Isabella of France
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| - | [[Love]] is one of the most enduring [[trope]]s in [[narratology]]. From [[romance novel]]s, to [[romance film]]s, from [[love song]]s on popular radio, our lives are filled with stories of love. | ||
| - | ==In literature== | + | '''Isabella of France''' (c. 1295 – 22 August 1358), sometimes described as the '''She-wolf of France''', was [[List of English consorts|Queen consort]] of England as the [[Queen consort|wife]] of [[Edward II of England]]. She was the youngest surviving child and only surviving daughter of [[Philip IV of France]] and [[Joan I of Navarre]]. Isabella was notable at the time for her beauty, diplomatic skills and intelligence. |
| - | ===Middle Ages=== | + | |
| - | :''[[courtly love]]'' | + | |
| - | ''[[Floris and Blancheflour]]'' was between the period 1200 and 1350 one of the most popular of all the romantic plots. | + | |
| - | ===Renaissance=== | + | |
| - | === In literature === | + | |
| - | :''[[love story]]'' | + | |
| + | Isabella arrived in England at the age of twelve during a period of growing conflict between the king and the powerful [[baron]]ial factions. Her new husband was notorious for the patronage he lavished on his favourite, [[Piers Gaveston]], but the queen supported Edward during these early years, forming a working relationship with Piers and using her relationship with the French monarchy to bolster her own authority and power. After [[Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall#Death|the death of Gaveston]] at the hands of the barons in 1312, however, Edward later turned to a new favourite, [[Hugh Despenser the younger]], and attempted to take revenge on the barons, resulting in the [[Despenser War]] and a period of internal repression across England. Isabella could not tolerate Hugh Despenser and by 1325 her marriage to Edward was at a breaking point. | ||
| - | In the following excerpt, from [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'', Romeo, in saying "all combined, save what thou must combine By holy marriage" implies that it is not marriage with Juliet that he seeks but simply to be joined with her romantically. "I pray That thou consent to marry us" implies that the marriage means the removal of the social obstacle between the two opposing families, not that marriage is sought by Romeo with Juliet for any other particular reason, as adding to their love or giving it any more meaning. | + | Travelling to France under the guise of a diplomatic mission, Isabella began an affair with [[Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March|Roger Mortimer]], and the two agreed to depose Edward and oust the Despenser family. Isabella returned to England with a small [[mercenary]] army in 1326; moving rapidly across England, Edward's forces deserted him. Isabella deposed Edward, becoming [[regent]] on behalf of her son, Edward III. Many have believed that Isabella then arranged the [[Edward II of England#Death|murder of Edward II]]. Isabella and Mortimer's regime began to crumble, thanks in part to her lavish spending, but also due to Isabella successfully, but unpopularly, resolving long-running problems such as the [[Wars of Scottish Independence|wars with Scotland]]. |
| - | <blockquote> | + | In 1330, Isabella's son Edward III deposed Mortimer in turn, taking back his authority and executing Isabella's lover. Isabella was not punished, however, and lived for many years in considerable style, although not at Edward III's court, until her death in 1358. Isabella became a popular "[[femme fatale]]" figure in plays and literature over the years, usually portrayed as a beautiful but cruel, manipulative figure. |
| - | "Then plainly know my heart's dear love is set | + | |
| - | On the fair daughter of rich Capulet: | + | |
| - | As mine on hers, so hers is set on mine; | + | |
| - | And all combined, save what thou must combine | + | |
| - | By holy marriage: when and where and how | + | |
| - | We met, we woo'd and made exchange of vow, | + | |
| - | I'll tell thee as we pass; but this I pray, | + | |
| - | That thou consent to marry us to-day." | + | |
| - | --Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene II </blockquote> | + | |
| - | Shakespeare and [[Søren Kierkegaard]] share a similar viewpoint that marriage and romance are not harmoniously ''in tune'' with each other. In Shakespeare's ''[[Measure for Measure]]'', for example, "...there has not been, nor is there at this point, any display of affection between Isabella and the Duke, if by affection we mean something concerned with sexual attraction. The two at the end of the play love each other as they love virtue." Isabella needs love, and she may reject marriage with the Duke because he seeks to beget an heir with her for her virtues, and she is not happy with the limited kind of love that implies. | ||
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| - | Shakespeare argues that marriage, because of its purity, simply cannot incorporate romance. The extramarital nature of romance is also clarified by [[John Updike]] in his novel ''[[Gertrude and Claudius]]'', as well as by ''[[Hamlet]]''. This same supposition of romance is also found in the film ''[[Braveheart]]'' or rather apparent in the example of [[Isabella of France]]'s life. | ||
