My English381 Blog

What exactly is this emotion that everyone refers to as “love”? Is it performing over-the-top tasks to prove your affections? Is it poetry and love letters? Is it winning the fight? Is is giving up all that you have just to be with that one person? In Joseph Andrews, Henry Fielding uses satire to illustrate how silly the notions of love and courtship were during his time. In this novel, everyone appears to “love” Joseph. Lady Booby and Slipshot are certainly quite infatuated with him. Lady Booby attempts to win Josephs affections by seducing him, but when Joseph nobly rejects her advances, she throws a hissy fit and kicks him out of her house. Slipshot pretty much throws herself at Joseph, but also finds herself rejected. The true owner of Joseph’s heart turns out to be Fanny, a beautiful (yet illiterate) girl who patiently waits for the time when she and Joseph will be able to marry. Fanny does not use any elaborate tricks to win Joseph. Her intentions are pure and therefore her love is true. The pure love of Joseph and Fanny is contrasted with the satirized account of Leonora and her two “lovers” Horatio and Bellarmine. Each of these men write letters to Leonora, confessing their undying love for her. Horation attempts to win her over with over-the-top expressions, such as referring to Leonora as a “most adorable Creature (who) is the Pursuit of Pleasure.” He talks endlessly of his passion for Leonora, but to no avail. She pretends to love him, but in reality, she does not. Bellarmine takes a slightly different approach with his letter. He attempts to use French words to win Leonora and prove his love, but he too is unsuccessful and Leonora ends up alone. The true twist is that this story is told by Fanny is disguise. Fanny uses this story to show that one does not need to use elaborate plans and trickery to prove one’s love. One only needs to be true and honest, as she is.

In Pope’s The Rape of the Lock, Belinda’s reaction to the Baron taking a lock of her hair is a bit overdramatic. All the smitten Baron does is take a small lock of Belinda’s hair and “Then flased the living lightning from her eyes, and screams of horror rend the affrightened skies.” Yes, it is a little creepy that the Baron takes a lock of Belinda’s hair without her permission, but her reaction is way overblown. Is a small lock of hair really that important? It wasn’t as if the Baron was trying to cause her physical harm. His motives were pure and completely harmless. To refer to this event as a “rape” is a bit over-the top. This implies that something much more violent has happened than what has actually taken place. Could Belinda’s inappropriate reaction be a reflection of Pope’s own views on women? Does he believe that all women would react this way if they had a lock of hair taken? This is definitely not a favorable portrayal of women. Pope portrays women as petty creatures so wrapped in their own appearances that they create unnecessary drama out of a small insult. Perhaps Pope means this as a message to women to focus on what is important in life as opposed to physical appearance.

In Milton’s Paradise Lost, the question exists: who infact is responsible for man’s fall from Paradise. Of course, for ages, people have been placing the blame with Eve. She was the one who allowed herself to be tempted when she bit into the forbidden fruit. She was the one who blatently disobeyed God’s orders. It was she who convinced poor helpless Adam to eat the fruit as well. Yet, perhaps we should give Eve a break and examine whether anyone else could have contributed to Man’s downfall. Adam is supposed to be Mr. Wonderful, yet he easily allows Eve to convince him to work separately and to eat the apple. And of course, there is always Satan. He is the one who purposely set out to destroy God’s creation. He intentially disguised himself as a snake and tempted Eve for the sole purpose of bringing about the fall of mankind. Satan does seem like the obvious choice; but what about God himself? He claims to have predestination; if that is so then he knew all along that mankind would fail and did nothing to prevent it. He also gave Man free will. By giving that gift, he gave Eve the ability to choose to bite into the apple. Why would he do this if it were not his intention for Man to fall? So who is really at fault? One may never know, for it could be any one of these figures or, most likely, a combination of all of the factors at hand.

Spenser’s portrayal of Sin in The Faerie Queene proves to be interesting in terms of how graphically Sin is viewed. On one hand, she is half woman. Why is it that, ever since Eve, women have always been associated with sin? This seems to be some odd sort of type-casting. Spenser appears to be following the popular view that women and sin go hand-in-hand. Only men are able to be pure and noble in their ability to overcome sin. Futhermore, Sin’s bottom half is a serpant tied in knots. So not only is Sin a woman, but she is monstrous at that. She is “lothsom, filthie, and full of vile disdaine.” Spenser makes his portrayal of Sin even more graphic by discussing her “darksome hole” as something dark and vengefull meant to tempt our hero. He could not possibly be guilty of Sin unless a woman tempted him into it. Are men not capable of thinking for themselves? One would have to agree with that statement in order to say that men cannot be guilty of Sin. If a man is capable of making his own decisions, then he is just as capable of being sinful.

