1. character: Jose Arcadio Buendia
I thought Jose Arcadio Buendia was one of the most interesting characters in the first five chapters of the novel. He was constantly changing from a madman into a sane man, until he ended up as a lunatic. I thought Jose AB was the Don Quijote of this story. He was constantly being disillusioned by his madness, as was Don Quijote. As Don Quijote is tricked and brought home at the end of the first part of the novel, Jose AB is tied up to a tree and left outside towards the end of the first five chapters.
When the Gypsies first come to Maconda, in the first chapter of the story, Jose AB has the same fascination with their magnets and magnifying glasses as Don Quijote has with the knight errantry of his books. "Jose Arcadio Buendia, whose unbridled imagination always went beyond the genius of nature and even beyond miracles and magic, thought that it would be possible to make use of that useless invention to extract gold from the bowels of the earth" (pg 2). Once the Gypsies leave, Jose AB takes up alchemy and the process of making gold, using the supplies that Melquiades gave him. The town is convinced Jose has lost his mind, just as Don Quijote's friends are convinced he has lost his mind. After the Gypsies leave, Jose AB fails in his attempt to find a passage to the north, and Ursula leaves him. He loses his madness and comes back to reality, becoming a mother for Amaranta and taking care of the house. When Ursula returns, however, he returns to his madness, and dusts off his old laboratory.
In chapter 4, Jose Arcadio Buendia starts his downward spiral. He takes apart the pianola to see its inner workings, but cannot reassemble it correctly in time for the party. Once Melquiades dies, however, it is the end of Jose AB's sanity. Prudencio Aguilar's spirit visits Jose AB, and his memory causes him to lose sleep. Finally, Jose AB loses it and "...grabbed the bar from a door and with the savage violence of his uncommon strength he smashed to dust the equipment in the alchemy laboratory, the daguerrotype room, the silver workshop, shouting like a man possessed in some high-sounding and fluent but completely incomprehensible language...Ten men were needed to get him down, fourteen to tie him up, twenty to drag him to the chestnut tree in the courtyard, where they left him tied up, barking in the strange language and giving off a green froth at the mouth...Later on they built him a shelter of palm branches to protect him from the sun and the rain" (pg 78). This is similar to the end of Part I of Don Quijote. He is forced home by his friends, and left there delirious and unaware of his surroundings.
I think that Jose Arcadio Buendia represents, like Don Quijote, the conflict of madness and reality in the novel. Jose AB's sanity is so tainted by his love for experimentation that in the end he obsessively and maniacally recites Melquiade's Latin chants, and gets tied to a tree like an animal.
2. theme/symbol: love
I think that love is a strongly recurring theme in the first five chapters of the novel. Everyone, at one point or another in the first chapters, professes their love or harbors a love for someone else. Jose Arcadio 'loves' Pilar Ternera, Aureliano loves Remedios, Rebeca and Amaranta both love Pietro Crespi, and Rebeca loves Jose Arcadio. As Rebeca and Amaranta fight over Pietro, Aureliano wishes to marry Remedios, who is still a bed-wetting child, and Jose Arcadio Buendia states "'Love is a disease'..." (pg 68).
Amorous love, however, is not the only kind of love in the first few chapters. There is also the maternal love that Ursula has for her children and Rebeca and Arcadio, and the paternal love Jose Arcadio Buendia feels for the town of Macondo. Ursula takes in Arcadio and Rebeca, even though they are not her children, and raises them with the same maternal kindness that she gives her own children. When Remedios, dies, Ursula orders an extended and extreme period of mourning. "Ursula ordered a mourning period of closed doors and windows, with no one entering or leaving except on matters of utmost necessity. She prohibited any talking aloud for a year and she put Remedios' daguerrotype in the place where her body had been laid out, with a black ribbon around it and an oil lamp that was always kept lighted" (pg 88). Jose Arcadio Buendia also feels a strong love for the town he established, until he goes crazy. He has organized it in such a way that everyone has access to the water, and there is always a constant state of peace in the town. When he has a dispute with Don Moscote, he does not use violence but instead handles the situation with a strange sort of calmness. He has built the town from the ground up, and has a special connection with it.
I think this theme comments on what we have read so far. I think that love can be considered a driving force behind many of the actions undertaken by the characters in the story. Jose Arcadio Buendia has a love for knowledge, which causes him to undertake alchemy. Aureliano loves Remedios, which causes him to teach her and wait for her to mature so he can marry her. He also has a sort of love for the Liberal party, seeing as he takes up the cause after the tampered-with elections, and stages a revolt against the Conservative soldiers in his town.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Grimm's Fairy Tales [Day 2]
Theme: the good guy always gets the girl, in the end
Tales: Rapunzel and Bearskin
One of the most constant themes throughout these fairy tales is the triumph of the 'good guy', and of course his prize is always the girl. He is put through trials and suffering, but in the end is rewarded for his actions. This is the case in both 'Rapunzel' and 'Bearskin'. In 'Rapunzel', Rapunzel is trapped in a tower in a forest by the Witch who had taken her at birth in exchange for radishes. When the Witch discovers she has let a prince into her tower, she cuts off her hair and leaves her in the desert. When the prince comes back, but the Witch is in the tower, so he throws himself out the window, lands in thorns, and wanders blindly. "So he wandered, blind, in the forest, eating nothing but roots and berries, and doing nothing but weeping and lamenting for the loss of his dear wife" (pg 69). And, of course, after all of this suffering, he is reunited with Rapunzel in the end. "...Rapunzel recognised him, and fell upon his neck and wept. Two of her tears moistened his eyes, and they became clear again, so that he could see as well as formerly...they lived together long contented, and happy" (pg 69).
