That Obscure Object of Desire

1. The title for the movie kind of foreshadows what the movie is about. Obscure is defined as not being clear or plain, ambiguous, vague, uncertain and in the movie it was unclear at times whether or not Conchita really was in love with Matthieu or if she was going to give it up to him or not or whether or not she was a virgin. She seemed to lead him on and when it came time to delivering she made up an excuse or a way to get around him. It was also unsure to me as to what the meaning behind the bombings were especially at the end of the movie. I didn't know if it was a factual event that was going on in that time period that brought about the bombings or if there was a meaning behind it. The "obscure object" to me is Conchita or more like the desire that lies between Conchita and Matthieu. It is clear on Matthieu that he wants Conchita but it is unclear about if she is really true to her feelings toward Matthieu especially when she tells him off after he buys her the house and makes love or pretends to make love to her lover. Then she turns around and returns to Matthieu to tell him that it wasn't real it was a test to see if he loved her or not. Conchita is back and forth saying that she will have him tonight but then denies him and says that he should be happy just having her in the house. Then she leaves when she is kicked out the house but then when they run into each other again she clings to him again and says they will never be apart again. 

2. I asked myself that question of why there were so many bombings and why the setting of story was around this terrorism. I wondered if Matthieu and his group of friends or the political group that he was a part of was being attack by these terrorist and in the end he reaches his demise with the bombing that occurs at the end which doesn't really show or tell you that Conchita and Matthieu die but you assume or guess that they could have. Maybe the bombings have to do with the explosive nature of Conchita or the relationship of her and Matthieu. 

3. The two actress play two different parts of Conchita, the two personalities that she has. One appears more reserved and more refined while the other looks more carefree and risque, she doesn't appear as innocent as the other. The second one played by Angelina Molina looked more Spanish and more like a dancer than the other played by Carole Bouquet who to me seemed more french. When playing the part of the dancer, Angelina Molina played all the parts of the dancer as well as the part were she tricked Matthieu and showed him that she detested him and that she had another lover. The story started off with Carole Bouquet but ended with Angelina Molina and so it seems that he had tamed the more wild side of Conchita. 

4. I found that there was meaning to the animals, saw them as symbols of how Matthieu was trying to capture Conchita and then it was Matthieu that kept getting caught in his own traps and Conchita escaping them. 

5. Well, Matthieu finds himself to be the victim of a terrible wrong though it was him who was trying to control a woman with lies who just lied better and knew how to play the game just as well as him. She kept bringing him back in time after time with promises. He complied with her wishes though, kept feeding her money and things and in the end she kept denying him and telling him to wait. There is the psychologist next to him analyzing the encounters between Conchita and Matthieu, there is a judge placing his own judgement on the matter and then there is a woman who is a mother, that tries to empathize with Matthieu. The flashbacks are a way to show the woman that Matthieu loves is really two women but he doesn't realize that, he is blind to it. 

6. I saw Celestina in Conchita, the way that she was a person you couldn't really trust, someone that you didn't know who she really was, she was really two different people in the whole movie. I also saw Malibea in  Conchita, I think that the two halves of Conchita seemed to be Malibea and Celestina. The Malibea part in Conchita, or the part that reminded me of Malibea was when Conchita was all about giving it up to Calisto and saying that she wanted and desired him and then she would pull back and say that she wasn't that kind of girl and that he sould be happy to have her with him. Matthieu reminded me of Calisto because of the way that he fell in love with Conchita like Calisto fell in love with Malibea. He would do anything to have her, even pay off her mother. The mother was like that of the Malibea, just leaving her virtuous daughter alone with a man. Her mother was use to a luxurous life, not having to work and if that meant leaving her daughter with Matthieu then she would. She never chatized him for what his intetions were toward her daughter. 

Celestina Day Five

Act 20: The death of Calisto and Malibea just reminded me of Romeo and Juliet. The two characters were similar in a way as Calisto fell in love with Malibea just by looking at her and when one died the other could not live on. I thought it though much to dramatic and over the top the suicide of Malibea. At least Romeo and Juliet tried to be together and died due to silly mistakes on both their parts. Calisto's death was an accident while Malibea deliberately goes out of her way to kill herself. Both Malibea and Juliet can't live without their Romeo's and they take their lives to join their lovers in the after life.
It kind of surprised me that Malibea took her life like that, I didn't think that she would let her emotions control her like and cause her to think that way. There was no way the Malibea's father could have saved her and it was typical of the author to make it so that her father had no way of stopping her. After a few lines you could see that she was going to die or do something irrational and it was marked as a tragedy.

Act 21: The parts don't say much until the end of the story but parents are rarely paid mind or listened to in real life or in fiction. The speech at the end of the play was to show how the parents were blind to what was going on with their child, just as Romeo and Juliet's parents realized the wrongs and hurt they brought upon themselves and their children over a silly feud. The mother I believed was mentioned so little was because she was given lines in the beginning but she was one to let her daughter do what ever she wanted as she left her with Celestina who caught Malibea in her trap. Malibea's father is so much more torn about what happened to his daughter, it looks like Malibea was daddy's little girl.
To the say the least, the reason I believe that the Malibea' parents showed up now was because it could be the  meaning that at times parents are to late to recognize what is going on with their child and the don't realize it it was too late. I also believe the reason why they were more shocked at the committing suicide than catching her with another man is because it seems like it is  more common place for women to take on lovers and her parents probably didn't think she would take her life so dramatically.

Celestina Day Four

Act 12: I liked Celestina and so I thought it was just that Parmeno and Sempronio died after killing her. They killed her out of greed really, they had no real reason. They knew who they were dealing with when they asked for the assistance of Celestina and it's their own fault that she was more witty than they were. It was just her misfortune that she didn't consider the possible danger that she put herself in when she decided to trick the boys and thinking that they would not take revenge or try to take the money by force. I don't think you can really sympathize with Sempronio or what to as he is very cocky and thinks really only of what he is going to gain and is arrogant, thinking himself more intelligent and above others. Parmeno didn't really like Celestina, in a way he was Celestina but for me he didn't really evoke like or dislike for him as a character.

Act 13/14: Calisto was more concerned with people finding out the dealings he had with Celestina and what his plans were, what his intentions were with Malibea more than being sad about the fact that his servants both died or that Celestina died. His main concern was himself and that his plans didn't fall through. He grieves because he does not want to lose his chance with Malibea. I don't think that he's grieving or ever was, he was just trying to save his own skin.

