1) The name Yvain is scorned in the second bit of the novel, he needs to remake his name because he has completely reworked his personality. We, the audience, get to watch as this man regains honor and makes a place for himself in the storybooks. We watch as he brings himself up from the unknown character who had been insulted and basically defeated to a well known, and well respected, nobleman. If the people knew who Yvain truly was i don't believe that they would have acted the same as they had, most people around the area only knew him as the knight who had been insulted and gone mad in part of his own wife. I believe that this is a highly effective way of regaining honor, it's the kind of lie that is accepted and is allowed for a knight. We see this kind of lie in parts of "Erec and Enide" when Erec lied about his identity to King Arther's knight, in that case it was simply to be able to avoid the companionship that he was trying to avoid. In both cases no wickedness was meant and the lie only really bettered society.
3) Yvain and Laudine meet in a very forced reconciliation sparked by a very familiar character who has managed to manipulate practically everyone she has encountered. Lunete was the matchmaker in the very opening of this tale who first created the relationship between Yvain and Laudine, it is only fitting that she be the one to glue it back together. The entire book is what has really made this possible, however, in that Yvain's reputation is what got him into the castle and convinced Laudine to make a deal before she even knew what she was making a deal about. This is much like what Chretien does in "Erec and Enide" where he has Erec's continuous fighting with Enide looking on build up to a final battle, in that case we watch as the great knight defeats giant's and win's many great fight's. In the end we see him finally defeat the cursed knight, but in this tale we see a build up of Yvain's honor from nothing to finally regain his place in society with the reinstatement of his marriage through the tricks of speech. In both cases Chretien gives the hero the advantage of a specific and powerful literary device, with Erec the outcome is foreshadowed and almost known by the reader for the whole tale while Yvain gains the advantage of anonymity.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Day two: The knight and the lion
3) Laudine's messenger was full of dark imagery and from the very start where we first see her with her black Palfrey. From her initial sighting to even the way that she dismounts we see the oddity and the shear anger that this message carries with it. I cannot speak for people in Yvain's day but I believe that now-a-days we would consider this to be a very rough break-up but also very justified. Yvain married this amazing women and just leave's her for almost two years, that'd be a great honeymoon... if it included Laudine. At first I thought to compare this message to a "Dear John" letter where a soldier recieves news that a wife or girlfriend is leaving them, but Yvain almost deserves what he got. The guy just left her, this isn't so much a "dear john" letter as it is divorce court on late night T.V.
The moments following his being told Laudine's message we see a very broad change in Yvain, you might call the next 20 pages his experience with a bad break-up. I've watched many friends go through bad breakups and I've even had my fair share of them, but I have never seen one as bad as Yvain's. The things that he does is almost a direct parallel to what the women in the previous books have done when a knight or loved one is killed. The book says the reason for this is that the body cannot live without the heart and now that Yvain has lost that part of himself he is basically dead. I understand that in a way the best method for taking this is that he is in mourning for the women he lost, but in the two other books when someone died the mourners where not mourning the killer but the person killed. Therefore, Yvain isn't mourning his lost wife but is instead mourning his own misfortune, the person he cares about is still himself. Further into the book we see this change, however, when Yvain is forced to fight for what is right multiple times and learns the meaning of love (the lion) and of friendship (Lunete).
5) The bad thing about a bad breakup is the hardship that both sides face, I can't think that it could ever have been easy for Laudine to simply tell Yvain to stop calling her his wife. In my personal experience and looking at the love stories that are a constant background of a lot of literature we typically see this to be true. Unfortunately for Lunete the barons find someone to accuse for their lady's misfortune, of course this turns out to be her and they apparently go about and try to burn her alive. In this case I think there are simply a lot of very bad judgment calls, Yvain should never have held his lady in waiting for so long and the barons had no solid support for burning a women alive. We watch as this bad judgment is turned on the barons however when they are burned in the fire meant for Lunete, this says a lot for the past event's because it's the narrator's voice that tells us they were wicked people for accusing Lunete in such a way. We have come to trust the voice in the book's by Chretien and we can see that this event was a scene of long withheld justice simply because he says so.
