In anticipation of the discussion of “Lacan’s Clinic” 1981-82, Jacques-Alain Miller would like to say a few words about such a phenomenon as “courtly love”, to which he devotes the fifteenth chapter.J. Lacan explores "courtly love" in his seventh seminar, "The Ethics of Psychoanalysis." He is interested in the question of how and why this worship of the beautiful Lady arose in the 11th century. Today we know many chivalric romances, but the very appearance of such creativity and etiquette is a mystery to historians. Lacan draws our attention to several points. Firstly, the medieval knight is by no means a noble man from the novel, but a feudal lord, forced to constantly defend his possessions from the same whippersnappers as himself. All methods are good for fighting enemies. There is not that much difference between a knight and a robber. At the same time, the most prolific troubadours - knights of noble origin, are not distinguished by their courtliness in life. Secondly, a medieval woman, even an aristocrat, was deprived of her rights. It is the subject of exchange according to Lévi-Strauss. The era is quite gloomy, demonstrating Lacan’s thesis about the “non-existence of sexual relations” most clearly. It was in such a very “wild” time that troubadours glorified chastity and the inaccessibility of beautiful ladies. J.-A. Miller notes: “Courtly love makes sexual relations exist by the very way of refusing them. This implies the identification of woman with the Other, hence her transformation into Woman, which implies, as the poet says, that we are forever separated from her.” It is thanks to this that a woman becomes a Thing as a container of pleasure. In courtly love it is possible to combine the Other and pleasure. Obviously, this is an extraordinary invention. In this “game”, suitors create obstacles for themselves by establishing rituals for conquering the Lady, the Thing, in the sense of Lacan’s Seventh Seminar, or object a, the object of the cause of desire (Seminar 11). It’s funny to see how this concept of love, which once served the possibility of sexual relations , has evolved in our time. Miller turns to Leo Spitzer's article on the troubadour Joffrey Rudel (1944). Spitzer debates whether the lost love the troubadour speaks of is a woman or a promised land. But Miller is more interested in observing how this concept of love has penetrated into our everyday life. Spitzer describes the behavior of a gentleman, an excellent companion for women. In order to behave well in society, you need to hint to women that they are desirable, but that it is impossible to be with them. In any salon conversation there is already a model of a troubadour in miniature. Finally, a translation of an excerpt from L. Spitzler’s article: “For, in general, isn’t it the behavior of a troubadour in front of a woman that inspires our salon relationships with her, with a woman, married or a girl who does not belong to us - a relationship borrowed from this medieval Christian chivalry. The gentleman of a lady at a dinner table or in the course of a salon conversation, the dancer leading a woman in a dance, and to this day, like the troubadours of the 12th century, hint to women with unobtrusive gestures that they desire them passionately without demanding them. intimacy out of respect for the moral value of a woman. These people of society as a whole repeat Jofre's promise: “Not to desire to conquer.” Let us think about how this erotic discovery of the possibility of romance between a gentleman and his lady produces piquancy, sophistication and playfulness in public life. The school of troubadours gave an original direction to the most important theme of Western life: behavior in which a woman is desired and respected; and thus she made a lasting contribution to the enrichment of the lives of the sexes in society.” The article deals with the beginning of the 20th century. What elements of “courtly love” have been preserved in our society to this day? Subscribe to my Instagram*: www.instagram*.com/psychanalyse_i_kino/* Instagram belongs to the Meta company, which is recognized as an extremist organization in Russia.