Celestina Day 3

Chapter 7:
Celestina uses her age to try and flatter Areusa , as she talks about her beauty and youth as a great gift, something that she should share with others which is really her alluding to the fact that she is trying to set up Areusa with Parmeno, who she had promised her to. Celestina uses her age, that shows she has experience to trick and persuade Areusa to take Parmeno as a lover.
 Areusa asks for a remedy for an illness she has though does not know what it is and Celestina, who knows more because of her age and experience is able to manipulate and get Areusa to do her bidding. I think that her being as old as she is and having done a lot of things in her life and Areusa, who is still young and naive and doesn't know everything yet I would say that Celestina has more wisdom that Areusa does. The older you are with all the experience and mistakes you make the wiser you grow. With those who are younger they have yet to learn and grow and gain wisdom which is what leads them to do foolish things and fall into traps just like Areusa did.

Chapter 8:
The quote by Sempronio to me means that not everything that you assume to be just because something is not one thing doesn't mean it can't be another nor not all things that are what you would categorize show as should be placed there. In relation to the book Sempronio said this to try and calm Calisto down from trying to rush Celestina into getting him what he wanted. Calisto is a man who wants instant gratification. Sempronio thinks it wise to not rush Celestina and to let her do her work. He tells him that though he sounds wise it is only because Calisto is so blind by love that he thinks any advice is great advice.

Chapter 9:
No one can be trusted in this book, you sometimes can't even trust those who you think are trustworthy or are true to themselves. There is no trust without trickery to try and test how well that trust withstands. There is trust in others to trick others into doing thier will or what is to believed to be their will but under all circumstance everyone is tricking everyone even themselves. I don't think that Sempronio or Parmeno should trust Celestina as she is a sketchy person and as already seen she can manipulate people to do thier bidding. They trust her though because they see their master is an idiot and they expect to get a cut out of the profit that she makes so for therm it is a win win situation. They also think that they can outsmart her if she tried to pull anything funny so they seem to underestimate her and think that she is a push over.

Celestina Acts 3-4

Question 1: What this quote is trying to say is that those men who think they are in love or just want a girl want her right then and there. They find it tortuous to wait for something that they want. When it says that they want to put their thoughts into actions, if men could they would do whatever they thought and be instantly satisfied. When it comes to love and relationships I don't believe that it's just men, it's both men and women. Men do want a quick fix to things. When a problem arises they try to find the fastest way to fix it and they don't want to drag the problem out. Women are much more into wanting to take about things and think about every little thing. Men are more into wanting an instant satisfaction and women want to prolong and make it last.

Question 2: When it says that the rich sing a different tune, they do. They are much more happier and relaxed and not having to worry about much expect who is going to carry on with their fortune while the poor sing a tune of distress, on edge because they don't know when their next meal is going to be and what is going to become of them as their future is a constant worry.

Question 3: You want to think that Celestina is true to her word and that she is going to share in her wealth with her friends who gave her the idea and opportunity to do so but you can't really trust anyone as everyone is backstabbing and turning their backs on each other. So trust Celestina, I would say no. It is smart and respectful not to trust her and she in turn is wary and aware of the others. She is not going to be played. I do think though that she will share in her profit.

Celestina Acts 1-2

In the opening scene when Calisto comes across Melibea, he finds her in her garden. Well to connect her with the garden, a garden is a place of beauty with all the flowers and plants growing there. Women are associated with beauty, beauty is a feminine description of something, one doesn't say, "oh my this is a handsome garden!" I mean they can but it's not something commonly said. Women have been compared man a time to a flower which is found in a garden as women are as beautiful and delicate as a flower. Some flowers have thorns to protect themselves as we see with Melibea who is not won over by Calisto's words or lust. The connection to the garden can also be in seen in a biblical way and there is mention, in several parts of the texts to the bible and many know the story of Adam and Eve and how they got kicked out of the garden. Though it can be said that Calisto thinks of Melibea as Paradise, Eden in a a sense so it's not a bad thing when in reference to the bible. But the garden can be a symbol of women and how they are seen not only as things of beauty but later can bring trouble in the case of what happened to Adam and Eve with the serpent in the garden.

When Calisto begins to talk to Melibea, it sounds like he is complimenting her greatly, that God has favored him with such a sight that he is unworthy of. He confesses to her that he has great affection for her and that he wants her. She though won't have him, sees that he only wants her for her body. She really shuts him down and tells him to leave, she doesn't have patience for him and his wit that has gotten him no where. I don't think she took to kindly to him trespassing and trying to just get with her to sleep with her as she took it.

When he goes home and takes to Sempronio, he pours his heart out and acts like a love sick puppy and acts as if it is the end of the world that Melibea does not want him. Sempronio thinks that he is going mad and he does sound mad and a bit idiotic as he is going a bit far with his love for this women he only just met. He denys being a Chrisitian and says that he is a Melibean and he worships her, that Melibea is God. Sempronio takes advantage of this, finding this as an opportunity to get what ever he wants from his master who will do anything to get Melibea.

I found it interesting what Semperino said about women, I kind of agreed with the things that he said. He seemed to try and appease Calisto and say that any man could get any woman he wanted, that woman of higher rank were not out of reach as even they have slept with lowlier men and even animals and he made a reference to Pasiphae and the bull which was a myth where Posideon as a way of revenge on Minos made his wife Pasipae fall in love with a bull. Semprino has a lot to say about women and says that many a philosopher and clergy warn men against women, they are all of the same opinion when it comes to female. It is said that 'wine and women male men lose their religion", and so they though it is not about all women, those who are "holy and noble women whose resplendent virtues mitigate the general vituperation that otherwise would fall upon their sex." He describes at length about women after that and says to Calisto to "Consider how few are the brains that lie beneath those great and delicate veils!" He means by that there are very few females that actually are intelligent and "how few the thoughts that lie beneath those gorgets" (gorgets are a nun's headdress) He refers back to Eden to saying that a woman is the  "Weapon of the devil, origin of sin,and the destruction of Paradise" (refer back to having met Melibea in the garden) and he goes on to quote Saint John who said "This is woman,  the ancient malice who cast Father Adam from the delights of Paradise. She it was who sent humanity to hell." After Calisto's retort, who said that even those great men fell to women, Sempromio goes on to talk about how women act and i agree with some of what he says. He tells him to flee women who are decietful creatures and are hard to figure out. He says "it is no easy job to figure them out. They have no method, no order, no plan." Which is true as women are not strategists like men who like to have a plan and are practical, logical creatures. Then he goes on to say "They begin by pretending to be aloof when they really mean to offer themselves" which is true which would mean that women tend to put up a front to hide their true feelings for a man. They play that game though to entice men as they are viewed to be desperate and easy were they to be compliant and make themselves easy targets for men who only want to use them. He goes on to say that "they invite and send away, they beckon, they reject" and says that "they are prone to sudden wrath, and then they quite as unexpectedly calm down" which is all very true for the women in the story as well as in the present. And Calisto is curious as to how he knows all this and how it applies to him. Sempromio says that women taught him this and he tell him because he believe him to be a good man and he should not be falling victim to the whims of a woman. Calisto is not swayed, he continues to worship and adore Melibea and thinks that she is above all, she is special, an exception. Sempromio plays with this and just gives Calisto hope as he tells him that she is acting this way because she is hiding her flaws and her hate is actually love for Calisto. This just shows how much of a sucker Calisto is and Sempromio is going to play this to his advantage. It just looks like he played reverse psychology on Calisto, so instead of turning him off of women, he just fuels Calisto's desire.

