The Miser- Moliere

The Miser by Moliere is one of the great plays from the French world. Moliere was well known for his playwriting ability, specially in tragedies and comedies. The Miser is loosely based on a Latin book made by Plautus.

Harpagon is the main character and the greedy old man that refuses to share a penny. Moliere uses him to identify anti-values of a man such as the innecesary love for money and how this can make you turn your back on your kids. Harpagon is cruel to his servants and does not give proper attention to his offspring,

Valerio, Elisa, Santiago, and Mariana are entangled into a romantic havoc that happens inside Harpagon´s house. Alon the play we can identify the true nature of every character and discover what are their desires.

A rich family is not a symptom that the family is okay. Harpagon´s family may be very wealthy, but we can see as we read the play, that Harpagon failed to educate his children and give them the care that they deserve. Moliere´s great ability in character depth is crucial for the turning points of The Miser. Undoubtedly, this is a real classic for anyone that is interested in learning the basic structure of a comedy.

Fuenteovejuna- Lope de Vega

Another important character from the spanish golden age is Lope de Vega. Along with Calderón de la Barca, he established the most celebrated binomial in spanish medieval literature. Lope de Vega was also a playwriter and he succeeded in creating a book that would last many centuries: Fuenteovejuna,

This play is perhaps the first appearence of the typical in-town scenario where suddenly a tyranic figure emerges. This evil entity will try to bend the town to his will and slowly the population will secretly  device a plan in which they will evenually overthrow the usurper.

Fuenteovejuna´s story starts with a malicious governor in the town of fuenteovejuna that rapes a young little girl. He tries to cover his acts, but he is discovered and punished. He is killed, and when the other authorities ask who did it, the town simply responds: Fuenteovejuna.

I can relate this play to many movies i have watched. The play set the tone for a recurring storyline that scriptwriters love. The underdog town beats the evil chief. How about Footloose, where the police chief prohibits the town to dance. Then there is V for Vendetta, in which a small brotherhood makes justice concealed behind an ideology. The Rock´s steller "Walking Tall" movie is perhaps the most adecuate example of this type of stories.

Life is a Dream- Pedro Calderón de la Barca

During the golden age of spanish literature, Pedro Calderón de la Barca emerged as one of the key figures that would eventually shape the western cannon. His most important book, Life is a Dream, narrates the story of a polish king that takes astrology to seriously and therefore imprisions his only son.

Basilio believes the prophecy that his son will be a tyrant and has him chained in a dungeon throughout all his life. Segismundo never knows that he is a king and lives his life boringly, just talking to the servants of his fathers.

But eventually, Basileo unchains Segismundo and gives him a chance to rule. This is the first time that Segismundo tastes freedom and freewill. He behaves like the tyrant of the prophecy, being a bad ruler and killing innocents.

Segismuno abused of his freewill and thus, was condemned to live again chained. But Basileo gives his son another shot. Go on and be king again. This time Segismundo proved himself to be a fantastic ruler, fair, and magnanimous.

With his freewill, Segismundo beat destiny, emphasized the importance of freewill in human beings, and proved that a prophecy can be defeated.

Macbeth

In this piece of blog writing, I will talk about a very special character from the infamous play, Macbeth by William Shakespeare.

This is of course, Sir Banquo!

They say that Banquo is in fact a borrowed character bu Shakespeare. His true identity lies in the Macbeth story of Raphael Holinshed. Nevertheless, I think Banquo is one of the most complete characters in this play. 

In the beginnin of the tale, Banquo is with Macbeth when the three Weird Sisters make their predictions. Banquo is sentenced to live a king-less life, but the Sisters emphasize that his kin will later be kings. This first revelation that Banquo´s children will inherir the Scottish throne will determine the outcome of the play through Macbeth´s actions. 

Let us state that Banquo is also a very ambitious character. But what makes him different from Macbeth? That Banquo never acts. He refrains himself from doing stupid things and keeps in mind that his children will someday be kings. 

Poor Banquo never realised how dangerous Macbeth could be. The main character of the play is overdriven by his desire an lust for power and kills one of his best friends and noble men. 

Because of Macbeth´s atrocious actions, he is haunted until his death by the ghost of Banquo. He appears during the return of Macbeth to the Sisters and also on the banquet. 

It will never be known if Banquo´s ghost was actually real or just a product of Macbeth´s imaginations. But one thing we can assert, it was real FOR Macbeth. 

The Canterbury Tales

What is irony?

It is a rethorical technique that implies a double audience. The person that employs the irony makes or says something that implies a certain shallow meaning but in reality he is implying something more deep or with another meaning. Irony is the art of making fun of someone without loosing class and without them realizing it. 

What is comicallity?

