Marie’s lais held my attention because they were to the
point. I struggled with Erec and Enide. The first half of the book had a
certain rhythm to it: super slow, fast, slow, fast, slow. The amount of
character descriptions and imagery are not my cup of tea.
“… Erec, a member of the Round Table, who enjoyed great renown
at the court. Since he had his that nowhere on earth could be found a knight so
handsome. Though not yet twenty-five, he was most noble, brace, and becoming.
Never had any man his age displayed such valor. What more can I say of his good
qualities?” (2)
There is actually a good story mixed in with the superficial
ass kissing repetition. Erec represents an honorable knight by granting Sir
Yder mercy. Enide is very different from the women in Marie’s lais. I feel like
she proves to be adventurous as she travels with Erec, and love is mutual
between the two. Unlike in Marie’s lais, I never found myself questioning who I
disliked more or felt sorry for. (Although, as I mentioned earlier… there is
quite a bit of unnecessary ass kissing between the two of them.) Even though
those specific lines bore me, I do feel like Erec and Enide have mutual respect
for each other. They both seem to give each other inspiration. I doubt Erec
would have been as “eager for the combat” (10).
Perhaps I am over thinking this, but I found the part where Enide
prepares Erec for combat a sign of equality and support.
“She made fine work of arming him from head to toe” (10).
He wants to fight for her. She helps him prepare for battle.
He battles and wins. She is gifted the Sparrowhawk.
While most of the lais we read had some scandalous
relationships happening, this story follows the meeting and life of a married
couple. Instead of meeting here or there in secrecy, Erec and Enide are always
together. The troubles arise more so in Erec’s duties as a knight. (I’m not
sure how the knights kept their titles in Marie’s lais. They were always busy
chasing women; however, the knightly duties were never questioned.) This
appears to be a story about a couple encountering moments of jadedness. I have
not read the second half of the story; however, it seems as if the momentum of
the story is going in the direction of the two adventuring to get past the
bores of marital life. I foresee Enide being as equally important in the second
half.
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I would have finished the story if I wasn't so tired out by the really boring imagery and ass kissing parts of the story.
I too found this story more endearing than those of the Lais, given the way this love story started out. As the reader I was able to trust this relationship as it grew instead of wondering when someone was going to find out and whose feet were getting burnt first! I wanted so badly to just leave it there because it finally seemed a picture, although unrealistic, perfect relationship growing that I could have settled with. But I definitely agree with you that the whole romantic phase and ass kissing lasted WAY too long! It was simply unbearable, and I felt like I was in middle school again having to repeatedly and regrettably passing the new couple by the lockers listening to nothing but compliments. However it was good to see the equality rise within these two in their relationship.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, the Lais were much easier to read than this story, but it wasn’t too bad if you skimmed through all of the excess fluff and descriptions. It was a nice change to see what happened after marriage and some of their struggles, even if their love seemed too perfect. But even though they both would be considered the good guys of the story, there were still some people that we could immediately label as bad like the squatty dwarf and the knight he traveled with. Granted they were minor characters that didn’t really play a big part in the story, but they still had all of the nasty traits that the villains from the Lais had.
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