Buñuel's "That Obscure Object of Desire"

3.Buñuel uses two actresses to play the part of Conchita to show how dynamic Conchita is. When we are first introduced to Conchita she is very timid and inexperienced always pushing Matthieu away. When Matthieu touches Conchita in their first encounter Conchita rejects him. Conchita actions were very uneasy, and she was uncomfortable with his passes towards her. Then when the second actresses enters she is more open towards Matthieu passes, and she is very comfortable with herself and her sexuality. When she is in the room with Matthieu she makes passes at him to, and when she is dancing nude at the club she is comfortable with all the men watching her. The other actresses would be shy and she probably wouldn’t have even taken her clothes off in front of all those men. Buñuel uses two actresses to show the various sides that Conchita has and to show how complex Conchita is.

7. The final moment of the film is like the climax.  The sewing of the white cloth with the blood on it indicated that Conchita might have had sex with Matthieu, the music helps to make it more dramatic, and the explosion right after Conchita and Matthieu argue leads to end, like the final straw of their relationship. Matthieu is so enticed by the white cloth and the lady sewing that he zones out forgetting Conchita is there.  I thought about that idea of retaining the pure imagine. The sewing up the cloth and trying to get it back white like it has never been touched. It was like when Celestina would show up the heads of girls who were longer virgins so that they could keep that pure image. Matthieu was enticed by that pureness of Conchita, but when he has sex with her there is no longer a desire, or chase it’s like he begins to lose interest like Calisto did.   

Celestina - Day Five

Act 18:
Areusa wants to kill Calisto because it is his desires to be with Melibea that causes the deaths of Pármeno, Sempronio, and Celestina. Areusa feel like it would only be right to kill Calisto because if it wasn’t for him then everyone would probably be alive. I don’t think Calisto deserves to die because he didn’t take part in Pármeno, Sempronio, and Celestina’s death, they died over greed and if anything he was caught in their web of lies. When Areusa says "Punish him with a beating, but don't kill him"(176). I don’t think she wants to add to everything that’s already going on. Here she kind of doubts herself a bit. Areusa doesn’t want to do anything harsh to him because it really isn’t Calisto’s fault that Celestina is dead.
Act 19:
I think it’s better he dies in an accident because if he was murder it would have been more suspicion. Then it would have been this continuous cycle of revenge. I don’t think it makes a difference in how he dies. Either way he is gone. I think Melibea’s reaction was expected. She seemed hurt and from her reaction you can tell that she’s going to kill herself. That was the only way she thought she would get over his death.
Act 20:
I wasn’t surprised at Melibea’s death I was excepting it to happen. I did think that her father would stop her, but it wasn’t much he could do because she had her mind already made up. It was like Calisto died so Melibea dies to because it’s like for me that is the only way for the story to end.

Celestina - Day Four

Act 12:
Celestina gets what she deserves. Celestina tricks backlashed on her and she should have known something bad was bound to happen especially if she wasn’t holding up her part of the deal. The servants were acting in greed because the only reason they murder her was because she didn’t share her earnings with them. But if Celestina is known for her tricky and conniving ways the servants should have known she was lying when she said she would share. Celestina kind of gave hints that she wants going to share her earnings and I think the servants were being naïve and holding her words at for what they were.  I don’t sympathize because all of them should know by their better judgment not to trust each other. Ultimately they are all each other enemy and they are all liars, and there is really no one to sympathize for.
Act 13/14:
Calisto seems to be grieving more because of his reputation and what might have been said about him rather than because Pármeno, Sempronio, and Celestina death.  At first it seems that he is grieving because he is sad they are gone, but then he starts to say what will become of him, how have they tarnished his name. By the end of chapter 14 it is apparent that Calisto is all about self-image and as far as he is concerned he wasn’t around and was out of town. At this point Calisto is only concerned about himself and his love Melibea.

Celestina - Day Three

Chapter 7: 
In the chapter the emphasis is coming from Celestina. I think Celestina emphasis so much on the gap between age and youth because she feels like she’s been around long enough to know everything there is to know and when you’re young you’re still learning like you’re going through the learner phase of life and so your knowledge of everything around you isn’t fully developed. I think there is a parallel between age and wisdom, the younger you are the less wisdom you retain, but when you’re older you’ve dealt with some of the tricks of life and you know more so you feel you hold more knowledge than someone who is younger than you. Celestina always uses her age to her advantage especially when people doubt her because when she tries to prove herself or make a point she always says she’s been around longer and how she’s been doing her job for years that by now she is a master at her trade and she makes it seems as though because she is older she could never be wrong.

