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.
Symbols & Motifs
Christianity
References to Christianity and the Christian religion can be found throughout Erec and Enide and serve to structure the general outline of the poem. The poem’s most important ceremonial events each coincide with an important Christian holiday. On Easter, King Arthur calls for the customary hunt of the white stag—the event that sends Erec to ultimately meet Enide. When Erec and Enide return to King Arthur’s court, their marriage is held on Pentecost—a Christian holiday held 50 days after Easter that commemorates the appearance of the Holy Spirit to Christ’s apostles. Lastly, the lavish coronation of Erec that ends the poem is held on Christmas Day.
Beyond these larger festival days, Erec and Enide are also presented at different times throughout the poem as devoted Christians, making prayers and offerings to the church and following its teachings. For instance, when Erec and Enide travel to Erec’s father’s castle following their wedding, one of the first things they do upon their arrival is visit a monastery to pray at an altar. There, Erec makes an offering of a “fine gold cross” that “contained / [the] true cross whereon Lord God was pained / and crucified for our sake […]” (68). At the same monastery, Enide stops at an altar for the Virgin Mary and prays “in deeply pious spirit” that she will give Erec a male heir (69). Such festivals and displays of reverence to God help to establish Erec and Enide as a couple associated with Christianity.
Foolishness
A recurring motif throughout Erec and Enide is that of individuals being betrayed by their own foolishness. Chrétien de Troyes outlines this motif in the tale’s Prologue, when he discusses his own impetus for telling the tale of Erec and Enide. First, Chrétien mentions a “proverb” told by “peasant folk,” which teaches that its “wise to use your intellect” (1). Following this, Chrétien writes that he has intended his work to show that “he who abandons what he knows / while God grants him intelligence / is foolish in such negligence” (1). While Chrétien never explains exactly how his tale is meant to illustrate the potential downfall of foolishness, numerous knights and foes throughout Erec and Enide are defeated by their own overconfidence and a lack of wisdom.
One such foe is Count Galoain, whom Erec and Enide encounter early on in their travels. Galoain meets Enide and immediately falls deeply in love with her on account of her beauty. Galoain quickly proposes that Enide leave Erec for him, despite only having just met her. When Enide first rebuffs him, he succumbs to his jealousy and grows fiercely angry, threatening to “have [Erec] slain / at once, before your very eyes” (98). Enide then tells him that she was testing him and concocts a plan with him that he should take away Erec the following morning. However, Chrétien soon reveals that Enide was only manipulating him, and she flees with Erec before the count can realize it. The count is thus outwitted by Enide and is displayed as an impulsive and emotional figure rather than one using his reason. The count’s foolishness is underscored when he goes into battle with Erec. Chrétien writes that the count was “a good and strong knight as a rule, / who wore no armor, like a fool, / because he had such confidence / in shield, lance, and his competence” (105). The count overestimates his own ability and “competence” as a knight, rushing into battle with Erec without the proper armor to protect himself. As a result of such cockiness, Eric quickly defeats Count Galoain.
The Giants
Toward the end of Erec’s adventures, he encounters a knight being tortured by two giants. While all of Erec’s previous fights were with other knights or counts, the giants are unique in being monsters, and thus non-human foes. The giants are further contrasted with Erec’s other foes due to their motivations for attacking the knight. While Erec’s previous enemies, such as the robber knights or Count Galoain, were all acting maliciously, they all did so due to selfish desires. In contrast, the giants appear to torture their captive knight for no reason at all. As such, the giants become symbolic of senseless evil or wrongdoing, with the fact that they are monsters seeming to symbolize the monstrosity of their actions. When Erec sees the giants torturing the knight, he becomes “distressed” by how “contemptibly” the giants are behaving. He lectures them, telling them: “You are so cruel; it’s my belief / the way you lead him you are dealing / with him like someone caught at stealing” (129). For Erec, the giant’s behavior would be understandable if the knight had committed wrongdoing toward them. Thus, the giants’ violence is wrong to Erec not inherently, but only when it is used without reason or proper motivation.
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By Chrétien De Troyes
