Limb and Love: A Narrative Shaped By and Against its Protagonist in Service of Ladies

Authors

  • Isaiah R. Dillon

Keywords:

Medieval romance, Ulrich von Liechtenstein, Masculinity and identity

Abstract

Isaiah R. Dillon offers a critical literary analysis of Ulrich von Liechtenstein’s Service of Ladies, focusing on how the protagonist’s identity as a courtly lover and knight is constructed, contested, and ultimately deconstructed through bodily sacrifice and class masquerade. Dillon argues that Ulrich’s narrative subverts traditional medieval romance tropes by centering love as the primary force rather than a peripheral motivator. Through detailed textual analysis, the essay highlights the motif of limb loss as symbolic of the protagonist’s yearning for legitimacy within an aristocratic tradition that ultimately rejects him. The piece interrogates the interplay between love, violence, and identity, suggesting that Ulrich’s transformation is both self-fashioned and self-destructive in pursuit of an inaccessible ideal.

Author Biography

Isaiah R. Dillon

Isaiah Dillon graduated summa cum laude from Rutgers-
Camden in May 2021 with a B.A. in English and a B.A. in
History. He currently lives in southern NJ and works in New
Castle, Delaware as a Vault Cataloger. This is his first work 
published in the Undergraduate Review and he hopes his
work sheds light upon the more covert and often unknown
aspects of history.

Cover of The Undergraduate Review, Fall 2021 edition, from the Honors College at Rutgers University–Camden. The top features the red Rutgers logo and text: “Rutgers University–Camden Honors College.” The background is a bold, colorful painting of a wide, orange-and-yellow dirt path or road stretching into a vivid landscape of green bushes and rolling hills beneath a blue sky. The title “The Undergraduate Review” and subtitle “Fall 2021” appear in white text near the center. “Volume 2, Issue 2” is displayed in the lower-right corner.

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Published

2025-06-25

How to Cite

Dillon, I. R. (2025). Limb and Love: A Narrative Shaped By and Against its Protagonist in Service of Ladies. The Rutgers-Camden Undergraduate Review, 2(2), 5. Retrieved from https://rcur.libraries.rutgers.edu/index.php/rcur/article/view/2219

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 2 (2021): The Undergraduate Review

Section

Articles