Chapter 8:
When Sempronio’s says: “not everything is white that isn’t black and not everything yellow and shiny is gold.”  Sempronio is saying that we can’t hold everything at face value. Not everything is what it’s meant to be. It’s like we can’t always expect everything to be what it is because that’s not always the case. One thing that I think about when I read this quote is what my mother and my grandfather would always say to me “Everything that glitters isn’t gold because shit glitters in the sun when flies are laying on it” and they would say this meaning that everything holds two meaning. Not everything is going to be painted out perfectly and clear for you. 

Chapter 9:  
“Out of goodwill or under pressure from us, Celestina will at least give us a piece of whatever she gets.” They are trusting her because first she Sempronio’s mother and then she was apart and helped raise Pármeno so it seems that they are banking on that motherly tie they have with her. It’s this idea that your family /flesh and blood would never betray you or at least you think and hope that that’s the last person who would trick or betray you.  I think that’s what they are going off of not realizing that sometimes it’s your family that will betray you as if they were a stranger and sometimes you have to keep a closer watch on your family than a stranger.

Chapter 10:
Melibea is conflicted because she desires to be with Calisto, but she must worry about her reputation and her family name. Calisto isn’t a man that her family approved of for her she doesn’t want to make her family look bad or bring them any slander by marrying or wanting to be with someone who isn’t of their standards or their kind. One example that I can think of is Twilight because the idea of being with someone who isn’t like you goes against everything you were taught and know, but then again it’s what also draws you closer to that person and desire them more.

Chapter 11:
Calisto is more so the slave of Celestina because she is pulling all of the strings. Everything that is done between Calisto and Melibea is done on the term of Celestina. But in his eyes he is at the fate of Melibea, but Celestina is the middle man in their “relationship”.

Celestina - Day One (Chapters 1 - 2)

1. The opening scene opens in a garden because it seems to symbolism the beginning or growth of the story/plot. When I thought about the garden the first thing that came to mind was The Garden of Eden.  It is the place where first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve lived after God created them. The garden is also used to explain the origin of sin and mankind’s wrongdoings. When Melibea curses Calisto it is because of the love he bears for her is forbidden: “Why do you scheme to bring ruin upon yourself by pursuing a virtuous women like me? Be gone, you selfish foo. I can’t bear to think a man felt it right in his heart to tell me of the delights of forbidden love” (1). Calisto praises Melibea’s beauty by basically calling her one of a kind. But to Melibea it seems that he is insincere with his actions and his words. Melibea thinks that he wants to sleep with her because she calls it “forbidden love” and this could be the reason why she questions what he schemes on a virtuous women like her she doesn’t deem his praise and the things that come out of his mouth as love, but instead some secret plot or plan. This is why she doesn’t seem to trust him or his words.
2. Calisto’s illness doesn’t seem like a mere illness, but it seems more like defeat. His charm didn’t work as he thought it would but he is more so upset because of the rejection from Melibea. When he is discussing Melibea he says he worships her and he treats her as if she is some type of God: “‘Aren’t you a Christian?’Me?  No, I’m a Melibea. I worship Melibea, I believe in Melibea and I adore Melibea” (4). Melibea is his want/ desire, but he can’t have nor get her so he suffers from it. Calisto is so fixated on her that when he doesn’t get her he goes on a rage wanting to be locked away in the dark not wanting to talk. When they start to talk about women they talk about how women make men renege. Like women are the curse of men that make them commit sins. Like they are some type of devil or curse: Just think of the pea-brains under the flimsy fabrics holding those tresses in place, the giddiness under the ruffles, finery and long, regal dresses, the whims sluicing behind those painted temples. That’s why people say, “Instrument of the devil, sin of sins, ravagers of paradise.” Don’t you remember that bit in the prayers for the Festival of St. John where it says, “This is women, the ancient curse of man that cast Adam from the delights of paradise that sent the human race to hell” (7). They try to put all the blame of mankind on women and their devilment. It’s like they saying from day one women have been at the fault of men down falls because their cunning and beauty, a devil in makeup.  They also talk about a woman’s feelings and how they are hard to fathom so it’s hard for a man to figure out what it is that they want or how they really feel.

