Erec and Enide (pg. 90-122)

After reflecting upon the literature as a whole, I could not help but think back to the situation in the garden with Maboagrain and his dear lady. I found great symbolism throughout this part of the novel. To begin, the setting was a garden in which, “ripe fruit all summer and all winter, and the fruit had a peculiar property that although it could be eaten therein, it could not be carried.” (pg. 107) I drew similarities from this setting to an otherwise perfect world. When girls are little, they naturally believe they are princesses and wait for their, “Prince Charming,” to come and whisk them away. However in these fantasies, girls never imagine the heart ache and troubles that they will have to go through to achieve this level of happiness.  I believe the garden is the fantasy land in which dreams and happy endings exist, or in Chrétien’s world, the stereotypical love story. Next there is Maboagrain, who would be comparable to Romeo in this love story. Maboagrain is the so-called perfect guy. To begin he is madly in love with his maiden, and the only pleasure in his life is to be by her side. What girl would say no to that? Although Maboagrain was tricked into it, he also stayed and fought for his woman for many years, which is also very much a story book occurrence. I believe Erec is meant to be Maboagrain’s opposite. Erec is supposed to portray the real man outside the perfect world. Real mean try to prove their masculinity when challenged, where as Maboagrain did it out of love. Another opposite is in the perfect world, Maboagrain’s love for his maiden flowed easily without hitch. Erec’s love for Enide was not so easy, for they had bumps in the road that involved egos, trust, and insecurities. Lastly, Erec was characterized as a jerk more or less; however Maboagrain was made to look like a gentleman. Finally, the maiden represents every man’s fantasy girl. The only role she played was being extremely beautiful and being quiet, whereas Enide represents a real woman who worries constantly, has brains, and causes most of the problems in a relationship. Overall, I think the point of this story was poke fun at the classic love story, by showing the true nature of people within its text.