Ogling Ladies: Scopophilia in Medieval German Literature

6. “Lady, you saw it with your own eyes!”

6 “Lady, you saw it with your own eyes!” E N I T E A N D T H E P E R F E C T F E M A L E G A Z E I N H A R T M A N N ’ S E R E C In this chapter I explore Hartmann von Aue’s Erec with a focus on the main female character, Enite, who is both object of the gaze and gazer herself. Since contemporary readers of medieval romance were to be both entertained and instructed, in what way was the example of Enite instructional? Were female aristocratic readers of the tale encouraged to emulate Enite, or was she, like Der Stricker’s walled-in woman, an example of how not to behave? Even though Enite is the main female personage, she does not appear in the opening of Erec; instead, the narrative is propelled forward by the uncourtly behavior of a strange knight and his dwarf. Erec, young and unarmed, is leisurely riding along with Queen Guinevere and her ladies. Suddenly, an unknown knight’s diminutive and belligerent companion attacks him. The true reason for Erec’s humiliation, however, is not the attack itself but the fact that the queen and her ladies became eyewitnesses of the assault. und schamte sich nie so sere wan daz diese unere diu künegin mit ir vrouwen sach als im der geiselslac geschach mit grozer schame er wider reit also klagete er sin leit (Erec, ll. 106–11) Enite and the Perfect Female Gaze in Hartmann’s Erec 89 (And the worst part of his shame was that the queen and her ladies watched how he was whipped. He rode back, deeply embarrassed, and told about his suffering.) When the chastised knight returns to his riding company, he admits that he would have tried to deny the altercation, if only the queen had not seen it with her own eyes: frouwe ich enmac des niht verlougen wan irz selbe habet gesehen (ll. 113–14) (My lady, I can’t deny it because you yourself saw it.) Queen Guinevere, unfortunately for Erec, observed the entire debacle.1 As a matter of fact, the queen’s curious gaze placed Erec in the confrontational situation in the first place. The entire riding party notices the strangers , but it is the queen who insists on knowing more about them. Chrétien de Troyes’s version, on which the German text is based, reads as follows: “Queen Guinevere saw the handsome and elegant knight, and she wanted to know who they were” (Arthurian Romances 39). The female gaze actively inaugurates the adventure. Since the ladies were watching, Erec could neither ignore nor deny the incident. It is obvious that Erec is not a battle-tested knight. Unarmed and pretty, he is virtually indistinguishable from his female riding companions. Chrétien ’s version of Erec and Enide emphasizes Erec’s immaturity, introducing him as a beautiful body dressed in nice clothes: Of his great virtues, what to say? His destrier he rode that day, sported an ermine cloak, and rode, galloping, tearing up the road in front of him. The drapery of his silk tunic, you could see, was Constantinople cloth, all fine flowers of arabesque design. Stockings he had, superbly cut, 90 Ogling Ladies: Scopophilia in Medieval German Literature of silk; his spurs were gold; he sat firm in his stirrups. Accoutrements of knightly honor and defense —except his sword—he had not brought. (ll. 97–109) The narrator mocks the unarmed youth whose excellence is defined by his nice coat and his silk stockings.2 Erec, like one of the girls, is a passive and defenseless object of the gaze. After he rides off and arrives at the house of his host, Enite’s father, it is Erec’s turn to gawk. He intensely ogles her, staring through her threadbare dress at her swan-white skin. The reader sees her through Erec’s enamored gaze: der megede lîp war lobelich. der roc was grüener varwe, gezerret begarwe, abehaere über al. dar under was ir hemde sal und ouch zebrochen eteswâ: sô schein diu lîch dâ durch wîz alsam ein swan. (ll. 323–30) (The body of the maiden was praiseworthy. Her dress was green, completely torn and threadbare everywhere. The shirt she wore under the dress was dirty and through the holes...