THE ART OF COURTLY LOVE

 

I found this article of reading to be very interesting to me even though it was written in the middle ages. It talked about what love is, who’s suited for love, love in society, and the rules of love. I really like when it talks about what effect love has on a person. According to Capellanus “love makes an ugly and rude person shine with all beauty…”(p. 299) Here he is saying that love can drastically change a person and I have seen that happen in my life. I have many aunts and uncles, and I feel like most of them changed for the better…luckily.

                Capellanus also touches of the subject about what persons are suited for love. I was really interested in this because I have had friends in the past that have said they are in love, yet I did not think they were capable of being in love. He states” men must be at least 18 years old and under 60….women must be under 50.”(p 299) I feel like I should read this to all the couples in junior and high school that think they are in love. I feel like those couples are in it for all the wrong reasons. One reason that Capellanus says is that too much passion can be bad. Some people are just in it for all the wrong reasons.

            

    The last thing I really liked is the rules of love. Even though this was written quite a while ago some rules still pertain to people today.  For example, “love is always growing or diminishing.”(p. 301) today that is true because love can never stay the same. It’s both built upon and turned into a very strong bond between two people or it is broken and torn down making the two people grow more apart. Another rule I liked said “when a lover suddenly has sight of his beloved, his heart beats wildly.”(p301) I personally know this to be true because I have experienced it. Not because I was in “love” but I really really realy liked the person. Every time I saw him I would get butterflies in my stomach and blush, it’s a great feeling. Soon enough those feelings disappeared because I was not in love but I’m pretty sure people in love get that feeling every time they see their beloved.