Celestina is quite a character. She is a women who is witty and knows what she is and what she wants and how to get it. She is not ashamed of what she is as Parmeno pointed out in his little speech about her. She is not cross about being called a whore, she though she takes up the identity of a seamstress, to those who know her is open about what she does. First impression is that she will be an interesting character and she is witty and will probably be the one winning in the end. She is a matchmaker of sorts, helping those get what they want when is comes to love or men trying to get women that they want. She takes girls in and helps them out. Celestina is no fool either, she is on step ahead of every one when she first makes the plan to pretend as if they didn't know Calisto and Parmeno were coming down the stairs and then heard Parmeno's warning to Calisto and knew that Parmeno knew what she was trying to do. The talk between Parmeno and Celestina looked as if Parmeno was going to see right through her and would not fall for her plans, making it look as if Celestina had underestimated him but later we see that Celestina had the right idea after all as Parmeno does exactly what she wants. When she figures out who Parmeno is and who his mother was she uses that information to her advantage of him. She sees it as a leverage to appeal to his greedy nature, she knows him better than he knows himself.

Going to Parmeno's speech, Celestina was described as having "six trades: seamstress, perfumer, cosmetic maker, repairer of maidenheads, go-betweener, and a bit of a witch." She is a jack of all trades and she besides being a whore she took in girls and helped them out, made them over as if a make up artist. She trades her skills for anything of value. Parmeno says that she is not offended by being called an old whore. He says "She is as overjoyed to hear herself so called as you are when people call you a perfect gentleman." So she views it as a compliment and is not taken offense to it. He goes on to say "She holds the classification I have given her to be her name and title." In her community she is viewed as the old whore and he gets descriptive as in where ever she goes people, animals, objects, the air even says 'old whore", as if it is her chant, her call whenever any one need her. Parmeno even says that "if she is with a hundred women and someone says "old whore", she turns her head without hesitation and answers with a joyful countenance." so like batman has his own signal to call on him, so does she. He goes on to say that though she takes in girls she gives them away as well. She gave innocent girls away in reparation for something else of value. She was a business woman through and through. The interesting part and I don't know how she can do that, is she repairs maidenheads and she made a girl a virgin three times over. I don't know how she did that. She also made perfume and make up which she sold. A very resourceful women to know how to do many things and make a profit from it.

The Decameron Day Six

9.2: It was ironic that the Abbess would scold the nun for taking a lover when she herself had one, who was a priest by the way, and not only did she basically rat herself out by mistakenly wearing pants on her head but she had the nerve to scold the nun without realizing she had it on and giving herself away. The other nuns didn't notice either as they were to blind by the fact that they just caught a fellow nun in an act of sin, they were committing a sin of their own being full of pride and feeling above her because she did wrong and got caught.
When the Abbess realizes that she got caught though she changes her persona and she lets the nun keep her lover as she is not going to revoke hers and the other nuns look upon the nun with envy that she got away and she still had a lover. The nuns then look to satisfy their needs in others ways, in the end it hints that they themselves go and start to live in sin a little. The way the Abbess changed her mind about criticizing the other nun made it seem like it was okay to live in sin as long as people outside didn't know.

9.3: Women seem to get the short end of the stick and men always find a way to invoke their power over them. Tessa is always blamed for the misfortune that befalls Calandrino. Women are seen as bad luck, like sailors thought at one point that having a woman on border would bring them bad luck and women have been the cause of arguments and fights between couples and other men. Women are also the ones that get beaten on by men when something goes wrong or they do wrong to the men. Men pick and beat on the women because women are seen as fragile creatures and are easy targets.

9.5: We do see a drastic change, a nice change with instead Tessa being the target of abuse Calandrino is. He is caught with another woman with the help of his friends trapping him in that predicament and incouraging him to have an affair. They then backstab him and get his wife to find out about him and his "lover" though they never really get to have sex. When Tessa finds them she immediately has no fear and is so full of angry, begins to beat on Caladrino and it was funny how she made the comment of how he would let another woman get him pregnant, though she should know that men can't get pregnant. It was good to see a woman taking charge and standing up for herself, and I believe that is what Boccaccio is trying to show that women have power too, men are dogs and they need to be punished as well. They need to be taught a lesson on the wrong that they have committed and women need to dole out the beatings too, not just take them (though they shouldn't be taking beatings at all). In reading about Calandrino and his foolishness, one simpathizes with the wife and feels that she had every right to beat Calandrino for a wrong that he committed as he beat her up for things she didn't do with I found that ironic the way the reasons behind the beatings were reverse as well.

9.6: I got confused as some points in the story as to where people were and who was sleeping with who and how one person made to another persons bed. I tried to visualize which bed would be where but I couldn't see it and I really had to go back and reread. It was a clever story and the way the characters were trying to outwit each other thinking that they other one didn't know. Like when Pinuccio saw that he was in the wrong bed but went along with whatever it was that was being said about him. I like how the host's wife was the one to manipulate and make it so that she was not found out that she had been with another man. She basically covered for herself, Pinuccio and Adriano and her daughter just by saying that Pinuccio had been sleeping walking, that this was all a dream, none of what was being said was real. This is like 7.5 where both the wives don't really lie but use what is being said by their husbands to form a sort of loop hole to get out of lying. Their husbands speak for them and they just agree with and use what they say to form an alibi.

In many of Baccaccio's stories the friars and nuns are never really holy and it's true today that the spiritual figures that are around are not as holy as we thought. These spiritual leaders are suppose to be setting examples yet they go around doing what we are told are sinful and we should not be doing. In this story about the nobleman turned friar who still indulged in his regular activities, Baccaccio vents out about how he feels about those who claim to be holy and one with God, to be servants of the Lord. He mentions on pages 489-499 how friars "dress up in finely dyed, elegant garments" (Boccaccio, 499) rather than the "coarse, woolen robes of natural colors made to keep out the cold rather than to appear stylish." (Boccaccio, 499) He also mentioned the way their cells were stored with bottles that contain liquor and perfume and it more resembled an apothecary than a friars cell.
The theme I believe is lust or how humans no matter what are driven by nature, by desire and sins are ever present and are in everyone no matter who you are. Though they try to use excuse to get out of it sin is sin and there is no way to mask it.