The character of Salome in Cary’s The Tragedy of Mariam serves as an advocate for women’s rights. It is important to remember that this play was written by a woman trapped in an unhappy marriage. One cannot help but ponder; did Elizabeth Cary see some of herself in Salome? Did she use this character as her way of voicing all that she wanted to say but could not? Salome refers to herself as a “custom-breaker” in seeking a divorce from her husband. This is quite true, as she is one of the few members of her sex at this time with enough courage to stand up for herself and demand to be given the same rights that a man would receive. Her husband, Constabarus, asks her, “Are Hebrew women now transformed to men?” In Salome’s eyes (and perhaps Cary’s), they should be; or at least they should be treated as equals. The titular character of Mariam has a much different tactic than Salome, thus her fate is quite different as well. She chooses not to stand up for herself, to say nothing and hope that everything will happen the way she wishes. Unfortunately for Mariam, this plan does not work out very well. She all but disappears from the play and is almost forgotten; whereas Salome constantly makes her presence known. In the end, Mariam is executed, while Salome lives and gets all that she wishes. Perhaps, this is Cary’s message to all women that they should speak up and take a stand and they will be able to achieve all they have dreamed of.

There is no doubt that the “practical joke” that is played on Malvolio by Sir Toby, Maria, Sir Andrew and Feste is initially funny. However, it eventually reaches a point where it is just plain mean. One can definitely see the motives that the group has for wanting to play this trick. Malvolio is definitely the type of character that is often made fun of. He is like the little kid on the playground that is constantly mocked. As a Puritan, he thinks he is above everyone else, despite the fact that he is merely Olivia’s steward. He has no friends and his only amusemement seems to come from spoiling everyone else’s fun. This earns him the disdain of Sir Toby and his friends, who are always up for a laugh. The second that Malvolio reads the false letter, their trickery seems to be worth it. Malvolio is so easily convinced. He is so willing to believe that Olivia loves him and that he really will become “Count Malvolio.” In his delusion, he is willing to put on rediculuous costumes and behave like a fool. The result is quite humorous and it should have been enough to satisfy the tricksters, but they felt the need to take it even further. They have him locked up in a dark room completely alone and try to convince him that he is mad (to which he repeatedly asserts that he is sane). This is in no way funny, it is just cruel and vindictive. Sure, Malvolio isn’t exactly a likable character, but he definitely does not deserve this type of torture. This is more than just a prank; it is an attack. Malvolio appears so frail and helpless when he is locked up, yet Sir Toby and his friends have no pity for him. Malvolio goes from being a source of comic relief to a tragic figure. When he is finally released the next day, he states, “I’ll be revenged on the whole pack of you.” Yet, the audience knows that, for poor Malvolio, this is probably not so.

The Canterbury Tales takes place during a time when romantic tales of courtly love were the order of the day. However, the bawdy tale told by the Miller makes a mockery of this epic tradition. The one example of “true” love between two people (Nicholas and Alisoun) could hardly be considered an example of courtly love. At first glance, they would appear to be the very picture of a courtly lovers. He is discribed as an experienced lover, who is both courteous and meek. He seems to be a combination of the qualities of both the Knight and the Squire. However, he uses these qualities in a very different manner. Instead of wooing Alisoun, he grabs Alisoun and tries to pressure her to be with him. When this tactic does not work, he manipulates her by crying. Seeing this rediculous display, Alisoun pities Nicholas, immediately falls “in love” with him, and agrees to sleep. Their entire relationship is based around manipulation and trickery. The pure, honest courtly love of the time is completely nonexistent. The only example of courtly love found in the Miller’s Tale, Absolon, is treated with disdain and mockery. He adores Alisoun, sings to her, and gives her gifts. All he receives in return is the ability to kiss her bare buttocks, as the result of a joke set up by (of course) Nicholas and Alisoun. This spoils Absolon’s pure vision of courtly love, and his mind then becomes set on revenge. The main objective of the Miller’s tale is to mock the popular tradition of courtly love. The Miller is a member of the lower class and most likely views courtly love as a silly tradtion invented by the rich, as they have nothing better to do. From the very beginning of the Miller’s tale, when he interrupts the Knight to tell hi tale ahead of the Monk, the Miller sets out to challenge the social order of the Middle Ages. Through his attack on courtly love in his tell, he furthers this endevour.

There is no question that Beowulf’s encounter with the dragon near the close of the poem differs greatly from his battles with Grendel and Grendel’s Dam. First of all, his motives for going into battle in the first place are completely different. Beowulf goes to fight Grendel and his mother in order to protect the people of Heorot. These are selfless battles in which Beowulf cares not for his own benefit, but for the benefit of others. However, in Beowulf’s last formal boast, he states himself that as “king of the people,” he is going to fight the dragon “for the glory of winning” (1513-1514). In contrast, this is a very selfish act. Beowulf knows that he has a responsibility to protect his people, yet he leaves them to go on a dangerous quest for the sole purpose of obtaining glory. Another difference is in Beowulf’s state of mind as he goes off to fight. When Beowulf goes to fight Grendel, he is completely unafraid and completely unarmed. He kills Grendel with his bare hands. However, as Beowulf goes to fight the dragon, there is much fear in him. He has sensed that he is going to die, and has resigned himself to this fate. He goes into battle armed not only with weapons, but with the aid of Wiglaf. Beowulf is old now. He is not the same man as he was when he fought Grendel. This leads to the most obvious difference between the battles. When Beowulf fights Grendel and Grendel’s Dam, he lives to celebrate his triumphs. However, in fighting the dragon, the hero falls, leaving his people defenseless against upcoming invaders.

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