The Decameron (Day Five)

7.5: The theme in this book seems to be jealousy. In the prologue the narrator looks down and feels that a jealous man deserves anything that is coming his way. The narrator oppresses this idea of male dominance in the marriage. The narrator talks about how the women is pint down and lock away like she is a prisoners, while the husband is free. The narrator says that “whatever a wife does to a husband who is jealous without a reason is certainly to be praised rather than to be condemned” (508). Our society is in the middle.  Compared to this text our society is in the middle while there is this idea of women independence and dominance in the air there is still more male dominance so it’s hard to say whether or if we can truly say that we regressed or progressed.

8.3: Boccaccio uses this idea of not knowing and tricky to fool Calandrino. Bruno and Buffalmacco both are tired and hungry from helping Calandrino try to find these magic rocks. Calandrino picks up a ton of rocks and is still trying to go in search for more in the heat. When Bruno and Buffalmacco act like they can’t see Calandrino and he falls for it thinking he found the rock that brings humor into the vignette. Also when they are throwing stones at him on the way home as if they can’t see him and he so caught up that he foolishly falls for the trick, walking through the town thinking no one can see him, not realizing that Bruno and Buffalmacco got the people to go along with the idea to make him think he was invisible even though he is not.

8.8: Passion is still celebrated today. There are lots of people who have more than one wife, husband, girlfriend, boyfriend, and there spouse is okay with the idea of sharing. For some people they rather share what they have than to lose it in whole. People would rather have a part of something to then to give it away altogether. At the end of 8.8 when it said the four made a packet to stay with each other and now the two husbands had two wives and the two wives had to two husbands. The idea of it being okay to not be faithful in a relationship/ marriage. Making it okay to cheat and not be monogamous. Which goes with today’s society because it’s this idea that it’s oaky to not be monogamous and it seems like it is more so common in society today than before.

Almodovar's "All About My Mother"

4. The 'range' of women in the film, including straight women, a pregnant HIV+ nun, transsexual prostitutes, lesbians. What do you think the film states about gender, femininity and sexuality? The film questions the idea of femininity. In the film you have Lola who is man/women who is having sex with women and getting them pregnant, and Manuela she asks Rosa how she could sleep with Lola since he is a woman/man even though she did it to. The film seems to question whether or not there is a barrier between being masculine and feminine. In the film there is a lot of transsexuals. Manuela’s friend talks about being confused with a drag queen and being a transsexual, he says how he is no drag queen because he doesn’t walk around pretending to be something that he isn’t because he is a women at all times although he still has his male sexual organ. He talks as if he is an actual woman like he himself embodies what a woman would. Even in the film there were men who were trying to sleep with woman knowing they were men so it’s like almost saying questioning whether there is an, if any variance between a man and a women.

5. Who is the "mother" of the film's title? Might there be more than one "mother"? (Also, who is the speaking "I" - 'my mother' - of the title?) Why and how? The mother refers to Rosa and Manuela. I think that the speaker could be Rosa’s son because Manuela son dies and he never seems to really know the truth, but Manuela promised Rosa that she would tell Esteban everything and would hold nothing from him so it could possibly be him speaking and referring back to his childhood story. The story could also be told by both of the Esteban’s because the first half could be the oldest one up until he dies and then the second half could be Rosa’s son because he is the last of the Estebans and it would make since for him to finish the story that his brother left off on seeing that Rosa and Manuela is his mother and he is telling the story of both of his moms.

The Decameron (Day Four / 5.8, 5.9, 5.10, 6.7, 6.10)

5.8 This story starts off by playing off of the power that women hold over men. As the story continues on though it is apparent that in this story the men hold the true power over the woman. When Nastagio goes to Chiassi he sees Messer Guido degli Anastagi trying to kill this naked innocent woman whom he had fallen deeply in love with like Nastagio had for the Traversari girl. She was condemned to pain and suffering for as many time that she had caused Messer pain each time she denied him love. Messer had eventually killed himself for her love, but instead of getting love at his death she was joyous, and happy so when she died and was condemned to hell she was to feel the pain he felt. Messer would have to cut her in half, rip out her heart and feed it to the dogs, and then she would come back alive and the chase would begin all over again. Nastagio saw this to his advantage in trying to win the Traversari girl whom hated him, so when he invited her and others to dinner he made sure that they would witness this act. After seeing this and hearing Messer’s story the Traversari girl had a change of heart because she didn’t want to be condemned in death for something she did in life so she married Nastagio. This eventually helped all men: “Nor was this the only good that came from this terrible apparition, for all the ladies of Ravenna became so frightened that from then on they became a good deal more amenable to men’s pleasure than they ever had been in the past” (425). Women had become easier to woo, for they feared the pain they would feel later which gave the men more empowerment because at this point women were afraid to deny their love to a man.

