Here the boy lay down, weary both from his zealous hunting and because of the heat, drawn to the beauty of the place and the fountain. While he was eager to slake his thirst, another thirst grew, and while he drank, he was seized by the image of a figure he saw, and he loved a discarnate dream. He thought that which is a shadow is a body. He was enthralled with himself, and, with his face still, he stared at that same face, just like a statue made of Parian marble. Seated on the ground he observed his eyes, twin stars, and his hair worthy of both Bacchus and Apollo, his youthful cheeks and ivory neck, the beauty of his face and its blushing mixed with snowy whiteness, and he marveled at everything for which he himself is remarkable: unsuspecting, …show more content…
The anaphora that begins these two lines, “dumque…dumque,” like the alternation, signals how Narcissus is seized by the two thirsts simultaneously.
Literally meaning “hope,” it is translated idiomatically as “dream.”
References to discarnate forms (“spem,” “umbra”) surround references to the body (“corpore,” “corpus”). The chiasmic organization of the line emphasizes the distinction between the discarnate on the one hand and the physical body on the other, a theme of the passage.
Personal pronouns signal the reflexivity of Narcissus’ desire. “Vultu” is both an ablative of respect, conveying with “inmotus” the stillness of Narcissus’ expression, and the antecedent of “haeret,” indicating that it is the image of his own face that Narcissus clings to. The use of “vultu” a single time with these two syntactic roles suggests the reflexive nature of Narcissus’ gaze—the still face he stares at is his
…show more content…
The fact that “miratur,” a verb related to vision, is linked this way to Narcissus’ own appearance, relates to the theme of vision in the passage and signals the paradox of Narcissus observing himself without understanding what he sees.
This is an example of polyptoton with “probat,” an active form, and “probatur,” a passive form. Narcissus is both the subject who acts with “probat,” and the subject acted upon with “probatur,” which again highlights the reflexivity of his action.
Here we see polyptoton with “petit” and “petitur” as in the line above.
Assonance links these two verbs, conveying again the reflexivity of Narcissus’ admiration of his image.
This is a version of a golden line, in which the adjectives precede and the nouns follow the verb in symmetrical order, in this case with an adverb as well. Its use may be ironic here, recounting Narcissus’ repeated, ineffective actions.
The fountain is ironically described as “deceitful,” when really it is not the instrument of reflection but Narcissus’ understanding of what he sees that fails to capture the
The narcissus in the woman’s garden release petals in one clump (Otsuka 15). Furthermore, the narcissus is a sign of bad luck to the family and their survival. Otsuka (103) uses another flower to represent both hope and sorrow. However, for our theme of the tragedy, a man in the camp dies and an unfamiliar and rare flower was spotted on the other side of the fence”. The man was purportedly shot while reaching for the flower, symbolizing the struggle for freedom and a better life (Otsuka 101) In the end, the death of the man represents persona tragedy from an innocent action, an action with a deadly
In the novel “Incantation,” Alice Hoffman develops a meaningful theme of how the infamous jealousy can destroy a person in many forms uses the literary devices such as simile and personification.
Campbell examines thirteen Venetian engravings and paintings, as well as an example of early poetry, to illustrate the grafting effect of different imagery sources within a single picture, along with poetic imagery and form used with poesia. Many examples of art that Campbell examines focuses on the nature of the works, such as the juxtaposition of “pagan opposites” in Christian subject matter, the idea of the gaze, juxtaposing two pictorial ...
In life, people and things are not always as they appear. William Shakespeare displays this idea throughout his play, Julius Caesar. The play portrays the historical murder of one of ancient Rome's most precious leaders, Julius Caesar. The play takes its readers through the minds of the conspirators as they plot this massive murder and deal with the responsibilities of its consequences. During the aftermath of Caesar's death, Octavius talks to Antony about how they should bring peace back to Rome. He states, "And some that smile...have in their hearts...millions of mischiefs" (4.1.50-51). Here, Octavius is referring to the false appearance of the conspirators. He says that they might appear harmless, but behind their false smiles is a heart full of dirty tricks. He is also saying that someone's outward appearance doesn't always symbolize how he or she feels inside. This theme of appearance versus reality can be seen various times throughout Julius Caesar. It is developed through the personalities and actions of Antony, Brutus, and Cassius. These characters deceive their friends and add to the intriguing plot of the play.
The Greek’s images also possessed two important ideas that brought the soul of the artist and subject to the surface while still capturing the passion and action of the movement and story: noble simplicity and quiet grandeur. Greek images contained faces that were full of expression but were also balanced because they were not overcome by pain or passion because they still had nobility of soul which creates a sense of tranquility even in the midst of rage, fervor, or desire.