The moments following his being told Laudine's message we see a very broad change in Yvain, you might call the next 20 pages his experience with a bad break-up. I've watched many friends go through bad breakups and I've even had my fair share of them, but I have never seen one as bad as Yvain's. The things that he does is almost a direct parallel to what the women in the previous books have done when a knight or loved one is killed. The book says the reason for this is that the body cannot live without the heart and now that Yvain has lost that part of himself he is basically dead. I understand that in a way the best method for taking this is that he is in mourning for the women he lost, but in the two other books when someone died the mourners where not mourning the killer but the person killed. Therefore, Yvain isn't mourning his lost wife but is instead mourning his own misfortune, the person he cares about is still himself. Further into the book we see this change, however, when Yvain is forced to fight for what is right multiple times and learns the meaning of love (the lion) and of friendship (Lunete).
5) The bad thing about a bad breakup is the hardship that both sides face, I can't think that it could ever have been easy for Laudine to simply tell Yvain to stop calling her his wife. In my personal experience and looking at the love stories that are a constant background of a lot of literature we typically see this to be true. Unfortunately for Lunete the barons find someone to accuse for their lady's misfortune, of course this turns out to be her and they apparently go about and try to burn her alive. In this case I think there are simply a lot of very bad judgment calls, Yvain should never have held his lady in waiting for so long and the barons had no solid support for burning a women alive. We watch as this bad judgment is turned on the barons however when they are burned in the fire meant for Lunete, this says a lot for the past event's because it's the narrator's voice that tells us they were wicked people for accusing Lunete in such a way. We have come to trust the voice in the book's by Chretien and we can see that this event was a scene of long withheld justice simply because he says so.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Yvain day one
1) So far this book is entirely far from either novel we have read so far. I both the love was pure and the knight was among the strongest in the land, here in this story we see our good sir knight defeated in the first third of the reading and we see him falling in love with the wife of a man he has slain. From every angle this story is unique, including the fact that there is no real prologue which seems to be typical of most Chretien stories. My possible explanation of this is the lack of really known characters, it's is common knowledge (according to the prologue of Erec and Enide) that the knight of that story was the best in the land etc. Here we have Yvain, who must in this story not only go through some explicit journey of self worth but must also prove himself to the audience of the story because he doesn't seem to have a starting relationship with the outside world. He is an abnormal knight in an abnormal setting, these facts are only shown more by the fat that Chretien does something even more abnormal by not adding a prologue. This could also be a bit of foreshadowing in that in "Erec and Enide" the prologue set's the tone for the entire book and almost reveals the ending, whereas here this book my have a very vague plot that is done on the fly and goes with the flow instead of putting itself out in the open.
3) This book has many incredibly interesting characters, but none quite as unique as Yvain, he first meets a lady and then realizes she is married and leaves. But that's not where he gains this reputation of weirdness in my eyes, he first loses to a knight and then return's to land he once roamed to kill a knight that he doesn't know and then win the heart of the women he once knew and cared for. This women mind you was the wife of the man he had slain. This might sort of go with the lack of a prologue and what it foreshadowed in that this was fairly unheard of (I would hope) in that the man who brutally murdered a man get's his wife as almost a prize. All-in-all this Yvain guy is very strange, he doesn't really follow the typical knight class, he accepts defeat at one point and then set's out to find his honor back but instead find's a forbidden love. Forbidden love does seem to be a continueing them with Chretien as it's been in this story and the last one, but I think that compared to Erec this Yvain guy has created a new class of hero all his own, it's the class for knight's who don't have much of a direction but find there way anyway. You know the type, the one's that fall in love with the wives of people they've killed.
