Celestina Day Three

ch7 It is clear that age plays a major role in determining someone's wisdom. Celestina is older than all the characters and therefore holds a major advantage over them. She knows how to get what she wants out of people and can do it against many odds. Celestina uses her connections with certain characters to benefit herself, and despite being a prostitute is respected and called "Mother" by them. All the characters want to get something and feel they can with Celestina's help, after she had lied to them in grandiose ways or tricked them unknowingly.

ch8 By saying this, Sempronio gives the message that the outer appearance of anything cannot be a tool for real judgement. Although something could appear to be good, it may not have the qualities in actuality that attracted you to it in the first place.

ch11 Because of Celestina's role in Calisto's romance with Melibea, Calisto is anything but a captive of love. Melibea is the one who is captive. Before Celestina came into the picture, Melibea wanted little to do with Calisto. Calisto is the perfect example of all that men do wrong to women, such as putting them on a pedestal, and selfishly pursuing them. The novel has an interesting way of delivering its message, using higher authority figures to show the wrongs of society while the servants and whores are wise and philosophical.

Celestina Day One

1. The opening scene in Melibea's garden gave me a good idea about what the plot would consist of. Love, lust, the difference between the two, and comedy. He claimed to be in love at first sight with Melibea, basing these feelings only on attraction and lustIt was more racy than any other piece of literature of the same time period that I have read. The comedy is very clear, as the characters exaggerate their words and give each other a hard time. The scene in Melibea's garden was right on point in establishing the comedies, truths, and oddities about romance at the time.
2. There is a very long scene in which Sempronio and Calisto talk about women, in which Calisto largely puts women on a pedestal. He bosses Sempronio around, but Sempronio seems to be much smarter, perhaps to further display Calisto's ignorance. The subject matter for comedy is not much different than a modern television show, or movie. Calisto is to Jerry Seinfeld as Sempronio is to George Costanza, comically speaking. The two men discuss women in lengthy conversations, remarking on differences between them. There may be better characters to liken them to, as Calisto is the hopeless romantic, seeing beautiful women as angelic creatures, while Sempronio is his realist servant, trying to talk him down from such delusions of grandeur.

Seventh Day Third Story

In the first couple of pages, Boccaccio goes on about the typical corrupt friar of his story. The friar claims a life of modesty, but in fact lives very comfortably. He also does not uphold to the moral code that is required of him. Trickery is the theme guiding the main characters in this story. The friar uses two excuses to trick a woman into cheating on her husband and sleeping with him, upon proposing to her a very dumbfounded logic. She then must trick her husband, who comes home during their time together. The wife comes up with a lie of how their son had been sick, and that the friar was saving him with the power of God. This is not only a lie, but blasphemous for a friar to fake. By writing this, Boccaccio was making a statement about the Catholic Church at the time, how corrupt it was, and the sins it committed claiming to be excused.

All About my Mother

Almodovar's "All About My Mother" is an amazing story, and a great film. Among other important messages, the movie tells us of compassion from mothers to their children, regardless of their pasts or personalities. It also tells us that this compassion is not strictly seen in straight women, but also in lesbians and trans-sexuals. It does so through establishing a community of women, all of whom find each other while dealing with their own feminine struggle. Manuela is searching for the father of her late son, Esteban.  Although this father, a trans-sexual named Lola, had done many bad things, she still possessed the feminine trait of motherly love. Throughout the movie, all the characters tell of what horrid things Lola has done to them, but we dont meet Lola until the very end. All the audience can see of Lola is that she is caring and passionate about her children. This is Almodovar's way of saying that maternity brings all different kinds of women together, and is an incredible quality that must be recognized by all. This is why the movie is dedicated to mothers of all sorts, regardless of their backgrounds.

The Decameron Day 2

Story 2.5

The story of Andreuccio seemed to be pure comedy. Andreuccio’s educative process was unbelievably slow, due to his gullibility and lack of common sense. The whole story was repeat after repeat of tricks at his expense. Finally, at the end, Andreuccio has some good luck if you would want to call it that. When trapped in a tomb, abandoned by his fellow graverobbers, Andreuccio delights at the sound of more graverobbers trying to do what he and his companions had just done. Stupidly, Andreuccio grabs the graverobber’s leg upon his opening of the tomb. In such a case, most people would have closed the tomb door, so as to block their pursuer. Finally, Andreuccio lucks out and the door is left open. He finally realizes he has had enough of this place, and leaves after this. Just because he has left, he never seems to learn his real lesson. He shows little educational process, and is merely a silly, laughable character.

Story 2.6

This story is a classic tale of reunion, love, and humanity. In the very beginning, a King loses his crown and his entire family is separated. His wife ends up living alone on an island, taking in two young deer as her children. The loss of this woman’s sons made her no longer want to be a part of a society that would take them away. There are elements of forgiveness and mercy, all tying together for a very happy ending. This story was said to brighten the mood of the audience, as the whole family is reunited once more, and returned to nobility in Sicily.

Decameron

Blog Post Decameron

First Story

“It is clear that since earthly things are all transitory and mortal, they are in themselves full of worries, anguish and toil, and are subject to countless dangers which we, who live with them and are part of them, could neither endure nor defend ourselves from if strength and foresight were not granted to us through God’s special grace.” (25)

One hell of a run-on sentence, this quote from the beginning of the First Story lays an outline for the story and entire collection. The Decameron seems to be an exploration of human nature. Specifically in the First Story, the cruel side of human nature. Boccaccio begins by explaining that all things on Earth are mortal, and will eventually die out. This brings about many uncertainties in life about what kind of meaning different people bring to their lives. Boccaccio continues to tell a tale about a man whose cruelness and dishonesty brings happiness to him, as well as the suffering of other individuals. 

Second Day First Story

“Someone who attempts to fool others, especially in those matters worthy of reverence, is himself tricked, often to his own harm.”(73)

This quote sums up the lesson of the tale, and other than it, the rest of the story is more or less an anecdote to the amusement of the Queen and his audience of “dear ladies”. Trickery is not rewarded by laughter or taken lightly when it involves religion. When Martellino disguises himself, and pretends to be cured by the saint, everyone who has come to see the saint begins to viciously beat him. These pious people did not respond well to his actions, and accuse him as a “mocker of God”(75). However, according to the storyteller, it is simply a tale of irony, as the trickster has tricked himself into getting beaten and bruised. 

Second day Second story

“but the story will be especially helpful to those who journey along the uncertain roads of love where those who do not regularly say the Our Father Of St. Julian may very often find a good bed but a bad lodging.”(78)

The storyteller introduces this story as being about the pitfalls of “love”, although being more about lust than anything else. The human instinct of Temptation, particularly sexual, is being explained in this story. Religion also comes into play, as sex was dealt with in a very moral fashion in these times. The phrase “good bed but a bad lodging” holds significance as to the events of the story. Perhaps giving into temptation is satisfying and fun, but it is nothing lasting or a good place to stay.