In the story about the wife who trick her jealous husband there is a whole paragraph, a type of prologue to the story that talks of how women should be praised and comended for standing up for themselves against the husbands that wrong them. Also, women should not be caged as if animals, they are human too and deserve to be free and have a day of rest. Women should not be the only ones punished when they commit a crime but men should too. I think today it had progressed a little but there is still a double standard when it comes to men and women. Men aren't always punished the same as women and they are punished differently at times too for the same crime committed.

"in a region which is called Bengodi, where they tie up vineyards with sausages and where you can have a goose for a penny and a gosling thrown in for good measure, and there was a mountain there made entirely of grated Parmesian chess upon which lived people who did nothing but make macaroni and ravioli" (Baccaccio, 565) this was comedic in a way where who would fall for that but then you find that Calandrino really believes it.
"being a woman she can cause everything to lose it's power" (Baccaccio, 572) this quote just stood out to me and it was like of course you would blame a woman for your troubles instead of yourself.


In the story about the scholar who got duped and then got revenge on the lady and her maidservant at the end, I found the story to be myers ting but cruel. I took the side of Rinieri and I think that was the one that Boccaccio wanted his readers to take sympathy for at first, but then you have to have some sympathy for Elena who, the poor thing is out there with no sunblack and is becoming dehydrated and she is not looking good and she begs Rinieri to let her go and give her her clothes, leave her with her honor but she doesn't see that she stripped him of his so why should he let her keep hers. Besides everyone knew already what was going on between the two of them and her ex lover. She was just being foolish and she was vain to think that her beauty could over come anything. It almost did her almost didn't go through with it but he reminded himself of what he went through and he got focused again. When it comes to intelligence it is that one should not over think and believe that they have something in the bag, then realize it never really was captured and secured it in the first place. She went to far keeping him out there for so long she overstepped her bounds. She got cocky and believed that she not only got her man bit made a fool of another so easily and in the end she was easily duped.
"

"All about My Mother"

I found it interesting the different 'range' of women in the film and how it just wasn't the regular group of women who were all straight. I liked that it was different from what you would consider as normal. I would never have expected that a nun would have sexual relations with a man who looks like a woman, who is a woman on the outside. The way the film states about gender, femininity and sexuality to me, gender is defined as the sex of a person or what they are categorized as, either a man or a woman. In the film there were transexual women who break that definition as in they were one gender and then they were transformed into another just by adding breast, defining hips and face. The female gender is being defined by the shape and the movement and personality of a person. Though they are not true women, Lola and Agrado both give off attributes of women and are defined when seed as women because of the way they dress, their personality and how they carry themselves. Femininity is a female quality that must have helped Lola and Agrado decide that they wanted to be women and that femininity though is a trait that is associated with women are in everyone as well as masculinity is in everyone. This is a film though that is centered on women and in each they show their femininity. With sexuality which is defined as the quality or state of being sexual and in the film there is a lot of sexual activity, contact, messages. There is the almost rape of Agrado in the beginning and then the circle of whores, prostitutes that men were driving around and checking out. There is the way the Agrado and Manuela greet each other and hold each other. Then, there is the way that Nina is trying to see Agrado's penis and then the guy actor trying to get Agrado to suck it. Sexuality in this film is portrayed as normal in this film and is an everyday thing. Some people make it a part of their living and others want something different when it comes to sexuality. 

In the film "All about My Mother", to me there is more than one mother in this film, or more than one type of mother being portrayed in the film. There is Manuela, who is not only a mother to her son but also a mother to the nun Rosa who turns to her when she finds herself pregnant. She is also a mother like figure to the actress Huma and Nina as she takes care of them and sees that things are done for them or covers up for them like she did when Nina got to high to speak and was unable to act out her part.
Then there is Rosa's mother, who is not only mothering her husband who looks to have Alzheimer but she is a mother to Rosa though she is not supportive in her desire to go to El Salvador. She is a typical mother who feels that she knows best for her child even though her child is now a grown woman and can make her own decisions. She is also a person who judges as she turned Manuela away, believing in her story and judging her by her looks that she was a whore and would have nothing to do with her, not even caring about her as a person or what she had for skills or anything. 
There is also Rosa who is about to be a mother and she does care for the needy and the unemployed, trying to help those in need. She is not prepared to be a mother but her morals tells her to keep the child and though she does not live to be a mother she still looks out for her child and makes sure that her child has someone to look after them.
I think that Esteban is speaking in the story as even after he dies his notes are read and they speak about his mother and what he thinks about her and what he feels in their relationship. He is brought up a lot in the movie and in the end he is brought up when Manuela and Rosa meet at the cafe and Esteban's last words were read out loud.

I found the dedication at the end of the movie interesting and it got me thinking when brought up as a topic in interest about the film. When it says "To all actresses who have played actresses" brings up the way Manuela played Stella in an amateur theater group and then played Nina's part as Stella. Then there is Huma who I think plays as another famous actress. Then the dedication goes on to "To all woman who act" which to me means to the women who act all these different parts in life, as a mother, a sister, a lover, a friend, a care giver. Then it could also be interpreted as the women who hide behind a part or act in front of others to conceal what they don't want others to see. I liked the line "To men who act and become women", it immediately makes me think of drag queens and of course in the film or Agrado. They are men who act like and transform themselves into women. In the film there there is Lola and there is Agrado who were once men but are now women and act as feminine as women, though Agrado and Lola both screw girls even though I would think if you wanted to be a woman you would want the whole deals as in wanting a male partner as well. The last part was sweet with it going as such: "To all people who want to be mothers. To my mother." That makes me think of those women who can't have children or women who don't live to be mothers. That seems to tie with Rosa who gets pregnant and wants to be a mother but sees that she won't be able to and won't live to be one which is why she makes Manuela promise to take care of her child should anything happen to her. It also makes me think of the Huma and Nina's relationship and how Nina left Huma for a man and has kids already with him. Lesbian couples can't have true children of their own that are made of their own genes, that contains their own DNA because they are missing the other half that makes a baby. Huma was hurt that her lover turned her down to be with a man and that she got what she wanted that they could never have together as a woman-woman couple. The last part was a clear dedication to his mother, to the one that supported him and continues to do so and if not for her, he would not be in this world or who he is now. 