3) This book has many incredibly interesting characters, but none quite as unique as Yvain, he first meets a lady and then realizes she is married and leaves. But that's not where he gains this reputation of weirdness in my eyes, he first loses to a knight and then return's to land he once roamed to kill a knight that he doesn't know and then win the heart of the women he once knew and cared for. This women mind you was the wife of the man he had slain. This might sort of go with the lack of a prologue and what it foreshadowed in that this was fairly unheard of (I would hope) in that the man who brutally murdered a man get's his wife as almost a prize. All-in-all this Yvain guy is very strange, he doesn't really follow the typical knight class, he accepts defeat at one point and then set's out to find his honor back but instead find's a forbidden love. Forbidden love does seem to be a continueing them with Chretien as it's been in this story and the last one, but I think that compared to Erec this Yvain guy has created a new class of hero all his own, it's the class for knight's who don't have much of a direction but find there way anyway. You know the type, the one's that fall in love with the wives of people they've killed.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Day Three Erec and Enide
1) The relationship between Erec and Enide was at stake in the middle of this tale, he was becoming the laughing stock of the entire nation. His wife thought him to be threatened by his people and his people thought him weak minded. They where saying that he spent all his time and bed and was nothing of the brave knight he had once been. The whole "test" was a tool used to strengthen the relationship for the ordeals that lie ahead, Erec was to become a King and how could he rule a kingdom if he couldn't even rule his own wife? I see in Erec a sort of strength that is lacked in many characters, he will fight for what is right and he will fight against all that is wrong no matter what the odds. The entire test ended once Erec had determined that Enide trusted him completely, he had been fighting thief's and beggars to gain her trust but once he had managed that he started to fight the bad things like evil counts and giants.
3) From the very beginning of the part with the whole adventure of "The Joy" in it we can already tell that Erec is going to be victorious, not because he is a god or anything but just because of the way Chretien sets the scene. At the outset of the story Erec is always fighting battles that are weighted in the opponents favor, in fact at least half of his fights are ones that no normal man should have survived. He is doing three on one duels and killing giants and rising from the dead, this entire book can almost be considered a continuing effort to gain our trust that Erec will always win. That way once we get to this scene with the man who's one foot taller then Erec we laugh in the knowledge that this man was nothing compared to his previous attackers. In this manner I would like to relate this as a "reverse" tragedy, in Romeo and Juliet we have a rising action of unfortunate events ending in death whereas here we have a rising action of Erec kicking butt ending in him becoming King. Instead of death and destruction we see life and nobility.
3) From the very beginning of the part with the whole adventure of "The Joy" in it we can already tell that Erec is going to be victorious, not because he is a god or anything but just because of the way Chretien sets the scene. At the outset of the story Erec is always fighting battles that are weighted in the opponents favor, in fact at least half of his fights are ones that no normal man should have survived. He is doing three on one duels and killing giants and rising from the dead, this entire book can almost be considered a continuing effort to gain our trust that Erec will always win. That way once we get to this scene with the man who's one foot taller then Erec we laugh in the knowledge that this man was nothing compared to his previous attackers. In this manner I would like to relate this as a "reverse" tragedy, in Romeo and Juliet we have a rising action of unfortunate events ending in death whereas here we have a rising action of Erec kicking butt ending in him becoming King. Instead of death and destruction we see life and nobility.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Day two: Erec and Enide
3) I don't know what Erec's final destination is but I do believe that I can decipher just what the purpose of the journey is. He takes no companions with him and has his wife dress in a very rich manner, he sort of makes them a target for robbers and vandals. His reasoning is that his wife proved that she did not truly trust his prowess, in the times where men lived by the sword (in this literary tale at least) it seems to be almost an insult to be called "soft" by your own wife. For this reason I believe this journey is of self-discovery for Erec in that he has lost faith in his abilities and also a sort of renewal journey for Enide in that Erec feels that she believes he is weak. In this literary tale fighting is very common and so is violence, both are things that Erec's character is used to and has become well adapted to. Erec's goal just seems to be to prove himself to his wife. I personally find this to be a very barbaric and risky method but if you compare it to a politician picking up the podium after many years then I can see the reason's behind what Erec does, A politician cannot afford to lose the support of his wife and the voters so just like Erec they must sometimes prove themselves.