5.9
“…I would much rather have a man who lacks money than money that lacks a man” (431). Monna Giovanna was saying that she would rather have someone who will give his last valuable possession for her than a man who has money but is still a boy, and childish and his manners. Federigo had shown that he was a true man; he had given up his falcon which was his most valuable possession in order to feed her, and then when he couldn’t give it to her he cried because he was unable to give her what she asked of him.  “a man who lacks money”  is someone who doesn’t have money but what he values the most he will give to make you happy and to make sure your needs are meant, and ‘money that lacks a man” is some who is going to be with you, but not cherish you or value you as much as their possessions. Monna Giovanna didn’t have to worry about whether Federigo loved her or not because he loved her when he was rich and he loved her when he was poor, and he being poor didn’t stop him from showering her with gifts only this time is wasn’t a luxuries gift, but it was his bird, which was his pride.

The Decameron (Day Three / 3.3, 3.6, 3.9, 4.3, 4.9)

3.3: This story shows how it is easy for someone to deceive someone. It also shows how someone who is naïve and unwise will easily falls for things. The women was very deceptive, but the friar believed her because she was married, upset, crying, and a noble women who gave him money. She knew she couldn’t send a messenger, or write him a letter so she used the friar to communicate with the guy. I didn’t really think that the friar was going to fall for her lies because the friar is with the guy most of the time so wouldn’t he have seen him or noticed something. I thought it was ironic how she sent the messages by saying the opposite of what she meant, which shows how words and how people say things can hold more than one meaning all depending how you look at it.

3.6: The story shows how our jealousy can blind us. When we are jealous we never fully think things out but instead we react. The main character Ricciardo takes advantage of the fact that Catella is a jealous woman. The fact that she is insecure doesn’t help the situation because she isn’t really thinking things through, but instead is going off what Ricciardo is saying. Catella isn’t confident within neither herself nor her marriage so anything that is said to her about something bad her husband does or doesn’t do she will believe because she has no trust in her husband. This makes it easy for her to fall for Ricciardo trick. It’s funny how the whole time she was worried about her husband cheating, but then she turns around and has an affair with Ricciardo. The only time someone can be insecure with their relationship is when they are accusing their partner of something that they are doing or thinking of doing.

3.9: Giletta is a doctor. When Beltramo di Rossiglione is sent to France she is saddened because she fallen in love with him and he was being taken from her. Giletta would marry no other man and waited for her chance with Beltramo. When she heard the King of France was ill and no one could cure him, and only made it worse she took this opportunity not only to help the king, but to get Beltramo. When promised the king she could cure him in 8 days if she didn’t she would be killed, but if she did the king promised her Beltramo’s hand on marriage.

4.3: The story shows how love is blind and it can take over your mind. Sometime what you think is love truly isn’t. Love is made to be this passionate and happy ever after thing, like nothing bad happens. Love can make people do things that they thought they would never do. This is apparent with the three sisters running off with their lovers, thinking everything will end in harmony, but instead four people die and only two are left. The story shows how sometimes love can be tragic; in this story love was an emotional toll. The difference between actual love and perceived love is actual love is “real” love its genuine and perceived love is superficial. On the outside you see something or some sort of affection that is perceived as love, but on the end side it’s not love but merely an act of kindness.

4.9: the revenge in this story is gorier. Rossiglione doesn’t kill his wife, but instead kills Guardastagno and makes her eat his heart. Rossiglione could have killed her, but instead it seems he leads her to take her own life which makes it more dramatic. Either way in the end Rossiglione wife still ends up with Guardastagno when they are buried together so it’s like that eternal love, Rossiglione wife kills herself so that she can be with him.