A similar situation happens in 'Bearskin'. After a war, a soldier is wandering around the forest, because he has no other skills but soldiering. He comes across a stranger with a cloven foot, who gives him money but in exchange, "'For the next seven years you must not wash yourself, nor comb your hair or beard, neither must you cut your nails not say one paternoster'" (pg 338), and also must wear the skin of a bear. Bearskin agrees to this, and travels about giving his endless supply of money to those in need. He is betrothed to a young girl, who is not afraid to marry him. However, he must finish out his seven years promise to the Evil One. After his seven years are done, he comes back, looking like a new man. The girl's older sisters become interested, but he remembers his promise to the younger one, and tells her "'I am your bridegroom, whom you first saw as Bearskin; but through God's mercy I have regained my human form, and am myself once more'" (pg 341). As is custom, they kiss, and the other sisters leave in jealousy. We don't see a "and they lived together happily ever after" like we do in 'Rapunzel', but it can be assumed so. Because Bearskin has suffered those seven years, he is rewarded with a girl.
Theme: the thief is always punished
Tales: The Jew Among Thorns and The Master-Thief
Another of the constant ideas throughout these tales is that the thief or evil person is always punished for their actions. In 'The Jew Among Thorns', the Jewish man is punished throughout the story. He follows a fallen bird into a thorn bush, his beard gets caught, and is forced to dance and be torn apart by the thorns. At first, I thought this punishment was cruel, and showed a little bit of the German Antisemitism from the 1930s and 40s. However, in the end, we find out that the Jewish man was actually a thief, and had stolen from people. "'I stole it, I stole it!' cried the Jew; 'but you have honestly earned it'. Upon this the judge caused the Jew to be hung on the gallows as a thief..." (pg 350). Whether or not the Jewish man was a thief, or was bullied into admitting it, it still teaches us a 'lesson'. If we steal or deceive people, we will be punished for it, as we should be.
There is a similar yet slightly different situation in 'The Master-Thief'. The thief tells his parents he is a thief, and even though he tells his parents not to be afraid, his father tells him "'...a thief is a thief, whether clever or not, and I warn you comes not to any good end'" (pg 489-90). His father is, in the end, partly correct. The master-thief goes to the Count's castle, and is put to three seemingly impossible tasks because the Count wants to see how good the thief actually is. However, after he completes the three tasks, the Count tells the thief "'You are indeed an arch-thief, and have won your wager. For this time you may escape with a whole skin, but take care to keep away from my provinces; for if you venture again into my power you shall be elevated on the gallows'" (pg 494). Although the thief is allowed to escape, he is warned with the punishment of death. Also, he is not allowed to keep anything he has stolen, since he has stolen things that belong to the Count.
I find the themes in these tales to be more along the lines of morals, and not the type of themes we found in stories like Don Quijote. I think they are important themes in the Grimm's plan of uniting Germany because they promote ideas necessary for unification. Although they can't promise that every good guy who suffers will get a girl, the idea of being a good person should have resonated with the people reading the stories.
Tales: Rapunzel and Bearskin
One of the most constant themes throughout these fairy tales is the triumph of the 'good guy', and of course his prize is always the girl. He is put through trials and suffering, but in the end is rewarded for his actions. This is the case in both 'Rapunzel' and 'Bearskin'. In 'Rapunzel', Rapunzel is trapped in a tower in a forest by the Witch who had taken her at birth in exchange for radishes. When the Witch discovers she has let a prince into her tower, she cuts off her hair and leaves her in the desert. When the prince comes back, but the Witch is in the tower, so he throws himself out the window, lands in thorns, and wanders blindly. "So he wandered, blind, in the forest, eating nothing but roots and berries, and doing nothing but weeping and lamenting for the loss of his dear wife" (pg 69). And, of course, after all of this suffering, he is reunited with Rapunzel in the end. "...Rapunzel recognised him, and fell upon his neck and wept. Two of her tears moistened his eyes, and they became clear again, so that he could see as well as formerly...they lived together long contented, and happy" (pg 69).
A similar situation happens in 'Bearskin'. After a war, a soldier is wandering around the forest, because he has no other skills but soldiering. He comes across a stranger with a cloven foot, who gives him money but in exchange, "'For the next seven years you must not wash yourself, nor comb your hair or beard, neither must you cut your nails not say one paternoster'" (pg 338), and also must wear the skin of a bear. Bearskin agrees to this, and travels about giving his endless supply of money to those in need. He is betrothed to a young girl, who is not afraid to marry him. However, he must finish out his seven years promise to the Evil One. After his seven years are done, he comes back, looking like a new man. The girl's older sisters become interested, but he remembers his promise to the younger one, and tells her "'I am your bridegroom, whom you first saw as Bearskin; but through God's mercy I have regained my human form, and am myself once more'" (pg 341). As is custom, they kiss, and the other sisters leave in jealousy. We don't see a "and they lived together happily ever after" like we do in 'Rapunzel', but it can be assumed so. Because Bearskin has suffered those seven years, he is rewarded with a girl.
Theme: the thief is always punished
Tales: The Jew Among Thorns and The Master-Thief
Another of the constant ideas throughout these tales is that the thief or evil person is always punished for their actions. In 'The Jew Among Thorns', the Jewish man is punished throughout the story. He follows a fallen bird into a thorn bush, his beard gets caught, and is forced to dance and be torn apart by the thorns. At first, I thought this punishment was cruel, and showed a little bit of the German Antisemitism from the 1930s and 40s. However, in the end, we find out that the Jewish man was actually a thief, and had stolen from people. "'I stole it, I stole it!' cried the Jew; 'but you have honestly earned it'. Upon this the judge caused the Jew to be hung on the gallows as a thief..." (pg 350). Whether or not the Jewish man was a thief, or was bullied into admitting it, it still teaches us a 'lesson'. If we steal or deceive people, we will be punished for it, as we should be.
