After having written about courtly love and how it conflicts
with the marriage vows during this time period for the position paper, I have
plenty to say about The Saga of the Mantle. This text was my primary example of
the issues brought about by these conflicting systems.
In one
corner we have marriage. At this time marriages were typically arranged by the
parents, with the man occasionally having some part in the selection, and this
marriage was for either economic or political gain. Love was not at all a
priority when it came to who someone chose to wed.
In the
other corner is courtly love: a list of rules to abide by when showing love and
affection. To follow these rules was to be noble and chivalrous. However, a
number of these rules conflict directly with how marriage went back then. Rule number one for example: “Marriage should not be a deterrent to love”. Really?
How these two systems could ever coincide is mind-boggling!
In
comes this story about a man and his mantle, here to exploit the flaws in how
this society conducted. I thought that using a “magic” mantle was actually a
really great example to use for this story. The women (not the men) in the court
all try on this mantle one by one, with it never fitting one properly. So now all
of the women in this court, including the queen herself, are found guilty of
adultery and shamed by this stranger. One woman, however, asks permission from
her man. His reply that he will love her either way and that she doesn’t need
to put it on is really what this story is about; love, faith, and trust. These
are all values that all marriages need to be successful, and to try and fit
into a mantle to claim purity isn’t going to solve anything.
My take
on this story, as was my position for the position paper, are that the marriage
rules needed to change. Well, more of an update. In modern society we marry for
love. Although with a 50% divorce rate I am starting to wonder how much that’s
still occurring. I think that reading this story in this time period gave me a
chance to see how the world has evolved and that even back then; people saw
those flaws and the need for a change. It just wasn’t time yet.
My position paper has the same viewpoint as yours. Most of the rules make absolutely no sense.some of them seem to favor only one of the two in the marriage and that is not love. The rules of courtly love to me imply control and ignorance. Especially in Saga of the Mantle when only women tried on the mantle, but men did not. Talk about unfair and favoring,
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