Decameron Day 4

5.8- From what I could gather frM the text, to me the women were the ones with the power. They were the ones being taught the lesson be uase they were the ones who had he power to make men feel bad about themselves and do the things they do for them. The girl that Nastagio is in love with is not letting up the guy, she is tormenting and on page 420 it says that "because of her singular beauty or perhaps because if her exalted rank, she became so haughty and disdainful that she disliked everything about him", didn't even give the guy a chance, she just immediately thought herself better than him. Though the women seem to be the ones that are dominating, the men aren't pitting up with it what with the example of the knight and woman who are forever condemned to her being chased by him until caught and then killed by him. It was smart of him to use the condemned couple to teach the girl he was in love with lesson. Here witness used for good, for the better of the couple because if they had continued on the way they did they would be the same as the knight and the naked lady.

5.9- my interpretation of the quote "I would rather have a man who lacks money than money that lacks a man", I believe that by this the woman is trying to say that money is not what she is most concerned with, what she wants is a guy who is a true man in all senses as to her her husband is not. She already justified her reason to have sex with other men because her husband had not touched her and he never would be wise his interest lied with men. She makes the comment that "such enjoyment is commendable in me, whereas in him it is most blameworthy, for I would only be breaking the law, but he breaks both that law and the law of Nature as well." (pg433) so because he is gay she finds it alright to have sexual relations with another man as her breaking one law is t so bad as he has already broken more than she. She does not view him as a real man and that can be justified by the fact that it wasn't accepted at the time to be gay, and in the eyes of the church what he was doing was wrong, wasn't as if he wasn't having sexual relations. In the texts it looks like the husband is having affairs on the side as it says in her speech, "This sorry man abandons me to go up the dry path in clogs but I shall see about taking someone else aboard ship for the wet." her husband Pierto looked to marry her just so that others would get off his casebut he wasn't being honest about who he really was and she asks in her speech, "he knew I was a woman, so why did he marry me if women were not to his liking?" I think that it wasn't a real reason to cheat, just because her husband was gay but also he shouldn't really have been mad as he doesn't really like women and it worked out in the end. They both got something out of it in the end.

Decameron Day 2 and Day 3

In answering question 2 about the tale that concerned the wild woman, we have heard actually accounts about this happening and how people adapt to their environment and what is around them affects how they act. The woman in the story after losing her kids in a sense replaces them with young wild animals who had lost their mother. As she kept living with the animals she became more and more like them. She was viewed as being "so tan, thin, and shaggy" similar to that of the roebucks that she was taking care of. She herself had developed animal like feelings, like when she protects the roebucks from the dogs. This not being natural though, when she is found by other they and she as well were shocked at the sight of her and what she was doing. It was as if her humanity was no longer there, it was all animal instincts. After traumatic experiences like losing your whole family and being left alone I think that greatly affected her humanity. She had a void in her life and she filled it with the next best thing which was the young roebucks. Humanity is viewed as something that is fragile here and that it can be lost to us.

Talking about the mute woman and man, I thought in concern with the mute man that he did that to gain advantage and it kid of back fired on him as he didn't find it so appealing after a while to be with all those women. The mute woman didn't choose to be mute, no one could understand her so she might as well not speak. The man had made a choice about it. The use of making the characters mute shows more of their actions and what they would do. Being mute for the woman showed that she had no choice and when under the influence even though she talked of only giving her virginity to her husband, when she felt it for the first time, had her first taste she gave into it with no hesitation. She was easily controlled by the men, just being passed over from on to the other, to me she was a bit slutty (I don't know if we can say that on our blogs, i couldn't come up with another word). She then lied about what really happened on her adventures and made the king believe she was a virgin when she clearly wasn't. The man who went and pretended to be mute so he could get into the convent and be viewed as harmless. That could be compared to politicians who only tell you what you want to hear and are viewed harmless. With gender roles, it is seen in the tale that the woman is mostly quiet and the men are the ones that talk and do all the planning. They are the ones that take control of the woman. In the tale of the mute man though there was a lot of talk from the woman and on purpose the man choose not to talk as part of his plan.

Decameron Day 1 and Day 2

"And let me say the same thing to you, my lord, concerning the three Laws given to three people by God our Father which are the subject of the questions you put to me: each believes itself to be the true heir, to possess the true Law, and how to follow the true commandments, but whoever is right, just in case of the rings, is still undecided." (Boccaccio, 45) I thought this to be a clever response to solve the problem and get out of the trap that had been laid out for him. I saw it as if the boys didn't think that the other had the true ring that they all had power, that they were all heirs. Why contest something that could or couldn't be true? Ignorance is bliss here and helps to answer yet not answer the question that was proposed. The tale is so short, it is a quick tale to teach a moral to the reader. To think that after Melchisedech answered Saladin's question, Saladin comes out and right out just asks him for the money that he later pays back, more than he had to and Melchisedech was esteemed by Saladin who also praised him with gifts. In the end it was Melchisedech getting the better end of the deal.

"And if this is the case, we can recognize the greatness of God's mercy toward us which pays more attention to the purity of our faith than to our errors by granting our prayers in spite of the fact that we choose His enemy as our intercessor- fulfilling our requests to Him just as if we had chosen a true saint as intermediary for His grace." (Boccaccio, 37-38) I found this quote interesting and in a way sarcastic as to say that it doesn't matter what you did, as long as you believe in God and fear him he will grant you your request. It was so easy for Ser Ciappelletto to get those people to believe in what he said and to get them to accept his lies so he could be buried in the church. Not one person that he wronged before stood up and denied any claims that we made concerning him but I guess when someone dies the hate that was there is turned into pity for the person that is deceased.

"And since I have observed that in spite of all this, they do not succeed but, on the contrary, that your religion continuously grows and becomes brighter and more illustrious, I am justly of the opinion that it has the Holy Spirit as its foundation and support, and that it is truer and holier than any other religion; therefore, although I was once adamant and unheeding to your pleas and did not want to become a Christian, now I tell you most frankly that I would allow nothing to prevent me from becoming a Christian." I found it ironic that even though that guy didn't want his Jewish friend to go to the church because he knew how bad it was and it wouldn't help him convert it did only for different reasons. The jewish man converted because he thought that he could do better, teach people better about the word of god.

Talk to her

I don't really get how the movie has a connection with the fairy tale of sleeping beauty. I mean there is the girl, Alicia as well as Lydia who are both in a coma though it's more Alicia than Lydia. Alicia is the daughter of a psychiatrist and appears to be his only child. So she is the princess in a sense and he is the king. She is hit by a car not pricked by a needle that puts her in a coma for 4 years. In her state Benigno ensures that she remains the same as in looks the same so that when she wakes up there is no difference. I don't remember a lot of or make any connections with parts of the movie to the fairy tale.

Benigno and Alicia's relationship is one sided. The guy has feelings for her and she before her accident didn't really know him well and in her coma she doesn't even know he exists much less knows that he is taking care of her. It is one sided, there is no way she can reciprocate his feelings because she feels nothing at the moment and she doesn't acknowledge anything that he says or does. The word benign means kindness in demeanor or manner. He is a nice guy but his actions later on and his feelings are misunderstood and people see him as a danger.

