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.