Erec and Enide Pages 90-122

1.In the last passages that we read, Enide passed Erec's test what are the implications of this? How do we see Erec and Enide's relationship change? Has nothing changed from before they left their kingdom? If so why do you believe Erec put Enide through this ordeal?

Erec has been looking for the missing piece of his relationship with Enide. He has gone on this journey to fully understand his marriage and his life. He now has a full appreciation for Enide. Though her speech once bothered him, and was perceived as judgement, he now has grown to love it. It is the first thing he awakes to in his rebirth. Enide is no longer just a possession to him. She has suffered just as much as he has in this journey; they have both made sacrifices for one another. Erec is now assured that he can be a great knight and husband as well. The tests he has put Enide through on thier journey together were so extreme, yet she "passed" all of them. Erec is assured of her devotion, what he is willing to give up, and he can now understand her. He saw Enide when she was alone without him, in a situation he has never seen before. The entire eason for this adventure was assurance.

2. In this last passage of the text we witness an interesting event, we are told of the "death" of Erec and his later "rebirth", what does this mean? Why did Chretien choose to not only include this? Is there a deeper meaning? How does this event relate to the rest of the text?


Erec is 'dead' for a long period of time before his miraculous 'rebirth' or awakening. Erec's physical calapse symbolizes his old attitudes toward life and his relationship with Enide come to a change. His old feelings for mistrust and judgement from his wife disappear. Her unending love for him is so prevalant once she believes him dead, that it is impossible for their realtionship to be as it was before. Erec is able to absorb her emotion and feeling. Rather than have thier marriage be an agreement, or business, as the rest of society views it, Erec now gets the justification he needs to freely love his wife as he once did. He does not have any stipulation. He knows that what they have together is real. Similarly his 'rebirth' leaves him a a better man. He can now see things through his wife's perspective. Not only can he be the physical "hero" but he can share the emotion of it all. Erec's 'death' period ironically opened his eyes from his old life, to his new one. By including this, Chretien raises Erec on a christ-like pedistal. He is now stronger than ever in every aspect of his life. He is the ultimate knight.