The relationship between Marco and Lydia is different from that of Benigno and Alicia is because first Marco and Lydia are in an actual relationship and not one created by their mind like that of Benigno and Alicia. Second, Marco and Lydia were two people who jumped into a relationship with their pasts still unresolved. They both are still recovering from hurts. They are using each other in a way to try and fix what is wrong with them. They both didn't talk much about their past, their relationship wasn't that strong as seen in the way that Marco doesn't talk to Lydia like Benigno talks to Alicia, nor does he help take care of her like Benigno does Alicia. It is similar to Benigno and Alicia because one side is in love with the other that is not so committed and we find that out when El Nino reveals that Lydia and him were planning on getting back together.

I find it interesting the fact that Lydia even though she is a bull fighter is scared of a snake but everyone no matter how strong or brave has a weakness. Her having a phobia like that, I don't know what it means in terms of the movie but I can see that she is very trusting in being afraid in front of Marco. With the part of Marco always crying, it makes him a sensitive guy and show that he is more emotional than Lydia. She does not seem like one to break down and cry except at the wedding. It seems like the past still haunts him as he finds a lot of things are n close connection to or trigger memories of the past. '

Benigno and Marco's relationship, they clicked the moment they meet and Benigno was so trusting in relying on Marco and confiding in him. The two are a pair that both share the feeling of loneliness though Benigno is more child like and he hasn't gotten out much, being held to a one place by women that he cares for. Marco is a sensible guy compared to Benigno. Marco thinks things through while Benigno is more dramatic and doesn't think things through entirely as seen with the way he handled his obsession as I see it of Alicia. Marco is there for Benigno even though they haven't known each other that long. Benigno only talks to Marco and confides only in him.

Though Alicia got raped though it doesn't look as if she realized it, to Benigno it wasn't rape, he was making love to the woman he loved. Everyone else thought it rape because she could not and didn't consent to it. She didn't seem quite phased or changed by it. She moved on and worked to get stronger and she looked mostly to be affected by the accident. She was not told of what had happened to her. The only other violence I recall was that of Lydia and her bull fighting. Though many are against, don't believe she can do it she proves them wrong. But after she gets injured many are just wishing that she hadn't started in the beginning and that they knew this would happen. I can't really wrap my mind around why Almodovar did this. Maybe to show how women are viewed as frail creature in the world. Or trying to show a way in how love treats women. I don't know.

The theme of dance is ongoing we see a lot of scenes with the characters either going to see a dance company or talking about dance, especially when it comes to Alicia as it was her passion. Lydia in a way was a dancer in the way she moved with her cap and moved around the bull. The theme is a way shows how love is, a dance between two people. How everyone wants to have a dance partner, someone they can keep time with, who will lead and they will follow. And sometimes you have to dance alone or be able to dance alone before you dance with someone else.

Run Lola Run

Lola was the real hero in the movie. There was complete devotion on her part as she told him to jot do anything, she would come up with a plan to get him out of the fix he was in. She runs everywhere for him to try and get the amount that he needs by 12. Manni relys on her though he does try to fix it without her. They both thought of each other before they die. They seem to go back to a significant moment in their relationship where they question the love and faithfulness of each other to the other.

The music in the movie seems to go with the purpose of why Lola is running. The lyrics kind of match it, even though I don't remember what they were I know I remember watching it I though there was a little irony in the words to the song. The sounds like the ticking of the clock signify a point inthe movie. The ticking let us know that there was not a lot of time for Lola or Manni, and the speed change showed a change in the urgency of the scene.

It seems that they got to retry getting the money over and over until they got it right. There was small significant changes like the scene with the boy and the dog on the staircase, the boy on the bike, the lady pushing the stroller, the guy in the car and with her father. The first change in beginning set off the rest of I changing the timing of everything and how it ended up in the end. I mean third times the charm and they seem to get it right not only with getting the money from the bum but also winning money for themselves.

They both seem to grow as characters and each realizing the significance if the other like when they die or are about to and it goes red. The color red to me means that they are dying and it's their last thoughts are their worst fears or something that they had wanted resolved and didn't or something that is happening that they never thought would. Each were concerned with what would happen if the other died, if they would love or remember ten, remain faithful to them. Lola as a person evolves from being helpless and crying for herself and resulting in following in Manni's plan and ending in getting shot; she comes out at the end with becoming resourceful and getting the money in a legal way. She also stands up to her father sort of in the second time around though the last one she didn't get a chance as he died in the end and left before she could catch him with his lover. Manni grows a little too to me, with not rushing to rob the store in the end but catching the bum and getting the money to his friend.

I found it interesting about the previews of what happened to the people Lola runs into in the movie and how it changes everytime she makes a change. I don't know the significance of it but I found it interesting though I don't know the reason why it is there in the movie. And the fairy tale part was to me the way they got to redo the way the ending happened, and it ended up that neither died and both gained wealth and neither were harmed physically or emotionally. A happy ending as all fairy tales have to have.

Yvain Part 3

There is a lot of saving the damsels in distress and it seems like there is only one guy to do it, like no other man is capable of doing anything. I mean why can't all the guys get together and form a plan to protect their land ever? Why does a guy and his pet have to do all the work and heroic stuff? The hero's job is looking as bad as being the president, everyone wants something from you and you try every way you can to please them. I mean he rushed from saving one damsel to another as if no one else could do it only Yvain could. They also weren't just men he was fighting, he was fighting demons and giants, the guy never gets a break, it is as if they believe him immortal, that he is God and that nothing and no one can defeat him.

Chretien speaks a lot about of love and how people don't really know what it is, and that those who think that they do don't really do. He speaks to us in the present and how we don't really know what love is anymore. There are so many divorces that go on, no one really stays with one person, thoughts are confused when it comes to the top of love, everyone has an ideal image about it but they either don't reach for it or the thoughts they thought were ideal were far from it. I like the reference to the god of love when they talked about the beautiful maiden girl that was said to even make the god Eros turn human, and shot himself with his own arrows for her.

Maidens in this story are made to seem so beautiful yet so empty headed and with no way or thought to protect themselves except to go out in search of a man to do it for them. Are females without wit and planning to come up with a way to resolve things among st themselves? I mean even the sisters could not resolve a feud without males. The males resolution or way to seek a resolution is through combat. It seems that there is no way for them to just lay down their arms and to just talk it out. I mean only after, when Yvain and Gwain fought, giving each other multiple injuries and figure out the identity of the other does King Author offer a diplomatic solution.

