With “Yvain,” Chrétien de Troyes wrote a prose poem on chivalry that foresaw the development of the novel. His influence is seen throughout history, including in Miguel de Cervantes’ “Don Quixote” (albeit a parody of the style) and Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness,” among others. The lasting effects of de Troyes’ influence are in structure, narration and psychology.
He structures this story in verse and in frames. It opens with a first-person narrator who gives the story credibility and then temporarily disappears, leaving Yvain’s cousin, the knight Calgrenant, to tell a disgraced tale. The frame story, in Burton Raffel’s translation, begins on page seven and runs until page 20, spanning three sections. The whole frame story is in one quote, unimpeded by the section breaks. The rest of “Yvain” is the experiences of Yvain himself, who leaves the court two weeks ahead of the other knights to avenge Calgrenant as a sign of loyalty, interspersed with his conversations or the narrator’s commentary.
The overall theme of loyalty strings the plot together, shaping it circularly. Not only does Yvain express his loyalty to Calgrenant but to everyone he encounters: Laudine, the widow; Lunette, the widow’s maiden; Gawain, his best friend; God; the 300 girls he saves from the Castle of Infinite Misfortune; the lion that he saves from the snake and later carries when its wounded; and chivalry (e.g., not wounding horses).
The encounters and the subsequent experiences with these individuals leads Yvain, “the wandering knight,” to fight battles for their freedom or to earn Laudine’s love. Most of the story is predictable by that repetition, yet it surprises: Yvain is cared for by Lunette after she remembers him helping her in Carlisle; he doesn’t return to see Laudine before her deadline; Gawain falls for Lunette; Yvain and Kay fight, but Yvain and Gawain refuse to fight each other despite being selected by the two sisters to settle a dispute over inheritance; Laudine trusts Lunette’s recommendation on loving Yvain twice; situations are repeated or flipped, as seen when Yvain must save Lunette after she saved him.
The abandoned battle of Yvain and Gawain is most striking. The knights’ loyalties shift. While they were loyal to each other from the beginning, they still fought battles for damsels throughout the story. But when they are forced to choose between their knighthood and the damsels, they choose knighthood.
Knighthood is of utmost importance in Chretien’s story, running from beginning to end like emotion in Picasso’s “Guernica.” He establishes this subject, theme, characters, and loyalty from the first word: Arthur, he writes, was holding court on Pentecost, and all of the knights stood outside his door, exchanging tales of courtly love and chivalry. Then he swiftly establishes the characters and their personalities: Calgrenant, the “handsome knight” who has a disgraceful story to tell and is the only one to rise to his feet when the Queen arrives; the Queen, who argues with Kay; Kay, who is “savage” with a “slashing tongue;” and Yvain, who leaves two weeks early to ensure he, not Kay or Gawain, is selected for battles in avenging Calgrenant.
Establishing this early allows Chretien to tell the story quickly with detail. Note the detail (p. 15):
“I expect it was late in the morning,
“And getting close to noon,
“When I see the tree and the chapel.
“And I can swear, and I know
“It’s true, that the tree was the finest
“Pine anywhere in the world.
“No rain could ever fall hard
“Enough for a drop to pierce it,
“But would always roll off outside.”
The detail shows Calgrenant literally approaching the tree and what he’s seeing changing with more detail, like when one zooms in to a photo. First he sees the tree and the chapel from a distance. Next he sees just the tree and that it’s a pine tree. Then the rain rolls off of its leaves.
In this next example, Calgrenant first hears the knight and then he sees him (p.16-17):
“And no one else will hear it (the birds in the pine),
“I think, unless he goes there
“And can hear what filled me with joy
“And rapture so deep that I was carried
“Away—until I heard
“The sound of knights approaching.
“And it seemed to me that there were ten:
“But the clatter and racket were made
“By a single knight, riding up.”
Chrétien de Troyes implies that this knight is strong and threatening by saying the clatter of the armor made it seem like there were ten. This suggests that it will be a tough battle for Calgrenant, and indeed it was as he lost.
Another couple of standouts from the writing above, which nowadays is read as prose instead of poetry, are the juxtaposition of contrasts and the punctuation.
We see the contrasts in juxtaposition: nature and man (good vs. evil); hearing and seeing.
Also, the placement of the punctuation is suggestive and realistic. At the beginning of the second line, Calgrenant is doubtful that anyone else will hear the birds singing as he does by saying “I think.” Then he falls in to a short reverie until there’s a long pause with a dash that interrupts it with the sound of the knight. And when it’s revealed that it is one knight, it is shown after a colon, which is typically used to present something (e.g., a list).
