MBTI Type: ESFJ

Lord Marke intends to unite the kingdoms of England into one, to establish a stronger bond of protection against Ireland. He has a natural ability to bring men together in a common goal, and mobilize them behind either himself or Tristan, in how he approaches them for support. He calls upon their courage and bends their emotions to his will. He shows another side to this, when he guilt-trips Tristan after learning of his affair with Isolde; Marke asks if his life, his mentorship, his friendship, and losing his hand ‘was not enough’ for Tristan, that he also had to steal his wife. He asserts his anger about their affair to both, but Isolde’s tearful confession at their torment, their long-term love for one another, and Tristan’s resistance out of ‘love for you’ touches him enough that he’s willing to forgive and pardon them. He does not like to make impersonal decisions, since his low Ti finds that cruel and harsh, but does not take no for an answer, when Tristan wants to refuse being his ‘second.’ He runs an efficient kingdom and knows how to keep things working; though he has certain ideals, Marke also respects the rule of tradition. He relies so much on his knowing of others, and his ‘ability to read faces,’ that he does not consider Tristan could be going behind his back with Isolde, even when he suspects she has a lover. He knows Tristan to be a principled man, so the thought of his disloyalty and deceit never crosses his mind. He only becomes suspicious when he finds a bracelet made of flowers he did not give Isolde ‘among her treasured possessions.’ Marke has a larger intention for England, but not a fixed view of how he intends to accomplish it. He overturns tradition by nominating Tristan as his successor—an adopted ward of no relation over his own kin, because he sees Tristan as being more dutiful.

Enneagram: 2w1 so/sp

Marke confesses that without love, his life was meaningless; that he knew not the hole in his life and his heart before Isolde came to them. He wishes only to love and please her, ‘as a husband and as a man.’ He seeks ways to make her happier and asks her what else he can do to give her joy. He generously takes in Tristan after losing his parents and even loses his hand to save the boy from death. But he is also upfront with his feelings, harsh and even frightening in his anger, and full of resentment that Tristan repaid his kindness in disloyalty. His 1 wing believes in good behavior and values duty, honor, sacrifice, and fealty in himself and others. It also enables him to forgive them, because to do otherwise would violate the good man he sees himself to be.