versions of the episode of Tristan's Madness (or "Folie Tristan"), both of which are French narrative poems, probably dating from the second half of the twelfth century, in octosyllabic rhyming couplets. One is preserved in a single manuscript in Berne (Switzerland) and the other is in Oxford (England). The text we are reading is the 572-line Berne fragment (often referred to as the "Folie Tristan de Berne"); this text is associated with the so-called "common tradition" of which Béroul's poem is also a part.

NOTE: Two group screenings of the film which you must see PRIOR TO OUR CLASS MEETING on TH 4/13, Tom Donovan's Lovespell (1979), are THIS COMING WEEK-END, Sunday 4/9, from 5:30-7:30 AND from 7:30-9:30 PM. If there is sufficient demand, we can request an additional screening on T 5/11 from 4:30-6:30 PM. The VHS cassette of the film (91 min.) is on reserve for ENGL 380 in Kennedy Library, so you can also check it out on your own time for independent in-library viewing -- BUT BE SURE IT IS RETURNED TO THE RESERVE DESK BY 1/2 HOUR BEFORE SCHEDULED GROUP SCREENINGS!! You can also rent this film from Insomniac, SLO's fabulous independent video store (2161A Broad, between South and Branch; tel. 545-8866); it may also be available from the Cal Poly Insomniac in the University Union. To my knowledge, it is not available at other local video stores -- but feel free to call around, and let me know if you find it elsewhere!

Two Group Screenings of Tom Donovan's Lovespell (1979) in Library 202 on SUNDAY 4/9 from 5:30--7:30 AND from 7:30-9:30 PM, as well as on T 4/11 from 4:30-6:30 PM.

Week 3 (April 11-13)

Topic and Readings

Day 1
REQUIRED BACKGROUND READING: To better understand the literary techniques employed by Chrétien (e.g. his borrowing from prior literary works, including numerous Tristan elements), see the online reading "Medieval Attitudes toward Vernacular Literature."
An anti-Tristan: Chrétien de Troyes, Cligés (in Arthurian Romances, pp. 123-203).
Text info: Chrétien de Troyes was active ca. 1170-1190; Cligés, his second extant romance, is in French octosyllabic rhyming couplets. If you like, you can follow this link for more on Chrétien and his The Knight of the Cart, the very first Lancelot and Guenevere romance, which was also modelled in part on the Tristan romances, from which it borrows freely (including variations on the flour on the floor episode, the ambiguous oath, a passion inspired by a woman's golden hair, and an adulterous passion linking a King's wife with his best knight).
NOTE: you are responsible only for the information listed above under "text info," NOT for additional material found on the linked Knight of the Cart page (an optional reading). You may also find it helpful to skim through the Introduction (1-25) -- but please note that the material you will be tested on is what's found in required online background readings and listed under "text info" in the course calendar -- not what's presented in optional readings such as the introduction to the text.
3rd Group Screening of Tom Donovan's Lovespell (1979) in Library 202 from 4:30-6:30 PM.

Day 2
REQUIRED FILM: Tom Donovan's Lovespell (1979). NOTE: film (91 min.) is REQUIRED VIEWING by today's class. FILM INFO: Directed by Tom Donovan, produced and written by Claire Labine (prior professional background of each was primarily in television soap operas); starring Richard Burton as King Mark, Kate Mulgrew as Isolt, Nicholas Clay as Tristan, and Geraldine Fitzgerald as Bronwen. Alternate titles: Summer of the Falcon (UK title); Tristan and Iseult; Tristan and Isolde.
REQUIRED READING: Meradith McMunn, "Filming the Tristan Myth: From Text to Icon," Cinema Arthuriana, ed. Kevin J. Harty (New York: Garland, 1991), pp. 169-180. (Click on link and use your library barcode to print out a PDF file, 6 pp.; or if you prefer, the book itself is on reserve, call # PN1995.9.A75 C5 2002). Note: if you have trouble accessing the PDF file from the link above, it can also be accessed directly from the Kennedy Library web page, where you will find it on the Electronic Reserve List for ENGL 380.
Group Screenings in Library 202 on SUNDAY 4/9 from 5-7 AND from 7-9 PM AND on T 4/11 from 4:30-6:30. The VHS cassette of the film is on reserve in Kennedy Library, so you can also check it out on your own time for independent in-library viewing -- BUT BE SURE IT IS RETURNED TO THE RESERVE DESK BY 1/2 HOUR BEFORE SCHEDULED GROUP SCREENINGS!! You can also rent this film from Insomniac, SLO's fabulous independent video store (2161A Broad, between South and Branch; tel. 545-8866); it may also be available from the Cal Poly Insomniac in the University Union. (To my knowledge, it is not available at other local video stores -- but feel free to call around, and let me know if you find it elsewhere!)