The Decameron (Day Two / 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.9, 3.1)

1.   Story 2.5: Andreuccio learns how to play their game in Sicily: “You’ve got to know; but if this is what it is like to be related in Sicily—that you forget your ties so quickly—then at least give me back the clothes I left up there, and in God’s name I’ll gladly be off!” (Boccaccio 107).   When he is robbed by his ‘sister’ Madam Fiordaliso he soon finds that he is left on the streets with nothing. There is this reoccurring theme of abandonment in the text first with his abandoned ‘sister’, then when his ‘sister’ takes his money and clothes and abandons him, and finally when he goes with the two guys to rob the pope of his goods and jewels he was buried with. This attributes to his education because at the end when he is left behind he doesn’t cry, but he waits and finally when he is out he returns home with twice the amount of money then when he left.  You could say that Andreuccio learns how to play the fool without getting the burnt end of the stick
2.  Story 2.6: This story questions humanity as a whole. Here in the story you have Madam Beritola who is a noble women revert to these inhuman ways of life. In the story Madam Beritola when she is left on the island has survival instincts and it seems that it comes natural to her. When she breast feeds and takes in the two roebuck’s it’s kind of like Boccaccio is saying that there really is no division or separation between being human and being inhuman: “And as the milk from her own breast. They did not refuse her kindness, and so she suckled them just as their own mother might have done, and from that moment on they made no distinction between her and their mother” (Boccaccio 115). Boccaccio tries to show how there is no distinction between humanity and inhumanity. Humanity influence the story because when Currado finds Madam Beritola she is referred to as “Cavriuola” (doe), even after they put her in nice clothing which is like saying how clothing, formal language, and proper conducts can’t change the inner ‘beast’ within someone  and almost how everyone has a ‘wild-women’ or ‘wild-man’ within them.    

Decameron 1.1-1.4 & 2.3

1.1

“Nor should we believe that such special grace descends upon us and within us through any merit of our own, but rather it is sent by His own kindness and by the prayers of those who, like ourselves, were mortal and who have now become eternal and blessed with Him, for they followed His will while they were alive” (Boccaccio 25).  This quote drew my attention because it talks about how saints of God where once mortal and they have become eternal and blessed by Him because they have done his will while they were alive. This quote seems to sort of contradict the main character Ser Cepparello who came to be known as Saint Ciappelltto. Cepparello was conniving, manipulative men, who con people and the courts. When Cepparello was on his death bed he lied to the friar when he was confessing his sins and when he died he was seen as a saint and was buried by the church, he was seen as so holy that people called him saint and honored him. This goes back to the quote because when he was only seen as a saint because of the lies he told and the gullibility of the people, hence his burial by the church. Cepparello was able to get past the people, but his true test and trial would be when he dies and has to deal with God. It’s untold what his fate is, but you can assume that he isn’t a “saint” unless he was forgiven for his sins by God.

1.2

“Mercy patiently endures faults of those who with their words and deeds ought to bear witness to this mercy and yet do the contrary; I shall show how it makes these things an argument of His infallible truth so that with firmer conviction we may practice what we believe” (Boccaccio 38). This quote drew my attention because it says how people practice what they believe meaning whatever people see as true or worth following or believing they will turn that into a custom or habit and people who hold the same belief will follow and do the same thing.  The quote correlates with the theme of the story because when Abraham who was a Jew goes to the court of Rome he sees the wickedness of the clergy. Abraham returns to Paris wanting to convert to Christianity. The reason he wants to convert is because all the people follow the clergy   and if the clergy is wicked then the people who belief and follow them are going to be wicked to therefore although what he saw he said the people should go to hell for their sins he also saw that they were only following and doing what they were taught.   

1.3

“You should know, my dear companions, that just as stupidity can often remove one from a state of happiness and place him in the greatest misery, so, too, intelligence can rescue the wise man from the gravest of dangers and restore him to his secure state” (Boccaccio 43).  This quote drew me in because it talks about how lack of knowledge can often put people in a state of distress, but knowledge from someone with intelligence if used right can rescue a wise man from dangers and restore his state. This relates to the theme because Melchisedech, an Jew knowledge saves him from entrapment by Saracen King named Saladin. Saladin asks Melchisedech which faith is better between Jews, Saracen, or Christianity.  Melchisedech tells the story of three brothers who father was a king and held a ring which was to be passed on and was a tradition. The king was dying and had promised to leave the rings with the three sons but didn’t know who because he loved each son equally, so he had two more rings made and each son received a ring. This story goes back to the theme and the quote because Melchisedech was trying to say that each religion is just as worthy of truth as the other and who’s to say which religion is better than the other. Melchisedech used his knowledge and what he knew to get out of the trap which the king tried to set. Saladin satisfied with the answer had to be upfront with Melchisedech and ask him to borrow money, and he let him and they became friends. This shows how knowledge when used the right way can remove someone from any situation.

