the obscure object of desire

3

The use of two different actresses for the role of Conchita was probably the best part of the entire movie. The different actresses represented different temperaments of Conchita and how she would react to the current situation. My favorite part which shows a switch in the character is when she arrives at Mateo’s house in Seville and first she acts as a cold icy almost stoic woman, but then changes to the bubblier innocent Conchita. The Conchita with the dead straight hair seems to be more stoic, serious, and emotionally bitter; whereas the woman with the wavy hair is bubblier, playful, mischievous, yet innocent. The quick changes in character seem to drive the plot and reveal the way that Conchita thinks.

4

The mouse seems to have a very interesting symbolism in the movie. While Mateo and Conchita are together in the room for the first time, a mouse trap snaps and catches a mouse. I see this as the exact moment where Mateo falls into the trap of love. He is now a mouse in Conchita’s love trap, a trap that will emotionally and physically drain him and eventually lead to a very stressed and dysfunctional life and relationship.

Celestina Day 5

18

Areusa and Elicia are plotting to kill Calisto as revenge for what he has done which led to the death of Celestina. Throughout the story, Calisto has been so aloof and almost detached from reality. He lived in a microcosm where the biggest problem he had was the love for Malibea. No outside problem could touch him, not even the death of his servants or Celestina. Elicia saw this and wanted to punish him for his extreme selfishness and complete lack of awareness to the scope of the problems. Areusa, seeing the extreme anguish in Elicia for the death of Celestina seeks to aid her cousin the ultimate overthrow of the complete idiot Calisto.

Act 20

I feel as though Melibea had to die in the story. There was so much bloodshed with the quick deaths of Celestina, Sempronio, and Parmeno, that she would have to die aswell. She was so overcome by this love that she had implanted within her, which she almost had to die. Poetically, by dying while in love she will forever be remembered as a lover driven to death. It goes along with the idea that its better to go out with a bang. With time her love could have resided, but instead she chooses to end her live in the pinnacle of her love.

Celestina Day 4

12.

Interestingly enough, I sympathize with Celestina in her own murder. She claimed that she was the one who was actually doing all the work and therefore deserved the money that had been given to her in the form of the chain. She is partially correct, as the work by Sempronio and Parmeno is almost negligible. Parmeno actually was more of an inhibitor in the beginning before Celestina managed to hook him up with Areusa. The only help to Celestina came with the occasional advice that Sempronio gave to Calisto. Although Sempronio was the initial catalyst in the story, his further efforts were almost nothing. I also feel that greed got the best of them, they should have attempted to milk Calisto for all he was worth rather than squabbling over the chain. In the end, I feel that Celestina may have shared if she had enough to give, but Sempronio and Parmeno were not very deserving; Celestina could have done everything without Sempronio and Parmeno, but not the reverse.

15

The chain acts as the first reward that the thieves were given, and with it they knew that there was more to come. Upon seeing the chain, they all wanted to claim that they did the most work, and therefore deserved the most. The sight of the chain and the idea of further reward had awoken a lust and greed within them that could only be satiated with the individual holding all of the reward rather than sharing. This story is almost an exact analogue to the Pardoner’s Tale, in which three people all fighting for the full reward find death.

Celestina Day 3

Chapter 7

Celestina manages to use her age and apparent wisdom that comes with it to convince Pármeno to trust her and believe the words that she is saying. Although Celestina is the least trustable character in this entire novel, she manages to use the stereotype of a wise old woman with years of experience to bend Pármeno’s opinion and get him to do as she wishes. Although Celestina may actually be extremely wise and may have knowledge greater than anyone else, she is also an extreme liar and manipulator. She uses her apppearence as an old feeble, helpless woman to sway Pármeno’s mind. Once she has him in her hand she uses love and takes advantage of his young lust to lock him onto a woman, and thus rid him of his interference in her plan to swindle Calisto. During the entire chapter Celestina puts an emphasis on Pármeno’s young age and his “coming of age”. She does this to show to the fact that she is wiser and more experienced than him, thus her opinion is almost like gold. She uses her age to her advantage, and gives Pármeno exactly what his young mind needs to distract him; a woman.

Chapter 9

Both Sempronio and Pármeno have both voiced their utter despise and hate about Celestina, and about how no one can even trust her, yet they know that she is the meal ticket to their own fortune. They know that one way or another she will get the money from Calisto, and that although she may try to prevent them from getting their share, they will push her to cave. If anything, they don’t trust Celestina themselves, but they trust her ability to swindle and destroy Calisto, and they know that if they work together, they may get their own share in the fortune.