Week 4 (April 18-20)

Topic and Readings

Day 1
A mega-romance: Gottfried von Strassburg, Tristan, pp. 41-110.
Text info: written ca. 1210, Gottfried's Tristan, a German romance that is an adaptation or translatio (more than simply a translation) of Thomas's romance, contains 19,416 lines in rhyming couplets; it breaks off (presumably because Gottfried died before finishing it) just after the point where the surviving fragments of Thomas begin. Part of the so-called "courtly tradition."
To better understand the issues involved in Gottfried's German adaptation of Thomas's French poem, review the online reading "Medieval Attitudes toward Vernacular Literature"; and to better understand the treatment of love in Gottfried's poem, read the online reading "Courtly Love." (Both are REQUIRED READING covered on the midterm exam!)
NOTE: You may also find it helpful to skim through the Introduction (7-35) -- but please note that the material you will be tested on is what's found in required online background readings and listed under "text info" in the course calendar -- not what's presented in the introduction to the text.

Day 2
Gottfried von Strassburg, Tristan, pp. 111-239.
To better understand the issues involved in Gottfried's German adaptation of Thomas's French poem, review the online reading "Medieval Attitudes toward Vernacular Literature"; and to better understand the treatment of love in Gottfried's poem, consult the online reading "Courtly Love." (Both are REQUIRED READING covered on the midterm exam!)
PAPER 1 DUE in class today or turn in to my mailbox in the main English office (47-32E) by 4 PM on Friday, 4/21 at the latest.

Week 5 (April 25-27)

Topic and Readings

Day 1
MIDTERM EXAM

Day 2
Gottfried von Strassburg, Tristan, pp. 240-297.
To better understand the issues involved in Gottfried's German adaptation of Thomas's French poem, review the online reading "Medieval Attitudes toward Vernacular Literature"; and to better understand the treatment of love in Gottfried's poem, review the online reading "Courtly Love." You may also find it helpful to skim through the Introduction (7-35) -- but please note you will be tested on what's found in required online background readings and listed under "text info" in the course calendar -- not what's presented in the introduction to the text.
NOTE: Two group screenings of the film which you must see PRIOR TO OUR CLASS MEETING on T 5/2, Extended Scenes from Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde (based on Gottfried's Tristan), are THIS COMING WEEK-END, Sunday 4/30, from 5-7 AND from 7-9 PM. If there is sufficient demand, we can request an additional screening on M 5/1 from 11-1. The DVD of the performance (approx. 90 min.) is on reserve for ENGL 380 in Kennedy Library, so you can also check it out on your own time for independent in-library viewing -- BUT BE SURE IT IS RETURNED TO THE RESERVE DESK BY 1/2 HOUR BEFORE SCHEDULED GROUP SCREENINGS!! Also, BE SURE TO TURN ON ENGLISH SUBTITLES, or you will be VERY confused! You can also rent this film from Insomniac, SLO's fabulous independent video store (2161A Broad, between South and Branch; tel. 545-8866); it may also be available from the Cal Poly Insomniac in the University Union. To my knowledge, it is not available at other local video stores -- but feel free to call around, and let me know if you find it elsewhere!
Click on link to read synopsis of opera BEFORE viewing video of extended scenes from Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde (composed 1857-59; video presents excerpts from the 1976 production starring Jon Vickers as Tristan and Roberta Knie as Isolde, with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Franz-Paul Decker). NOTE: film (approx. 90 min.)

Two group screenings of the film which you must see PRIOR TO OUR CLASS MEETING on T 5/2, Extended Scenes from Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde (based on Gottfried's Tristan), are on Sunday 4/30, from 5-7 AND from 7-9 PM, and on M 5/1 from 11 AM-1 PM.

Week 6 (May 2-4)

Topic and Readings

Day 1
REQUIRED FILM: Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde (based on Gottfried's Tristan). Click on link to read synopsis of opera BEFORE viewing video of extended scenes from Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde (composed 1857-59; video presents excerpts from the 1976 production starring Jon Vickers as Tristan and Roberta Knie as Isolde, with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Franz-Paul Decker). NOTE: film (approx. 90 min.) is REQUIRED VIEWING by today's class.
REQUIRED READING: Helmut Reichenbächer, "Richard Wagner's Adaptation of Gottfried von Strassburg's Tristan," University of Toronto Quarterly 67.4 (1998): 762-67. CLICK HERE to go to LexisNexis, where you can access the article by doing a Guided News Search. Select the category "World News" and the news source "North and South American News Source"; type in the search terms "Wagner," "Tristan" and "Gottfried"; choose "all available dates" as the date range; then click on the link to the article (from the University of Toronto Quarterly). PRINT IT OUT and bring it with you to class. Alternatively, you can photocopy the article from the bound volume in the library stacks at call number AP5 .U55 (volume 67, 1998, pp. 762-7).
Two Group Screenings in Library 202 on SUNDAY 4/30 from 5-7 AND from 7-9 PM; additional screening on M 5/1 from 11 AM-1 PM. The DVD of the film (approx. 90 min.) is on reserve in Kennedy Library, so you can also check it out on your own time for independent in-library viewing -- BUT BE SURE IT IS RETURNED TO THE RESERVE DESK BY 1/2 HOUR BEFORE SCHEDULED GROUP SCREENINGS!! You can also rent this film from Insomniac, SLO's fabulous independent video store (2161A Broad, between South and Branch; tel. 545-8866); it may also be available from the Cal Poly Insomniac in the University Union. (To my knowledge, it is not available at other local video stores -- but feel free to call around, and let me know if you find it elsewhere!)
Possible Presentation(s)

