The Medieval Prose About Love: The Tale of Peter and Fevronia and The Romance of Tristan and Iseult (Comparative Research Experience)

Abstract

The article is aimed at comparing two works of medieval literature that represent the high examples of prose about love in Russia and Europe: The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom and The Romance of Tristan and Iseult. The purpose of the article is to identify the typological features of the initial images of masculinity and femininity in the history of medieval literature, which set the parameters for the further development of prose about love. For this purpose, the prehistory of these works, chronological relationships, plot, genre, figurative similarities and differences, features of the motif complex and naming are considered. The internal unity of these works is emphasized: despite the obvious differences, they have formed a tradition of depicting love in its high spiritual and aesthetic hypostasis, which infl uenced the subsequent development of literature.