Erec and Enide Blog #2

1.

            Enide’s name is only mentioned when Erec and her are finally getting married. It is even mentioned in the story that many of the peasants and nobles don’t even know the name of Erec’s bride. It revealed only when they are made aware she was baptized with the name “Enide”. I find this incredible comical that Erec has already professed his undying love to her, and she has been commended by kings, nobles, and knights, yet almost no one knows her name or anything about her. For the first half of the story it was almost as if she was just a pretty face for all the people to look at, they really didn’t know anything about her, let alone her name. Following the marriage we start to see things from Enide’s perspective, especially her cleverness and her want to communicate and express her opinions to Erec. Even when we do find out Enide’s name, it is almost brushed to the side as something that “wasn’t exactly important”. She was just a face to Erec and the rest, but interestingly enough she was so much more, which fit into the proverb at the beginning of the story.

4

            Throughout the story Enide has several internal monologues in which she rationalizes and thinks through all of her decisions. Almost every one of these inner battles seems to be a debate over acting like a “well bred woman” or doing what she feels is in the best interest of her and Erec. I think this gives us an insight into the real world of women in the medieval times. These women were not just powdered faces, or trophies; they actually were quite smart and intellectual. They only acted reserved because it was what was expected of them. It almost appears that some of these women may outshine, especially Enide, their spouses in terms of knowledge and intuition. Maybe the reason the men silences their women was because they feared how smart they could really be.