Erec and Enide: the joint

A two-part structure

As often with Chrétien de Troyes, the novel is divided into two parts:

• The conquest of Enide, adventure of the “young man” and triumph which turns out to be artificial: the hero sinks into “recreation”, forgetting the chivalric ideal;
• The marriage, the adventures, the coronation: it is the adventure of the “courteous knight”; this adventure is redoubled by the transformation of Enide, who only receives her name in line 2027 (p. 172), and then becomes the “lady” par excellence.

this bi-partite structure, which we find in Cligès, the Knight with the lion, the Knight with the cart, and the Tale of the Grail. It is not reserved for Chrétien's novels: we find it, for example, in the Novel of Énéas. This astonishing structural analogy will eventually appear to be consubstantial with the romantic genre, and to be found in modern novels, such as the Red and the Black Where Madame Bovary.

The first part tells of an easy conquest, where the individual first seeks his own realization, and individual happiness; the second, often longer, goes beyond the individual and makes him a person, member and instrument of society. This structure perhaps comes from the Aeneid, and the symbolic interpretation given to it by Bernard Sylvestre in the 12th century.^th century: the “easy” and purely individual conquest of Dido follows the conquest of Lavinia, and of Italy, and the construction of an empire…

The first part, or "primerains vers"

This first part does not include the marriage: it stops at the presentation of Enide at court: it is the triumph of the young woman, recognized as first lady of the Court (after Queen Guinevere), and that of Érec, finally becoming a true knight, provided with a friend, and second Knight of the court, after Gauvain, the “perfect knight”.

The second part: the reconquest and the surpassing of oneself.

Marriage, and the crisis

Marriage belongs to this second part; far from Chrétien's novel being an apology for marriage, it appears here as an obstacle to chivalry. Indeed, as soon as they get married, the two young people abandon themselves to individual happiness; Enide is no longer the “lady” to be conquered and merited, but the “woman”, the “friend”, the “lover” already acquired; Érec falls asleep in “recreation”, that is to say the forgetting of what he was born for: adventure, weapons, combat. And his friends are sorry.

Enide is the first to notice this, and it is she who wakes up – literally and figuratively – her husband by revealing to him what is said about him; there is therefore no misunderstanding between the lovers, no crisis in their love; but this very love must be overcome, Érec must reconquer his “lady” (and she must become a “lady” again).

It’s the start of “an adventure”: Enide plays a unique role in chivalric literature. Neither an isolated maid to save, nor a “lady” commanding the trials but remaining at the castle, she accompanies Enide and rides before him, in her most beautiful finery.

Four tests then follow:

1. the three pillaging knights
2. The five knights
3. Count Galoain
   • Exposure
   • Crisis
   • Violent outcome
4. The meeting of Guivret le Petit

This middle part ends with the meeting of the Court of King Arthur.

But Érec cannot remain at court: he is no longer recreational, but he is not yet a perfect knight. Until then, he has only suffered his adventures and found himself. He must now go further.

The Knight in the service of others

The clumsy Keu, then Gauvain, and finally the whole Court, showed Érec which path he must take: he must now go out to meet others, and show the same solidarity: the meeting of the Court is therefore for him. a new starting point.

here, it will no longer be a question of separate adventures which add up, but of a logical sequence – and in descending order.

1. Rescue of a virgin and her friend attacked by giants: the height of bestiality;
2. Rescue of Enide attacked by Count Oringle of Limors, who odiously takes advantage of Érec's wound: here the bestiality is above all moral;
3. Rescue of Enide attacked by mistake by Guivret, who did not recognize the couple: here no more bestiality at all.

“This series of adventures made him a new being, ended up leading him back to the one from whom he thought he had to separate, revealed to him the true meaning of his love which is not enjoyment, but self-sacrifice... even. It is by deviating from his path that he finds this path, it is by moving away from his love to push towards the doors of the beyond, that he finds this love in its highest meaning. » (Bezzola, op. cit. cf. Bibliography, p. 183).

