Romance and Foundations Common Characteristics Essay Example for Free

Romance and Foundations Common Characteristics Essay Courtly love is characterized by the poetry of the troubadours in southern France which originated in in the late 11th c. Its ennobling effect on the male lover who assumes a subservient position in relation to the beloved, of the woman loved, and certain codes of conduct, whether implicit or explicit, that guide the lover in his amorous pursuit (COURTLY LOVE2012). After rereading the poem several times and understanding why she is saying what she said it was understandable for women to express their forbidden feelings through poetry. It’s surprising to learn that true love began in the medieval days. My Reactions to the Expression Romantic Love My reaction to romantic love is the need to express your true deep feeling for another in such a way that one could compare it to the feelings and loyalty showed in worshiping their God or Goddess. Surprising Contents Yes the content of the poetry surprised me totally. I have never absorbed the concept of what was being said in a poem or why it was said, but now I see that lust and adultery stated perhaps from the beginning of time. It seems in today’s world it’s written and expressed in poems lot less and committed more often than medieval days. Observation and Connections The observation and connection I gather about the role of women and their freedom of speech is very open and unconcerned by their husband if Contessa de Dia’s poem â€Å"Cruel Are the Pains I’ve Suffered,† from Lark in the Morning:† was written and published (Sayre, H. M. 2010). Contessa de Dia poem is really expletive and just written to the lust of her eyes, she talking like as if her husband can’t read. These female troubadours had noble backgrounds and they lived privileged lives. Women during this period also had power in that society. They had control over their land, and society was more accepting their noble women. Maybe it was of no concern because it was just feelings on paper or perhaps because of their nobility and power they were allowed to pursue their affairs with the person of whom they lusted. References COURTLY LOVE. (2012). COURTLY LOVE. The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012. Credo Reference. Web. 21 February 2013. Sayre, H.M. (2010). Discovering the Humanities. 2nd Ed. pp.166- 167. Pearson