My Side

Personally, after reading the first six parts of "The Romance of Tristan" I would have to say that I ma on Tristan's side. Tristan is constantly running into misfortune that causes dangerous situations. Whether he is put into the arms of the sister of a man he personally killed or he is drinking a love potion not meant for him, it's usually not his ultimate doing. Half of the bad he does is not his doing, the other parts played in this story lack his misfortune however. The three nobles want Tristan gone so they tell the king of his relations with Yseut, and the king flips on Tristan because he dared to betray the king. My final conclusion is that I can only find one group that is acting in defense of outside stimulus and that is Yseut and Tristan. There is never an excuse good enough to justify burning someone and political reasoning's always bothered me, especially when it almost results in the death of the couple. I am on Tristan's side and I cannot see my mind being changed. Even if coming events show some tragic character flaws I won't forget that this whole tragedy came about as the result of Tristan simply drinking out of the wrong wine skin. He did like Yseut before, but he was going to hand her over to the king. My heart goes out to Tristan because he strikes me as a true noble who just got stuck in a game of the gods (in mythological terms).