Verbriefte Ehe

Abstract

Abstract This article deals with the adaptation of the correspondence of Abelard and Heloisa in the form of the heroic epistle which became popular in the 18th century. It pursues the thesis that in going back to Ovid, the heroic epistle and its discourse of love stands in a contradictory relationship to the Christian correspondence of the medieval lovers. Therefore, the early modern adaptations ignore the community-building function of the love story and have to rewrite it in terms of unfulfilled love.