Lessons Besides Cheating For Dummies

The first 46 pages of Erec and Enide were a complete whirl wind of wtf. Erec sets off on this adventure to spite a knight whose dwarf lashed Erec and the queen’s maid in waiting… Chivalrous?  The whole time I was picturing the troll from Dora the Explorer (whoops).  Other than that, it was a pretty normal tale of revenge in my opinion.  Then he stayed in the house of a vavasor in the company of his wife and beautiful daughter.  But this wasn’t just some guy’s daughter, it was the love of Erec’s life.  Naturally, he would die if he didn’t have her.  

I found it interesting how despite the terrible romantic build up, there were lessons within this that pertained to anything but romance and courting.  On page 7 the vavasor says “poverty harms many men”, so at that point I was getting excited that I didn’t have to read about how the women were setting up the house anymore.  He continues to say that he was away at war for so long and had to sell most of his belongings.  Even years behind us, the world has yet to learn how to treat those who fought for their governments with any honor-besides ice cream of course.

Another quote I find exceedingly interesting is on page one: “…always aspire and endeavor to speak eloquently and to teach well.”  I find it interesting that this showed up in our prior reading as well.  Sharing knowledge is fundamental in societies.  Another deep moment I found was on page 26, “the eyes, the birthplace of love’s joy”.  This made the actual love as opposed to lust more concrete between the couple.  I, for one, appreciated it as opposed to these weird teen fiction fantasy moments. 

Enide’s ability to understand that there was something wrong with the way Erec gave up his dignity in a sense to spend every moment with her.  However, the way he praised her for bringing it to his attention vs. the way he didn’t want her to speak during his hunt for…whatever pride he may find, was oddly ridiculous.  I understand that he wanted to prove he wasn’t a weak-willed, whipped, wussy (Wonderful alliteration, right?), but he just took it out on the love of his life??? What happened bro?!  Then he switched his mind AGAIN when she was trying to get him to leave the place they lodged at. 

Everyone is too driven by sex in these stories.  Yeah, I can be too, but it needs to calm down.  But Enide is kind of a badass.  Look at her intoxicatin’ fools with those words (p. 43).  I love how she has a voice and a mind in this story instead of looking for ways to cheat on her husband.  Just some unpopular opinion.

The Complete romances of Chrétien de Troyes.  Updated Edition Translated with an Introduction.  David Staines.