4) All of Enide's monologues are of deep concern for her husband. We have no glimpse at the true meaning behind the couples journey unless we know what is running through there heads. By hearing what Enide is thinking we gain a knowledge of the sort that Erec is picking up from being with her in person. Sometimes when you have gotten to know someone it is almost like you know what they are thinking. So it may be that it is not so much that we are hearing what Enide is thinking but it is that we are hearing what Erec suspects is running through her head. The way he pushes at her to just trust him gives me the vibe that he wants her to be able to live without fear of outside words or threats because her "man" per-say is worthy of the right to protect her and can do so effectively. By hearing her thoughts we also gain an insight into her mind as a whole, we begin to learn her make-up and her character really starts to take shape as a viable addition ot the story line. She is now more than just a beautiful Ferrari, she's now Erec's love.
4) All of Enide's monologues are of deep concern for her husband. We have no glimpse at the true meaning behind the couples journey unless we know what is running through there heads. By hearing what Enide is thinking we gain a knowledge of the sort that Erec is picking up from being with her in person. Sometimes when you have gotten to know someone it is almost like you know what they are thinking. So it may be that it is not so much that we are hearing what Enide is thinking but it is that we are hearing what Erec suspects is running through her head. The way he pushes at her to just trust him gives me the vibe that he wants her to be able to live without fear of outside words or threats because her "man" per-say is worthy of the right to protect her and can do so effectively. By hearing her thoughts we also gain an insight into her mind as a whole, we begin to learn her make-up and her character really starts to take shape as a viable addition ot the story line. She is now more than just a beautiful Ferrari, she's now Erec's love.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Day One: Erec and Enide
3) Eric and Enide are a match only ever made in literature, Erec is strong of body and Enide is strong of mind. In real life it is rare for that kind of mix to be made and be successful even in the first few days. The two strangers are taken aback by each other the first time they meet, neither has seen the others equal. I find this statement to be true in the text but it rather displeases me, as a person of modern ideology, to acknowledge a couple marrying for looks alone to be able to get along so well. I for see this sort of random love as a sign towards the future of the couple. Both look at each other and are caught by each others beauty, and yet Enide doesn't even get the respect of having her name spoken in the text.
I understand the depth of the mirror comment but it can also be said that he admires her for looks just as a rich stock-broker would admire the looks of his over-priced Ferrari. To follow the actual question, however, no person can be seen to the level as we see ourselves. To be seeing her as we would ourselves is to say that there is a radiant depth in the beauty of Enide that put's her in the status of angel.
4) I would like to compare the contest over the Sparrow-Hawk to a modern-day "contest" that is equally brutal. The contest that I would like to use is a simple bar fight, the reason being that in both places the guy is fighting for honor and for the girl. Neither incident considered the ending consequences for the loser who is either dead or is sent off in shame. My main point here is that the center of he incident is a masculine focal point, it's the two beefy guys who are ready and willing to tear each other apart. Also, both are likely sparked by stray insult's flying from either and overconfident mouth or a dwarf's unwise hand. The general basis between the two contests is especially similar, Erec was insulted by the mysterious knight's dwarf who struck him just as a brawl may be started by one man's insult to another party. Power in a bar setting is based on a man's ability to at least look the part of defending him and his girl friend, just as it is so for a knight to defend his maiden in order to gain power and respect. To me fighting is fighting and I see it as nothing more then a man's eagerness to show off to the ladies, the whole process of the contest in this text is simply geared towards provoking another into a fight.
P.S. I respect that the times that this book is based in were far different and that this type of incident was put in the same esteem as a football game is today, but my feeling's on fighting and killing are based on belief's of today that cannot be shaken. To me fighting is fighting, whether your excuse be for the hand of a lovely maiden or for respect from the rest of the drunk's at the bar.