Chretien has a lot different allusions, though I don't understand most of them, they make me curious with questions like, the pattern with the numbers, how there is a reference to 500, it is a common number in the texts. What is the meaning behind the lion? There is a lot of personification, like that of Death and of the lion. I'm still trying to figure out what the fountain means in the story and why it does what it does.

The story had more allusions and metaphors than that of Erec and Enide and I liked it better for it.

Yvain #2

In this part of the story we hear more from Gwain and he goes and talks to Yvain about his marriage. He talks of how he doesn't want to see Yvain stray away from the manly thing to do as in fight and compete in tournaments. Gwain sees that hte man is in love but he thinks it unwise to be so submissive to his wife that he is having to consult with her with all the decisions that he takes. It seems like a repeat of Erec and Enide, as in both male characters manhood and honor are called into question. Gwain thinks that a woman won't respect a man who isn't manly and doesn't keep doing what he use to do. This argument doesn't seem to help the relationship, it seems that it just tears the couple apart with Yvain consenting to go because he didn't want to dissappoint anyone and though he didn't want to go, he goes anyway. He even asks her to grant her the favour to let him go fo her honour and his. So he's excuse to go is to restore their honour. His wife, Laudine, then makes a conditon that he must return to her before the feast of Saint John. If he didn't return shes says that he would be banished from her love. The agreement is one to make sure the other is faithful and I think I would agree with that, I mean it's a reasonable request seeing as he is leaving to go do manly things because his buddy says that he has to to be a man and maintain honour.

When Yvain does leave to go with Gwain and King Arthur's court he stays longer than her thought. Gwain keeps honouring him and accompanies him everywhere. After a while though, he then reflects and knows that he broke his promise to Laudine. It's been a little more than a year, and "Yvain suddenly began to reflect; since the moment he had taken leave of his lady he had not been so distraught as now" and so he is really feeling bad about breaking the promise to his wife. The guys really loves her though as it says that his heart "clung so tightly to the heart of her who remained behind that he had no power to take it with him." He has left his heart with her and now can not return because she won't have him. She sent a messanger to him to tell him what she thought of him and that she no longer trusted him and he was a cheat and a theif.

Laudine's message was basically that she no longer wanted him and that he was a cheat, seducer and theif. She no longer wanted to have anything to do with him. She says that a true lover wouldn't do what he did, that he wouldn't steal a lady's heart. She told him to give it back to her and would be done with him. He thought about how little he thought of her and how much time he had to get back to her but he took advantage of it. I was surprised that she would do it and that he deserved it. It see
mms to imply that the relationship is over and that there is going to be a fight back for her love by Yvain. He seems to go crazy after that and is subjected to illness and injury even though he was given a ring by Laudine though it only worked if he was thinking about her and staying faithful. In the woods he goes mad, eating raw meat and getting sick. All he wants is to get his wife back. I don't really know what to make of his cure which is him getting slathered in ointment by this girl, he is rejuvinated and made to remember the memories that he lost. It works too well, he is covered with ointment, even though only certain parts should have been.

I don't really recall any connection with mythology, this quesion is one that I can't quite answer. I don't fully understand or comprehend. I think the lion represents Yvain and the snake as Laudine.The dilemma i believe is that Yvain is facing is that he is in love with his wife and is doing eerything in his power to get her back. She seems resistant or others are persuading or making her feel that way. He also seems to be dealing with personal issues toward himself and why he was so selfish and didn't pay attention or think about his wife and how she felt. He was just doing what society expected of him.

Yvain #1

So far I am liking the story of Yvain, it seems to be a continuation of the story of Erec and Enide as the same characters are brought in the story like the king and queen and the knights. I think that the reason why the beginning of the story was not the same as the one in Erec and Enide, is that it seems as if its a continuation of the same lesson that Chretien. Or it could be a different way of introducing a new lesson. The story though does take time to talk about how love is not what it meant before, people take it for granted and no one no longer knows what love is and those who think they do know nothing.

The story that Calogrenant told was one that you could see would begin the story and start to off the plot of the story. The strange part to me was that of the man who said he was the lord of the woods and he controlled all the beasts. The description of him brings the image that he is a black man and so there is a bit of race in this book. This is the first time to me that there is a mention of race in the story. Then, the elements that are interesting is that when Calogrenant pours the water over the stone and the weather changes and it starts to rain and thunder, then return to normal is when the knight comes out to challenge him. The reason behind his challenge was that he said Calogrenant had brought damage onto his place and I wonder how that place came to be his and what real damage was done? The place on its own is bizarre the way the water is boiling hot and that the tree always has leaves, seems to never shed or die or change with the weather. Also interesting in this story in the beginning there is alot of references to the bible in it. For example, the reference to Pentecost and Saint John the Baptist.

Looking at the character Yvain, he is a guy who wants to be the hero, as he wants to avenge his cousin from the shame that he endured by the knight. he wants to go and face the knight that shamed his cousin on his own and either come back as a failure or a hero but doesn't want anyone to know before hand. You can get that from when he says "So Yvain, having no desire for their company, did not wait for them; he resolved instead to set off alone, whether it might bring him joy or greif." (pg. 303) He does go and challenges the knight and they fight like the knight did with his cousin. With Yvain though, Yvain is equal to him and he ends up dealing the knight a mortal blow to his head and that has never happened before to him. The knight then flees and Yvain follows because he wants to make sure he won and wants recoginition. The knight who is a lord of a castle ends up dying and Yvain thinks about how he was going show people that he defeated the knight. In the texts it says "He was upset to see them burying the body, since he now had no way of proving that he had killed the knight." If he did not have some proof to show in the assembly, he would be throughly shamed." (pg. 311) he was concerned about what others would think about him and he didn't want Kay to come at him with words that would put him down or provoke him into a fight like Kay usually likes to do. Yvain seems to be a good guy, intelligent but he also seems like a character who will fall into the typical stereotype of a hero with getting the glory and the girl in the end as there is already mention of beautiful women in the story, like the one that is back at the house that he is lodging in and the one who is helping him escape.

Erec and Enide Part 3

I never thought that in the end they would be given a kingdom and named King and Queen. Why could they have eneded up poor or something? Left out in the woods, forget everyone else and just be with each other. No they have to be rewarded for putting up with each others nonsense. I couldn't go through the whole book in detail as I was getting tired of Erec's behavior and Enide trying to do the right thing but failing, though Erec did come to terms with the fact that he hadn't been treating Enide fairly and that he should appreciate her more after she was taken away by the count who wanted to marry her. The proverb did appear in this book, with Enide and Erec and just to show in general that males sometimes don't realize that they're females aren't trying to make them feel unmanly but be their partner and help them out. Females do the same too, they too can take men for granted and don't quite see what a good thing they have until they lose it. This book showed a lot of gender roles that still hold true to today with the man wanting to be the protector and the female only a prize to be won, a possession to be watched over. it also doesn't have to be a gender thing but viewed as a lesser being (being the female) trying to give advice to the higher power (the male). Sometimes those with authority don't want to be told what they are doing wrong and they don't want to hear ideas unless they are their own.