Later commas and conjunctions play an important role in the following example (p. 27-28):
“There were never two knights angrier
“Or more determined to kill or be killed.
“And they chose their blows with care,
“Struggling to make them work.
“Their helmets began to cave in,
“And break, and the metal in their mail-shirts
“Began to snap, and blood
“Began to flow … “
“Under his cracked
“Helmet his head was split
“To the brain, and blood poured
“From his skull and stained his gleaming
“Mail-shirt, and he felt such crushing
“Pain that his courage failed him.
“And indeed his heart did him
“No injustice, for he felt himself fatally
“Wounded and that nothing could save him.
“And as fast as he could think, he turned
“And galloped straight toward his castle … “
The brief pauses with the commas allows exaggeration and then the conjunction “and” allows the images to juxtapose and stack against one another. This keeps building the story to Yvain chasing the enemy.
The writing also stands out for how swift it is. On page 25, in two sentences, across a very short time, we see Yvain’s squire collect horseshoes and tracks, bring over the war-horse, arm Yvain, and help Yvain mount. Then, in one sentence, across days, Yvain is traversing mountains, valleys, forest, roads before arriving. What we see in the first sentence is the vitality of detail in Yvain’s preparation because each detail is integral to his success and each is a part that makes up the whole. Then we see the whole journey in one sentence because fragmenting it would have not illustrated the knightly image.
The knightly image in the story is not just of battles and journeys; it’s also of psychology. Yvain’s emotions are depicted in several scenes, including directly near the end when Yvain approaches the gate of the Castle of Infinite Misfortunes and is warned not to enter. He replies:
“But my foolish heart
“Leads me on, and I obey my heart.”
This reply from Yvain summarizes the psychology of the knight. He, like other knights, is driven by his emotions.
One of the finer examples from this story of emotions and how they’re depicted comes early on (p. 18-19) when Calgrenant is concluding his disgraced tale and talks of the aftereffect of his loss:
“But walking
“Was easier without my weapons
“And my armor, and I left them behind,
“And retraced my shameful steps.”
This shows the internal and external effects of Calgrenant’s shame. It’s not that his weapons and armor are heavy, it’s that he no longer feels like a knight. He essentially surrenders to any future battles by not suiting for them. His anguish is shown through his actions.
Another example is a realistic portrait of a grieving widow (p. 36-37):
“No one had spoken a word
“Of so splendid a lady, and yet
“Her grief was so intense
“She seemed ready to take her own life.
“And then she cried so loudly
“That she seemed to have exhausted herself
“And dropped to the ground, unconscious.
“And when they lifted her up
“She began to tear at her clothes
“Like a woman gone mad, and she pulled
“At her hair, and ripped it out,
“And she tore at her dress, and at every
“Step fell in a faint,
“And nothing could relieve her pain,
“For she saw her lord carried
“In and laid on his death bed (sic),
“And all her happiness was ended,
“And so she cried and wailed.”
The widow’s anguish begins a run of psychological insight into her mind and into Yvain’s for more than 20 pages. On page 45 through 47, after Yvain sees the widow, Laudine, pummeling herself and reading the prayerbook, he feels love, anger, pain, and more. We see direct insight into his mind and his contemplation of whether enemies can love one another:
“How could I ever hate her,
“If I wish to be loyal to Love?
“What Love wants, I want. But she,
“Should she accept me as a lover?
“She should, for it is she I love.
“I call her my enemy: she hates me,
“And she has reason to hate me, remembering
“How I killed the man she loved.
“And I, am I her enemy?
“Never, but only her lover,
“For who have I loved like this?
“I feel pain, seeing her beautiful
“Hair, finer than gold,
“And gleaming. Pain and anger
“Fill me, when she twists and breaks
That hair. I know nothing can dry
“The tears falling from her eyes.
“And all of it makes me miserable.
“Her eyes are forever full
“Of tears, tears without end,
“And yet no eyes were
“Lovelier. I weep because
“She weeps … “
Later (p. 54), Lunette tries to convince Laudine to find a new knight to protect her land, specifically Yvain, and is rejected. We spend time with Laudine in her room as well as into her mind. She worries about how to protect her spring, regrets angrily dismissing her maiden, fears never loving again, realizes that Yvain fought the battle because he had to and imagines a conversation with Yvain, who explains his actions, and then asks Lunette to meet Yvain after all. This begins their affair that, directly and indirectly, consumes the bulk of the story.