Almodovar's "Talk to Her"

Benigno relationship with Alicia seems at first harmless and he seems like he just admires her, but then as the film develops and you get more information it seems that Benigno is harmful. Benigno comes off as being kind and meaning well but then it seems that he is obsessed with Alicia especially the pictures of her that he has in his apartment and him consistently watching her. It’s like he is in his own world and he believes or feels as though Alicia feels for him the way he feels for her . Benigno seems sort of delusional. Benigno and Alicia ‘relationship’ contrast with Marco and Lydia because what Marco and Lydia had was an actual relationship with each other. Marco was somewhat different from Benigno because Marco didn’t know how to interact or what to say to Lydia because he felt like it would be hard because she couldn’t hear him or respond. Its similar because both men were fighting for love it was like they both were trying to hold on to something that seemed like it was almost unattainable. Benigno and Marco are in similar situations and they seem to grow to become friends and dependent upon each other. Marco and Benigno relationship is crucial because towards the end of the movie there relationship sort of brings together Alicia and Marco. There is this tie between Benigno, Alicia, and Marco. When the movie leaves off it seems that something is going to happen between Marco and Alicia, but then again it’s like maybe not because what Benigno ‘had’ with Alicia so its sort of open ended and leaves you wondering.

"Run Lola Run" Tykwer

In “Run Lola Run” by Tykwer it seems that with each scenario the role of dominancy changed between Lola and Manni.  When the movie first begins Lola is in charge she keeps trying to find ways to help and save Manni, but in the end Manni ends up saving himself and all the hard work she has done sort of goes to waste.

                The Fairytale aspect of how everything has a happy ending in the story seems to appear here. The first t time Lola dies, and then the second time Manni dies, but it restarts the third time and no one is hurt and they live together “happily ever after”. In the movie just like in a fairytale the ending was perfect and everyone was happy or benefited.  It was like Tykwer did that to show how everything is supposed to have a happy ending, and it’s like this comparison between fairytale and reality.

                The music in the movie is sort of what keeps the mind racing because it’s going the pace of Lola, it almost like this ticking clock in away because the music is so climatic. The music is like the music in a scary move that you only hear when something is going to happen and it keeps your heart racing and mind wondering. This is like what Tykwer is trying to do because it’s the music playing and she’s running and the whole time I was anxious because in my head I was trying to figure out what was going to happen and was she going to be able to save Manni.  It seems like in the movie Lola is the true Heroine, even though Manni saves himself at the end when he finds the bum. It’s like she could have saved him, but of course he saves himself and when he ask her about the bag she says it nothing and just walks away with him happy. It was like her efforts was put to waste and again the whole “fairy tale” aspect seems too dominant.

Yvain 3

There is the question of whether or not this is true love between Laudine and Yvain. Each time that they are brought together there is always Lunete involved with one of her plans. It doesn’t seem like love, but it seems more like Lunete bring them together because it will benefit them both.  This questions whether or not Lunete should have been killed for treason towards Laudine. Towards the conclusion of the text when Yvain creates this huge storm Laudine ask Lunete to find someone to protect the land because she knows that none of the men in the land would. Laudine suggests the knight with the lion, but Lunete says she can’t get him for he is no good because he is sad and dying of grief because the lady he loves will not forgive him.  Lunete basically traps Laudine because she says she doesn’t believe he will come unless the person swore and promised to do everything in his power to alleviate the great enmity that his lady feels towards him. Laudine is so naïve that she promises to do what she can: “ ‘I am prepared,’ her lady replied, ‘to pledge to you my word of honour before you set out on this quest that, if he comes to my rescue, I will do everything he desires, without guile or deception, to reconcile them, if I am able’”(Chrétien 377).  By Lunete having Laudine pledge her word it not only saves Lunete from seeming as if she betrayed Laudine, but also forces her to reconcile with Yvain because she has promised and she can’t break it.  Towards the end of the text when Laudine reconciles with Yvain it seems that she only does it because she promised and she doesn’t want to break her promise:” ‘I agree to this, because I’d be guilty of perjury if I did not do everything I could to make peace between us. So if you please, I grant it to you’ “(Chrétien 380). It seems as though she is settling because she figures not one can measure up to Yvain, and because she needs someone to protect her land. Yvain is so consumed by love for her that it all works they both get what they need from the relationship and it seems that as time goes on that is when they have no other choice, but to fall in love with each other because they both vowed and made promises that they can’t break.  It seems as though their relationship is convenient.