But jealousy, and especially sexual jealousy, brings with it a sense of shame and humiliation. For this reason it is generally hidden; if we perceive it we ourselves are ashamed and turn our eyes away; and when it is not hidden it commonly stirs contempt as well as pity. Nor is this all. Such jealousy as Othello’s converts human nature into chaos, and liberates the beast in man; and it does this in relation to one of the most intense and also the most ideal of human feelings. (169)
There exists a kind of person who can be called by no other name than by “Magnificent Bastard”. They are masters of deception, bloody brilliant, unstoppable in achieving their goals even when it means grinding others into the dust, and yet they have such a flair, such a charming disposition, that they are often admired by even those who are wronged by them. Iago in Shakespeare’s play Othello is one such character. The audience may love or hate him, but either way they must admit that he commands the spot-light. In spite of this, the reason why Iago acts as he does is shrouded in mystery. Even when directly speaking to the audience about his motivations, Iago is not always truthful. In reality, while Iago derives great pleasure from manipulating others, his driving motivation throughout the entire play is his own jealousy; from being unrecognized for his greatness, to an impossible love for Desdemona, and of the virtuous characters all around him.
“Othello”, by William Shakespeare, is a story of jealousy’s potential to manipulate thoughts and eventually lead to ultimate demise. The key to extremely detrimental jealousy lies within one’s ability to recognize it or deny it. It seems that the important theme of “Othello” is that if jealousy is not recognized and immediately dealt with, it receives a head start to commence the process of rotting away all normal human reason. Othello’s speech in Act III scene iii beginning with line 178 is the first and most important indicator of the trouble ominously looming on Othello’s horizon. His immediate response to Iago’s accusations is that of total denial. By depriving himself of that initial venting process, Othello gives his jealousy the perfect culture on which his jealousy can turn cancerous and grow out of control. Othello does not spit out the seed that Iago has planted within himself soon enough and thus lets Iago water it with smooth speech until its roots spread and cannot be uprooted. The only way to appropriately illustrate this point is through an in depth analysis of specific text from the play.
Written in hendecasyllabic meter (11 syllables per line) and unrhymed verse, the poem seems to be an easy read. It uses words so ordinary any reader could go through it without having to stop for the meaning. The persona tells of his experience of looking down into wells and being ridiculed all the time by people who could arguably be his enemies, or his friends who know better than he. "Always wrong to the light," the persona never sees what he is there, in the first place, for - the truth. Instead, he sees his own reflection, looking like a god - an allusion to Narcissus who looks down into a pool of water and falls in love with himself - with a crown of ferns, much like the crown of olives worn by poets and winners of the Olympian games of ancient Greece, amidst a background of clouds. In one of those visits to the well, though, the persona notices "a something wh...
The tail is a symbol for penis and this represents sexual desires that all humans possess. However, Leonardo associated the vulture to his mother. A superficial reading of the text can explain that this association portrays how all babies get pleasure when they suck at their mother’s nipples. Nonetheless, when we read the text in depth, we can come to the conclusion that Leonardo’s memory represents over dependence and eroticization from him to his mother. The question that now arises is why did Leonardo associate the vulture to his
The prophet Tiresias in Ovid’s "Echo and Narcissus" can be compared to Basil Hallward and Lord Henry Wotton in The Picture of Dorian Gray in that all play a role in determining the protagonists’ fate. Tiresias enigmatically determines Narcissus’ fate by revealing that Narcissus will "live to see ripe old age...If he never knows himself" (Hendricks 93). In foreseeing the boy’s future, the prophet acts as a sort of father figure to Narcissus, whose real father is absent from his life. Narcissus cannot escape from Tiresias’ prophecy, and when he gains knowledge of his beauty, or "knows himself," Narcissus is plagued by self-love which destroys him. Thus, the prophet influences the boy’s fut...
Coriolanus in this passage is likened to a lamb. Even his friend and supporter Menenius sees that Coriolanus although feared by the people outside the walls of Rome is easy prey for Rome's own citizens. The second place in the play where Coriolanus is seen as pitiful is in Act 4 Sc...
This was shown in the quotation “You still flowered in songs, you still broke in currents, oh pit of debris, open and bitter well.” From this the floral imagery of “flowering” is used to describe the speaker’s love, as being beautiful as floral imagery is, yet by pairing it with the nautical imagery of “broke in currents” with being a ”pit of debris” shows this love transforming as something undesirable, and the ruins of a structure “debris”. In this piece the use of anaphora emphasises the idea of the change of the love between the pair, as from line 45 the repetition of “you still” describes things their lover had done, such as blossoming like a flower, yet emphasising the change as the woman’s fluidity is similar to that of the
For example, Petrarch focuses on describing not only the appearance of the doe, but her surroundings as well. Furthermore, he is so delighted by the beauty he sees in his beloved that he must drop everything and follow her at all costs; this fact exemplifies the Italian Renaissance’s cultural concept of beauty because the focus is on the poet’s infatuation with the outward beauty of his
Jealousy, whatever it may be driven by, can produce many different actions in a person depending on their desires. Othello craftly examines a few examples of these with highly contrasting characters driven by vastly different things. The different manifestations of jealousy in said characters can be analysed through the characters of Roderigo, Othello, and Iago, while also proving how jealousy can sometimes be a front for more cynister feelings.