Day 3 Yvain

Yvain recreates himself as the Knight with the Lion so that he can reinvent himself. I would say that he's even better than he was before. He's a better knight and a better man because his intentions don't seem so selfish anymore. What better way to do that than to have by his side an animal that is known for its strength, courage, loyalty, and everything that is good about being a knight. Not only is he recreating himself, but he's bringing back everything that a knight a supposed to be: a soldier to defend the people. After he comes back from temporarily losing his sanity, he does battle not for himself or for his honor but to defend and protect people who can't defend themselves. Its the only way that he can truly deserve Laudine again.

The reconciliation between Yavin and Laudine is so true and so much better than any of the other reconciliations that we have read about. Between Erec and Enide, Erec was forgiving her even though she had done nothing wrong. Yvain is actually humbling himself before Laudine and admitting that he was wrong and Laudine is the one who takes him back (even if she was tricked into it). This is such a huge difference because it shows the equality and love between the two.

Day 1 Yvain

In my opinion Yvain is very much like Tristan and Erec. He is a knight concerned with honor and glory and although he is seeking the honor of his friend, he really is doing it for himself. When he defeats the other knight, he is looking for proof that he did it so that he will believed. He can put Kay in his place and in a way be able to say that he is a better knight than Calogrenant. Laudine is my favorite of the female characters that we have met so far because she has an identity before she meets the knight. We aren't sure of her name yet, but she can be seen as someone who had a life before she met Yvain. She was a person of importance and she was loved. She knew love with someone other than Yvain. We can also see her cleverness alot earlier. She manipulates the men of her court into believing that marrying is Yvain is their idea. She is much more politically minded. She knows that she has a job to do and is going to do it the best of her ability. The biggest difference is that she chooses to marry Yvain. Yvain isn't just thrust upon her and she has no say in the matter but she chooses him for his honor and valor as obviously being a better knight than her husband.

Erec and Enide Day 2

We finally see Enide's character in the second part of the text as someone who is so devoted to the other people in her life. Its obvious that she is very much in love with Erec and tries to do right by him. She met him as a noble brave knight and wants him to stay that way. She is finally named at her wedding because without her name she isn't truly married. For a moment I thought that Erec was going to fo from calling her "maiden" to calling her "wife." She tries to do right by Erec because she doesn't want anything bad to him nor does she want anyone to speak badly about him, especially if its her fault. In my opinion, she does truly love Erec. Erec, on the other hand, needs to learn how to appreciate Enide, because he's taking her for granted. Everything that she did was to save his life and yet he kept on threatening her. She's not just a beautiful face; Enide is in every way devoted to Erec and he needs to see that.

Day 2

During the three years that Tristan and Yseut were under the effects of the love potion they were living the ideal affair. The love potion made them feel like life was good simply because they had each other. When the love potion wore off however, they were brought back to reality, they realized exactly what they had done. Tristan is horrified that he could have betrayed his king and Yseut feels the same way. Tristan and Yseut realize that they were living the good life at court with the king. Tristan feels that he should be a knight at court with squires in his service and wearing fine things and doing battles in foreign lands for King Mark. Yseut feels the same way. She was a queen with people tending to her and now she's living like a slave in the woods. They both feel guilty that the love potion could have led them astray. They haven't stopped loving each other, however. They just realize that they can't go on living as fugitives. They're both used to the splendor of court and anything less just isn't good enough. The effects of the love potion may have worn off but they love they have for each other is still true. They still want to be together and plan on staying in contact with one another so that they know that the other one is safe. Now that the effects of the love potion are gone they realize that even though they love each other, love is not enough. Their love is strong but not enough that they don't see the reality of the situation that they're in.

The letter to King Mark is more of Tristan and Yseut's lies. They have lied to the king before, and they are willing to do it again only this time, with the blessing of the hermit. They are doing it to save their lives but its still fooling a very trusting king. I am not surprised by the king's reaction because he has shown to be very trusting. Plus, he already forgave Tristan and Yseut since he saw with his own eyes that they don't love each other wrongfully.

Day 1

I would characterize them all as being the stereotypes of what was expected in that day and age. Tristan is the noble, loyal knight who would do anything for his king. he is very true to the king and is only disloyal in one way: his affair with Yseut. As the tragic hero who comes from nobility he is the best and bravest of all King Mark's knights, in contrast to the greedy barons. Yseut is the beautiful princess who is from another land and is loved by all her subjects even when she is guilty. She's so lovely that all pity her when she's going up to the pyre, and rejoice when she gets away. King Mark rules fairly and listens to his subjects, everything a good king is supposed to be. He gets fooled by Tristan and Yseut which would make him an idiot only, who wants to believe that their nephew and the wife that they love are having an affair? While it is unfair to have them sentenced to death without a trial, King Mark is deeply hurt and he does have to think about his pride. I think it was common and expected for men in those days to kill their wives if they were having an affair.


At this point, I feel bad for King Mark. Here he is, with his beautiful wife at his side and he believes that she is loyal and faithful to him and loves him just as much as he loves him and she's cheating on him. With the nephew that he loves an who is the only family that he has at court. I don't agree with his decision to sentence Tristan and Yseut to death but I do believe that I can understand the anger, pain, and jealousy that would bring him to that extreme. I have no sympathy for Tristan and Yseut because they are getting exactly what they deserve. They are swearing to God that they don't love each other anymore than they should, that its all the invention of the jealous barons and its all a lie. King Mark has done nothing more than show his love and favor to the both of them and they are betraying him.