Yvain 2

The speech makes Yvain feel obligated to leave with the King Arthur. Gawain employs to him that if he doesn’t leave he will lose their worth, and honor because of his wife’s. Gawain is basically telling Yvain that he has all the time to focus on settling down and getting old, but right now he is at his prime and that is what is important and then his wife follows:  “A man must be concerned with his reputation before all else! Break the leash and yoke and let us, you and me, go to the tourney, so no one can call you a jealous husband. Now is not the time to dream your life away but to frequent tournaments, engage in combat, and joust vigorously, whatever it might cost you” (Chrétien 326). Gawain is trying to influence Yvain to leave Laudine “just for a while” to go to combat and then return if he isn’t killed to then dream of his life with his wife. Gawain also hints to death when he say “whatever it might cost you” , he is saying come have fun enjoy your last real combats and then if you live through the fights come back and play house with Laudine.  Laudine basically says to Yvain either return to her or have nothing to do with her and death will chose his fate.  Yvain says what if death came upon him and she tells him death will only come upon him if he forgot about her. I wouldn’t want to accept this agreement because although she is letting him go he’s damned either way because if he goes and forgets about her he there is the risk of death, but also he loses her, because she won’t take him back so it’s like Yvain can’t win either way. Yvain acts the way he does to Laudine’s messenger because the fact that he realizes that he loses his Laudine, and because he would be the cause of his own death. He vowed that he would return to him lady in the time she request him, but he stayed while beyond that and he broke his promise and he set himself up for death. Laudine told him if he remembered her he wouldn’t have to fear death, but if he forgot about her then he shall never return and she would curse him for being deceitful.  Yvain realized that he rather go crazy and become a lunatic before he killed himself because he couldn’t bring himself to do it. By Yvain running of in the woods and becoming savage I think it was a way of him punishing himself, but also just breaking free from everything like combat, and being a knight and just being able to be free without anything. We get to see Yvain adapt and change as a character because not only does his look change, but his outlook on life beings to change.

Yvain

     

The reader seems to be thrown into the story. Without the prologue it’s hard to determine the hidden message in the story. With Erec and Enide Chretien uses the prologue to send a message to the reader. In that prologue it was like he was saying don’t be deceived by the boring boy meets girl theme, because it’s more to the story than just that. The fact that Chretien doesn’t use a prologue for this romance seems to be because there wasn’t really a journey, it wasn’t something that he experienced with the character it was more so Calogrenant telling a tale of how he was defeated on this journey.  The journey doesn’t truly begin until Yvain goes to avenge his cousin’s shame. Chretien seems to be letting the reader make their own assumptions about this romance because he doesn’t use the prologue. The prologue for Erec and Enide was used as an introduction before the drama, but with Yvain the story begins with the main action and drama. Since there is no prologue it could simply mean that there is more to the story than just the romance and so he tries to show this by not just focusing on the romance its self, but the other elements that the story is composed of. In away Calogrenant story seemed to act as the prologue for this tale because he tells how he defeated the knight, but he also says: “Lend me your hearts and ears, for words that are not understood by the heart are lost completely” (Chretien 297). It’s like he is saying you need both heart and ears to listen because your ears just receive information and holds it for a little while your heart receives information and contains and digest it. This could have some deeper meaning or relevance to the rest of the tale, and in a way he is also talking to the reader saying how we need more than are ears, but also are hearts because this story isn’t just about listening and taken in the tale, but it’s about the experience and the emotion that the tale evokes in the reader.

