Impulse can make you look bad

Let's talk about Yvain, shall we?

So Calogrenant starts all this drama because he went on a little adventure and found a nifty spring that makes stuff happen. Or maybe, just maybe, it was Queen Guinevere and her demanding nature? Calogrenant only told his story because she forced him to! I feel like she's always causing trouble. No wonder men had 31 rules to live by when in a relationship with women. These medieval bitches be crazy!

Anyway. King Arthur finally wakes up from his nap, not in the least bit worried that his wife has been surrounded by and fawning all over these men. He decides that he's going to avenge Calogrenant. He'll be the hero (again) for avenging someone he loves (again) for something that (again) doesn't make much sense. Seriously, what exactly do these men think they're avenging? Maybe I read a different story, but I'm pretty sure Calogrenant "won" the little fight with the crazy storm knight? Right?

Regardless, enter Yvain! Yes, he's been there the whole time, but now we're going to learn all about his jealousy. Arthur is going to go avenge his friend? Nope, Yvain's going to beat him to it.

Wouldn't it be a bad thing to take the quest your king wants? He's going anyway. Screw waiting for everyone else and some particular date, he's going NOW. He hopes to encounter the same stuff C did - the same hospitality from the family, the weird creature called a Moor--or churl (?), and of course the nifty spring that creates a crazy storm. When the knight comes for him, he's not just going to let him disappear like C did. He chases him down and keeps fighting him until we reach some distant place where he can't get away.

Here we go with this trust thing. I get that it's all fantastic fiction and it's supposed to be entertaining, but seriously? Why do we trust every. single. person. we. meet? Y kills a guy, who I read to be somebody pretty important in this little kingdom we've ended up in, and someone decides it's no big deal. We'll just hide you until everything calms down. "Put on this ring."

I'm pretty sure Gollum/Smeagol is coming for you, strange lady. My geekish knowledge (thanks, Google, and subsequent forums) say his ring is from the 5th or 6th century. Yvain's wearing THE PRECIOUS! And while we're just hanging out, waiting for people to mourn and give up on searching for us? We're being creepy and falling in love with a woman who can't stop crying. Who does that?

Yvain, apparently. I guess the magic hoo-hah has powers even when grief is so obvious. Strange hobbit lady (as I've named the girl with the ring since she doesn't appear to have a name) is now intelligent enough to set the two up? Was this her plan all along? Or is she just rolling with what's happening around her?

Now, who on Earth would be okay with the lady of the land marrying the guy who basically JUST killed her husband? For real. I don't think I'd cheer and give presents if Jackie had decided to marry Lee Harvey Oswald. Just sayin'. But he's just so in love with her, she's the best thing that ever happened to him, and he can't live without her. So it's okay.

Yvain's not very consistent, though. He decides he wants to leave. Right now, with Arthur, and do his duties to his previous king. Um, excuse me? If you wanted to be dutiful, you should've done it by going on this great big quest with Arthur, not by yourself to prove Kay wrong? Oh, but look. He was right anyway.

If this story were to end here, at the halfway point, I would be pissed. We read all this, Yvain trying to be a hero and take the credit for himself...and it worked out in his favor. Until he just so happens to forget that he's supposed to GO BACK TO HIS WIFE. This would be the kind of horrible, horrible ending that would make me throw a book across a room. But it's not!

So where's this lion mentioned in the title? I wanna know what happens next!

Reflections of Desire -Elizabeth Cavin

I feel like the role of gossip, slander, and insults is kind of self evident in this story. It is there to move the plot along by motivating action from the characters. On the second topic question, it is curious as to why there is so much misery in these stories…my only guess is that it is there to emphasize and establish what are more “proper” reactions for real-life events, like how one should feel at death of their spouse, when someone challenges you/a friends honor, or when one makes a mistake. Although, I guess it could also just be a reflection of the story-makers personal misery n real-life expressed into a creative outlet. When one makes another feel bad die to another’s misery (reader feels character misery/ character feels character misery/some cases…reader feels bad for author) often sympathy is established, making them more emotionally involved with the story.

