In reading the second part I really want to call Erec a bad word but I don't view it appropriate to put it in the blog post. To comment on Enide she is a bit pathetic in thinking that the reason Erec is acting the way he is to her is because of her. The real reason why he is acting that way is because he isn't man enough to handle that his woman is trying to help him out and he doesn't want to take her advice. He is being unreasonable in being mad at her for telling him that people were talking about him behind his back. It wasn't like she was the one spreading the rumors, she was trying to be loyal and what does she get for trying to help, him telling her to shut up. Wow, what a great way to thank someone and show that you appreciate their thoughtfulness.
In the next part of the book we finally see Enide acknowledged by her given name. They all did not know her name until the ceremony. It's as if she is unimportant just a prize to be won. We see her develop as we read on and see how she is belittled by Erec. Enide is clearly beautiful and that is the only thing people notice about her. She is not seen as a person but as Erec's beautiful wife. Enide though is a loyal faithful wife and a person who has a mind and is wise and thoughtful.
When Enide first speaks it is to tell Erec about the things that are being said about him behind his back. She thinks that it is her duty to and that to show her loyalty she must tell him no matter what. She is wise, and she thinks things through, we hear her talk to herself in her private thoughts and she debates between whether she should say something or not. After she is done explaining herself to him, he seems to say that it is her fault that this happened to him and that they needed to go and tells her to gather her things and they were leaving. I don't believe he liked that he was the last to know and that his wife knew all these faults about him.
I think that after that, Erec's intentions to take her on the journey was to prove to everyone else that he was still a man and to her that he could protect her, he didn't need her to tell him how things were. I mean when he goes out and start to beat up and kill off and then telling the survivors that he spared them and to tell others how he conquered them was basically to boast about his poweress. It could also be that it is a journey to help get Erec and Enide closer, have a closer connection rather than a superficial one. Though it seems that Erec just gets madder and madder at Enide and she just can't seem to hold her tongue she will not be silenced. Everytime they come across and enemy she resists but then spills and tells Erec her thoughts and later after the encounter he just tells her never to speak unless spoken to trying to put her in her place.
She seems to love her husband and she tries to obey him, but she can't help but want to protect him. She has a debate between telling him and not. She is wise to advise him, she just doesn't see that when he reprimands her for it. She belittles herself and sees her as a bad wife when she really isn't. I believe the reason that the narrator allows us access is to see the side of the woman, to get a view of the person behind the man, the one that is being taken for granted, going back to the proverbin the beginning of the book.
I think soon though that Erec is going to wake up and realize how stupid he really is and just go back to adoring his wife.
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