Day 2
The Victorians and Pre-Raphaelitism 1: Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "The Last Tournament" (1871) (PDF file, 11 pp.); Matthew Arnold, "Tristram and Iseult" (1852) (PDF file, 12 pp.). PRINT OUT readings and bring them with you to class! Note: if you have trouble accessing the PDF files from the links above, they can also be accessed directly from the Kennedy Library web page, where you will find them on the Electronic Reserve List for ENGL 380.
Also, have a look at the paintings on the class website and spend some time browsing the 19th-century images on the Camelot Project page.
Possible Presentation(s)

Week 7 (May 9-11)

Topic and Readings

Day 1
The Victorians and Pre-Raphaelitism 2: Algernon Charles Swinburne, "Queen Yseult" (1857-1858) (PDF file, 27 pp.); A. C. Swinburne, "The Wife's Vigil," part VII of his long poem Tristram of Lyonesse (1882) (PDF file, 4 pp.)
As needed, continue discussion of Tennyson and Arnold.

Day 2
As needed, continue discussion of Swinburne. New readings: Rethinking Isolde of the White Hands
Oscar Fay Adams, "The Pleasaunce of Maid Marian" (1906; from the Camelot Project site); Maurice Baring, "From the Diary of Iseult of Brittany" (1913; from the Camelot Project site); Dorothy Parker, "Guenevere at Her Fireside" (note reference to Tristan!) and "Iseult of Brittany" (both 1931) (together in one PDF file, 2 pp.). PRINT OUT these readings and bring them with you to class! (As usual, the PDF files can also be accessed directly from the Electronic Reserve List for ENGL 380).
NOTE: Be sure to WRITE IN LINE NUMBERS every 5th line for the poem by Adams (from the Camelot Project website). For your numbering, count "Isolt the White, the daughter of a king," as line 1; thus, line 5 (the first you should number) is "Upon an autumn midnight drencht with rain." HINT: the lines to count are those that begin at the left margin, with the exception of the two half-lines "False heart! False love!" in Iseult's song, each of which counts as a full line. NOTE: Because lines are determined by syllable count, one numbered line may be printed over two subsequent lines; you will know to count only one line because the second of the two does not begin at the left margin. EXAMPLE: The following should be counted as three lines of text, although it is printed over four lines:

The sharp-fac'd damsel, clanging to the door,
Laught shrilly, crying out the while:
'Your guest,
Good cousin, is not to your mind, meseems.'

Here, the second of the three countable line begins with "Laught" and ends with " 'Your guest, ".
Also, have a look at the paintings on the class website and spend some time browsing the 20th-century images on the Camelot Project page.
Possible Presentation(s)
One suggested topic: Isolde of the White Hands in the opening and closing sections of Edward Arlington Robinson's Pulitzer prize-winning narrative poem Tristram (1927).

Week 8 (May 16-18)

Topic and Readings

Day 1
Nancy McKenzie, Prince of Dreams (2004), pts. 1-3 (pp. 3-205)

Day 2
Nancy McKenzie, Prince of Dreams (2004), pts. 4 (pp. 209-283)
NOTE: Two group screenings of the film which you must see PRIOR TO OUR CLASS MEETING on TH 5/25, Jean Delannoy's L'Éternel retour (1943; also released as The Eternal Return and Love Eternal) are THIS COMING WEEK-END, Sunday T 5/21, from 5-7 AND from 7-9 PM. If there is sufficient demand, we can request an additional screening on T 5/23 from 4:30-6:30 PM. The VHS cassette of the film is on reserve in Kennedy Library, so you can also check it out on your own time for independent in-library viewing -- BUT BE SURE IT IS RETURNED TO THE RESERVE DESK BY 1/2 HOUR BEFORE SCHEDULED GROUP SCREENINGS!! You can also rent this film from Insomniac, SLO's fabulous independent video store (2161A Broad, between South and Branch; tel. 545-8866); it may also be available from the Cal Poly Insomniac in the University Union. To my knowledge, it is not available at other local video stores -- but feel free to call around, and let me know if you find it elsewhere! (Be sure to inquire about the French title and both English titles if you do!)

Two Group Screenings of Jean Delannoy's L'Éternel retour (1943; also released as The Eternal Return and Love Eternal) in Library 202 on SUNDAY 5/21 from 5-7 AND from 7-9 PM; additional screening on T 5/23 from 4:30-6:30 PM.

Week 9 (May 23-25)

Topic and Readings

Day 1
Nancy McKenzie, Prince of Dreams (2004), pts. 5-6 (pp. 287-416)
Possible Presentation(s)
3rd Group Screening of Jean Delannoy's L'Éternel retour (1943; also released as The Eternal Return and Love Eternal) in Library 202 from 4:30-6:30 PM.