There is a similar yet slightly different situation in 'The Master-Thief'. The thief tells his parents he is a thief, and even though he tells his parents not to be afraid, his father tells him "'...a thief is a thief, whether clever or not, and I warn you comes not to any good end'" (pg 489-90). His father is, in the end, partly correct. The master-thief goes to the Count's castle, and is put to three seemingly impossible tasks because the Count wants to see how good the thief actually is. However, after he completes the three tasks, the Count tells the thief "'You are indeed an arch-thief, and have won your wager. For this time you may escape with a whole skin, but take care to keep away from my provinces; for if you venture again into my power you shall be elevated on the gallows'" (pg 494). Although the thief is allowed to escape, he is warned with the punishment of death. Also, he is not allowed to keep anything he has stolen, since he has stolen things that belong to the Count.
I find the themes in these tales to be more along the lines of morals, and not the type of themes we found in stories like Don Quijote. I think they are important themes in the Grimm's plan of uniting Germany because they promote ideas necessary for unification. Although they can't promise that every good guy who suffers will get a girl, the idea of being a good person should have resonated with the people reading the stories.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Grimm's Fairy Tales [Day 1]
1. The Disnefication of the Tales
After reading these fairy tales, I find it very strange that some of these stories have become Disney-fied. Disney has done an excellent job of toning down the horror of some of these stories, but the more I thought about it, the more shocked I was that they would make these stories into movies for children. Out of the ten stories for today, I thought that "The Frog Prince", "Briar Rose", and "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" had become the most Disney-fied.
"The Frog Prince" was the one most recently made into a Disney movie ("The Princess and the Frog", or whatever it was). I have not seen it, but I'd imagine it couldn't be so bad, because the story itself is not as chilling as the others. The princess lies to the frog to get her way and then refuses to be his companion, but the worst part in the entire story was near the end, right before the frog turned back into a prince. "This speech put the King's daughter in a terrible passion, and, catching the Frog up, she threw him with all her strength against the wall, saying, 'Now, will you be quiet, you ugly Frog!'" (pg 17). I'm not the biggest fan of frogs and other such creatures, but animal cruelty in any sort of way really bothers me.
It took me a moment to realise that "Briar Rose" was actually "Sleeping Beauty", until I remembered an old book I had that told the story but first referred to the princess as Briar Rose. This story was probably the saddest of the Disney movies, because the poor girl has to sleep for all those years. As I read, I thought back on the movie, and it just occurred to me now how scary Maleficent actually was. She had that horrible strange headpiece, and was generally creepy. It's funny how we don't notice things like that when we're younger.
I have the biggest problem with "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" as a Disney movie. Snow White is only seven, and yet her stepmother is already so jealous of her that she has to have her killed. "Her envy and jealousy increased so that she had no rest day or night, and she said to a Huntsman, 'Take the child away into the forest, I will never look upon her again. You must kill her, and bring me her heart and tongue for a token" (180). That is supremely horrible of someone to do to a poor seven year old. How is she supposed to fend for herself in the forest? Most people aren't so lucky as to stumble upon the cottage of seven little men. And furthermore, what cautious woman would ever stay in an unknown man's cottage? The Disney version leaves out the fact that Snow White is a girl and depicts her as an older, more mature 'maiden'. The movie also happens to conveniently leave out that the witch tries to take Snow White's life two times before the apple, and also fails to mention that the Prince doesn't rescue her with a kiss - he begs for her coffin "'for I cannot live without Snow-White'", and while it is being carried to the castle, the piece of poisoned apple pops out of her throat. The real tale is clearly not as glamorous as Disney wants us to believe.
I think that Disney has helped these stories become 'internationalized' because, honestly, what girl doesn't want to be a princess? I spent countless hours when I was younger parading around in my aunt's old bridesmaids dresses and hideous 80s prom gowns and wearing my grandmother's wedding tiara. I even had a princess birthday party in the first grade, and everyone had to come dressed as a princess (even my little sister, who was only 3 at the time). Even still I wonder what it would be like to be royalty, to have fancy balls and meet princes. But if our mothers had read the actual fairy tales to us when we were little, there would be a much smaller number of girls who wanted to be a princess. I was an avid reader as a child, and read basically everything, but if I had read any of the real stories (and not the watered-down picture books), I would have had nightmares for weeks. I'm still afraid of the dark now, and I can only imagine what reading about a stepmother eating her daughter's heart would have done to me.
I think these stories have become universal because there is no one setting for them. The Brothers Grimm don't come right out and say, 'This story took place in the German wilderness'. We can assume the setting is in Germany, but they could technically be set anywhere we wanted. Also, the stories are fanciful and entertaining. There are princesses across the world, and every girl has at least once dreamed of becoming one herself, or meeting one. I also think the main theme across these stories is that the good always succeed. Snow White lives, and ends up with the Prince. The King's daughter, after she smashes the frog into the wall, lives happily ever after with him. And, of course, Briar Rose is awakened by the Prince, and lives happily ever after. Although no one can always live happily ever after, as we would like, the stepmothers are shut down and the poor princess comes out with the victory.