It is caused when we are entertained. We laugh, we enjoy images and words being given to us. Comicallity relies on making the subject laugh and entertained through the language or acting. 

What is a satire?

Satire is the literary genre in which irony lies therein. A satire basically makes fun of another work, governmen or situation through the use of characters and motifs that make folly of that event. 

Difference between satire and comedy?

The purpose of a comedy is to make the audience laugh an have a good time. Satires have a much deeper meaning, they make social criticism through a comedy. 

Differences in satires from english speaking canon and spanish speaking.

English speaking satires tend to rely on the use of irony, there are more images, characters and symbolism. In hispanic satires, we can find the use of direct criticism such as the actual importance of the term "carrilla" in Mexican society. English society is often more subtle in the use of satires and employs a better set of characters. Hispanic satires are far more direct and less gentle. 

Petrarca

We will compare the famous "Laura" poem by Petrarca to Edmund Sepnser´s Sonnet VII

Sonnet VII
Fayre eyes, the myrrour of my mazed hart,
what wondrous vertue is contaynd in you
the which both lyfe and death forth fro[m] you dart
into the obiect of your mighty view?
For when ye mildly looke with louely hew,
then is my soule with life and loue inspired:
but when ye lowre, or looke on me askew
then doe I die, as one with lightning fyred.
But since that lyfe is more then death desyred,
looke euer louely, as becomes you best,
that your bright beams of my weak eies admyred,
may kindle liuing fire within my brest.
Such life should be the honor of your light,
such death the sad ensample of your might

Soneto a Laura

Paz no encuentro ni puedo hacer la guerra,

y ardo y soy hielo; y temo y todo aplazo;

y vuelo sobre el cielo y yazgo en tierra;

y nada aprieto y todo el mundo abrazo.

Quien me tiene en prisión, ni abre ni cierra,

ni me retiene ni me suelta el lazo;

y no me mata Amor ni me deshierra,

ni me quiere ni quita mi embarazo.

Veo sin ojos y sin lengua grito;

y pido ayuda y parecer anhelo;

a otros amo y por mí me siento odiado.

Llorando grito y el dolor transito;

muerte y vida me dan igual desvelo;

por vos estoy, Señora, en este estado.

We can contemplate the use of the 11 syllable verse by Petrarca, compared to the 10 or 9 syllable verses by Spenser. The use of images is heavily used by both writers. They tend to give the reader the image of the sky, ice, the earth, so that they can compare it as a metaphor to the real meaning the author implies. 

Dante´s Inferno

Compare Canto 1 to the opening of the Iliad or the Aeneid.  How is it different?

The odyssey starts with the cry of Homer to the muses so that they talk to him about Odysseus. In Dante´s Inferno, the writer, as well as the main character are the same person. He starts the book by having a mental breakdown in a lonely forest, wandering through it feeling lonely. 

Compare Dante's journey to the journeys taken by characters in Gilgamesh, the Odyssey, the Aeneid, and Augustine's Confessions.  How does Dante's appearance as the central character in the poem make it a different kind of epic?

Because it will be an epic that will be only told through the eyes of the man that makes the action. In the others, we had an outsider as a narrator, and that helped us gather different points of view, for example, Penelope when she was not near her husband. 

Dante encounters a leopard, a lion, and a she-wolf in Canto 1.  What do you think these beasts symbolize, if anything?  Which animal seems to pose the greatest problem for Dante?

I think they are the first representations of a motif in the story, which is the sin. He recognizes the she-wolf as the deadliest, and when he meets Vergil, he asks for advice on how to shake her away.

What is the role of classical literature and culture in the Inferno?  Why does Dante have a pagan, Vergil, guide him through Hell, and not a Christian, like St. Paul or St. Augustine (who certainly has actual experience with many of the sins described in the poem)?

That is why this epic defies the other epics we have seen. There is no divine guide for Dante like the Greek gods and Odysseus. Maybe that is why the title is referred as the Divine Comedy. It stars pagan people making a journey through hell, without any type of spiritual guide. 

Who are the women discussed in Canto 2?  What is their historical or symbolic significance?  What is their function in the poem?

The Virgin Mary and Beatrice. Their function in the poem is simple. Beatrice is the engine that keeps Dante alive, while the Virgin Mary is the spiritual manifestation of women that will appear in the book. 

The "neutral angels" (Canto 3) are the product of Dante's poetic imagination, not orthodox Christian theology.  Why do you think he created them?

He wanted to provide a character that was not ultimately bound to hell because they did not support any side. This way Dante can provide an examplo to non-belivers that they wil be sent to hell but that they will not be fully punished. 

Compare Dante's Underworld to Vergil's Underworld.  How is Dante's Charon different from Vergil's Charon in Aeneid 6?

