Yvain 2

Gwain’s speech is pretty much him stating that he believes that a man’s reputation is more important than having a wife, that a man’s honor should be put before all else. Yvain and Laudine make the agreement that Yvain must be back in a years time and if he is not back in that time period, he will have lost his lady’s love. This isn’t a bad agreement because now that Yvain is able to retain his honor and still have a woman assuming he returns in a year’s time. This agreement is very risky because Yvain doesn’t know what he is going to encounter along his journey, it is very possible that he will not make it back in a year.

The build up that that leads to Yvain’s shame is Yvain winning a lot of tournaments and receiving much glory for his victories. Yvain’s problem is that it has already been a year and he has not returned to his lady. The text states “King Arthur was seated in their midst when Yvain suddenly began to reflect; since the moment he had taken leave of his lady he had not been so distraught as now, for he knew for a fact that he had broken his word to her and stayed beyond the period set.” (Chrétien, 329). This text continues to tell that Yvain is forced to hold back his tears for he has made a big mistake and now he shall never receive his lady’s love again. Yvain’s shame had come because of his foolishness to keep continuing in the tournaments instead of returning to his lady.