Descriptions, Descriptions, Excessive Descriptions!

While reading the story of Erec and Enide from The Complete Romances of Chretien de Troyes this week there was one thing that stood out to me above all the rest: the lengthy and often excessively repetitive descriptions! At every turn it seemed that the story’s momentum (which was seriously lacking in the beginning) paused for a moment in order to provide the reader with description after description. This didn’t entirely bother me at first, since I’m typically a huge fan of descriptive imagery and was enjoying the scrumptious visualizations the text was creating in my mind, however, as the story continued to progress I couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that things were getting a bit excessive.

For example, I understood the purpose of the first long passage describing Enide’s intense beauty and the pains Nature took in creating her on pg. 6… but did the text really have to repeat itself over and over again? I mean as if this first passage wasn’t enough, the reader encounters a dozen or so more instances where the story slows to describes Enide’s beauty and list a great number of her many virtues (pg. 20, 21, 22, 31, 42). By the middle of the story / at the point where Enide begins to question her husband about his lack of chivalrous behavior, I found myself beginning to question what these long-winded descriptions were all about.

At first I had just figured there was a lot of detail provided because it made the story more interesting to its original audience; that maybe medieval readers wouldn’t have seen the amount of descriptions as excessive. I considered the fact that while I may have been attempting to read at a rather quick pace, original readers might not have been trying to do the same and that what I saw as an excess of description they might have seen as typical. However, by the midpoint in the reading I began to reconsider.

It was at this point that I began to widen my scope and started taking notice of not just the many examples of long descriptive passages throughout the story, but also of the general theme of excess that persisted throughout. For example, there is an overabundance of characters, places, food, clothes, celebration etc. that becomes all the more noticeable as the reader delves further into the tale. Indeed almost all of the guests in attendance at Erec and Enide’s wedding came in massive parties and brought along hundreds of attendants or horses (pg. 24-25). Again at first I thought that the lengthy descriptions that characterize the text were just included to make it more appealing and interesting, but once I began to notice the many examples of excess I began to wonder if there wasn’t a bigger picture I was missing out on.

After considering the descriptive text and the fact that the majority of it is concerned with detailing examples of excess, I am starting to feel like there is a more significant reason as to why the text is written in such a lengthy way. From the very beginning the reader is cautioned with the proverb: “what you scorn may be worth much more than you think.” Enide learns this quickly when she opens her mouth and changes the relationship between herself and her husband. However, Erec doesn’t appear to have caught on yet as he is not treating Enide’s concern for their lives very respectfully when we leave him in the forest at the conclusion of the reading this week. Overall I am quite ready to move on and finish the rest of this story, if for no other reason than to get some answers about Erec’s character. At this point I am very intrigued and confused by his behavior and am having a super hard time predicting what will come next. Mainly, I’m interested to see if the general theme of excess plays out in whatever events befall Erec and what that would possibly mean for the overall message of the story.

Erec is Not About that Base, bout that Base, nor Trouble

I'm not so concerned with this tale being in any way plagiarist of Biblical anecdotes, only because those Biblical stories themselves have predecessors in The Epic of Gilgamesh and various legends of myths of ancient Greek traditions. I don't feel there's any victory or relevance in proving whose culture "stole" stories from whose; people have been writing similar stories for literally thousands of years. It should be taken as a matter of historical accuracy then, and not of personal offense, that the stories in the Bible (along with just about every other religious text) were not the first to be written about any of the plot points they explain. Betrayal, love, creation explanation, flooding; you name it, it was written about before it was recorded in a religious text. On that note, I'm closing the issue about the originality of the story, and taking into account its content objectively.

So we get a lot of description of Enide and other maidens as beautiful, fair, and without baseness, meaning that they have not a hint of normalcy within them, so extravagant are their looks. Mostly Enide, though, because she's more beautiful and wise than anyone else. The sheer volume of superlative description in this story (and we're not even done the story yet, mind you) is breathtaking. At every describing of something Erec has done or owned, his deeds and possessions are noted to be without equal, the best beneath heaven, etc. He's the most attractive man, his horses are the fastest and the best kept, his clothes are the most expensive, his jousting is the best the world has ever seen, his generosity is unparalleled, and so on and so forth. From the start, we are to understand that he has no faults, no equal anywhere in lands near or far.

Except that he's weirdly rude to Enide come their journey to nowhere in particular, where Erec decides to ride around aimlessly seeking out people to best in combat so as to prove that he's not totally whipped by his marriage. At the start of this journey, he decides to tell Enide to shut her fucking face, because if she talks, he'll hate her forever and ever, times ten thousand. I don't understand where this request comes from, unless he intends to appear ignorant of threats so that they are more likely to approach him and be vanquished. In any case, she disobeys him several times and alerts him to incoming knights, all of whom he soundly defeats while reminding Enide that she's on his last nerve, even though all she's doing is trying to protect the man. It's a weird turn of character for him, as he appears so compassionate until she tells him the rumors of his loss of honor, at which point he ups the testosterone and becomes Sir Assclown of Douchealot just to prove a point.