We could therefore consider that the story of Erech ends here; but after recovering his health and regaining the “perfect love” of his lady, the knight must still return to Court. This will be the ultimate adventure, this time concentrated in a single episode: The Joy of the Court.

The Joy of the Court.

On the way to the Court stands the fortress of Brandigan, protected by a rushing river. And this castle offers the knight the supreme challenge, an adventure whose very name is a call: the JOY OF THE COURT.

This adventure has 4 very unequal parts:

1. The welcome of King Evrain (176 verses)
2. The King leads Erec to the orchard (70 verses)
3. The enchanted orchard (88 verses)
4. The conquest of Joy. (583 verses)

As soon as he heard the name of the adventure, Érec, in a flash, knew that it represented what he had always sought: joy. From then on, nothing could prevent him from going and looking for her (v. 5463-5464). He had thought he had found it when he had beaten Ydier, but it was not true joy: in fact, he lost it by sinking into “recreationism”. Now, after seven years of ordeal, he can finally find her.

This adventure echoes the first, experienced by Érec: at the beginning of the novel, he had defeated the knight Ydier, who fought for a haughty lady: Ydier had obtained forgiveness for his pride by going, after his defeat, to the King Arthur. Here, a powerful knight, Mabonagrain, bound by an imprudent promise to the exclusive service of his lady, will be delivered by the victory of Erec, and returned to the court of Evrain, and to the role he was to play there.

And it is up to Érec to reveal the mystery of this adventure. From the start he appears as an “angel of light” before which the young girls cross themselves (v. 5499): for the first time, the hero will not only fight for himself, but for the entire community .

King Evrain leads Érec to the orchard: the symbolic meaning of the adventure then becomes clear to him. here is how Reto Bezzola interprets it (op. cit. p. 215):

“The “joy of the court” presents in abbreviation the great adventure of life, which he has been witnessing since the beginning of the novel. This life with its enchantment is surrounded by an invisible wall, we can only enter it by flying like birds, without getting caught, or else dressed in iron, ready for any attack and adversity. The enchanted life presents itself first with all the charms which rejoice the soul and the body, but we can only enjoy them by remaining in life, the fruits of life are attached to life, he who wants them take away will not find the path that will take him out of the adventure in which he has embarked. Now, this adventure, after the delights of its first aspect, of its first verses, soon displays all that it contains that is dangerous and terrible. We only conquer life at the risk of death. But he who finally prevails over the opposing forces will not only have conquered his own Joy; his Joy will be the Joy of the Court. It is the horn that will announce this glory, but so far no one has succeeded in sounding it. »

But it is from Enide, with whom he is now reconciled, that he draws the strength to overcome; she became the “sweet lady”, both near and far; and for the first time he separates from her.

Of course, Érec defeats the giant knight, prisoner of the promise made to his lady. A very handsome knight, but his excessive size, a mark of his excess, makes him ugly; a knight dressed in vermilion armor, whose love is therefore not true courtly love. And the one he loves, his “friend”, is not a lady either. Both excluded themselves from the Court. And Mabonagrain (in Celtic “son of Evrain”) doesn’t even really have a name!

Érec, champion of the Court, therefore freed Mabonagrain and brought him back to the Court. Likewise, Enide allows her cousin to integrate into the Court, but without removing her anonymity: she will remain “Enide's cousin”.

The Return of Erec and Enide

After three days, new departure of the knight, his lady and his companion Guivret, but this time in joy. The trip lasts nine days, unhindered.

• By leaving, Erec conquered the "recreating"; he became a knight again.
• Then he came to the aid of the Maid of the Forest: he put his courage in the service of others.
• his meeting with Guivret taught him companionship, and strengthened his moral ties with chivalry.
• Finally, the final test of the “joy of the Court” showed him that there is still something beyond companionship.

A perfect knight, he can now achieve the ultimate goal: becoming King. And this will be the crowning achievement of the novel, the crowning not of Erec alone, but of the couple Erec and Enide, henceforth inseparable.