The Letters of Abelard and Heloise (Penguin Classics)
by Peter Abelard, Heloise

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Book Reviews of The Letters of Abelard and Heloise (Penguin Classics)

Book Review: The greatest love letters ever written
Summary: 5 Stars

The letters in the rest of the book date from after Abelard's autobiography was published, and if you read them closely you'll see just how clever Heloise really is. They're worth reading anyhow, because of the breathtaking passion they convey, but if you look you'll notice she manages to use his own philosophical doctrines to defeat him and rewrites the Historia Calamitatum for him from her own perspective. You get the feeling he fell in love with her for her mind, and she proves that even after ten years locked away in a convent her wits are as sharp as ever. However, Abelard's replies start off quite cool and unresponsive; he is irritated rather than impressed by her ability to outwit him and seems keen to terminate their correspondence. Yet she manages to change him as it progresses, from severe misogyny into acceptance of women's role in the world and particularly in the religious life. What a woman.

And when he says "Heaven is like so many palaces..." the word he uses in Latin is 'Palatia'. It's an odd word in context, so why does he choose this particular one? 'Palatium' is also the name of his hometown, where he took Heloise to give birth to their child, and where they lived together for a short but happy time. So... he's secretly trying to say that Heaven is like the time they spent together before disaster tore them apart. This is the closest he gets to telling her he loved her.

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