In Dante´s, Charon is a far more precautious character. He is very keen upon not letting Dante cross the Acheron until Vergil tells him that they have a divine mission to carry. 

What kind of souls are in Limbo? (Canto 4) What is their defect (difetto)?

Souls that were good but died before Christianity was settled or that they never baptized

Why do you think Dante makes lust a lesser sin than gluttony?  (NB: the sins encountered at the top of the slope are less horrible or offensive than the ones at the bottom, and the ones in between are arranged in a corresponding hierarchy from one to the other.)

Because Dante himself feels a little sympathy towards the lustful. He explains that they are damned by love and he even talks to Francesca. He judges that lust depends upon love and that gluttony only depends on yourself

Paolo and Francesca (Canto 5) are some of the most attractive sinners in Hell.  What does Dante do, in a very short space, to make them real to us?  Why do you think he makes them so sympathetic (they are, after all, sinners)?

Dante deposits a very human and relatable scenario between those two lovers. They fall hopelessly in love and there is nothing for them to do. When Francesca husband kills both, Dante even faints from pity and that feeling is infatuated to the reader. 

What is the political theme of Canto 6?  How does it relate to Dante's own political experiences?

Dante talks with the man from Florence about the political situation that they are living nowadays. Dante is dissapointed about the outcome that political situations have brought to his life. 

Look up "epicurean" in a good dictionary.  What kind of sin is this?

A pleasure sin, adultery or lust. 

Describe the relationship between Farinata and Cavalcante.  What do you learn about Florentine politics from the exchange between Farinata and Dante?

Dante and Farinata have opposite political ideals, that is very clear. We can see that Farinata is a supporter of the system that reigned in that time and that Dante was somehow living uncomofrotably in his city. Farinata tells him that he will be ordered to leave Florence when the time comes. Dante does not understand this, but then realizes that the persons from Hell can see the remote future. 

Why are the Violent against Themselves (suicides) punished the way they are?  Remember that in Dante's system the sin itself is a form of punishment.

The punishment is horrible for the suicidal people, because of the way they treated their body while they lived. On the day of judgement they will be able to return to their bodies but they will be suspended in the tree branches and will never be able to move again. Dante deeply regrets suicidal people because they are wasting the gift of a healthy body. Having that sin is unspeakable. 

Does Pier della Vigne use language in a way that seems peculiar to you?  What does his manner of speaking tell you about him as a person?

Yes, he uses loads of literary figures and he never identifies himself as a speaker. He is a very studied man that reveals who he is when he gives the reader a monologue.

How is Dante's Ulysses different from Homer's Odysseus?

Dante never read the Odyssey, so he had a different perspective about Odysseus. He kind of judges him for leaving his son and wife. In the Odyssey, the main character is described as a very intelligent man, a virtuous leader, and with great physical strength.

Guido da Montefeltro is guilty of the same sin as Ulysses--but how is he a different kind of person?
They both had to make war in order to mantain peace, with the difference that Ulysses wanted to go home immediately.

Arab Literature

One of the most important areas to explore in ancient literature, is of course the arab. Taking in account wonderful works as the Ramayana and the Thousand and One Nights, one can thoroughly understand that the literary works deviced by the arabs is a carefuly crafted one. Now it is time to talk about the presence of arab literature in Spain during the Middle Ages.

It is true that I have already made an entry of El Mio Cid, which is  heavily influenced by the arab context. In despite of that, this entry focuses a little bit on the long lost poet, Ibn Suhayd.

A native of Córdoba, Suhayd was a gifted child that converted into a poet during his growth.  Living beneath the shadow of the celebrated Averroes, Suhayd has his own specific and well built poetry. This is a brief passage of one of his poem, i was not able to find an english translation:

Cuando, llena de su embriaguez, se durmió, y se durmieron los ojos de la ronda, me acerqué a ella tímidamente, como el amigo que busca el contacto furtivo con disimulo. Me arrastré hacia ella insensiblemente como el sueño; me elevé hacia ella dulcemente como el aliento. Besé el blanco brillante de su cuello; apuré el rojo vivo de su boca. Y pasé con ella deliciosamente, hasta que sonrieron las tinieblas, mostrando los blancos dientes de la aurora.

 

"After the Orgy" explores the type of arab literature similar to the one in The One Thousand and One Nights. Before the contemporary context of conservative islam that prohibites erotic works, this was a very recurring topic. 

We can perceive some glimpses of beauty, sex, and romance in the verses of Suhayd´s poem. A beautiful text that somehow has never been very coveted by modern critics. In conclusion, Arab literature offers a brilliant alternative to the rigidness of the Western Canon.