day one of Yvain

1) The absence of a prologue allows readers to form their own parallels as to the character's relationships, troubles and triumphs. The author's lack of prologue forces readers to dive into the story with no background information and in doing so makes us quickly form opinions on the characters, while giving us an open board on which to create opinions about how the author wants us to feel. I believe Yvain's text is different, the heroic Knight does not come upon his damsel naturally, rather he kills a Knight and steals her right under his dead body. The prologue would have covered a basic reaction to the beginning of the text had their been one.
2) The story was written much like the other few we have read to entertain great nobles of the time. However this story is different in that the teller is also present in the text which automatically makes it more sincere and possibly more embellished than the others. Major themes that stand out right away are loyalty, love, devotion, and betrayal. Yvain first avenged his cousin's loss in battle to prove loyalty to the family. The love and devotion come simply from Yvain's direct viewing of the Lady, his love immediately rendered him captive. Finally the betrayal of the Lady, who in one short week grieved her husband and remarried the man who had killed him