Celestina Day 2 chapters 3-6

Chapter 3

I think this quote gives an interesting perspective on what men will do for love. This quote goes to point out how men become so completely enamored with the person that they want, that they begin to embody a pain for when they are not together. For Calisto, the foolish love that he has for Melibea is to the extent that he has actually manifested a physical illness over it. Calisto also wants to be with her immediately. This hold true for the second part of the quote, where men will put their feelings into immediate action. Calisto is already “hiring” Celestina to arrange the love between the two of them so they can share their love together.

Chptr 5

Celestina manages to convince Sempronio that he will get his fair share of the wealth even though he has some concerns about her. He fears that she is just trying to use him to get more money out of him. Although I believe Celestina is a liar, and is extremely untrustworthy, I think that she may actually want to work with Sempronio. She seems to treat him with respect and honesty, and although she may not share the wealth with him equally, I believe she will cut him into the deal.

Celestina 1&2

1.       In the beginning of the story we have a fateful encounter between two of the characters in our story, Calisto and Melibea. Calisto enters this garden, after chasing his bird into it, and is stopped by the “beauty” of Melibea. He is completely enamored by her and expects that she will love him because of his lineage. As he goes up to her he is completely rejected by her in a very funny way as she proves herself with her own language. The garden in this scene represents undisturbed purity. Calisto enters the garden and expects to take what he wants, but is met with a challenge, which rather than turning him away, actually makes him even more interested in her. She represents something untouched and pure, something that he cannot have, but will try extremely hard to get for himself.

2.       The “illness” that Calisto describes himself having is extremely comical. He is so completely in love with Melibea that he becomes loves sick with not having her. His desire for her is so great that he is actually manifesting a physical illness. Sempronio actually points this out to Calisto, telling him that he has an illness, which is his love for Melibea. His love is almost something like the pointless, without meaning love that Romeo had for Rosaline, a love that is based only off of a single encounter.  

Decameron day 6

9.2 In this slightly comical story, an abbess who is with her own lover goes off to catch another nun who is with a lover. In her haste, the nun accidentally garbs herself in the clothing of her lover, and goes off to stop the other nun. When the other nun catches sight of the abbess, she makes a comical statement which calls out the abbess. When the abbess realizes that the other nun knows what she did, she allows the nun to continue seeing her lover without penalty. The other nuns see this and are actually enraged by this and become jealous that she is innocent. The other nuns do not actually grasp the idea that abbess was with a man, they only think that the nun got away with it. They envy the fact that she got away, and that she actually has a lover to be with.

9.3 In this extremely hilarious story a man is made to believe that he is actually pregnant with the child rather than his own wife. Although his friends are completely aware of the joke they are playing on him, they show no care to the well being of the wife who is suffering as result of this. Although the wife is not really to blame for what is happening in this story, she is blamed and the husband then proceeds to get angered and enraged at her. Boccaccio is trying to show how woman are always blamed the scapegoats to the situations that happen badly to men in the world. I think that he is criticizing the fact that men always blame woman for any problem that occurs.

Decameron day 5

8.8 Passion is celebrated at the end of this story, almost in a comical way. Both of the people in the couples end up having relations with each other’s husband/wife. This is extremely comical in nature, as everyone in the relationships has cheated on each other. At the end they decide that they should embrace their fiery passions by being able to express love to each other. The story ends with funny line saying that from that day on both the wives had two husbands, and the husbands both had two wives. The couples find out about their infidelity, and just decide that they should just live all together, continuing their combined love.

7.3 Desire, and lust within it, drives all the main characters actions during this story. Everything that he does through the story is only to achieve his desire of being with a woman who was married. He goes as far as to befriend the father just to ask to be the godchild of the wife’s unborn child. After he gains the trust of the husband, he furthers achieves his desire of becoming a friar just so he could get close with the wife and force his love onto her.

All About My Mother

4. I think this film makes a very profound statement about women, love, and their varying forms and identities. Throughout the film there is a constant skew of accepted or general gender roles. Each woman in the story takes a very existentialist approach to their life in a way. Lola and Agrado, whom both identified as women, though were transgendered. Lola actually goes on to father two different children, and even remain married to Manuela. Manuela takes on a very dominate yet gentle role, sheltering Rosa; raising Rosa’s child, and her own; and constantly flees from the many difficult situations, to do what is right. Even Huma breaks the typical roles, as an older woman who is having relations with another woman. Finally Rosa represents a very interesting character. A woman who helps the prostitutes, is a nun, and ends up having a relation with another woman, who fathered her child. I think this entire story skews the black and white views people have about sexuality to push people to understand that this are not polarized, and love is ambiguous.