I understand the depth of the mirror comment but it can also be said that he admires her for looks just as a rich stock-broker would admire the looks of his over-priced Ferrari. To follow the actual question, however, no person can be seen to the level as we see ourselves. To be seeing her as we would ourselves is to say that there is a radiant depth in the beauty of Enide that put's her in the status of angel.
4) I would like to compare the contest over the Sparrow-Hawk to a modern-day "contest" that is equally brutal. The contest that I would like to use is a simple bar fight, the reason being that in both places the guy is fighting for honor and for the girl. Neither incident considered the ending consequences for the loser who is either dead or is sent off in shame. My main point here is that the center of he incident is a masculine focal point, it's the two beefy guys who are ready and willing to tear each other apart. Also, both are likely sparked by stray insult's flying from either and overconfident mouth or a dwarf's unwise hand. The general basis between the two contests is especially similar, Erec was insulted by the mysterious knight's dwarf who struck him just as a brawl may be started by one man's insult to another party. Power in a bar setting is based on a man's ability to at least look the part of defending him and his girl friend, just as it is so for a knight to defend his maiden in order to gain power and respect. To me fighting is fighting and I see it as nothing more then a man's eagerness to show off to the ladies, the whole process of the contest in this text is simply geared towards provoking another into a fight.
P.S. I respect that the times that this book is based in were far different and that this type of incident was put in the same esteem as a football game is today, but my feeling's on fighting and killing are based on belief's of today that cannot be shaken. To me fighting is fighting, whether your excuse be for the hand of a lovely maiden or for respect from the rest of the drunk's at the bar.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
day three parts 14 to 19
1. Yseut had set up her oath days in advance, she had designed it so that she could trick the people but still tell the truth. She spoke with a "forked tongue", as you say, in the manner that she purposely set up the situation so that she could fess up to having sex with Tristan but manage to keep it secret from the numerous onlookers. She uses the term from the text "only two people have been between my thighs" (Tha Romance of Tristan, Beroul) so as to make people think that she meant that she had had sex with the king and had been carried by the leper and nothing more. By doing this she manages to tell the whole truth without losing her neck to the hang-mans noose. By all rights she earned her freedom to live by managing to trick all of the nobleman present (including the wise King Arthur). Her plan ingeniously gave Tristan a way to take revenge and enjoy her company as much as he desired, but alas it could not last forever.
4. In the end we knew that the lovers where doomed, there was no happy ending to be spun from the twists of the text. The death of the couple was far over due, in other books of the age the couples never last past their revenge . Yseut coming to openly help Tristan with his wife present was the other sure sign of the couples end. Throughout the book the love was at least partially hidden from the spouse's, by revealing the love and being so open about it the doom of the two became certain. King Mark always had at least a gut feeling that something was going on between Tristan and his wife, but he only pursued it a few times. He only followed up on his suspicions when he had no choice to, in a way this shows us that he might hate the love between his wife and his nephew but he respected it. His respect is shown when he buries them together and lets their love (trees) bloom.
4. In the end we knew that the lovers where doomed, there was no happy ending to be spun from the twists of the text. The death of the couple was far over due, in other books of the age the couples never last past their revenge . Yseut coming to openly help Tristan with his wife present was the other sure sign of the couples end. Throughout the book the love was at least partially hidden from the spouse's, by revealing the love and being so open about it the doom of the two became certain. King Mark always had at least a gut feeling that something was going on between Tristan and his wife, but he only pursued it a few times. He only followed up on his suspicions when he had no choice to, in a way this shows us that he might hate the love between his wife and his nephew but he respected it. His respect is shown when he buries them together and lets their love (trees) bloom.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Day 2 Parts 17-13
4. The love potion in "The Romance of Tristan", which has caused so much trouble, was only meant to last three years. At the end of those three years the couple (Tristan and Yseut) find themselves with a realization that they have been cheating on a very powerful king because of a simple potion. Neither party really hates each other as a result of the love potion but the also realize that, in order to do what's best for each other, it is necessary to make amends for the messed up relationship. The couple has no reason to really regret or hate because this potion was the only thing holding the relationship in the way it stayed for the three year, but they do also realize that their love making is wrong and must come to an end.
