Tristan & Isolde

Tristan is the orphaned son of a Middle Ages Briton warrior; Isolde is a motherless princess of enemy Ireland. Tristan is raised by his late father's dear friend and is mistakenly "buried at sea" following a battle. Isolde and her maid find him washed up on the Irish beach, and secretly nurse him back to health. Isolde does not tell Tristan her real name-she tells him her name is Bronya and that she is a lady in waiting at the Irish court. They fall deeply in love and are separated once Tristan recovers. In an attempt to reconcile the warrior factions of Ireland and Britain, the King of Ireland, Isolde's father, offers his daughter to the champion of a 'who's the best' contest. Tristan "wins" Isolde on behalf of Marke, the man who raised him-but doesn't know that Isolde was his true love until she lifts her veil at the contest. Tristan and Isolde conduct a clandestine affair behind Marke's back. Their deception is uncovered by one of Marke's underlings, who's really in cahoots with the King of Ireland. Though he could have had them both killed, Marke, who loves them both dearly, sets both Isolde and Tristan free, on the eve of an attack by the Irish. Tristan sends Isolde and her maid away and runs back to join the fight. Of course, Isolde gets back to shore to find him. Tristan is mortally wounded in battle, the Irish are subdued and Tristan dies in Isolde's arms. The movie concludes with a note that Marke became the new 'king' and Isolde disappeared after burying Tristan, her true love.

Kimby

Factual error: The poem Isolde recites, John Donne's "The Good-Morrow", is a 17th-century work, which is centuries later than the movie's time period.

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Tristan: I don't know if life is greater than death, but love was greater than either.

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Question: This is a strange question, but is it possible that Isolde could sleep with both the King and Tristan so many times and not get pregnant? Was there any kind of birth control at this time?

Answer: Without going into detail, two possible birth control options would be the withdrawal method or earlier versions of condoms. It's unlikely that Marke and Isolde were using these methods, because Marke, as a king, would probably want children to be his heirs. But Isolde might have at least been taking precautions with Tristan, especially during the time that she was betrothed to Morholt. There would be trouble if she became pregnant while her betrothed was away. Also, as Tailkinker wrote, maybe she simply did not conceive.

Answer: Yes, it's entirely possible. Even in this day and age, with our relatively detailed knowledge of the processes and timing involved, couples trying for children can sometimes try for months or even years before a successful conception.

Tailkinker

Answer: Three answers. ONE: Manuscript medical texts survive from Anglo-Saxon England. These describe folk wisdom and empirical medical tradition handed down from generation to generation. Herbs and herbal products were used as cures and prophylactics. These say little about contraception (they were written by monks or nuns who lived celibate lives) but it could be inferred that women used herbs and herbal products for women's issues (including contraception), knowledge refined over generations and handed down orally that has been lost or forgotten. TWO In the middle ages diet, nutrition and health conditions were such that, in general, people were not as healthy as they are today, so women may have been less "fertile" and less likely to become pregnant after sex. THREE: The legend of Tristan and Isolde is not accurate history. It began to circulate in the twelfth century, but even then it was a story, told to entertain, and this cinema version is a fictional, fantasy re-imagining of medieval life (similar to Game Of Thrones or Lord of the Rings) so such logical details do not necessarily apply.

Rob Halliday

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