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.