5. I believe the mother in the film is all of the collective women who tie together to create a living story of love, loss, and finding happiness. Each one gives to the situation a certain charm and elegance that continues to refine the story and further tie people together. The speaker of the title in my opinion is Manuela’s son Estaban, who almost narrates how him own father, Lola, brings people together in this extremely unconventional story.

Decameron #4

5.8 This story shows an interesting perspective of power that is unused in any other story. I believe that rather than any single gender holding the power, it is mutual and equal. Both parties seem to suffer from their actions which I believe prevent a hold of power. Both the man and the woman battle for the power, but there are key points in the story which point to the woman holding the power. Firstly, the man kills himself, which can be considered as a feminine action. Although I don’t see a huge hold of power by either gender in this story, the woman may be considered to be the major power holder in the relation.

6.10 Cipolla uses his wit to escape a difficult situation. He uses a response which can be understood in two different ways. The people who hear this initially understand it literally, which they take it ask a joke, but after Cipolla escapes, they realize that he in fact had given them a severe insult.

Decameron #2

2.7: In this story woman are treated as nothing more than a prize or trophy to won by men, who in turn completely determine and rule the women’s lives. We see this idea in the text as the daughter is continuously passed through the hands of many different men, almost like a piece of property as opposed to a real person.

Women in this story are given the image of frail and unknowing, needing a man’s guidance in making any of the most trivial decisions. I think this story, even though it is overwhelmingly masculine, has a feminine undertone to it, criticizing the machismo society that they live in.

2.9 This story is almost comical in the gender switching nature of it, and this is not the first story of the Decameron that we see this in. The young wife in the story adopts the outward look of a young male, going as far as to cut her hair and take on a life style like a sailor. She continues to pass off as a man, skewing the line of gender in this time.

I think this idea of gender swapping something very important, seeing as it is returning for another story in the book. As a male she is actually able to learn about the deception of what went on and find her own justice. I think this may be showing how people based intelligence strictly off gender, and when they were presented with someone who “appeared male” they trusted the person, and allowed them to do more than any female.

The Decameron blog 1

“I have committed so many offences against God during my lifetime, committing one more against him now will make no difference”

I find this quote to be almost evilly genius. With this being said, Ser sets the stage for how he plans to outwit the friar and gain his reconciliation. I think how he fools the holy man, and several other of his crimes prove to how the people of this era were so convinced that the sheer fear of god would prevent any crimes or false witness. Ser takes this as a challenge and  takes advantage of the faith, and fear, of the other people. I feel like this story almost criticizes the idea of blind followship.

“…I saw there no holiness, no devotion, no good work or exemplary life, or anything else among the clergy…”

This quote is very interesting, pointing out the extreme flaws and corruption of the roman Christians of the time, yet the jew still ends up converting. I think that interpretation is kind of comical, the jew decided that because Christianity has been able to spread so well, even with the extreme corruption, must mean that it is the true word of god. This story both criticizes and defends Christianity, almost like a passive aggressive attack, pointing out how Christianity won the convert, but lost with integrity.

“… and when they discovered the rings were so much alike that they could not recognize the true one,  they put aside the question of who the true heir was and left it undecided…”

In this quote in the story about the merchant, the merchant was able to cease the fighting between his children about the true heir by almost eliminating the ability to discern the truth. Of course, this applies to the main theme of the story with “which religion is true,” but in this story, rather than an attack on any specific religion, we get a feeling of tolerance and acceptance of all beliefs. I think this story points out that no matter what a person believes with religion, all theories are the same, based off a common idea, and it is impossible to tell which is true.

Talk to Her

There seems to a prevalent relation in the film between the ongoing story line and the familiar fairytale Sleeping Beauty. Alicia and Benigno represent the classic Sleeping beauty and Prince Charming throughout the movie. Alicia is in a mysterious “sleep” and the only person to come for her to save her from it is her prince Benigno. He awakens her with his “kiss” which happens to be getter her pregnant and her having the baby.

Following what was previously stated, I find something very interesting presented in the movie, one line that is said by Marco. When asked by the landlord about Benigno, all Marco says is that he is innocent. Marco is saying that Benigno is innocent of rape, because he sees that the way the “relation” between Alicia and Benigno was. Benigno felt that him and Alicia had a relation, one with communication and mutual love. His “rape” was an act of love to Alicia, not violence, or abuse. It is interesting to see how Marco realized this during the film and was willing to claim Benigno’s innocence.

