Going to be honest – my favorite part of the entire story
was probably Kay’s existence? Like obviously he is a dick, and also there is a
lot more going on here, but I just need to get my Kay obsession out of the way,
because his doucheiness is hilarious and the reactions it inspires are off the
freaking wall. There is literally a point where Yvain is thinking about all the
dishonor and contempt he will get for murdering a dude (not the moral ramifications…)
and his first fucking thought is that Kay is gonna be mean to him? Seriously
dude, you’re not worried about anyone else, just this one dude being a dick.
Yvain is literally sitting there all worried.
But like, if we’re looking at things on a slightly more
serious level, I feel like the most interesting part of this story so far is
Yvain and the wife of the dude he killed. Their relationships is such a
freaking roller-coaster. First they’re down, then they’re up, then they’re down
again. I really appreciate at the start when he totally understands why she
would be angry at him, and that definitely gets at the whole Courtly Love theme
of putting women on pedestals and bowing at their feet and such. (Side
question: what’s the Courtly Love stance on falling for a widower?) Even if
their romance is obviously a little forced (since, you know… falling for the
guy who killed your beloved seems pretty hard), I think he does at least have
some real respect for her.
At least until… you know. That part where he totally
freaking forgets about her. Like bro, she spent a seriously long time laying
out her rules for him going off, and he’s like, “yes yes, I love you, I am
dedicated, I got this,” and then gets too caught up in his own adventures to
notice the time? Honestly, Yvain is kind of an idiot and doesn’t deserve her,
and maybe Kay was right for being all shitty to him, because he ain’t that
bright.
Literally, all the problems in this dude’s life are his own
damn fault. Like I don’t think he’s a mean person for whatever, but like… jesus
christ dude. Think about how your acting next time.
(But also… was I the only one who kinda thought Yvain might
go for the handmaiden chick? Like obviously she isn’t as fancy as the lady, but
she had the good sense to know that Yvain was the stronger dude (since he…
actually won). They totally could have had a Some Kind of Wonderful thing going!)
I definitely though Yvain would go for Lunete (I think that was the servant's name). Also, I totally agree with you about their being weirdness between Yvain and the widow....Laudine (I think). Maybe her husband wasn't that great to her, I dunno, and from what we learned in class, marriages were more political back then than they are now. But still...I found it odd that she would even be into a guy who murdered her husband.
ReplyDeleteI too agree that I thought that Yvain would go for Lunete, or at least Lunete would have feeling for him. It's interesting all of the things she does for him (saves his life, plays matchmaker, etc) stems from that one time he, and only he, was nice to her. I have a problem with that statement however. Gawain is supposed to be the most courteous knight in existence and yet only Yvain was nice to her? Being courteous is Gawain's thing. I find it doubtful that only Yvain was the nice one (it's this or Gawain was MIA. Who knows? Bro quests a lot)).
ReplyDeleteAlso, Kay is the most dickish, douchiest asshole to exist and he is still freaking priceless. There are times where he pisses me off, but then there are times where I'm like, yes bro!!!! Seriously, the fact that Yvain, who is clearly a strong knight, is super worried about what Kay will say? Kay is freaking perfect.