Erec and Enide (Part 2)

1) Enide’s Character Emerging

This part of the romance gives the reader a better view of the thoughts of Enide, as opposed to simply focusing on her outer appearance. One of the most noticeable ways in which this happens is when she is finally named. The context in which her name is revealed is interesting, as the entire cast of characters is discovering it along with the reader. It is clear that, before it became an actual necessity that her true name be known, no one bothered to learn it. (This contrasts greatly with the countless minor male characters we are given the names of throughout the story.) The necessity by which her name must be revealed is in her wedding to Erec. The test states, “When Erec received his wife, she had to be named by her proper name, for unless a woman is called by her proper name she cannot be married. People did not yet know her name, but not they learned it for the first time” (62). Judging from this, it would seem that, from Erec’s point of view, the maiden’s name need not be bothered with until he would actually legally “received his wife.” I think that the meaning of Enide’s name may bear an important context here; Enide means “soul,” which is ironic as the thing that Erec and the author (seemingly) are most concerned with is outward appearances. It would seem that this late revealing of Enide’s name foreshadows the later revelation that Erec only knew and appreciated one aspect of his wife, and completely ignores or disvalues many other important things about her.

2) Enide’s Speech

The first time that Enide speaks in the text she is in great despair and is cursing herself for having left her land only to bring shame to her husband. Though Enide is insistent that she is happy with Erec, as she loves and honors him more than anything else in the world, there is significance behind the fact that her first words about her situation are spoken with scorn. Throughout the text, Enide is unfalteringly praising of Erec and scornful of herself for the dishonor she has caused him. Erec sees this when she reveals the truth to him, and immediately sets out to right the wrong he has been accused of committing. However, though Enide is greatly concerned for the welfare of Erec, Erec seems less concerned with Enide’s welfare; it appears that he is only going on this journey to prove to himself that the rumors about him can be proven false. This becomes clear when Erec tells Enide that he wants her to remain silent throughout their journey: this demonstrates the fact that Erec cares more about what his fellow knights, lords, kings, etc are saying than what is being said by his own wife, even though it is proven again and again that he should take more heed of Enide’s words. At this point in the text the proverb from the prologue starts to have a significant part in the story; Erec is keeping Enide silent, insinuating that he holds her in contempt when he should be appreciating what he has. I also find it interesting that the first words we hear Enide speak to Erec are lies (when she denies that there is anything wrong after he catches her crying). She is also cleverly deceitful when she speaks to the count, bringing her from being the blandest character in the story to the one with the most depth.

3, 4) Erec’s Ego and Enide’s Emotions

The journey that Erec is going on doesn’t seem to have anything to do with proving his worth to Enide; rather, he is trying to wound his own bruised ego. For Erec, the purpose of this journey is apparently to prove that he can uphold his knightly duties and a marriage at the same time, which is why he takes Enide along on this trip as opposed to leaving her at the castle (there doesn’t appear to be any other reason why he took her along; she is clearly not there for companionship and he doesn’t seem to be proving his worth for her sake). To the reader, however, this journey is revealing the depth (or lack thereof) of Erec and Enide’s relationship. Up until now, the author has focused primarily on imagery, describing the material worth and appearances of characters, scenes, etc with a noticeable (and intentional) lack of depth. This is where the significance of Enide’s inner monologues comes into play: Enide’s thoughts are one of the few ways in which the reader gets a glimpse of the reasoning and emotion behind the scene, as there is a major difference between the way that Enide views the scene and the way the other character (and perhaps the narrator) view the scene: Enide observes and deals with all of the trouble arising on the journey and in their relationship, while Erec focuses primarily on the adventure ahead. It is quite obvious that, without his strength and prowess in battle, Erec would not make that great of a knight. There is a constant emphasis on proving self worth through strength alone, yet Enide is proving much more useful than Erec through her cleverness in speech.