2. The Function of Gender, As It Applies to Women
I'm going to take a slightly different path with this question. I understand that men have a role in these stories too, but I feel the roles for women are much more restricted. I also feel that women often get a negative association in these tales. The three stories, in my opinion, that highlight the role(s) women play are "The Twelve Brothers", "Little Red Riding Hood", and "The Handless Maiden". And, obviously, any story with a wicked stepmother falls into this discussion.
There are clearly only four roles a female can play in these tales: maiden in distress, a banished girl, an evil, jealous stepmother, or a witch. In "The Twelve Brothers", the sister is really given an unfair and difficult position. "One day the King said to his consort, 'If the thirteenth child, whom you are about to bring into the world, should be a girl, then shall the twelve boys die, that her riches may be great, and that the kingdom may fall to her alone'" (pg 38). How unfortunate would it be to be that daughter? She's basically being doomed, by her own father, from birth. She goes out to save her brothers, and then ends up being sentenced to 7 years of silence because she makes a mistake and changes her brothers into crows. Of course, she narrowly escapes burning to death and the story ends with a happily ever after. "Little Red Riding Hood" is one of the scariest tales that any child would read. You think you're going to see your grandmother, and you walk in the house and become lunch for a wolf. Little Red is younger than the typical princess, which makes it a little scarier I think. In "The Handless Maiden", the girl is forced to have her hands cut off and wander the world. "Thereupon she laid down both her hands, and her father cut them off" (pg 115).
The term 'fairy tale', in my opinion, implies the female gender. In our culture, no man wants to be referred to as a fairy, because it has come to have a seemingly negative connotation. We also never see fairies depicted as men. For example, we have Cinderella's Fairy GodMOTHER, not godfather. We also have the tooth fairy, who is always depicted as a woman. We have come to accept that if you are a fairy, you must also be a woman.
I think women are given a negative depiction in many of these stories because throughout history, women have consistently been given negative roles. We, because of Eve, are still CLEARLY the reason why men make mistakes and are lead astray, and we use our womanly enchantments to do this (because OBVIOUSLY we all possess the magical abilities of casting spells and enchantments on innocent men). When a woman is given male freedoms, like Chaucer's Wife of Bath, she is looked down upon as rebellious. These stories do not exactly help the image of women. Yes, the Brothers included the Evil One, who comes as a man, but they also have the stepmother-witch who tries to take Snow-White's life three times, and also the old woman who lets Briar Rose prick her finger on the spindle. Even the acts of these evil women are gross. For example, the stepmother in Snow White: "The Queen meanwhile, supposing she had eaten the heart and tongue of her daughter-in-law, did not think but that she was above all comparison the most beautiful of every one around" (pg 182).
After reading these fairy tales, I find it very strange that some of these stories have become Disney-fied. Disney has done an excellent job of toning down the horror of some of these stories, but the more I thought about it, the more shocked I was that they would make these stories into movies for children. Out of the ten stories for today, I thought that "The Frog Prince", "Briar Rose", and "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" had become the most Disney-fied.
"The Frog Prince" was the one most recently made into a Disney movie ("The Princess and the Frog", or whatever it was). I have not seen it, but I'd imagine it couldn't be so bad, because the story itself is not as chilling as the others. The princess lies to the frog to get her way and then refuses to be his companion, but the worst part in the entire story was near the end, right before the frog turned back into a prince. "This speech put the King's daughter in a terrible passion, and, catching the Frog up, she threw him with all her strength against the wall, saying, 'Now, will you be quiet, you ugly Frog!'" (pg 17). I'm not the biggest fan of frogs and other such creatures, but animal cruelty in any sort of way really bothers me.
It took me a moment to realise that "Briar Rose" was actually "Sleeping Beauty", until I remembered an old book I had that told the story but first referred to the princess as Briar Rose. This story was probably the saddest of the Disney movies, because the poor girl has to sleep for all those years. As I read, I thought back on the movie, and it just occurred to me now how scary Maleficent actually was. She had that horrible strange headpiece, and was generally creepy. It's funny how we don't notice things like that when we're younger.
I have the biggest problem with "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" as a Disney movie. Snow White is only seven, and yet her stepmother is already so jealous of her that she has to have her killed. "Her envy and jealousy increased so that she had no rest day or night, and she said to a Huntsman, 'Take the child away into the forest, I will never look upon her again. You must kill her, and bring me her heart and tongue for a token" (180). That is supremely horrible of someone to do to a poor seven year old. How is she supposed to fend for herself in the forest? Most people aren't so lucky as to stumble upon the cottage of seven little men. And furthermore, what cautious woman would ever stay in an unknown man's cottage? The Disney version leaves out the fact that Snow White is a girl and depicts her as an older, more mature 'maiden'. The movie also happens to conveniently leave out that the witch tries to take Snow White's life two times before the apple, and also fails to mention that the Prince doesn't rescue her with a kiss - he begs for her coffin "'for I cannot live without Snow-White'", and while it is being carried to the castle, the piece of poisoned apple pops out of her throat. The real tale is clearly not as glamorous as Disney wants us to believe.
I think that Disney has helped these stories become 'internationalized' because, honestly, what girl doesn't want to be a princess? I spent countless hours when I was younger parading around in my aunt's old bridesmaids dresses and hideous 80s prom gowns and wearing my grandmother's wedding tiara. I even had a princess birthday party in the first grade, and everyone had to come dressed as a princess (even my little sister, who was only 3 at the time). Even still I wonder what it would be like to be royalty, to have fancy balls and meet princes. But if our mothers had read the actual fairy tales to us when we were little, there would be a much smaller number of girls who wanted to be a princess. I was an avid reader as a child, and read basically everything, but if I had read any of the real stories (and not the watered-down picture books), I would have had nightmares for weeks. I'm still afraid of the dark now, and I can only imagine what reading about a stepmother eating her daughter's heart would have done to me.
