This was such a great
read! The story began quite slowly but eventually caught on quickly. I was
actually interested in the characters as I read along, which usually doesn't happen.
First things first,
this whole journey of finding his wife all started by Erec getting struck in
the face, whipped actually, by a dwarf? What a creative opening. Erec just so
happen to come across the most beautiful maiden that nature has ever created.
Chretien just so happen to describe her beauty with such emphasis and exaggeration.
I didn’t really like how they made a seriously long description about how
beautiful she is, but didn’t speak at all about her intelligence or well being.
We only knew that she was poor, but beautiful.
 |
| http://amandarego.com/2013/12/11/running-in-a-winter-wonderland/ This picture tells the whole story. The reflection and indication about god was spoken throughout. Enide’s beauty is made from nature, which is made from god? |
Erec fought greatly to
win over the sparrowhawk for his maiden. I thought it was clever that Yder, the
knight, and Erec took a break in between the fight. I mean, come on! When does
that ever happen? Once Erec defeated him, Yder surrendered to Erec’s words and
apologized to the queen. By doing so, he earned himself a spot in the court,
how great is that?
Family is significantly
important in this story. Enide parent’s cherished her with all their heart.
They were a poor family and lost everything they had during the continuous war.
Enide’s father expressed her as, “Lovely she is, yet her wisdom far surpasses
her beauty. God never made any creature so wise or so noble hearted. When I
have my daughter beside me, the whole world is not worth on bread.” (pg.8) I thought
this was so cute! Her father’s praise was so genuine and real, we can see how
much her parents loved her when she departed with Erec to his country. As well
as Erec’s father, King Lac, cried immensely once he decided to departure, for
some odd reason.
…Speaking of his
unknown sudden departure, why?! Towards the end of the reading, things moved
really quickly. So many things were going through my head. Erec and Enide were
both equally important in this story. The story started off with Erec’s “adventure”
and how he is the most noble and loyal knight in the kingdom. Towards the end
of the read, we hear Enide’s story and how is happiness turned into sorrow…quickly.
A little conversation won beautiful morning turned into hell. Erec was quick to
respond to Enide’s feelings about how he lost his masculinity. His response and
action confused me. He was such a noble and loving husband that turned into a
jerk, real fast. As I was reading, in the back of my mind I kept thinking if he’s
acting this way towards Enide to test her? I feel like this whole disrespecting
her thing is a joke, and he wants to see more of Enide, or show her what a real
man he is.
Can’t wait to read the
rest of the story! It left off at a pretty good interesting note.
I too noticed the emphasis on family! I really liked how the vavasor and his wife loved and respected their daughter and wanted her to be happy. It's a change from medieval legends where the fair maiden is rescued from her unhappy family situation by a knight or a king, etc. Seeing a healthy family relationship was surprisingly refreshing. I also thought Erec's turnaround towards Enide was abrupt and slightly confusing? He spends all this time loving her and praising her beauty only to become an angry spouse soon after Enide begins to feel guilty? I don't buy it.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that you noted the break in the fight between Erec and Yder. To me it signifies that the fight is not about actually killing the other person at all - instead, it is about power, and establishing dominance to gain social capital through word of mouth (of one's deeds as a knight). The entire concept of a "fair fight" is culturally present as a method of demonstrating power over others; it shows far more valor to defeat an opponent who is your equal than to defeat one against whom you have an unfair advantage. The entire purpose of chivalry, and indeed, of knights themselves, is as an agent of power - knights exist to allow the feudal ruling classes to suppress the proletariat.
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