Day 2
REQUIRED FILM: Jean Delannoy's L'Éternel retour (1943; also released as The Eternal Return and Love Eternal; black and white, in French with English subtitles). Directed by Jean Delannoy from a screenplay by Jean Cocteau. Cast: Jean Marais as Patrice (the Tristan role); Madeleine Sologne as Nathalie la blonde (Blonde Nathalie, the Isolde the Blonde/of Ireland/Queen of Cornwall role); Jean Murat as Marc; Junie Astor as Nathalie la brune (Brunette Nathalie, the Isolde of the White Hands role); Piéral as Achille Frossin (i.e.Frocin the Dwarf); Alexandre Rignault as Morholt.
NOTE: film (107 min.) is REQUIRED VIEWING by today's class.
REQUIRED READING: Phyllis Gaffney, "A Double-Sided Mirror: Cocteau's L'Eternel Retour and the Medieval Sources," Tristania 21 (2002): 105-21 (PDF file, 9 pp.) Note: if you have trouble accessing the PDF file from the link, it can also be accessed directly from the Kennedy Library web page, where you will find it on the Electronic Reserve List for ENGL 380.
Also review comments on L'Éternel retour in Meradith McMunn, "Filming the Tristan Myth: From Text to Icon," Cinema Arthuriana, ed. Kevin J. Harty (New York: Garland, 1991), pp. 169-180 (PDF file, 6 pp.)
Two Group Screenings in Library 202 on SUNDAY 5/21 from 5-7 AND from 7-9 PM; additional screening on T 5/23 from 4:30-6:30 PM. The VHS cassette of the film is on reserve in Kennedy Library, so you can also check it out on your own time for independent in-library viewing -- BUT BE SURE IT IS RETURNED TO THE RESERVE DESK BY 1/2 HOUR BEFORE SCHEDULED GROUP SCREENINGS!! You can also rent this film from Insomniac, SLO's fabulous independent video store (2161A Broad, between South and Branch; tel. 545-8866); it may also be available from the Cal Poly Insomniac in the University Union. (To my knowledge, it is not available at other local video stores -- but feel free to call around, and let me know if you find it elsewhere!)
Possible Presentation(s)

Week 10 (May 30 - June 1)

Topic and Readings

Day 1
Steven Millhauser, "The King in the Tree" (2003; in The King in the Tree: Three Novellas, pp. 141-242); John Updike, "Tristan and Iseult" (1994; PDF file, 3 pp.) and "Four Sides of One Story" (1966; PDF file, 8 pp.) Note: if you have trouble accessing these PDF files, they can also be accessed directly from the Kennedy Library web page, where you will find them on the Electronic Reserve List for ENGL 380.
Possible Presentation(s)

Day 2
Possibility of presentations on student-selected short stories/poems; specifics TBA.
Bonus In-Class Screening: either the new Keith Reynolds Tristan and Isolde film (2006 -- possible if it has been released on video; stars James Franco as Tristan, Sophia Myles as Isolde, and Rufus Sewell as Lord Marke); or, Veith von Fürstenberg's hard-to-find Fire and Sword (also called Feuer und Schwert), a German-Irish made-for-European-television movie (1982, 84 min.). Features Christoph Waltz as Tristan, Antonia Preser as Isolde, Leigh Lawson as Mark, Peter Firth as Dinas. Very popular the last time I taught this class!
PAPER 2 DUE.

Final Exam: Friday, June 9, 4:10-7:00 PM (alas!). NOTE: If EVERYONE in the class can take the exam during the "conflict resolution" time slot (W 4:10-7:00 PM) or during one of the Common Final times (T or W, 7:10-10:00 PM), I will request to move the final to one of those times. But please be aware that such requests are not always approved. If there is no timeslot when everyone could be available to take the exam, or if my request to move the final time is not approved, the exam will take place at the scheduled time, on Friday, June 9, from 4:10-7:00 PM. In that case, please be aware that NO ONE will be permitted to take the exam earlier than the scheduled time!! KEEP THIS DATE IN MIND WHEN MAKING END-OF-QUARTER TRAVEL PLANS!

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John Duncan, Tristram and Isolde (1912)

	Topic and Readings
Day 1	*Introduction and background; initial handouts. GWR evaluative writing sample administered by request during office hours.*
Day 2	Joseph Bédier, The Romance of Tristan and Iseult (1900). You must read the WHOLE TEXT by this class meeting! (It looks long, but is in fact a very fast read.) Text info: Joseph Bédier based his modern French retelling of the Tristan stories (1900) on extensive comparison of the extant medieval source material; he sought in this way to recreate the lost "original" text (but in fact created a distinctly 20th-century narrative). Translated into modern English by Hilaire Belloc and Paul Rosenfeld.