I think these stories have become universal because there is no one setting for them. The Brothers Grimm don't come right out and say, 'This story took place in the German wilderness'. We can assume the setting is in Germany, but they could technically be set anywhere we wanted. Also, the stories are fanciful and entertaining. There are princesses across the world, and every girl has at least once dreamed of becoming one herself, or meeting one. I also think the main theme across these stories is that the good always succeed. Snow White lives, and ends up with the Prince. The King's daughter, after she smashes the frog into the wall, lives happily ever after with him. And, of course, Briar Rose is awakened by the Prince, and lives happily ever after. Although no one can always live happily ever after, as we would like, the stepmothers are shut down and the poor princess comes out with the victory.
2. The Function of Gender, As It Applies to Women
I'm going to take a slightly different path with this question. I understand that men have a role in these stories too, but I feel the roles for women are much more restricted. I also feel that women often get a negative association in these tales. The three stories, in my opinion, that highlight the role(s) women play are "The Twelve Brothers", "Little Red Riding Hood", and "The Handless Maiden". And, obviously, any story with a wicked stepmother falls into this discussion.
There are clearly only four roles a female can play in these tales: maiden in distress, a banished girl, an evil, jealous stepmother, or a witch. In "The Twelve Brothers", the sister is really given an unfair and difficult position. "One day the King said to his consort, 'If the thirteenth child, whom you are about to bring into the world, should be a girl, then shall the twelve boys die, that her riches may be great, and that the kingdom may fall to her alone'" (pg 38). How unfortunate would it be to be that daughter? She's basically being doomed, by her own father, from birth. She goes out to save her brothers, and then ends up being sentenced to 7 years of silence because she makes a mistake and changes her brothers into crows. Of course, she narrowly escapes burning to death and the story ends with a happily ever after. "Little Red Riding Hood" is one of the scariest tales that any child would read. You think you're going to see your grandmother, and you walk in the house and become lunch for a wolf. Little Red is younger than the typical princess, which makes it a little scarier I think. In "The Handless Maiden", the girl is forced to have her hands cut off and wander the world. "Thereupon she laid down both her hands, and her father cut them off" (pg 115).
The term 'fairy tale', in my opinion, implies the female gender. In our culture, no man wants to be referred to as a fairy, because it has come to have a seemingly negative connotation. We also never see fairies depicted as men. For example, we have Cinderella's Fairy GodMOTHER, not godfather. We also have the tooth fairy, who is always depicted as a woman. We have come to accept that if you are a fairy, you must also be a woman.
I think women are given a negative depiction in many of these stories because throughout history, women have consistently been given negative roles. We, because of Eve, are still CLEARLY the reason why men make mistakes and are lead astray, and we use our womanly enchantments to do this (because OBVIOUSLY we all possess the magical abilities of casting spells and enchantments on innocent men). When a woman is given male freedoms, like Chaucer's Wife of Bath, she is looked down upon as rebellious. These stories do not exactly help the image of women. Yes, the Brothers included the Evil One, who comes as a man, but they also have the stepmother-witch who tries to take Snow-White's life three times, and also the old woman who lets Briar Rose prick her finger on the spindle. Even the acts of these evil women are gross. For example, the stepmother in Snow White: "The Queen meanwhile, supposing she had eaten the heart and tongue of her daughter-in-law, did not think but that she was above all comparison the most beautiful of every one around" (pg 182).
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Don Quixote [Day 6]
1.
I don't think that Don Quixote has become 'de-quixoticized' at all in the final chapters. I think that throughout the first part of the novel, he has lost some of his naivety and innocence, but he has still retained his imaginary world and continues to live in it. As they are riding along in the ox-cart, Sancho bursts out: "'God save us all and his Holy Mother too!' Sancho exclaimed. 'How can you be so thick-skulled and empty-headed that you can't see that what I'm saying is the plain truth, and that it's more through roguery than enchantment that you're in this mess and this cage?'" (ch xlviii, p448). If anyone has become de-quixoticized, it is Sancho Panza. He is able to recognize the situation that he and his master are in, and he refuses to play along and believe that his master is under an enchantment. Don Quixote, on the other hand, still firmly believes in knighthood and sorcery. He refuses to agree with Sancho's argument, and instead states: "'What you say is true, Sancho,' replied Don Quixote, 'but I have already told you that enchantment can take many different forms, and it could be that these have changed in the course of time, so that what happens nowadays is that the enchanted do all the things that I do, even though formerly they did not'" (ch xlix, p449). He knows that the times have changed and knight errantry isn't all that it used to be, but he still believes that he is a knight.
I think that Cervantes leaves Don Quixote in his imaginary world because he has become such an endearing character. There was a point, in the middle of the first part of the novel, when I didn't like Don Quixote because I thought he mistreated Sancho. However, towards the end, he is so innocently funny that it's hard not to become attached to him as a character. I think that the breaks from his story and the insertion of side stories, although I thought they detracted from the novel, helped in becoming more acquainted with the main character. It also helped because the ending of the first part was quite sad, when Don Quixote is brought back home. "He was peering at them through unfocused eyes, and couldn't fathom where on earth he was" (ch lii, p474).
3.