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| - | Romance raises questions of [[emotivism]] (or in a more pejorative sense, [[nihilism]]) such as whether spiritual attraction, of the world, might not actually rise above or distinguish itself from that of the body or aesthetic sensibility. | ||
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| - | Kierkegaard also addressed these ideas in works such as ''[[Either/Or]]'' and ''[[Stages on Life's Way]]''. ("In the first place, I find it comical that all men are in love and want to be in love, and yet one never can get any illumination upon the question what the lovable, i.e., the proper object of love, really is." (''Stages'' p. 48).) | ||
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| - | Nietzsche, while he might answer negatively to the platonic theory of love as having a transcendent object, being a [[Naturalism (philosophy)|naturalist]], was more interested intellectually in marriage than in romance, as evinced by the many aphorisms on marriage in ''[[Human All Too Human]]''. In any case, Nietzsche is often taken as diametrically opposed to Kierkegaard, of whom there is often supposed mention in ''[[Thus Spake Zarathustra]]'' alongside [[Leo Tolstoy]]. (Shakespeare raises a similar criticism about the meaning of love in ''Measure for Measure'', and ''Love's Labors Lost'' is often considered Shakespeare's encomium on love. | ||
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| - | ==Love at first sight in literature== | ||
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| - | *The first sight of the beautiful princess [[Angelica (character)]] in [[Ariosto]]'s ''[[Orlando furioso]]'' and the witch [[Armida]] in [[Torquato Tasso|Tasso]]'s ''[[Jerusalem Delivered]]'' enchant the knights that perceive them; [[Giovanni Boccaccio]]'s ''Elegy of Lady Fiammetta'' describes the ravages of love at first sight on a woman. | ||
| - | * Love at first sight occurs in ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'', by [[William Shakespeare]]. Romeo falls in love with Juliet when he first sees her. | ||
| - | * In the novel ''[[Les Misérables]]'' by [[Victor Hugo]], the characters Marius Pontmercy and Cosette fall in love after glancing into each others' eyes. | ||
| - | * 'It was love at first sight' is the opening sentence to the [[Joseph Heller]] novel, [[Catch-22]]. | ||
| - | * In [[Hans Christian Andersen]]'s "[[The Little Mermaid]]," the protagonist falls in love with a human prince when she first sees him and rescues him from drowning. | ||
| - | *in the Hunger Games trilogy, the character Peeta falls in love with the protagonist, Katniss, when he first saw her at the first day in school and heard her sing. | ||
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| - | == See also == | ||
| - | * [[Adultery in literature]] | ||
| - | * [[Beauty and the beast]] | ||
| - | * [[Love]] | ||
| - | * [[Love song]] | ||
| - | * ''[[Love Story]]'' | ||
| - | * [[Story]] | ||
| - | *[[Romance film]] | ||
| - | * [[Romance novel]] | ||
| - | *[[Romantic love]] | ||
| - | * ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'' | ||
| - | *[[Unrequited love]] | ||
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Isabella of France (c. 1295 – 22 August 1358), sometimes described as the She-wolf of France, was Queen consort of England as the wife of Edward II of England. She was the youngest surviving child and only surviving daughter of Philip IV of France and Joan I of Navarre. Isabella was notable at the time for her beauty, diplomatic skills and intelligence.
Isabella arrived in England at the age of twelve during a period of growing conflict between the king and the powerful baronial factions. Her new husband was notorious for the patronage he lavished on his favourite, Piers Gaveston, but the queen supported Edward during these early years, forming a working relationship with Piers and using her relationship with the French monarchy to bolster her own authority and power. After the death of Gaveston at the hands of the barons in 1312, however, Edward later turned to a new favourite, Hugh Despenser the younger, and attempted to take revenge on the barons, resulting in the Despenser War and a period of internal repression across England. Isabella could not tolerate Hugh Despenser and by 1325 her marriage to Edward was at a breaking point.
Travelling to France under the guise of a diplomatic mission, Isabella began an affair with Roger Mortimer, and the two agreed to depose Edward and oust the Despenser family. Isabella returned to England with a small mercenary army in 1326; moving rapidly across England, Edward's forces deserted him. Isabella deposed Edward, becoming regent on behalf of her son, Edward III. Many have believed that Isabella then arranged the murder of Edward II. Isabella and Mortimer's regime began to crumble, thanks in part to her lavish spending, but also due to Isabella successfully, but unpopularly, resolving long-running problems such as the wars with Scotland.
In 1330, Isabella's son Edward III deposed Mortimer in turn, taking back his authority and executing Isabella's lover. Isabella was not punished, however, and lived for many years in considerable style, although not at Edward III's court, until her death in 1358. Isabella became a popular "femme fatale" figure in plays and literature over the years, usually portrayed as a beautiful but cruel, manipulative figure.