Run Lola Run

The film Run Lola Run was a very interesting premise of a woman who seeks to save her criminal boy friend from being killed by a crime boss. Gender roles play a couple interesting roles in this movie, especially in Lola family. A typical patriarchal family is represented in Lola’s family because her father is the only one who works, yet the movie continuously works against this gender role. Lola spends the entire movie saving her boy friend, rather than him saving her. This also ties into the fairy tale aspect of the film. The movie presents itself with a “damsel in distress theme”, with Lola as the prince and Manni as the damsel, Lola actually has to save Manni. Several times throughout the movie, the guard at the bank also makes comments about Lola being a “princess”, this in combination with the game/quest that is going on reminds me of the knight stories were the knight needs to run to the immediate aid of a “fair young maiden” 

Yvain Blog three

In the third act we see Yvain continuously doing tasks as he makes his way back to Laudine to prove his worth to her. All of his tasks involve helping women that are in need of help. Although this action can be seen as chauvinistic, I believe that Yvain is doing these deeds as retribution for his deceit against Laudine. Unlike Erec, Yvain is not perfect, and he knows this. He has seen the error of his ways and seeks to find reconciliation for his actions. This kind of character is more likable, because they contain both the good and bad qualities that are innately in humans. Yvain has both characteristics, and he knows this, he seeks to do these task not for “the sport”, or for “adventure’s sake” but because he feels indebted to woman who have given to him, mostly Lunete and Laudine. I believe this makes Yvain a much deeper character, he rarely shows the self interest that was so prevalent in Erec’s character. The onetime Yvain does show self centered actions he ends up losing the love of his lady. Rather than demanding the love back as “man over his woman”, he feels deeply remorseful and plunges into a state of self destruction and exile. Yvain’s character reaches his salvation at the end, by continuously fighting for the love of his lady. He denies the several available women along the way because he has eyes only for Laudine, and he knows that he must make up for taking advantage of her. He doesn’t just throw her away, he has a sense of loyalty, and realizes that he must take responsibility for his action. Rather than fleeing, demanding the respect back, or just finding someone else, he fights to earn the love and respect back of his orginal lover.

Yvain, Blog #2

3

After returning late from the “knightly exploits” that Yvain so hastily rushed away to, he was banished by his wife for breaking his promise to return in one year’s time. Yvain gets so caught up in the knightly tournaments that he forgets he must return in a timely fashion; and when he does return late, his wife, as she threatened, refuses to see him. Yvain then self exiles himself into the woods where he lives as a savage. I think Yvain was so embarrassed by his own actions, his carelessness, that he feels he must flee from everything. Drawing back to what I said earlier, I believe Yvain is a “true character” one that has both good and bad characteristics, and at this point in the story, he realizes what he truly did wrong. Unlike Erec, he truly feels remorse for what he did wrong; for his carelessness, his deceitfulness, and infidelity. In the woods he quickly comes to terms with all of this, and is thus driven mad by his own misdoings. I think that Yvain may have actually realized the foolishness of his exploits, and expressed it in his self-exile and insanity.

4

Stemming from the fourth question, something that I found both perplexing and interesting was the presentation and loyalty of the lion. Yvain frees the lion from death, and thus it becomes loyal to him. I see this as a metaphor to Yvain and Lunete. Lunete represents the knight while Yvain is the lion, the dragon would be the death that was going to befall Yvain after the slaying of the knight. Lunete saves Yvain, and he feels some loyalty to her. In return he actually returns to save Lunete from her own death. Yvain feels loyal to Lunete for her saving him, unlike Erec who felt dishonored by a woman trying to save him. This interpretation is the first thing I thought of while reading, and the more I read the more it seemed to hold true.

Yvain, Blog 1

2.

Calogrenant’s story seems to set the stage for the events that will unfold in this story, similar to how the hunting of the white stag did in Erec and Enide. The story begun as a quest Calogrenant took upon himself, but slowly evolved into his own personal failures, which in turn Yvain took as a challenge for himself. I took the story as almost comical, not due to the nature of what happened, but due to the positioning of the tale in the story. It acts as almost a convenient plot device which gives Yvain the idea for what he should do. I see it almost as a prologue, or “convenient quest”. In addition the overall story is very bizarre with all of its description and strange occurrences. It reveals from the start that the story of Yvain will have much more magic and supernatural events than Erec and Enide.

3.

