by Peter Abelard, Heloise
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Product Description
The story of Abelard and Heloise remains one of the world’s most dramatic and well-known love affairs. It is told through the letters of French philosopher Peter Abelard and his gifted pupil Heloise. Through their impassioned writings unfolds the story of a romance, from its reckless, ecstatic beginnings to the public scandal, enforced secret marriage, and devastating consequences that followed. These eloquent and intimate letters express a vast range of emotions from adoration and devotion to reproach, indignation, and grief, and offer a fascinating insight into religious life in the Middle Ages.
Amazon.com Review
Abelard and Heloise are nearly as famous a pair of tragic lovers as the fictional Romeo and Juliet; their shared passion for knowledge, religious faith, and one another sealed their destiny. Abelard was a well-respected, 12th-century Parisian scholar and teacher, and Heloise was his talented young student. The two relate their story through a set of letters to one another and intimate acquaintances. Their ardor is unmistakable; as Abelard writes to his love, "So intense were the fires of lust which bound me to you that I set those wretched, obscene pleasures, which we blush even to name, above God as above myself..." This forbidden lust resulted in a pregnancy and secret marriage, and when their union could no longer withstand the challenges in its path, each lover sought refuge in the church--Abelard became a monk and Heloise an abbess. Their correspondence continued as both achieved success in their new careers but continued to struggle with their feelings for one another; the set of letters powerfully articulates the wide range of emotions they experienced. So timeless is their love story that--after eight centuries--their passion, their devotion, and their struggle still resonate with readers.
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Average Customer Review:
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Not All Theologians Are Boring, 2008-08-13
The Letters of Abelard and Heloise is an intense read. It is no doubt true that the staying power of these writings is owing to the soap-opera-like lives of its authors as well as the poetic and romantic language. This collection brings together Abelard's biography written to a friend, "The History of My Own Misfortunes" in which he divulges from beginning to end, all the drama surrounding his rise from philosophy student to a sort of Scholastic celebrity in Paris. The other part of this book is taken up by the personal letters between Abelard and Heloise, from which the reader discovers much about the relationship of a monk and nun who had a romance outdoing anything Shakespeare could have dreamed up for Romeo and Juliet. Their relationship became more formal for Abelard following his radical nighttime castration by Heloise's father. Heloise displays the passion with which she continues to love Abelard even though she joins a convent at his behest. Abelard's tone changes in his personal letters from what it was in his "History," yet Heloise never changes hers. She remains in love with him and lets it show in each letter to him. He takes on the role of a spiritual leader and writes to her instructions and answers to her questions, but he does not keep up with the romantic language as Heloise does.
The value in this type of book, when the texts themselves are available for free download on the internet, is the translation, introduction and notes provided on the historical situation which allow the reader to enjoy it more fully. The translation and introduction done by the late Betty Radice in 1974, who succeeds in humanizing these two long dead authors so that their writings move the reader to an emotional reaction. The updated introduction added by M.T. Clanchy provides a clear look at what scholarship has done with Abelard and Heloise since Radice's book was first published. Her translation aids the reader's enjoyment because it contemporizes the language. The internet versions available are translated archaically due to the fact that those texts are in the public domain and therefore prior to about 1926, which makes it a slower read. This is not a book of theology, though Abelard was arguably the greatest theologian of the Middle Ages, but of real romance despite the star-crossed lovers' ill fated lives.
0 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
 sorry-didnt read yet-arrived in good condition.remind me in october,d.v., 2008-04-27
didnt read yet-will review later..have read a fictionalized account of their love affair-looking forward to reading their actual letters
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 The Letters of Abelard and Heloise (Penguin Classics), 2007-03-19
Arrived in very good condition as promised.
1 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
 The Letters of Abelard and Heloise, 2007-03-13
This book was definitely thought provoking, or at least the parts I had to read for class were. I'm not sure if I would recommend it as a fun read. However, it was interesting.
19 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
A summary, 2006-06-26
Letter 1 (Historia Calamitatum), Abelard to a friend. You think you have it bad? Let me tell you about the mess I've been through and you'll feel a lot better (p. 3). Things were going great until the other professors realized I was smarter than they were and hated me for it. And then I met Heloise, and things really went downhill from there. Her looks were okay, and I'm a handsome dude, so I thought she'd be easy (p. 10). Her uncle Fulbert was an idiot to leave me alone with her (pp. 10-11). I was her teacher and she was just a kid, but I couldn't keep my hands off her. I slapped her around a little to make it look like I was teaching her and not doing her (p. 11). We went at it like rabbits. I knocked her up, she had a kid, and Uncle Fulbert made us get hitched. It was supposed to be a secret, but Fulbert started to spill the beans, so I put Heloise in a convent. That really pissed off Fulbert, so he made a steer out of me (pp. 16-17). Then I made Heloise take the veil, and I became a monk. Now I'm stuck in a hellhole of a monastery in Brittany with a bunch of thugs.
Letter 2, Heloise to Abelard. I just saw the letter you wrote to your friend. Too bad things have been tough, but how come I haven't gotten a letter from you in over 10 years? I think about you all the time, you big stud. It makes me crazy. I'd rather be called your whore than your wife (p. 51). All the girls were jealous of me; we still sing your songs (pp. 52-53). I'd really like to get a letter from you, especially since it was your idea that I become a nun (p. 53). You were a real jerk back then when you waited to make sure I became a nun before you became a monk (p. 54). The least you can do is write.
Letter 3, Abelard to Heloise. How am I supposed to know you wanted to hear from me? I figured you've had better things to do in the last few years than read my letters. Be a good sister and don't worry about me. But if I kick the bucket, bury me at the convent (p. 61).
Letter 4, Heloise to Abelard. Don't talk that way! It makes me crazy to think of you dead. It seems especially unfair that Uncle Fulbert waited until after we were married to get the knives out. I loved doing the nasty with you. All I do is remember us getting it on. I can't even sleep (pp. 68-69). I really can't stand it.
Letter 5, Abelard to Heloise. Black women are not as good-looking as other women, but they have nice teeth and soft skin - it's better to keep them behind closed doors, you know (pp. 73-75). Do you remember when I used to smack you around when you weren't in the mood (p. 81)? Quit your complaining. Let's write only about religious stuff from now on.
Letter 6, Heloise to Abelard. Are there any loopholes in the Benedictine Rule for nuns?...
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