	Topic and Readings
Day 1	Read through three required online readings: *Translatio* (for material covered in last week's lectures; you can ignore the rest); "Medieval Attitudes toward Vernacular Literature"; and The Medieval Tristan Tradition (background information on various Tristan texts dating from the Middle Ages). Please note that you are responsible for material included in required background readings (as well as "text info" listed on the course calendar) for quizzes and exams. An episodic romance: Béroul, The Romance of Tristan. Reading assignment for today is ONLY Béroul's text, found pp. 39-148. Note that passages in italics are not from Béroul's poem -- they were added by the translator to "make ends meet" (based on Bedier's reconstruction) -- and that the episode of "Tristan's Madness" printed towards the end of the book (and assigned for our next class meeting) is NOT in fact part of Béroul's text. Text info: Béroul wrote his romance, in French octosyllabic rhyming couplets, some time in the second half of the twelfth century; it appears to have influenced the work of Chrétien de Troyes (active ca. 1170-1190), so we assume it to predate those of Chrétien's works which show its influence. Preserved in only one manuscript, in a fragment of 4,485 lines. Part of the so-called "common tradition." NOTE: You may also find it helpful to skim through the Introduction (9-35) -- but please note that the material you will be tested on is what's found in required online background readings or listed under "text info" in the course calendar -- not what's presented in the introduction to the text.
Day 2	Competing versions and medieval fragments: Marie de France, "Chevrefoil" (click on link and use your library barcode to print out the PDF file, 3 pp.); fragments of Thomas's Romance of Tristan (including Appendix 1, "A Note on Thomas's Tristan," and Appendix 2, "The Scene in the Orchard"; all of the Thomas readings are found in Gottfried von Strassburg, Tristan, pp. 301-364); the independent episode of *Tristan's Madness* (printed in Béroul, The Romance of Tristan, pp. 151-64). Follow link for a Required Online Reading with background information on the medieval Tristan tradition. Please note that you are responsible for the information in this background reading (and the information presented under "text info" on the course calendar) for reading quizzes and exams. Note: if you have trouble accessing the PDF file of Marie de France's "Chevrefoil" from the link above, the file can also be accessed directly from the Kennedy Library web page, where you will find it on the Electronic Reserve List for ENGL 380. Text info: Marie de France was active ca. 1160s-1190s at the Anglo-Norman court; "Chevrefoil" is one of her collection of twelve lais, or short narrative poems in French octosyllabic rhyming couplets. Thomas wrote his romance, also in French octosyllabic rhyming couplets, ca. 1170-75 for the Anglo-Norman court; eight fragments totalling more than 3000 lines have been preserved in five different manuscripts. Part of the so-called "courtly tradition." There are two versions of the episode of Tristan's Madness (or "Folie Tristan"), both of which are French narrative poems, probably dating from the second half of the twelfth century, in octosyllabic rhyming couplets. One is preserved in a single manuscript in Berne (Switzerland) and the other is in Oxford (England). The text we are reading is the 572-line Berne fragment (often referred to as the "Folie Tristan de Berne"); this text is associated with the so-called "common tradition" of which Béroul's poem is also a part. NOTE: Two group screenings of the film which you must see PRIOR TO OUR CLASS MEETING on TH 4/13, Tom Donovan's Lovespell (1979), are THIS COMING WEEK-END, Sunday 4/9, from 5:30-7:30 AND from 7:30-9:30 PM. If there is sufficient demand, we can request an additional screening on T 5/11 from 4:30-6:30 PM. The VHS cassette of the film (91 min.) is on reserve for ENGL 380 in Kennedy Library, so you can also check it out on your own time for independent in-library viewing -- BUT BE SURE IT IS RETURNED TO THE RESERVE DESK BY 1/2 HOUR BEFORE SCHEDULED GROUP SCREENINGS!! You can also rent this film from Insomniac, SLO's fabulous independent video store (2161A Broad, between South and Branch; tel. 545-8866); it may also be available from the Cal Poly Insomniac in the University Union. To my knowledge, it is not available at other local video stores -- but feel free to call around, and let me know if you find it elsewhere!

