Erec and Enide Blog #3

One topic that personally stood out to me while reading the text was the theme of silence.  Chretien uses this throughout many scenes, but one in particular that stood out to me is when Enide believes that Erec is dead.  After Erec battled the Count, he was defeated and presumed to be dead.  While Enide grieved over her loss, she cried out the words, "A good silence never harmed anyone, but speaking often causes harm" (Chretien 94).  I find this quote to be very interesting, in fact, it actually made me laugh out loud.  It baffles me that this quote implies that lying is better than honesty.  As if, women are more helpful to their men if the always remain silent.  This quote also plays into gender stereotypes.  This scene depicts how a woman is expects to be silent, otherwise, it will only cause harm.  I, also, find it a bit humorous and ironic that because Enide did not obide by her expectation to be silent, she in return felt guilty for Erec's death.  In actuality, Erec's death was purely his own fault.  Another quote that uses the theme of silence is when Maboagrain recalls how he met his damsel to Erec.  Maboagrain goes on to say that, "[His damsel] asked a boon of [him] without first saying what it was," (Chretien 111).  When the damsel asked Maboagrain to make a promise to her, she remained utterly silent as to what he was actually agreeing to.  I find it a bit humorous that not once did he ever question her silence.  It seems to be a common theme throughout the entire story that men never question a woman's silence (even when they really should), and sometimes even encourage it.  I think that the theme of silence shows the stupidity of the men wanting women to be silent (as it seems that the women are much more clever than the men in the story). 

Question: What do you think is the significance of Chretien's recurring use of the theme of silence throughout the story?