I am a romantic, I love a happy ending but I just did not like this story of this annoying pair at all.

Erec and Enide Part 2

In reading the second part I really want to call Erec a bad word but I don't view it appropriate to put it in the blog post. To comment on Enide she is a bit pathetic in thinking that the reason Erec is acting the way he is to her is because of her. The real reason why he is acting that way is because he isn't man enough to handle that his woman is trying to help him out and he doesn't want to take her advice. He is being unreasonable in being mad at her for telling him that people were talking about him behind his back. It wasn't like she was the one spreading the rumors, she was trying to be loyal and what does she get for trying to help, him telling her to shut up. Wow, what a great way to thank someone and show that you appreciate their thoughtfulness.

In the next part of the book we finally see Enide acknowledged by her given name. They all did not know her name until the ceremony. It's as if she is unimportant just a prize to be won. We see her develop as we read on and see how she is belittled by Erec. Enide is clearly beautiful and that is the only thing people notice about her. She is not seen as a person but as Erec's beautiful wife. Enide though is a loyal faithful wife and a person who has a mind and is wise and thoughtful.

When Enide first speaks it is to tell Erec about the things that are being said about him behind his back. She thinks that it is her duty to and that to show her loyalty she must tell him no matter what. She is wise, and she thinks things through, we hear her talk to herself in her private thoughts and she debates between whether she should say something or not. After she is done explaining herself to him, he seems to say that it is her fault that this happened to him and that they needed to go and tells her to gather her things and they were leaving. I don't believe he liked that he was the last to know and that his wife knew all these faults about him.

I think that after that, Erec's intentions to take her on the journey was to prove to everyone else that he was still a man and to her that he could protect her, he didn't need her to tell him how things were. I mean when he goes out and start to beat up and kill off and then telling the survivors that he spared them and to tell others how he conquered them was basically to boast about his poweress. It could also be that it is a journey to help get Erec and Enide closer, have a closer connection rather than a superficial one. Though it seems that Erec just gets madder and madder at Enide and she just can't seem to hold her tongue she will not be silenced. Everytime they come across and enemy she resists but then spills and tells Erec her thoughts and later after the encounter he just tells her never to speak unless spoken to trying to put her in her place.

She seems to love her husband and she tries to obey him, but she can't help but want to protect him. She has a debate between telling him and not. She is wise to advise him, she just doesn't see that when he reprimands her for it. She belittles herself and sees her as a bad wife when she really isn't. I believe the reason that the narrator allows us access is to see the side of the woman, to get a view of the person behind the man, the one that is being taken for granted, going back to the proverbin the beginning of the book.

I think soon though that Erec is going to wake up and realize how stupid he really is and just go back to adoring his wife.

Erec and Enide Part 1

In reading this book I got kind of confused and a little bored with the first pages. It didnt really excite me. It started off as any typical story would with the introduction of the hero, the problem surfacing, the hero going out and facing an enemy and solving the problem, a basic happy ending. It wasn't very entertaining, the plot seemed to simple and the solution to obvious but the whole story wasn't a total bust to put it bluntly.

To follow up with the questions though, starting with question one, I did get lost a couple of times in the story, even in the prologue, I had to think about the question you proposed as I didn't quite understand what the proverb meant. For me, the beginning was an introduction to the point of the story, the reason, the lesson behind it and what to look for in the story. The proverb, "one might find onself holding in contempt something that is worth much more than one believes", I was not sure how to take it as I don't know how it related to any of the characters. I can't really answer the question yet until getting a better understanding the first paragraph of the story.

For question two, going into the openning of the story there is a description of King Arthur and the knights, and introduces the plot of the story with the idea to go out hunting the white stag. The knights are described as "brave and combative and fierce" (pg. 37) and there is a mention of the ladies of the court, rich ladies and maidens and daughters of kings. The contest proses problems as the person that kills the stag gets to kiss the most beautiful maiden in the court. The question is who is that maiden. Lord Gwain advises against this contest as he says that the lady that is chosen will have a knight or nobleman that will not stand for it and take up arms saying that his maiden is the most beautiful. This contest has set the women up as prizes which is saying that for their looks women are prizes to be won and not for anything else. Though it may be an honor to be thought the most beautiful maiden in the whole court, it makes women think superficially and be thought of only worthy enough to be thought of only as a pretty face. Men are seen as the protectors from the way Lord Gwain describes them as well as possessive when he says "there is not a one who is not the favorite of some valiant and bold knight, each of whom would want to control, rightly or wrongly, that the one who pleases him is the most beautiful and most noble." The men won't stand for the woman that they favor to be said that they are not the most beautiful.

In characterizing the two characters both are seen to be beautiful people. It says that they were "evenly matched in courtliness, in beauty, and in great nobility" (pg. 56) meaning that they were the perfect couple in the eyes of others. Erec is described on page thirthy-eight, saying that he is the handsomest knight in the court and that he is young and very accomplished in his knighthood. He is recieved great honour in the court. Enide is described on page forty-two to be the most beautiful creature on earth, that Nature put all her attention on her when creating her and marvelled at her. Isolde is nothing compared to her, everything about her, even when she is wearing worn clothes she is still lovely. They are portrayed as the perfect, ideal couple who both have beauty and class. Though they are from different spectrums, him being from noblility and she from a lower class, a peasant, they are still matched in beauty and in charm. Why the author did not out right say that the maiden was Enide, I don't have any idea, I didn't really think about it or consider that there was anything about. The way she is described as a mirror, when one looks into a mirror one sees a perfect replica of themselves and so to compare looking into a mirror at her is like looking at her is to say she is perfection. The connection I made with mythology is the story of Narcissus, the one man who fell in love with his own reflection.

The next contest is similar to the first one. It could be compared to today, like Miss. University or Miss. America, women being paraded and the prettiest, as well as intelligent and talented but mainly the most beautiful girl is chosen to recieve the crown. Women are shown to be property to men, the man who has the prettiest girl gets the bird.

When Queen Guenevere gives Enide a dress of hers that is brand new it implies that she has been accepted by the court and that she has been deemed worthy. Enide believes herself worthy enough to recieve the dress and even before she believes she deserves to be treated like royalty as she wait for the highest offer of marraige. Erec seems to put her on a pedistal and thinks highly of her. He finds no fault with her and thinks she deserves the best.

After reveiwing the questiong and thinking about the texts I find the story alittle more interesting.