The first theme recognizable in the three stories is chivalry. The three stories all have to do with knights of King Arthur's court. Three easily recognized themes are love, loyalty and adventure. In all three stories these themes appear in one way or another. In the story Erec and Enide, Erec is the bravest, most handsome, and most valiant knight in all the land. He finds his wife, Enide, living poorly in a small town. Enide, although dressed raggedly appears in his eyes, and the eyes of many others to be the prettiest woman in the world. Erec is the son of King Lac, the well known great king who lives at Cardigan Castle. At the beginning of the story Erec is involved in a fierce and long lasting battle with another noble knight named Yder. Erec defeats him and Yder graciously offers himself as Erec's slave. Yder is a loyal and obedient companion throughout the story. Kay is the servant of Lord Gawain, Guivret, a friend of Erec's who helps nurse him back to health after being injured. King Evrian is the king of the town of Brandigan where the Joy is located. A great knight named Maboagrain is bound to the garden where the joy is kept until someone defeats him in battle. .
The first literary device I found in this story was metaphors. Although there were not many I thought that they were put to good use in describing the places, people and events. Irony is put to effect late in the book when used to describe the Joy of the Court. In reality, no good or joy had come from it. The only thing that the "Joy" produced was sadness for the knight who had to stay in the garden and death for everyone who had challenged it. I think that the author probably wrote this to show the ups and downs of love, and to show how there are things that come across your path in life, such as Erec's battles, that we need to deal with and move on. In the time period that the book was written it was very common for men to have small battles like this to show off their power or prestige.