I wasn't sure what to make of Enide's promise to the count that she would be his lover, as it seems entirely reasonable at this point for her to dislike Erec for his censure of her for her well-meant warnings to him. As we've ready many a lai that depicts a woman deciding on a whim to ditch her husband for another man and plot his death, I was pleasantly surprised to read that her acceptance of the count's proposal is part of a plan to save Erec, whether or not he deserves such respect from her after his harsh words.

In summary, there seems to be a lot of filler between the starting action of the story and the action we've finally come upon in the count's plot to secure Enide for himself. I can't say I'm entirely pleased with how many men have approached Erec with intent to best him, then so easily decided "you know what, this man really is beautiful and strong, I think I'll admit defeat and serve him as best I can."

In his admiration of Enide's unrivaled beauty and wisom (as well as his own perfect appearance, apparently), Erec is not about that base. And, in his conquering of any man that should challenge his pride, he is, undoubtedly, not about that trouble either.

Frontseat-driving the Plot From Horseback

It’s been interesting to see that the strain possible in relationships was just as applicable during the Middle Ages as it is today. We’ve got two lovebirds who are positively infatuated with each other (and we all know at least one couple that’s like that). As per the norm, their love quickly enters the deadly “Honeymoon Phase,” where the relationships basically end up alienating everyone around them; however, unlike in reality, once Erec alienates his equivalent of a modern squad, Enide tries to convince him that he’s being dishonorable.

Probably exactly what the other knights felt.

The resulting struggle and the events leading up to it are perfect examples of how both characters drive the plot. Erec is the prime mover during the first part of the story, doing combat with the rude knight over who has the fairest maiden. Enide soon joins him in equal importance, since she is the maiden who Erec is trying to defend. Importantly, he sees Enide praying, and “his strength [increases]” (de Troyes 12), making his success partly dependent upon her.

           Later, after the marriage scene upon which George R. R. Martin apparently patterned all of his lengthy descriptions, Enide becomes the driver of the plot once she tries to convince Erec to return to his knightly duties, which results in the aforementioned conflict.

Thank heaven you've explained sixteen times what a brocade doublet looks like.

Whereas the narrative's focus follows Erec for much of the story, here it switches to Enide, again making her of equal importance. Of course, Erec worsens things by keeping himself separated from Enide, both physically and emotionally: “And yet I realized how little respect you have for me” (de Troyes 38). This returns him to the forefront as a second driver of the conflict alongside Enide. Finally, Enide’s plans to assassinate him and subsequent rejection of those plans yet again designate her as a crucial character.

            Perhaps the most thought-provoking quality of Erec’s and Enide’s dual importance is what it means for gender roles. In the beginning of the story, Erec derives much of his strength from Enide, which empowers her as a character by giving her power over him. During the later murder plot, Enide controls Erec’s life, literally deciding whether he’ll live or die. If that isn’t a form of empowerment, I don’t know what is. Even if Enide’s power alongside Erec’s can be debated, her power over Chrétien de Troyes' narrative cannot. Because she is so crucial to the plot, she is already empowered in a way that cannot be stripped from her.

            Still, that doesn’t mean the romance is an appeal for women’s empowerment. It’s not a feminist text; it’s not even a proto-feminist text (although now I’m approaching a cultural quagmire I’d rather not enter). However, it’s important to remember that Chrétien wrote in a sexist era, so any points scored in the area of female empowerment shouldn’t be dismissed easily.

            Is Chrétien a table-flipping gender revolutionary? No, but he does seem to recognize that women can be just as important as men.

 

The "adventure" of the Double EE

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.

Self-Insert and Honor

    Erec and Enide was a fabulous read! A bit dry in some lines, but overall enlightening. I enjoyed the self insertion of the author during a couple points of the story: “I do not know what work they were doing” (pg 6) I don’t know why I gain so much amusement from it…sort of reminds me of Jane Austen...it adds to the bedtime story feel. Perhaps I should get to the point now.

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    Both the characters of Erec and Enide were equal parts important to this story. I really like how the focus was on both the male and the female rather than one or the other. The whole point of the first half was Erec redeeming himself as a Knight, after being whipped in the face by a dwarf. What a vicious dwarf he was...then the last half of the story was about Enide learning that perhaps she should’ve been more delicate in telling her husband he’s lost his public manliness. Tsk tsk. However, in these areas they both drive the story forward. Without one, there wouldn’t be a plot. They are both instigators in the rising action. As Erec rides to regain his knightly pride, he finds Enide and is able to fight the rude knight Sir Yder. Without a beautiful maiden, Erec would not have been able to fight in the competition(it just so happens he finds the most beautiful maiden). In the second half of the reading without Erec, Enide would not have had anyone to insult. Simple as that.

