The Romance of the Rose

Courtly love is a literary genre and tradition established in medieval Europe that focuses on secretive relationships between unmarried young men and women in high social positions. Most courtly love tales are from the perspective of the man, often a knight, who falls in love with a noblewoman from a distance.

Since the lady is typically married or otherwise inaccessible to him, the young man pines after her until he manages to win her love and, to some extent, consummate their relationship. The stages of courtly love, then, are loosely as follows: The man sees the lady, worships her, declares his devotion, is rejected, pines and nearly dies, woos her again, earns her love through various actions, consummates the relationship, and then continues it in secret. In some stories, like Tristan and Iseult, the lovers are caught and meet tragic ends for their adultery; others portray the lovers as platonic or chaste and end happily.

Scholars debate how literally courtly love tales are intended to be read. Since Christian medieval Europe typically condemned extramarital sex, many argue that the passionate relationships between lovers were largely metaphorical. Their mutual suffering came from their suppressed erotic feelings.