	Topic and Readings
Day 1	REQUIRED BACKGROUND READING: To better understand the literary techniques employed by Chrétien (e.g. his borrowing from prior literary works, including numerous Tristan elements), see the online reading "Medieval Attitudes toward Vernacular Literature." An anti-Tristan: Chrétien de Troyes, Cligés (in Arthurian Romances, pp. 123-203). Text info: Chrétien de Troyes was active ca. 1170-1190; *Cligés,* his second extant romance, is in French octosyllabic rhyming couplets. If you like, you can follow this link for more on Chrétien and his The Knight of the Cart, the very first Lancelot and Guenevere romance, which was also modelled in part on the Tristan romances, from which it borrows freely (including variations on the flour on the floor episode, the ambiguous oath, a passion inspired by a woman's golden hair, and an adulterous passion linking a King's wife with his best knight). NOTE: you are responsible only for the information listed above under "text info," NOT for additional material found on the linked Knight of the Cart page (an optional reading). You may also find it helpful to skim through the Introduction (1-25) -- but please note that the material you will be tested on is what's found in required online background readings and listed under "text info" in the course calendar -- not what's presented in optional readings such as the introduction to the text. 3rd Group Screening of Tom Donovan's Lovespell (1979) in Library 202 from 4:30-6:30 PM.
Day 2	REQUIRED FILM: Tom Donovan's Lovespell (1979). NOTE: film (91 min.) is REQUIRED VIEWING by today's class. FILM INFO: Directed by Tom Donovan, produced and written by Claire Labine (prior professional background of each was primarily in television soap operas); starring Richard Burton as King Mark, Kate Mulgrew as Isolt, Nicholas Clay as Tristan, and Geraldine Fitzgerald as Bronwen. Alternate titles: Summer of the Falcon (UK title); Tristan and Iseult; Tristan and Isolde. REQUIRED READING: Meradith McMunn, "Filming the Tristan Myth: From Text to Icon," Cinema Arthuriana, ed. Kevin J. Harty (New York: Garland, 1991), pp. 169-180. (Click on link and use your library barcode to print out a PDF file, 6 pp.; or if you prefer, the book itself is on reserve, call # PN1995.9.A75 C5 2002). Note: if you have trouble accessing the PDF file from the link above, it can also be accessed directly from the Kennedy Library web page, where you will find it on the Electronic Reserve List for ENGL 380. Group Screenings in Library 202 on SUNDAY 4/9 from 5-7 AND from 7-9 PM AND on T 4/11 from 4:30-6:30. The VHS cassette of the film is on reserve in Kennedy Library, so you can also check it out on your own time for independent in-library viewing -- BUT BE SURE IT IS RETURNED TO THE RESERVE DESK BY 1/2 HOUR BEFORE SCHEDULED GROUP SCREENINGS!! You can also rent this film from Insomniac, SLO's fabulous independent video store (2161A Broad, between South and Branch; tel. 545-8866); it may also be available from the Cal Poly Insomniac in the University Union. (To my knowledge, it is not available at other local video stores -- but feel free to call around, and let me know if you find it elsewhere!)

	Topic and Readings
Day 1	A mega-romance: Gottfried von Strassburg, Tristan, pp. 41-110. Text info: written ca. 1210, Gottfried's Tristan, a German romance that is an adaptation or translatio (more than simply a translation) of Thomas's romance, contains 19,416 lines in rhyming couplets; it breaks off (presumably because Gottfried died before finishing it) just after the point where the surviving fragments of Thomas begin. Part of the so-called "courtly tradition." To better understand the issues involved in Gottfried's German adaptation of Thomas's French poem, review the online reading "Medieval Attitudes toward Vernacular Literature"; and to better understand the treatment of love in Gottfried's poem, read the online reading "Courtly Love." (Both are REQUIRED READING covered on the midterm exam!) NOTE: You may also find it helpful to skim through the Introduction (7-35) -- but please note that the material you will be tested on is what's found in required online background readings and listed under "text info" in the course calendar -- not what's presented in the introduction to the text.
Day 2	Gottfried von Strassburg, Tristan, pp. 111-239. To better understand the issues involved in Gottfried's German adaptation of Thomas's French poem, review the online reading "Medieval Attitudes toward Vernacular Literature"; and to better understand the treatment of love in Gottfried's poem, consult the online reading "Courtly Love." (Both are REQUIRED READING covered on the midterm exam!) PAPER 1 DUE in class today or turn in to my mailbox in the main English office (47-32E) by 4 PM on Friday, 4/21 at the latest.

	Topic and Readings
Day 1	MIDTERM EXAM
Day 2	Gottfried von Strassburg, Tristan, pp. 240-297. To better understand the issues involved in Gottfried's German adaptation of Thomas's French poem, review the online reading "Medieval Attitudes toward Vernacular Literature"; and to better understand the treatment of love in Gottfried's poem, review the online reading "Courtly Love." You may also find it helpful to skim through the Introduction (7-35) -- but please note you will be tested on what's found in required online background readings and listed under "text info" in the course calendar -- not what's presented in the introduction to the text. NOTE: Two group screenings of the film which you must see PRIOR TO OUR CLASS MEETING on T 5/2, Extended Scenes from Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde (based on Gottfried's Tristan), are THIS COMING WEEK-END, Sunday 4/30, from 5-7 AND from 7-9 PM. If there is sufficient demand, we can request an additional screening on M 5/1 from 11-1. The DVD of the performance (approx. 90 min.) is on reserve for ENGL 380 in Kennedy Library, so you can also check it out on your own time for independent in-library viewing -- BUT BE SURE IT IS RETURNED TO THE RESERVE DESK BY 1/2 HOUR BEFORE SCHEDULED GROUP SCREENINGS!! Also, *BE SURE TO TURN ON ENGLISH SUBTITLES,* or you will be VERY confused! You can also rent this film from Insomniac, SLO's fabulous independent video store (2161A Broad, between South and Branch; tel. 545-8866); it may also be available from the Cal Poly Insomniac in the University Union. To my knowledge, it is not available at other local video stores -- but feel free to call around, and let me know if you find it elsewhere! Click on link to read synopsis of opera BEFORE viewing video of extended scenes from Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde (composed 1857-59; video presents excerpts from the 1976 production starring Jon Vickers as Tristan and Roberta Knie as Isolde, with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Franz-Paul Decker). NOTE: film (approx. 90 min.)