Erec & Enide 3

     Throughout the text we see this buildup of events and battles that Erec go through. In each battle there is this heroic, divine tale of how Erec single handily slain worthy knights of distant lands. When first looking at each event it seems as though Erec is trying to prove himself and the fact that he is still a worthy knight, and has not lost his prowess.  But then I begin to look at the way Chrétien makes Erec this sort of supernatural being, the way he praised by the people, and the way people sort of embrace and admire him. It’s like throughout the text Erec develops into an idol: “They bore the body away to Limors and took it into the count’s palace. All the people followed after them – ladies, knights, and burghers. In the middle of the great hall, on a table, they placed Erec’s body laid it out, his shield and lance beside him. The hall filled up; the crowd thronged: everyone was pushing to inquire what grief this was and what the source of wonder was” (Chrétien 95).  Chrétien doesn’t say knight who was causing this grief, but he says “source of wonder” like he is referring to some sort of marvel, or miracle. Erec’s body was taken to a place where no one knew of him, but yet people of all ranking gathered and rushed to see his body and stand around him observing him. Erec’s death has some aspects of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ: “In the midst of these words and cries Erec regained consciousness, like a man who awakes from sleep […] ‘Away! Away! The dead man!’” (Chrétien 96, 97). Throughout the text Chrétien sort of makes these parallels between Erec and Jesus Christ. Through this Chretien shows the relevance of the text.

Q. How does Chrétien use this theme deity to show the relevance of the text?

Erec & Enide 2

1.      We see Enide emerging just after she is married to Erec. When Erec received Enide and she was named by her proper name which was given to her at her baptism that is the first time we learn her name. In the first half of the text Enide seems more reserved and quiet, almost this unrealistic character because we don’t have much information about her, but the fact that she is poor and beautiful. Enide name was enclosed so all the reader knew her by is “the maiden “or when someone is referring to her beauty. In the second half Enide seems to emerge, and there is this sense of who she really is, and her thoughts.  Enide really seems to emerge after her and Erec have sex: “the love between the two of them made the maiden more bold: she was not afraid of anything; she endured all whatever the cost. Before she arose again, she had lost the name of maiden; in the morning she was a new lady” (Chrétien63). After this Enide becomes this new outspoken women who is no longer a maiden, but she is Enide. We get to see this transformation with her character, and this is all coming from the love that Erec showed her.

3.      Erec intention for taking Enide with him seems to be his way of trying to prove himself by flaunting his manhood, and knighthood. It’s also a chance for Erec to show Enide and to prove to others that he is no coward and he still has his skill and is the best knight in the land. For Erec it seems to be a journey for his ego, reputation, and renewal of his name and deeds. When he travels it seems that he tries to do things and help people who will give him homage. He tries to do things that will make him seem heroic when tales are told about it. On page 92 when he saves Cadoc from the two giants he says I want nothing of you, but for you to go to King Arthur and say that he sent them and then he kind of adds on and tells them don’t be afraid or hold the tale of how I saved you from two giants. Erec seems to be trying to show everyone that no matter what he still has his skills and he is no coward, but it seems that he’s so over board with it that he is willing to die just to prove that he is a knight till the end.

Erec & Enide

4.         The second contest (the sparrow-hawk) is a chance for the men to redeem themselves and their names, but it really wasn’t a competition because no one wanted to really step up and battle the knight that Erec had ran into earlier in the woods. It seemed as though the festival was a matter of anticipation. Everyone would go not to battle, but it with this hope or eagerness that someone would step up to this knight and challenge him.

   To me the sparrow-hawk contest is similar to the white stag tradition that King Arthur wanted to revive. Both seem to emphasize the importance of beauty, chivalry, knighthood, and honor. For the knights there name and reputation is at stake. They can either earn honor or they can lose it and bring shame upon themselves and their name. For the women it is a matter of beauty, fairness, esteem, and being worthy of such praise within the land. It is also a chance for the men to kind of prove their manhood and prowess.

5.         The scene when Queen Guinevere dresses Enide seems to imply the making of her into a woman. When she dresses her it’s like she is transforming her, Enide tells them to give her old clothes away, as she drapes on these luxuries clothes, gems, and gold. Enide goes from poor to royalty. The more Queen Guinevere dresses her the more her beauty increases and she becomes nobler.

   The dress seemed to represent the life and the things that she had to look forward to. It represents her change, she already had the looks of royalty, but the clothes enhanced her beauty and made her seem more pleasing and honorable. Enide didn’t deny any of the clothes but instead took them. Erec seems to embrace her beauty for him it is something that is dreamlike, and unnatural. Erec found her beautiful even with the worn out clothes. The clothes that Queen Guinevere gave her only enhanced her beauty and made her regal. Erec saw something that it took silk fabrics, gems, and gold for others to see; to him she was already a fit to be a queen.