"Tristram and Iseult" (1852) is Matthew Arnold's only Arthurian work, and Arnold employed the ancient narrative as a veneer for social criticism in much the same manner as did his contemporaries Alfred Tennyson, William Morris, and Algernon Swinburne. These nineteenth-century poets did not attempt to reproduce accurately medieval civilization so much as to express particular moral stances. The inherent emphasis upon extinction caused by ecstasy, or love leading to death, cannot be eradicated from any version of the Camelot tragedy; however, the theme of guilty, fated love can vary in its significance. Certainly the exotic atmosphere is particularly entertaining, but Arthurian Legends, even in the medieval period, have been consistantly used to inspire rather than to amuse.

Arnold, although his approach is more understated, echoes Tennyson's concern with moderation. Still, "Tristram and Iseult" reflects less the Christian didacticism of The Idylls of the King and displays more simple family concerns. Arnold had little sympathy for the lovers and did not, as did Swinburne in Tristram of Lyonesse, excuse their passion as fated or drug induced. His emphasis upon Iseult of Brittany as an abandoned wife and his invention of her two small children appear intended to reflect the problems that an immoral love creates in the domestic sphere, a love driven by foolish obsessions that gradually consume spirituality. The solution proposed seems to be a retreat into imagination and calming aesthetic pleasures. If individuals learn to distinguish universal themes in art, Arnold's theory may be that their own concerns will be deflected and thereby lessened in importance. As does the hectic pace of life, passion and melancholy both cloud understanding of the value of real familial love. Further, the loss of creativity destroys spirituality, increasing a sense of confinement on earth and decreasing expectations of the afterlife. With a few small alterations, the long unused tale of Tristram and Iseult was resurrected as the ideal conveyor of Arnold's message.

The Tristram legends probably originated in the late eighth-century Pictish kingdom in Scotland. The original Tristram was most likely Drust, son of the Pictish King Talorc, who ruled in Scotland around the year 780. (1) From here, Tristram legends can be traced through Welsh, Cornish, and Breton sources. In one of her lays, Marie de France mentioned Tristram as an ideal lover, and Chretien de Troyes also claimed to have written about the hero, although this work is no longer extant. The earliest surviving long poem about Tristram is a version by Thomas, who wrote at the Plantagenet Court in England after 1150. Thomas was followed by Eilhart von Oberge around 1170, and also by another Norman poet, Beroul, about 1190. Further, from Thomas' Tristan, a condensed version, Sir Tristrem, was composed in Middle English approximately a century later; this is the only other treatment of the subject in Middle English, except for Malory's reworking that comprises about one-third of the Morte Darthur. Over many years, the Tristram romances became very complex, "with comic and tragic, savage and civilized, cynical and...