Reading up to page 296…I was surprised by how much I learned on a woman’s place in this type of society, and I can not help but be a little disgusted by it. Not only do women not seem to think for themselves, but they are complacent to forming to the standard by which men believe them capable (which is not much). When the widow just decides that it is ok to marry her husband’s murderer, right after Sir Yvain claims her mood will eventually change and they should be lovers just because he desires her (pg 274), I could not help but think: WTF?? He even admits that his love comes from only his eyes, which desire her physical beauty (pg 281).

How could one go from self-destructive harm during grief to joyful agreement in a few (if not a single) night? This woman betrays her own feelings, albeit for a pretty decent reason, but then she goes as far as to convince herself she “loves” this murderer? (Around pg 276) All in the same time frame? The book says she was eager for the marriage, and that nothing would have stopped her from doings so (even if her people did not approve). Not for protection, it points out, but to fulfill her own desires. Either this woman’s feelings for the previous man were as shallow as can be (and she’s a drama queen), or the beliefs of the time were backing her into a corner in which brainwashing herself was the only way to happiness. Also, the claim that all women get mad when given good advice really touched a nerve with me (pg 276).

Then there was this quote on page 286:

                “And while these two were becoming acquainted, the others were flirting. There were about ninety other ladies, and each one was beautiful and charming, noble, intelligent, prudent, and wise, ladies of noble birth and high lineage. And so men were able to amuse themselves by conversing with them, looking at them, and sitting besides them, as well as kissing and caressing them. At least that much pleasure was theirs.”

…I felt sick to my stomach after reading that. It basically listed all that a woman was worth (in that time period), then went on to point out such physical actions by men (looking at them, touching them, kissing them) were simply for the men’s amusement, and worse yet, the woman were ok with it. For some reason I thought a woman’s virginity, at least before her first marriage, was really valuable, and things like kissing and caressing someone you did not plan to court was considered wrong...But I guess instead, I was wrong.

Then I have some random questions, just from the whole reading so far:

• Ø  Why, when Sir Yvain is lead into the palace after dealing the fatal blow to the other knight, does the young maiden help the MURDERER of her lord to hide? -pg 269
• Ø  Is there some sort of belief that when dead wounds bleed, the killer is near? Why are the people in such a commotion over bleeding wounds on the dead knight? -pg 271
• Ø  So, is that a thing? That love is not allowed to exist from the woman if the man lacks honor? -pg 287

Pretty sure that Kay was right all along...

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!)

Drunk Writing of a Drunk Runaway?

First and foremost: What?

The scene is set, Guinevere is sneaking around the castle after King Arthur has fallen asleep and then she's calling out all of the knights even after she's been cheating on her husband? Nah, she can chill.  Then the knights start kissing up to her, for obvious reasons, but she's still unnecessary.   The way she talks about Kay saying "he has always had a vicious tongue no one can correct."  Someone needs to teach her that bitches get stitches. 

 

Calogrenant,VERY RELUCTANTLY, begins to tell the court about how some guy took him to a fountain and performed a rain dance that caused a crazy storm.  When said storm ended, a guy came out of nowhere and accused Calogrenant of starting a war with him and as these stories go, they naturally fought.  Unfortunately, our boy Cal lost.  Having the greatest friends he could imagine, Yvain volunteers to avenge Calogrenant's shame.  But Gunivere clearly didn't learn at an early age the national no snitchin policy and told Arthur in the A.Ms what happened despite Cal's clear discomfort. 

BUT YOU MUST BE WONDERING WHERE THE BEAUTIFUL WOMEN ARE!

They're there.  Half of Cal's story was about the gorgeous maidens he saw.  Then Yvain encountered the "beautiful lady" and went on a page long declaration of how he is a slave to her love.  Then he becomes her actual slave?  Cannot lie, I love how she testes him by asking all those questions about what made him fall in love with her.  For a split second, it was as if courtly love was just as dumb a concept to them as it is to us.

This has been an odd start to yet another odd story.  People think Yvain is dead, Kay thinks he was drunk and ran away.  I don't know, shrugs are all I can do.