	Topic and Readings
Day 1	REQUIRED FILM: Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde (based on Gottfried's Tristan). Click on link to read synopsis of opera BEFORE viewing video of extended scenes from *Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde* (composed 1857-59; video presents excerpts from the 1976 production starring Jon Vickers as Tristan and Roberta Knie as Isolde, with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Franz-Paul Decker). NOTE: film (approx. 90 min.) is REQUIRED VIEWING by today's class. REQUIRED READING: Helmut Reichenbächer, "Richard Wagner's Adaptation of Gottfried von Strassburg's Tristan,"** University of Toronto Quarterly 67.4 (1998): 762-67. CLICK HERE to go to LexisNexis, where you can access the article by doing a Guided News Search. Select the category "World News" and the news source "North and South American News Source"; type in the search terms "Wagner," "Tristan" and "Gottfried"; choose "all available dates" as the date range; then click on the link to the article (from the University of Toronto Quarterly). PRINT IT OUT and bring it with you to class. Alternatively, you can photocopy the article from the bound volume in the library stacks at call number AP5 .U55 (volume 67, 1998, pp. 762-7). Two Group Screenings in Library 202 on SUNDAY 4/30 from 5-7 AND from 7-9 PM; additional screening on M 5/1 from 11 AM-1 PM. The DVD of the film (approx. 90 min.) is on reserve in Kennedy Library, so you can also check it out on your own time for independent in-library viewing -- BUT BE SURE IT IS RETURNED TO THE RESERVE DESK BY 1/2 HOUR BEFORE SCHEDULED GROUP SCREENINGS!! You can also rent this film from Insomniac, SLO's fabulous independent video store (2161A Broad, between South and Branch; tel. 545-8866); it may also be available from the Cal Poly Insomniac in the University Union. (To my knowledge, it is not available at other local video stores -- but feel free to call around, and let me know if you find it elsewhere!) Possible Presentation(s)
Day 2	The Victorians and Pre-Raphaelitism 1: Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "The Last Tournament" (1871) (PDF file, 11 pp.); Matthew Arnold, "Tristram and Iseult" (1852) (PDF file, 12 pp.). PRINT OUT readings and bring them with you to class! Note: if you have trouble accessing the PDF files from the links above, they can also be accessed directly from the Kennedy Library web page, where you will find them on the Electronic Reserve List for ENGL 380. Also, have a look at the paintings on the class website and spend some time browsing the 19th-century images on the Camelot Project page. Possible Presentation(s)

	Topic and Readings
Day 1	The Victorians and Pre-Raphaelitism 2: Algernon Charles Swinburne, "Queen Yseult" (1857-1858) (PDF file, 27 pp.); A. C. Swinburne, "The Wife's Vigil," part VII of his long poem Tristram of Lyonesse (1882) (PDF file, 4 pp.) As needed, continue discussion of Tennyson and Arnold.
Day 2	As needed, continue discussion of Swinburne. New readings: Rethinking Isolde of the White Hands Oscar Fay Adams, "The Pleasaunce of Maid Marian" (1906; from the Camelot Project site); Maurice Baring, "From the Diary of Iseult of Brittany" (1913; from the Camelot Project site); Dorothy Parker, "Guenevere at Her Fireside" (note reference to Tristan!) and "Iseult of Brittany" (both 1931) (together in one PDF file, 2 pp.). PRINT OUT these readings and bring them with you to class! (As usual, the PDF files can also be accessed directly from the Electronic Reserve List for ENGL 380). NOTE: Be sure to WRITE IN LINE NUMBERS every 5th line for the poem by Adams (from the Camelot Project website). For your numbering, count "Isolt the White, the daughter of a king," as line 1; thus, line 5 (the first you should number) is "Upon an autumn midnight drencht with rain." HINT: the lines to count are those that begin at the left margin, with the exception of the two half-lines "False heart! False love!" in Iseult's song, each of which counts as a full line. NOTE: Because lines are determined by syllable count, one numbered line may be printed over two subsequent lines; you will know to count only one line because the second of the two does not begin at the left margin. EXAMPLE: The following should be counted as three lines of text, although it is printed over four lines: The sharp-fac'd damsel, clanging to the door, Laught shrilly, crying out the while: 'Your guest, Good cousin, is not to your mind, meseems.' Here, the second of the three countable line begins with "Laught" and ends with " 'Your guest, ". Also, have a look at the paintings on the class website and spend some time browsing the 20th-century images on the Camelot Project page. Possible Presentation(s) One suggested topic: Isolde of the White Hands in the opening and closing sections of Edward Arlington Robinson's Pulitzer prize-winning narrative poem Tristram (1927).

