It's rare that an Emerson recipient will confess that their proposal was inspired by a pulpy movie with pretty actors, but Rebecca Wagner '07 (Lyman, ME) gamely admits to just that. The rising senior English major first encountered the story of Tristan and Isolde in her medieval literature class because it was the only part of Mallory's Le Morte d'Arthur that they did not cover. Later, Wagner saw a recent film adaptation of the legend and became curious about the story. Still curious, she applied for and received an Emerson grant to study the evolution of the Tristan and Isolde story through a historo-feminist lens.
Tristan and Isolde is "literally a lost legend," an oral tale that was recorded at the beginning of the Christian era when the story was itself in a process of being reinterpreted to suit the changing culture. The story, which Wagner calls "the archetypal romantic tragedy," deals with the knight Tristan, sent to retrieve the bride of his lord Mark. Tristan falls in love with the lady, Isolde, and eventually begins an affair with her. In the end, both lovers die.
Wagner's interest in the story focuses on the character of Isolde, who has come down from older legends and been transformed significantly, Wagner speculates, from her Celtic origins. She "comes from a less misogynistic tradition," Wagner explains. "I hope to find a trace of an older and stronger Isolde in the 'modern' medieval versions of the story." Wagner is also interested in the literary concept of courtly love, and the idea of the woman both unattainable on a pedestal and simultaneously the downfall of man. "That contradiction…is really what interests me most."
Wagner plans to do her research through reading, mostly a number of primary-source medieval texts. The English Mallory is only one such; also Frenchmen Thomas and Béroul, and the works of several German and Italian authors. The real problem, Wagner explains, is that there is a great deal of scholarship about the text and it is hard to find a new angle of approach, or, more importantly, textual evidence of what she is looking for. She is also using secondary texts and reading history to give her a sense of the context of the stories.
This is Wagner's second summer of research. She spent last summer on campus doing an interdisciplinary study on the Argentine tango. This summer's work, she says, is very different. There have been some frustrations this year; Wagner finds herself limited by time and how much she can actually read. "It's hard to make [the necessary] comparisons and inferences," she says. "I enjoy it," and even if it brought unexpected annoyances, research into a topic about which she is so passionate is "just too much fun."
The other benefit of this study, which Wagner outlines in her grant proposal, is her wish for intensely focused research. "I would like the opportunity to examine a single vein of literature for an extended period of time, instead of being forced to split my energies among many indirectly related texts." She hopes the summer's work will provide experience for graduate studies.
Wagner, a rising senior, is extremely busy on campus. She is in thechoir and will manage their tour next year. She will also be the head RA of the south side, is the student assistant to the Director of Campus Safety, and manager of the Student Tech Crew. She plans for graduate school at some point in the future, and hopes to spend next year abroad, traveling or studying on a grant. "I have so many plans," she says, shrugging.
Her work this summer is funded by the Emerson Foundation Grant Program, which allows students significant opportunities to work collaboratively with faculty members, researching an area of interest.
-Lisbeth Redfield
