43 pages • 1 hour read
Chrétien De TroyesErec and Enide
Fiction | Novel/Book in Verse | Adult | Published in 1170A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Celebration of Married Love
One of the main themes explored throughout Erec and Enide is that of romantic love, a theme explored by numerous poets who were contemporaries of Chrétien. However, Erec and Enide is unique in its exploration of romantic love in the context of marriage. While many medieval romances focused on unrequited love or the illicit affair between a knight and a woman married to someone else, Erec and Enide focuses on the love between two individuals who are wed to each other. Like many marriages during the Middle Ages, Erec and Enide’s is in some respects an arranged one, with Erec promising Enide’s father that she will become a “queen of ten large towns” if he agrees to the marriage (20). Enide, in turn, is jubilant at the thought of marrying into a life of royalty and nobility: “with silent joy she was abrim / that she was granted thus to him […]. / and she herself would be renowned / and as a rich queen would be crowned” (21).
However, though Erec and Enide’s relationship might seem initially based on what they can gain through the marriage, they are soon depicted as falling deeply in love with each other. As Erec and Enide are traveling back to King Arthur’s court, Chrétien elaborately describes a kiss between them. Chrétien depicts the connection between them as being so strong that Erec is overcome with passion and amorous feelings for Enide: “The more he looked, the more his bliss. / He had to give the maid a kiss” (44). Chrétien presents Erec and Enide as being a perfect match, as they are each “exceedingly well suited” for each other (44). Chrétien continues his celebration of their romantic love in his description of their wedding night. Rather than focus on the consummation of their marriage, Chrétien writes of how Erec and Enide first gaze adoringly at each other: “Their eyes began exchanging glances; / the joy of love the eye enhances […]” (60). Such a focus emphasizes the depth of the romantic love between Erec and Enide over mere physical attraction.
The Importance of Chivalry
Chivalry refers to the set of social customs outlining how male knights should behave. Though these customs are often referred to as the chivalric code, there was not a single official outline of how knights should behave. Rather, the chivalric code was a group of social beliefs that became established over time, often though medieval poems such as this one. Throughout Erec and Enide, Chrétien emphasizes the importance of knights’ following such honorable or chivalric behavior while criticizing those knights who behave dishonorably.
Chrétien’s principle means of outlining chivalric behavior is through the figure of Erec, who is presented from the start as an exceptionally noble knight. In the first chapter, when Erec asks to accompany Queen Guinevere on the hunt of the white stag, he is careful to explain that he has no ulterior motives in his request: “If you please, lady, I shall ride / along this roadway at your side. / I’ll keep you company and came / to join you with no other aim” (4). While less honorable knights may accompany Queen Guinevere in the hopes of seducing her, Erec makes clear that he only wishes to keep her company as a platonic friend. Erec continues to demonstrate such nobleness throughout his adventures, rescuing individuals who are in need (such as the knight captured by the two giants) and almost always pardoning any knight who he has defeated in jousting.
Erec serves as a paragon of moral values, especially in contrast to the many knights throughout Erec and Enide who behave according to selfish desires. These include Count Galoain, who tries to murder Erec and take Enide as his wife, and the numerous robber knights who attack Erec. However, though such foes behave immorally, Chrétien depicts even these knights as following a certain moral code. Though the three robber knights could easily defeat Erec by attacking him all at once, Chrétien writes that “if they had overwhelmed him thus / they would be counted treacherous” (83). As such, even immoral individuals feel bound to certain elements of the chivalric code, and certain actions are considered to be so unjust that even robbers will not attempt them.
The Perseverance of Justice
The notion of “justice” suffuses Erec and Enide, and the idea that the evil are punished for their crimes while the good are victorious is reinforced again and again throughout the poem. Erec’s actions are often based on a sense of “honor” or justice, and he is typically motivated by a desire to right wrongs or punish those who have acted immorally. For instance, in Chapter 1, Erec decides to pursue the mysterious knight who behaved unjustly toward Queen Guinevere so as to “avenge the slight” (10). Later, when Erec is fighting the knight, the knight asks what misdeed he possibly could have done to offend Erec. In response, Erec tells the knight of his slight the day before, saying, “I hate you for it rightfully” (30). For Erec, it is his duty to follow what he feels is just and to challenge those who have acted wrongfully.
However, Erec and Enide also seems to suggest that justice and what is right will always win out in the end. No villain, no matter how treacherous, goes unpunished in the poem. Erec, as a representation of honor and nobleness, always wins out against those who have wronged him. Such perseverance against the evil comes often at incredible odds, such as in Chapter 14, when Erec appears to come back from his deathbed to defeat the count and save Enide.
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By Chrétien De Troyes
