How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Page)
Quote #4
'Sir, by Almighty God, he loves me and I love him only because of a draught that I drank and he drank. That was our misfortune. Because of this the king has driven us out.' (7.79)
Like Tristan, Yseut understands their love for one another as the result of a specific fate (misfortune) rather than as a choice. She also implies that she and Tristan could not possibly have acted otherwise than in the way that caused the king to drive them out.
Quote #5
No man can turn aside his fate. The villain was not on his guard against revenge for the harm he had done Tristan. (9.86)
Although the evil baron's choice to expose Tristan and Yseut's affair sets his death in motion, the text characterizes it as his fate. Of course, a few pages later, this baron mysteriously appears again, alive, with no explanation. Hey, in stories, at least, fate is reversible.
Quote #6
'Oh God!' he said, 'what a fate! What I have suffered for the sake of love! [...] Alas, how unhappy I am! I was indeed born in an unlucky hour!' (18.152)
Even though the love potion has worn off at this point, Tristan still regards his love for Yseut as an unlucky circumstance, a fate outside of his control. The idea of love as a fate one is powerless to resist is further emphasized by the way Tristan speaks of love as a cruel master before whom he is a suffering servant.