My most favorite part of this entire story was when Don Quixote, in chapter xlix, took a firm stand against the canon who was slandering his books of chivalry. Don Quixote was always a firm believer in knight errantry and chivalry, but he had never taken so firm a stand as when he did on p453: "'Well, for my part,' replied Don Quixote, 'I consider that it is you who are out of your senses and under some spell, for you have taken it upon yourself to utter such blasphemies against what has been so well received in the world and so widely accepted as the truth that anyone who denies it, as you do, deserves the same punishment that you say you inflict on books that annoy you when you read them. Because trying to persuade anyone that Amadis and all the other knight adventurers that pack the histories never existed is like trying to persuade him that the sun does not give out light, and that ice is not cold, and that the earth does not sustain us'". Everyone has spent the entire first part of the novel calling the hidalgo crazy, attacking him for his ideas or playing along with them to appease him. No one has ever believed him to be in an entirely right state of mind. However, I think this quote was an excellent way of having Don Quixote turn on his attackers. Maybe it's us, the audience, who are crazy. Just because the hidalgo is living in his imagination does not mean he is insane, and should be treated as such. It has been pointed out that he is an intelligent man who can form clear and lucid arguments, and I think it is unfair that the priest, who called him such things and actually enjoyed listening to him speak, would be so malicious as to put him in a cage and drag him home like a prisoner.
I don't think that Don Quixote has become 'de-quixoticized' at all in the final chapters. I think that throughout the first part of the novel, he has lost some of his naivety and innocence, but he has still retained his imaginary world and continues to live in it. As they are riding along in the ox-cart, Sancho bursts out: "'God save us all and his Holy Mother too!' Sancho exclaimed. 'How can you be so thick-skulled and empty-headed that you can't see that what I'm saying is the plain truth, and that it's more through roguery than enchantment that you're in this mess and this cage?'" (ch xlviii, p448). If anyone has become de-quixoticized, it is Sancho Panza. He is able to recognize the situation that he and his master are in, and he refuses to play along and believe that his master is under an enchantment. Don Quixote, on the other hand, still firmly believes in knighthood and sorcery. He refuses to agree with Sancho's argument, and instead states: "'What you say is true, Sancho,' replied Don Quixote, 'but I have already told you that enchantment can take many different forms, and it could be that these have changed in the course of time, so that what happens nowadays is that the enchanted do all the things that I do, even though formerly they did not'" (ch xlix, p449). He knows that the times have changed and knight errantry isn't all that it used to be, but he still believes that he is a knight.
I think that Cervantes leaves Don Quixote in his imaginary world because he has become such an endearing character. There was a point, in the middle of the first part of the novel, when I didn't like Don Quixote because I thought he mistreated Sancho. However, towards the end, he is so innocently funny that it's hard not to become attached to him as a character. I think that the breaks from his story and the insertion of side stories, although I thought they detracted from the novel, helped in becoming more acquainted with the main character. It also helped because the ending of the first part was quite sad, when Don Quixote is brought back home. "He was peering at them through unfocused eyes, and couldn't fathom where on earth he was" (ch lii, p474).
3.
My most favorite part of this entire story was when Don Quixote, in chapter xlix, took a firm stand against the canon who was slandering his books of chivalry. Don Quixote was always a firm believer in knight errantry and chivalry, but he had never taken so firm a stand as when he did on p453: "'Well, for my part,' replied Don Quixote, 'I consider that it is you who are out of your senses and under some spell, for you have taken it upon yourself to utter such blasphemies against what has been so well received in the world and so widely accepted as the truth that anyone who denies it, as you do, deserves the same punishment that you say you inflict on books that annoy you when you read them. Because trying to persuade anyone that Amadis and all the other knight adventurers that pack the histories never existed is like trying to persuade him that the sun does not give out light, and that ice is not cold, and that the earth does not sustain us'". Everyone has spent the entire first part of the novel calling the hidalgo crazy, attacking him for his ideas or playing along with them to appease him. No one has ever believed him to be in an entirely right state of mind. However, I think this quote was an excellent way of having Don Quixote turn on his attackers. Maybe it's us, the audience, who are crazy. Just because the hidalgo is living in his imagination does not mean he is insane, and should be treated as such. It has been pointed out that he is an intelligent man who can form clear and lucid arguments, and I think it is unfair that the priest, who called him such things and actually enjoyed listening to him speak, would be so malicious as to put him in a cage and drag him home like a prisoner.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Don Quixote [Day 5]
1.
Quote Analysis
"Don Quixote was developing his arguments in such an orderly and lucid way that for the time being none of those listening to him could believe that he was a madman" (chapter xxxvii, pg 355)
and
"Those who'd been listening to him were again moved to pity on seeing that a man who seemed to have a good brain, and could argue clearly about everything he discussed, so totally lost his senses as soon as the talk turned to his detestable and damnable chivalry" (chapter xxxviii, pg 359)
These two quotes reiterate what I think is one of the most prominent themes of the story: is Don Quixote insane, or is he simply made his imagination his reality? I personally think that Don Quixote is living in an imaginary world. If he had lost his mind, as most people and characters in the story thought at first, then he would not have these moments of lucidity. However, in my gerontology class we are discussing dementia, and my teacher told us about a patient she had who at times would become completely lucid and realise that his mind was not what it used to be. However, it is highly unlikely that Don Quixote has 1. dementia and 2. thinks that he is insane. Insane people do not usually realise their insanity, and also, Don Quixote's personality (to me) does not appear to be that of a madman. I still uphold the idea that he has simply replaced reality for his imaginary world.
