Description
Morality is rooted in love, not institutions: the enduring impact of Héloïse’s 12th-century romance with Abelard.
Director: Prashanti Aswani (https://www.prashantiaswani.com/)
Producer: Adam D’Arpino
Writer: Abigail Tulenko (https://abigailtulenko.com/)
Associate producers: Tamur Qutab, Sam Dresser, Pia Rios
The life of Héloïse is usually framed as a tragic love story. In 12th-century France, the brilliant young scholar fell deeply in love with her tutor, the philosopher Abelard, only for their passionate romance to meet a violent end when her uncle discovered it. Castrated and shamed, Abelard became a monk. Heartbroken, Héloïse became a nun, eventually rising to the position of abbess. And although their love would endure through the famed and heartfelt letters they exchanged following their separation, they would live apart for the rest of their lives.
This Aeon Original animation reframes Héloïse’s story around the radical and influential ideas she developed and expressed in these letters. In her script, Abigail Tulenko, a writer and PhD student in philosophy at Harvard University, still places love at the centre of Héloïse’s story. However, it’s Héloïse’s deeply held belief that morality is rooted in love rather than institutions, and her enduring impact on theology and philosophy, that propel the narrative. In her visual accompaniment, the Indian-born, London-based animator Prashanti Aswani uses paper as both a canvas and a motif, bringing an intimate, tangible quality to Héloïse’s story and writings.
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Héloïse d'Argenteuil, Peter Abelard, Medieval Philosophy, 12th-century France, Philosophy of Love, Ethics, Theology, Abigail Tulenko, Prashanti Aswani, Aeon Original, History of Ideas, Moral Philosophy, Abelard and Heloise Letters, Abbess of the Paraclete, Philosophy Animation,