Eloise to Aberald

Love stories always fascinate me. They become all the more fascinating when they go on to create another thing that fascinates me - Literature. Among so many historic love stories , the love story of Eloise and Aberald charms me the most. Their story is tragic , but what makes them admirable is that they continued to go on living.They continued to love , to write  and to contribute to our literary history. They become all the more courageous in their being because unlike the characters of other tragic stories , they didn't kill themselves or married anybody else(unless you consider that both of them married the church).

                                                            Aberald teaching Eloise 

Aberald was a famous 12th century French philosopher. Heloise was the niece of Canon Fulbert. She was well educated by her uncle in Paris. She was a woman of  great beauty and remarkable wit.In order to become aquainted with her, Aberald persuaded Fulbert and became her teacher and moved in to their house under the pretext that his house was not fit for teaching.Although she was 20 years his junior , they fell in love and of course her uncle found out about their affair.

                                                        Fulbert finds out about their affair

They were separated , but this didn't end their affair.Instead, they discovered that Eloise was pregnant.In order to avoid humiliation, she left her uncle's home when he wasn't at home and secretly went to stay with Aberald's sister untill their child was born. Aberald proposed to her, but she refused fearing the danger and disgrace it would bring him. Finally , when she agreed to marry him, they secretly married and left their son with Aberald's sister. She went on to stay with the nuns at Argenteuil , her uncle mistakenly thought that Aberald had cast her off , forcing her to become a nun.

                                                           Eloise is forced to become a nun


Enraged , he bribed the men in the hotel Aberald was staying and barged in to castrate him. After the assault , Aberald, thinking that God has punished him for his deeds (because of the thinking of that time) entered the monastery and bid Eloise to do the same.It was during this time they had exchanged letters which are a great work of literature.Their true love even became the inspiration behind Alexander Pope's poem ,'Eloise to Aberald' .

Though Eloise became a nun , she couldn't get over the passionate nights she had spent in Aberald's arms. She pined for him each and everyday , even though she knew that Aberald , now a eunuch couldn't love her the way she wanted him to love her. She even detested the vestal virgins who had become nuns by their choice and not because they were forced by anyone. In an excerpt from Alexander Pope's poem, she describes her agony:-

                                       "How happy is the blamess vestal's lot!
                                        The world forgetting , by the world forgot.
                                        Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind
                                        Each prayer accepted, and each wish resigned!"

Through their famous correspondence of 20 years their love continued to flourish , though they were separated. After many years they met briefly in Paris in a function and vowed to love each other forever. They never met again in their lifetime, but through their letters their love endured.It was 600 years later , when Josephine Bonaparte , deeply moved by their story ordered that the remains of Aberald and Eloise be entombed together.To this day, lovers from all over the world visit the Pere Lachaise cemetary in Paris, where Aberald and Eloise are united for eternity.