Analysis of Lela Zoraida
I thought the character of Lela Zoraida/Maria was a very interesting one. However, I feel like she wasn't entirely necessary to the story. I like Cervante's side stories, because they make the reading go by quickly, but I feel like it detracts in some way from the story of the 'ingenious hidalgo'. I think that the stories cause us to lose focus on Don Quixote's adventures and in that we forget what the story is really about. I think that perhaps Zoraida's 'multiple identities' speak about identity in 17th c. Spain and identity today. Knighthood was about being a good Christian (among other things), so it would make sense that Zoraida wants to convert to Christianity. Today, however, I think that people have multiple identities because we find it hard to identify with only one idea or culture. For example, I see myself as an Italian and Scottish/Welsh, because my grandparents are, but I also see myself as an American, a Catholic, etc. I think that we identify with what our families do/are, but we can't seem to settle on one identity. I think Zoraida has less agency than any of the other female characters in the text. I am probably biased, but I think Dorotea is the female character with the most agency. She is a well-educated woman, and also has a sense of humor. She plays along with Don Quixote's delusions, but not in a cruel or malicious way. I also think she is easiest to empathize with, because she was not born in to fortune and actually faced hardships (unlike Zoraida and Luscinda).
There is one more quote that I found very funny, and it is the following: "'All right then: if this here basin's a helmet, then this here pack-saddle must be a horse's caparisons, just as the gentleman said.' 'To me it looks like a pack-saddle,' said Don Quixote, 'but then I have already stated that this is an affair in which I shall not interfere'" (chapter xlv, pg 419). There is really no analysis for this quote, except that it relates to the theme of Don Quixote's madness. I just thought it was funny how he was so convinced that the bowl was a helmet, but knew the pack-saddle wasn't a caparison as if it were a common fact.
Quote Analysis
"Don Quixote was developing his arguments in such an orderly and lucid way that for the time being none of those listening to him could believe that he was a madman" (chapter xxxvii, pg 355)
and
"Those who'd been listening to him were again moved to pity on seeing that a man who seemed to have a good brain, and could argue clearly about everything he discussed, so totally lost his senses as soon as the talk turned to his detestable and damnable chivalry" (chapter xxxviii, pg 359)
These two quotes reiterate what I think is one of the most prominent themes of the story: is Don Quixote insane, or is he simply made his imagination his reality? I personally think that Don Quixote is living in an imaginary world. If he had lost his mind, as most people and characters in the story thought at first, then he would not have these moments of lucidity. However, in my gerontology class we are discussing dementia, and my teacher told us about a patient she had who at times would become completely lucid and realise that his mind was not what it used to be. However, it is highly unlikely that Don Quixote has 1. dementia and 2. thinks that he is insane. Insane people do not usually realise their insanity, and also, Don Quixote's personality (to me) does not appear to be that of a madman. I still uphold the idea that he has simply replaced reality for his imaginary world.
Analysis of Lela Zoraida
I thought the character of Lela Zoraida/Maria was a very interesting one. However, I feel like she wasn't entirely necessary to the story. I like Cervante's side stories, because they make the reading go by quickly, but I feel like it detracts in some way from the story of the 'ingenious hidalgo'. I think that the stories cause us to lose focus on Don Quixote's adventures and in that we forget what the story is really about. I think that perhaps Zoraida's 'multiple identities' speak about identity in 17th c. Spain and identity today. Knighthood was about being a good Christian (among other things), so it would make sense that Zoraida wants to convert to Christianity. Today, however, I think that people have multiple identities because we find it hard to identify with only one idea or culture. For example, I see myself as an Italian and Scottish/Welsh, because my grandparents are, but I also see myself as an American, a Catholic, etc. I think that we identify with what our families do/are, but we can't seem to settle on one identity. I think Zoraida has less agency than any of the other female characters in the text. I am probably biased, but I think Dorotea is the female character with the most agency. She is a well-educated woman, and also has a sense of humor. She plays along with Don Quixote's delusions, but not in a cruel or malicious way. I also think she is easiest to empathize with, because she was not born in to fortune and actually faced hardships (unlike Zoraida and Luscinda).
There is one more quote that I found very funny, and it is the following: "'All right then: if this here basin's a helmet, then this here pack-saddle must be a horse's caparisons, just as the gentleman said.' 'To me it looks like a pack-saddle,' said Don Quixote, 'but then I have already stated that this is an affair in which I shall not interfere'" (chapter xlv, pg 419). There is really no analysis for this quote, except that it relates to the theme of Don Quixote's madness. I just thought it was funny how he was so convinced that the bowl was a helmet, but knew the pack-saddle wasn't a caparison as if it were a common fact.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Don Quixote [Day 4]
"'I put all these arguments to him, and many others that I don't remember, but they were powerless to make him change his mind: the man who never intends to pay isn't worried about any problems when he strikes his bargain'" (Chapter XXVIII, pg 255). Dorotea says this when she is speaking about how she was deceived into marrying Don Fernando. However, I feel that it is representative of Don Quixote. He never thinks about the consequences before he rushes to attack someone. The hidalgo "isn't worried about any problems", because he feels what he is doing is right and for the greater good. He has continually shown that he has no regard for the safety and well-being of others, as he is always striking someone with a lance or knocking them senseless. He only realises the depth of what he has done when someone injures him.
"'But it's often said that misfortunes never come singly, and that the end of one is often the beginning of another still worse...'" (Chapter XXVIII, pg 258). Once again, Dorotea was speaking but I felt that it was more appropriately applied to Don Quixote's journey. It seems as though whenever he is done attacking or being attacked, another incident is right behind. For example, after he has scared the poor barber off to win his basin - 'Mambrino's helmet' - there is the incident with the chain-gang of prisoners. I understand that the misfortunes Don Quixote faces are part of the comedy of the story, but I'm starting to think that if he wasn't so brash and thought before he acted, he wouldn't always have his ribs stomped on or his teeth punched in.