Chrétien de Troyes has written a story that serves as the groundwork for novels that still influence writers today. His psychological insight of the 12th century is important because not only does it offer historical insight into the minds of that age, but it also establishes the scientific importance of the mind in story—something that we continue to portray today.
Appendix
Each note in this section starts with a page number from the story.
4: First-person narration in first section introduces a quarrel. The narrator isn’t involved but gives us view of setting. Comments briefly that he doesn’t think people alive are worth the time.
Characterization: The Queen is in charge; Kay is insulting; Calgrenant is passive and has a disgraceful story to tell; Yvain is loyal to everyone including his friend Gawain; Yvain’s ex-wife proves to be disloyal and emotionally unstable; her servant is most loyal.
8: Calgrenant frame story in second section. The second section starts mid-story like the chapter break in Quixote. Even though Cal’s story is broken up over many sections/chapters, the whole thing is still one because it’s in quotes.
9-10: He espies a beautiful young woman. He’s called a “wandering Knight.”
14-15: Cal, the wandering knight, is told by a Moor: ” … That if you yourself can escape without harm, without desperate struggling, You’ll have better luck than any Knight ever lived.” Foreshadowing.
15: Zoom in to detail: He sees the tree and the chapel, then sees that it’s a Pine tree, then he notes how rain falls off its leaves.
16-17: He transitions from the beautiful nature scenery to the savagery of humans when he talks about birds singing and then the clatter of armor. He says it sounded like 10 knights but it was one, which indicates the strength of the knight — more foreshadowing. The next page, his lance shatters against the knight’s armor.
19: He leaves behind his armor after his loss, indicating he’s been stripped of knighthood. He goes back to the guesthouse and is treated well by the knight there and the woman, which contrasts his disgrace.
Structure: First-person narration; then frame narration; then first person, all interspersed with conversations.
23: Yvain’s psychology shows after the King decides they’re all going to avenge Cal’s loss — in two weeks. Yvain leaves immediately to ensure he fights the battles
14, 23: Difference in perspective: When the Moor narrates the forest, he says “over there” and explains like one would in conversation. But when Yvain decides to go in his mind, he calls it Brocelande Forest.
Top of p. 25: de Troyes swift narration. He goes from details of mounting to crossing mountains over a few days.
Top of p. 26: He sees the young woman and finds her more beautiful than Cal’s description. Psychology.
27: Narration: de Troyes lists off the damage of the battle and then he starts piling on, adding emphasis with the pauses of commas: “Their helmets began to cave in, and break, and the metal in their mail-shirts began to snap, and blood began to flow, the mail growing so hot it protected their bodies no more than a cloak.”
28: Wounding horses is classless. Note the detail here of wounds and the chase for a token.
28-32: He chases the wounded knight to have a token of victory but loses him when he falls off the horse. The wounded knight runs off into the castle, which is his. The surprise built in is that Yvain has ended up in the enemy’s castle and is now being tended to by the maid. We find out that Yvain was once the only respectful knight toward her when she had to take a message to the King’s court in Carlisle.
36-37: Intense scene of the widow grieving. On page 38, she blames God.
40-62: Heavily psychological.
54, 69: Story shifts on two changes: Laudine gives in to her servant’s suggestion of marrying Yvain; and Yvain battles Kay before both sides come together despite once being enemies.
74: Gawain falls for servant Lunette. There are many different affairs in story.
75: End of section. The narrator comments on blockheads.
81: The narrator intrudes and says he thinks Yvain will stay longer than a year. Then he does.
Yvain is treated as a noble knight by everyone and tries to save them heroically. At one point he saves Gawain’s family. Contrasted by Kay’s stealing of the Queen and paralleled by Gawain’s hunt for the queen.
Circular structure in the sense that it’s repetitive and situations are just flipped (e.g. the servant who saved him now needs saving).
Chapters structured in many different ways: a scene covering multiple chapters; an episodic structure. When the girl looks for him, she stops at all the places he went. In the end Yvain goes back to the spring to create another storm and profess his love. The structure is like a hurricane.
102: He becomes the Knight of the Lion when he kills the snake.
136, 139: He’s beaten up but worries more for the lion. Another example of emotions in this story.
155: “But my foolish heart leads me on, and I obey my heart.” re: going in to doomed castle.
167: personification of the lion.
169: The head “so smoothly” sliced off. Smoothly stands out here because it makes one squirm due to its contradictory nature in this context.
179-182: narrative intrusion.
Ending: Yvain and Gawain refuse to fight because of their friendship; the two sisters are commanded by the king; and Lunette helps Yvain get his love, the widow, back — use this as the final example of emotion for loyalty is of the heart.