Princesse lointaine
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A princess lointaine or princesse lointaine, (in French, "distant princess") is a stock character from medieval romances. The romantic interest of many knights errant, she was usually a woman of much higher birth, often far distant from the knight, and usually wealthier than he was, beautiful, and of admirable character. Some knights had, indeed, fallen in love with the princess owing to hearing descriptions of her, without seeing her, as tales said Jaufré Rudel had fallen in love with Hodierna of Tripoli.
The term has been used subsequently to refer to women whose chief characteristic as love interests has been their unattainability.
"Princesse Lointaine" is also the title of a play by Edmond Rostand and a prelude for orchestra by Nikolai Tcherepnin.
[edit] Examples
- Little Red-Haired Girl in Peanuts
- Maid Marian in some versions of the Robin Hood story
- Dulcinea del Toboso from Don Quixote
- Beatrice Portinari from Divina Commedia
- Daisy Buchanan from The Great Gatsby
- Emmo from Slave of the Huns
- Miranda from The Collector
- The woman in Panama in Cup of Gold