"'...fortune doesn't always send the evil complete with its remedy...'" (Chapter XXVIII, pg 259). I saw this as another way to describe the hidalgo's misadventures. There is never a clear way to deal with the situation he puts himself into. If he hadn't meddled, then there would be no situation. But because he does, he gets himself into situations that have no clear way for him to get out. If he was still sane, and could reason like a normal person, he would be able to talk his way out. But because he is constantly bringing up chivalry and knighthood and the world in his imagination, he only angers his victims more, which ultimately leads to injuries on both sides. I think that this quote best describes the situation with the prisoners in the chain-gang. The 'evil' was in letting the prisoners go free, because they beat up Don Quixote and Sancho and stole from them. There was no 'remedy' that came with the situation - the hidalgo was warned not to let them go, but when he did no one was there to tell him how to handle the situation.
"'That's good searching and finding,' Sancho Panza interrupted, 'and even better if my master's lucky enough to redress the grievance and right the wrong by killing that bastard of a giant you just mentioned, and he will kill him if he catches up with him, so long as he isn't a ghost that it, because my master can't cope with ghosts'" (Chapter XXIX, pg 263). This quote doesn't entirely relate to a theme, but I thought it was funny and got a good laugh out of it. Don Quixote is obsessed with magic and enchanters, and I think Sancho's quote summed it all up: Don Quixote wants to believe that these things exist, but he can't handle them when he comes across them. He continually blames his defeat on sorcery and magic, when in truth he just can't handle the situation.
"'And there's something else, too,' said the priest. 'If we leave aside the absurdities that the good hidalgo comes out with concerning his mania, in conversations on other subjects he talks with great good sense, and shows himself to have a clear and balanced judgement. So long as you don't get him going on his chivalry, nobody would say that he wasn't an excellent man of excellent understanding'" (Chapter XXX, pg 279). I thought this quote was really important in the debate over whether Don Quixote is insane or if he is living in a child-like state of innocence and denial. As the priest points out, he is very intelligent with a clear judgement. It is only when he is ranting on about chivalry that he gets lost in his own world. I think it is particularly important that the priest pointed this out, because he was one of the people in the beginning who was set on putting an end to this madness. I also think being away from home has helped Don Quixote realise that yes, he is living in his imagination. In certain scenes, there is a level of self-reflection on his actions that was not there in the beginning (after the incident with the prisoners, for example). I think that Don Quixote is slowly coming back to a more sane sense of mind as he journeys, because he is not confined at home with only his books to keep him occupied.
"'But it's often said that misfortunes never come singly, and that the end of one is often the beginning of another still worse...'" (Chapter XXVIII, pg 258). Once again, Dorotea was speaking but I felt that it was more appropriately applied to Don Quixote's journey. It seems as though whenever he is done attacking or being attacked, another incident is right behind. For example, after he has scared the poor barber off to win his basin - 'Mambrino's helmet' - there is the incident with the chain-gang of prisoners. I understand that the misfortunes Don Quixote faces are part of the comedy of the story, but I'm starting to think that if he wasn't so brash and thought before he acted, he wouldn't always have his ribs stomped on or his teeth punched in.
"'...fortune doesn't always send the evil complete with its remedy...'" (Chapter XXVIII, pg 259). I saw this as another way to describe the hidalgo's misadventures. There is never a clear way to deal with the situation he puts himself into. If he hadn't meddled, then there would be no situation. But because he does, he gets himself into situations that have no clear way for him to get out. If he was still sane, and could reason like a normal person, he would be able to talk his way out. But because he is constantly bringing up chivalry and knighthood and the world in his imagination, he only angers his victims more, which ultimately leads to injuries on both sides. I think that this quote best describes the situation with the prisoners in the chain-gang. The 'evil' was in letting the prisoners go free, because they beat up Don Quixote and Sancho and stole from them. There was no 'remedy' that came with the situation - the hidalgo was warned not to let them go, but when he did no one was there to tell him how to handle the situation.
"'That's good searching and finding,' Sancho Panza interrupted, 'and even better if my master's lucky enough to redress the grievance and right the wrong by killing that bastard of a giant you just mentioned, and he will kill him if he catches up with him, so long as he isn't a ghost that it, because my master can't cope with ghosts'" (Chapter XXIX, pg 263). This quote doesn't entirely relate to a theme, but I thought it was funny and got a good laugh out of it. Don Quixote is obsessed with magic and enchanters, and I think Sancho's quote summed it all up: Don Quixote wants to believe that these things exist, but he can't handle them when he comes across them. He continually blames his defeat on sorcery and magic, when in truth he just can't handle the situation.
"'And there's something else, too,' said the priest. 'If we leave aside the absurdities that the good hidalgo comes out with concerning his mania, in conversations on other subjects he talks with great good sense, and shows himself to have a clear and balanced judgement. So long as you don't get him going on his chivalry, nobody would say that he wasn't an excellent man of excellent understanding'" (Chapter XXX, pg 279). I thought this quote was really important in the debate over whether Don Quixote is insane or if he is living in a child-like state of innocence and denial. As the priest points out, he is very intelligent with a clear judgement. It is only when he is ranting on about chivalry that he gets lost in his own world. I think it is particularly important that the priest pointed this out, because he was one of the people in the beginning who was set on putting an end to this madness. I also think being away from home has helped Don Quixote realise that yes, he is living in his imagination. In certain scenes, there is a level of self-reflection on his actions that was not there in the beginning (after the incident with the prisoners, for example). I think that Don Quixote is slowly coming back to a more sane sense of mind as he journeys, because he is not confined at home with only his books to keep him occupied.
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