	Topic and Readings
Day 1	Nancy McKenzie, Prince of Dreams (2004), pts. 1-3 (pp. 3-205)
Day 2	Nancy McKenzie, Prince of Dreams (2004), pts. 4 (pp. 209-283) NOTE: Two group screenings of the film which you must see PRIOR TO OUR CLASS MEETING on TH 5/25, Jean Delannoy's L'Éternel retour (1943; also released as The Eternal Return and Love Eternal) are THIS COMING WEEK-END, Sunday T 5/21, from 5-7 AND from 7-9 PM. If there is sufficient demand, we can request an additional screening on T 5/23 from 4:30-6:30 PM. The VHS cassette of the film is on reserve in Kennedy Library, so you can also check it out on your own time for independent in-library viewing -- BUT BE SURE IT IS RETURNED TO THE RESERVE DESK BY 1/2 HOUR BEFORE SCHEDULED GROUP SCREENINGS!! You can also rent this film from Insomniac, SLO's fabulous independent video store (2161A Broad, between South and Branch; tel. 545-8866); it may also be available from the Cal Poly Insomniac in the University Union. To my knowledge, it is not available at other local video stores -- but feel free to call around, and let me know if you find it elsewhere! (Be sure to inquire about the French title and both English titles if you do!)

	Topic and Readings
Day 1	Nancy McKenzie, Prince of Dreams (2004), pts. 5-6 (pp. 287-416) Possible Presentation(s) *3rd Group Screening of Jean Delannoy's L'Éternel retour* (1943; also released as The Eternal Return and Love Eternal) in Library 202 from 4:30-6:30 PM.**
Day 2	REQUIRED FILM: Jean Delannoy's L'Éternel retour (1943; also released as The Eternal Return and Love Eternal; black and white, in French with English subtitles). Directed by Jean Delannoy from a screenplay by Jean Cocteau. Cast: Jean Marais as Patrice (the Tristan role); Madeleine Sologne as Nathalie la blonde (Blonde Nathalie, the Isolde the Blonde/of Ireland/Queen of Cornwall role); Jean Murat as Marc; Junie Astor as Nathalie la brune (Brunette Nathalie, the Isolde of the White Hands role); Piéral as Achille Frossin (i.e.Frocin the Dwarf); Alexandre Rignault as Morholt. NOTE: film (107 min.) is REQUIRED VIEWING by today's class. REQUIRED READING: Phyllis Gaffney, "A Double-Sided Mirror: Cocteau's L'Eternel Retour and the Medieval Sources," Tristania 21 (2002): 105-21 (PDF file, 9 pp.) Note: if you have trouble accessing the PDF file from the link, it can also be accessed directly from the Kennedy Library web page, where you will find it on the Electronic Reserve List for ENGL 380. Also review comments on L'Éternel retour in Meradith McMunn, "Filming the Tristan Myth: From Text to Icon," Cinema Arthuriana, ed. Kevin J. Harty (New York: Garland, 1991), pp. 169-180 (PDF file, 6 pp.) Two Group Screenings in Library 202 on SUNDAY 5/21 from 5-7 AND from 7-9 PM; additional screening on T 5/23 from 4:30-6:30 PM. The VHS cassette of the film is on reserve in Kennedy Library, so you can also check it out on your own time for independent in-library viewing -- BUT BE SURE IT IS RETURNED TO THE RESERVE DESK BY 1/2 HOUR BEFORE SCHEDULED GROUP SCREENINGS!! You can also rent this film from Insomniac, SLO's fabulous independent video store (2161A Broad, between South and Branch; tel. 545-8866); it may also be available from the Cal Poly Insomniac in the University Union. (To my knowledge, it is not available at other local video stores -- but feel free to call around, and let me know if you find it elsewhere!) Possible Presentation(s)

	Topic and Readings
Day 1	Steven Millhauser, "The King in the Tree" (2003; in The King in the Tree: Three Novellas, pp. 141-242); John Updike, "Tristan and Iseult" (1994; PDF file, 3 pp.) and "Four Sides of One Story" (1966; PDF file, 8 pp.) Note: if you have trouble accessing these PDF files, they can also be accessed directly from the Kennedy Library web page, where you will find them on the Electronic Reserve List for ENGL 380. Possible Presentation(s)
Day 2	Possibility of presentations on student-selected short stories/poems; specifics TBA. Bonus In-Class Screening: either the new Keith Reynolds Tristan and Isolde film (2006 -- possible if it has been released on video; stars James Franco as Tristan, Sophia Myles as Isolde, and Rufus Sewell as Lord Marke); or, Veith von Fürstenberg's hard-to-find Fire and Sword (also called Feuer und Schwert), a German-Irish made-for-European-television movie (1982, 84 min.). Features Christoph Waltz as Tristan, Antonia Preser as Isolde, Leigh Lawson as Mark, Peter Firth as Dinas. Very popular the last time I taught this class! PAPER 2 DUE.