Yvains character struck me as very different than Erec. Whereas Erec was the “cookie cutter” perfect male, Yvain seems to have much more depth to him. We see very quickly in the story that Yvain may be more than “the best fighter and most good looking man alive”, he may have some intellect and wisdom that Erec did not. Also, I feel that Yvain may be more of a real character. It seemed at times that Erec was too one sided, he only possessed positive traits, only good characteristics. I believe that Yvain may have both bad and good. Yvain seems more impatient, impulsive, and aggressive than Erec, especially when pursuing the Knight, and then his wife. I firmly believe Yvain will be a much more interesting character than Yvain, and more will be able to learned about him as the story progresses.

Erec and Enide Blog #3

                For the final part of Erec and Enide there seems to be a “return” of the unconditional love between the two characters. Both characters seem to reach a point where they truly accept each other, more so for Erec.  In the beginning of the story Erec expects Enide to just be the silent trophy wife, which to his own disappointment, she is not. Throughout the second part of the story Enide continuously speaks to Erec, saying what she thinks, and worrying for him, rather than just being the “pretty face”. When she begins to speak in the second part, Erec reacts in a very interesting way, and they depart on a journey for Erec to gain “honor”. Throughout the remaining part of the story Erec begins to accept Enide for what she really is, a brilliant mind in addition to a pretty face. This is made obvious following their escape from the count’s castle. After Erec slays the count and they flee, Erec tells Enide that he always has and always will love her regardless of anything that she has said, says, or will say. He also adds in that he will “always forgive her” for what she says, which I see as his way of saying that he will let her speak her mind and be heard.  I believe that this ties directly into the proverb at the beginning of the story. At the end of the story Erec finally realizes what Enide truly holds within her, and fully understands her full beauty, not just her outer looks.

Erec and Enide Blog #2

1.

            Enide’s name is only mentioned when Erec and her are finally getting married. It is even mentioned in the story that many of the peasants and nobles don’t even know the name of Erec’s bride. It revealed only when they are made aware she was baptized with the name “Enide”. I find this incredible comical that Erec has already professed his undying love to her, and she has been commended by kings, nobles, and knights, yet almost no one knows her name or anything about her. For the first half of the story it was almost as if she was just a pretty face for all the people to look at, they really didn’t know anything about her, let alone her name. Following the marriage we start to see things from Enide’s perspective, especially her cleverness and her want to communicate and express her opinions to Erec. Even when we do find out Enide’s name, it is almost brushed to the side as something that “wasn’t exactly important”. She was just a face to Erec and the rest, but interestingly enough she was so much more, which fit into the proverb at the beginning of the story.

4

            Throughout the story Enide has several internal monologues in which she rationalizes and thinks through all of her decisions. Almost every one of these inner battles seems to be a debate over acting like a “well bred woman” or doing what she feels is in the best interest of her and Erec. I think this gives us an insight into the real world of women in the medieval times. These women were not just powdered faces, or trophies; they actually were quite smart and intellectual. They only acted reserved because it was what was expected of them. It almost appears that some of these women may outshine, especially Enide, their spouses in terms of knowledge and intuition. Maybe the reason the men silences their women was because they feared how smart they could really be.

Erec & Enide pg. 37-60 Blog #1

Difficult yet thought-provoking question: Why does the text describe Enide in this way: “She was truly one who was made to be looked at, for one might gaze at her just as one gazes in a mirror.”? What is it to gaze into a mirror? What does one see? Are there any figures from mythology transfixed by a mirror image?) 

Throughout the story the descriptions of the fair, beautiful, and “well bred” Enide seem to be endless. She is woman that is characterized by her extreme physical beauty, although there is some reference made by her father that she also possesses some intellect. People, especially knights and nobility, seem to be so transfixed with her beauty; this becomes especially interesting when the comment about the mirror is related in. Typically a mirror reflects the subject gazing into the mirror, and in Enide’s case these subjects were the knights and nobility. The nobles and knights, seeing themselves in high esteem and social class believed that she was someone “well bred” and worthy of their love. This has a striking similarity to the classic Greek story of Narcissus, where Narcissus was only attracted to his own reflection. The nobility and knights almost saw themselves in Enide, they saw a person who was “worthy” of them and their social status.

What do you make of the second contest in the text (the sparrow-hawk)? What is at stake here? What are the implications of this concerning gender, power, masculinity, etc.? 

In the second competition the main thing a wager was not the bird, but the pride of the two men. When Erec challenged the other knight he was almost usurping him off his throne of pride and social status. The two men knew that they had to fight with each other because they had to fight for pride and prove who was more “worthy”. The bird was simply a token of whoever was socially or symbolically on top. The loser of the battle would be stripped of his pride and ego and publically humiliated, thus becoming a slave or prisoner to the winner. It appears that the males especially in this age have this innate drive to be on top and establish dominance over each other.