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     I would like to mention briefly my favorite part of medieval tales such as these:honor. The honor that these knights(both “good” and “bad”) is such a cool aspect. For example, when Yder and Erec were fighting they both agreed “hey man, I’m beat, you’re beat, let’s chill for a mo’” that’s so cool! Then of course Erec got mad and told Yder to get up and finish this, but he let him live so that’s cool too. Another example could be afterwards, when Yder actually rode all the way to the Queen and surrendered himself. For being so honorable, he got a place in court. SWEET! Maybe some might find it lame, but Knights in these tales really cared about their honor as men and as Knights. It’s something I really enjoy.
    There are a lot of interesting aspects of Erec and Enide. I look forward to reading the rest of it for class.

It's Times Like This I Need To Watch Mulan And Remind Myself What A Badass Woman Looks Like

I would just like to start off this blog post by expressing how frustrated I am with these readings. I genuinely felt, after finishing all three readings, that at least one character in each story had irritated me (which I also think is a good thing…I mean imagine if we were reading something boring). AND then I got to reading about Erec and Enide in The Complete Romances of Chretien de Troyes. When I first started reading I absolutely loved it because here was a guy who fell in a love with a girl, not only because was is beautiful but also because she is intelligent, and to top all of that off, she is not wealthy either. However, once I continued reading I got more and more frustrated with how Erec treats Enide. He is endlessly controlling of her when he feels like his manhood is threatened and it irritates me to no end. Nearly halfway through the reading on page 36 Erec says to Enide, “’What! What have you said?’ Erec exclaimed. ‘You have too little respect for me now. I gave you a command, forbidding you to speak. How very bold of you to disobey! This time you shall be pardoned, but should this happen again, you will not be forgiven.’” What is the point of being that controlling? Erec is supposed to be the most perfect, most humble knight in all the land, or at least he was given enough praises saying so. If they are true why is he being so rude to his lover? The power trip he holds over her is ridiculous. (Even though she defies him time and time again by speaking out which I love).

In addition what about La Fresne?! We did not get to talk about La Fresne that much in class but this was actually the story that frustrated me the most because the maiden in the story is so good natured. Throughout the whole Lais I was rooting for her because she was abandoned by her awful mother, and then when she finally got the attention of the heroic man, he abandoned her because the other knights did not think she was of noble birth. If the “hero” of the story had really loved her like he said he did, there is no way he would have tried to be married to the (unknown) sister of the first maiden. Then, by the end of the story, when it is found out that the original girl is in fact of a noble birth, he calls off the engagement and marries her instead. The feminist in me leapt up at this point and said, “WHAT?! First he abandons you and you take it because you are just that nice, AND then when he figures out that you are in fact good enough for him…he takes you back and there are no complaints at all?!” Yeah I was very incensed about this.

 

Transitioning off of that frustration, I would like to smoothly (or not so smoothly) head into my potential topic for this upcoming essay and the frustration I am going to use to build it. You know how Dr. MB had us pick from one the topics from the board last class? Well I picked gender and power and I was thinking of using some of stories (I have not decided which ones) from The Lais of Marie de France, as well as some of the laws from courtly love and the story of Eric and Enide to demonstrate that the lack of power that women had in this time frame.

 

 

The Book of Erec?

So I can’t help but to notice that this is written similarly to the Bible.  Now, I tried to do some research on when and what style Bibles were written in 10^th century France, but I found so many different answers (as one often does with a quick Google search) that I did not have much success.  Rather, I was left more confused than anything else.  But I do know that some of the passages in “Enec and Enide” remind me of some excerpts in the book of Genesis in an NIV version of a Bible.  Mainly the lists and the “this is what I’m going to tell you” attitude.  Chrétien says things like “The others I shall name in no particular order because the ranking embarrasses me” (22). One long paragraph is dedicated to naming all the knights at the Round Table.  I know it’s important somehow, but I couldn’t come up with a definitive reason why we need to know the ranks of these barons.  I guessed it was to establish the importance of rankings, but I’m still not sure.  All this did for me was slow down the story and bore me to death.  

The next time he does this he says, “Now listen to me. I am going to tell you who the kings and the counts were” (24).  Then he goes on to ramble FOR AN ENTIRE PAGE about all these kings and counts who have no actual importance to the story, except for emphasizing the importance of Erec’s wedding.  This especially reminds me of the book of Genesis, where it proceeds to go on for pages about the genealogy past Adam and Eve.  Among hundreds of names, you really only hear a handful of them in the rest of the 65 books.  The situation is not so drastic here, but it’s the same idea.  And one reason why I have to admit that I skimmed over a lot of those parts. 

Now, the question that lingers is why establish all this importance if we’re not really meant to care about these people, no matter their rank in Court? Maybe the goal is to elevate Erec? Many times he is held in high regard, such as this:

Such was Erec’s renown that everyone talked of none but him.  There was no man of such noble excellence.  In beauty he resembled Absalom, and in eloquence, Solomon.  He had the pride of a lion.  And in generosity he was the equal of Alexander (29).

Hmm…more biblical references.  I think this would be an interesting thing to examine.