My topic is that of Enide's trials in the final third of 'Erec and Enide' which throws her into the stereotypical position of a weak, woman. Enide is put to her first trial when she fears Erec is dead from his earlier wounds. She immediately begins her typical hysteria and starts to panic then faint, repeating the processes over and over even while she is being carried away by another man (a count) who wishes to marry her. This becomes her second trial in which she is forced to marry the count while still grieving the husband she believes to be dead. She is still mortified at the thought that she is the reason Erec died and continues to show her sadness through her rebellion of the count. Shortly after, Erec, who had only been unconscious, wakes in the count's kingdom and retrieves his wife, assuring her that her trials are over. At this point, she stops her fits of depression and begins keeping them to herself. However, after escaping from the count's castle, her husband is still too weak and puts himself in danger yet again when he unknowingly fights Guivret, which causes her more strife. Even once he is well, Erec and Enide travel to a castle called Brandigan where he searches for a supposed evil that many men have perished from. Enide, being weak heartened as ever, naturally fears she will never see Erec again. He did return though, and was finally done putting Enide through so much sorrow. He returned to King Arthur with her and they were crowned king and queen, ending the story and hopefully Enide's troublesome trials.
Q: Why is it that Enide continues to fall into the stereotypical trap, when Chretien's story is all about opposing stereotypes?
No comments:
Post a Comment