5. The letter sent to King Mark was written in the hope's that the man had the sense to realize that the relationship between Tristan and Yseut was entirely wrong. In fact, it was written in such a way that the king just might think the whole thing was a boat load of lies that was under the cover of the barons and that darn dwarf. The king had already accepted the relationship status and was very pleased when Yseut asked to be taken back by the King. Tristan's reaction to the King's letter was of both joy and remorse, because Yseut was to be returned to her former glory but he was being banished from his home for a year or so.The letter was also written to the king in such a way that. in time, even Tristan would be allowed back into the kingdom. All-in-all this one letter basically could have cured the damages caused by the accursed potion, but by the ancient rules of thumb in any Medieval story we know that this temporary patch in the story will not hold.
5. The letter sent to King Mark was written in the hope's that the man had the sense to realize that the relationship between Tristan and Yseut was entirely wrong. In fact, it was written in such a way that the king just might think the whole thing was a boat load of lies that was under the cover of the barons and that darn dwarf. The king had already accepted the relationship status and was very pleased when Yseut asked to be taken back by the King. Tristan's reaction to the King's letter was of both joy and remorse, because Yseut was to be returned to her former glory but he was being banished from his home for a year or so.The letter was also written to the king in such a way that. in time, even Tristan would be allowed back into the kingdom. All-in-all this one letter basically could have cured the damages caused by the accursed potion, but by the ancient rules of thumb in any Medieval story we know that this temporary patch in the story will not hold.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
My Side
Personally, after reading the first six parts of "The Romance of Tristan" I would have to say that I ma on Tristan's side. Tristan is constantly running into misfortune that causes dangerous situations. Whether he is put into the arms of the sister of a man he personally killed or he is drinking a love potion not meant for him, it's usually not his ultimate doing. Half of the bad he does is not his doing, the other parts played in this story lack his misfortune however. The three nobles want Tristan gone so they tell the king of his relations with Yseut, and the king flips on Tristan because he dared to betray the king. My final conclusion is that I can only find one group that is acting in defense of outside stimulus and that is Yseut and Tristan. There is never an excuse good enough to justify burning someone and political reasoning's always bothered me, especially when it almost results in the death of the couple. I am on Tristan's side and I cannot see my mind being changed. Even if coming events show some tragic character flaws I won't forget that this whole tragedy came about as the result of Tristan simply drinking out of the wrong wine skin. He did like Yseut before, but he was going to hand her over to the king. My heart goes out to Tristan because he strikes me as a true noble who just got stuck in a game of the gods (in mythological terms).
Tristan
I find Tristan to be a very unique nobleman, his adventures are far from typical and the situations that he finds himself in are odd. For one, He starts out by fighting a man over a cause that no other noble man would lift a finger to help stop. This isn't the odd part though; he puts himself into the hands of god when the injury he sustained in combat fails to heal and slowly poisons him to the edge of his life. Here is the truly weird part though; he ends up in the arms of the man who he had killed. Of all the examples in the book "The Romance of Tristan" I found this one to be the best because it is by far the simplest of Tristan's experiences, but all of them have the same basic outline. Tristan start's with good intentions, something unfortunate happens, and it ends in a distinctly bad manner. It the unfortunate happenings that truly goes against Tristan, he is by all rights a good person who just has terrible luck. He might be doing the king's wife in the off hours, but he only loves her so deeply because of the love potion he drank. He won't hurt the infirm and he went to get Yseut so that she could marry the king. He isn't selfish but he remains, for the time being, a selfless person.
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