Can you imagine a stranger coming to your house and telling you information about you and your husband and use this information to try to deceive you? In “The Red Lotus of Chastity” that is exactly what happened. A nun who is a crook uses deception and disguise to have an advantage on Devasmita. Devasmita is the main character and she married Guhasena. Guhasena had to go on a business trip and she became jealous. Devasmita was afraid that her husband would be unfaithful (Kathasaritsagara 1275). Both Devasmita and Guhasena decided to go to the temple and the god Siva gave them each a red lotus (1275). The lotus that each of them had represented their faithfulness to each other and as long as they stayed devoted to one another the lotus would never die. While Guhasena was away on his trip four merchants’ saw the red lotus in his hands and they became curious. Their curiosity got Guhasena drunk and that is where …show more content…
they found out the truth. These merchants leave with the intent to break their Devasmita’s promise to her husband and ensure a nun’s help along the way. The nun takes these men as her pupil in an attempt to define Devesmita. Devasmita is a clever woman and she disguises one of her maids as her in order to trick those men (1277). The maid drugs each of these four men and brands their forehead with a dogs paw. Devasmita informs her mother-in-law of her actions. Guhasena is afraid that these men may kill her son. Devasmita remembers a time where a woman saved her husband who was imprisoned by using a disguise (1278). She decides to disguise her and her maids up as merchants and sail to her husband in Cathay. Once she arrives she informs the king that she has four slaves that has runaway into the city and she has come to get them. She identifies her slaves with the branding. During that time Devasmita is reunited with her husband and they return home to never be separated again. This work was published in Ancient India in ca. 1070 by Somadeva. Somadeva was a Brahmana scholar, a courtier, and an Indian poet who lived between 1035-1085. He retold an 11th century collection of Indian legends, folk tales, and fairy tales called the Kathasaritsagara. Somadeva composed the Kathasaritsagara to amuse the queen “when her mind had been wearied by the continuous study of the sciences (1272).” During the time of “The Red Lotus of Chastity” Vijayabahu I of Rohanna (1070-1110) removed the Chalos. This ended their fifty-year rule and established a new capital. This new capital was located at Polonnaruva and had a hundred and fifty years of prosperity and unity. During this time Buddhism flourished. This work reminds me of “Bisclavret” by Marie de France.
Both of these stories are about deception. In “Bisclavret” he was deceived by his wife, but in “The Red Lotus Chastity” deception is used by the nun and Devasmita. Bisclavret told his wife his secret second life and she used this to her advantage to get rid of him, but it did not work out for her. In Somadeva’s work the corrupt nun used deception to convince Devasmita that she can remember past lives. The nun’s goal was to make her abandon her virtue. Devasmita does not believe the nun and comes up with her own plan. She set out to save her husband with the help of her maids and disguises. Devasmita not only saves her husband, but she also protected her chastity. She was “honored by all upright people” (Somadeva 1279). The deception and disguise in this story is both used for good and evil. The nun uses this to her advantage in order to get money and to deceive people, Devasmita uses it to protect her purity and her husband, and Bisclavret used his disguise to get back at his wife and her new
husband. I found it interesting that the nun failed at her own game of deception. The nun thought she could get away with anything, but that was not the case here. I think this work should be added to the syllabus only is “Bisclavret” is taken off. These stories are very similar when it comes to the moral of the story. Though I enjoyed this story I would leave “Bislavret” on the syllabus because I liked it better.
In the story, The Red Lotus of Charity written by Somadeva (11th century) , Devasmita, a female character who lives in a caste-based society of ancient India, is facing the conspiracy of the four sons of a local merchant, who want to seduce her during her husband’s absence for a business trip. Throughout the story, the concept of the virtuous is controversial: the story literally defines Devasmita as a wise and virtuous wife, who is able to stay faithful to her husband under any circumstance; meanwhile, Devasmita shows her violent and cruel when punishing those who want to seduce her. These traits of Devasmita: her cunning and ruthless, however, will be regarded as unethical traits instead of virtue in many cultures. Any theory of justification
I. Article Summary: Suzy Clarkson Holstein's article, “Silent Justice in a Different Key: Glaspell's 'Trifles'” evaluates the play Trifles and how the difference between the men in the play mirror how a woman's perspective is very different from a man's. Trifles is about two women, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, who show up at a house with their husbands and the county attorney to investigate a murder. The entire time the men are looking for evidence to implicate the accused wife, Minnie Wright, of killing her husband. Meanwhile, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale are there to gather up some items to bring Minnie Wright in jail. While doing so, the women uncover evidence that would prove the wife is culpable but decide to hide it from the men in the last moments of the play. Trifles is evaluated on how the women are able to come up with the evidence unlike the men because they didn't approach it like a crime scene but rather a home, “By contrast, the women arrive at a home. Although neither they or the men realize it, they too are conducting an investigation” (Holstein 283). Holstein also notes they are able to find evidence because they use their own life experiences to relate to the accused murderer, Minnie Wright as shown here; “But the women do not simply remember and sympathize with Minnie. They identify with her, quite literally” (285). Holstein finishes the article by noting the women decide to hide the evidence because of the solidarity they feel towards Minnie Wright; “From Mrs. Hale's perspective, people are linked together through fragile, sometimes imperceptible strands. The tiny trifles of life –a neighbor's visit, a bird's song, the sewing of a quilt –have profound reverberations” (287).
Seemingly religious, this has turned in a way to a type of action that feels occult, and like the corruption of religious practice, as mentioned before. Though she has religious artifacts all through the house, the reader is left with the distinct feeling that all is not quite right here. The is a mention of a large “black Christ” hanging in one of the bedrooms, as well as the religious shrine like area in Consuelo’s bedroom that seems twisted- it depicts demons and torture instead of assumed and idyllic religious themes or traditional prints. While this plot structure feels as if it may be motivated by a fear on Consuelo’s behalf of death, and a deep desire to resurrect her husband, the novel does make it clear that this is not the first time she has acted bizarrely. Felipe learns in the General’s papers that he once caught her crushing cats in some form of bizarre practice between her
“Every one suspects himself of one of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people I have ever known.“ This quote by Nick from The Great Gatsby ties well with The Great Gatsby’s theme: People may use dishonesty to get what they want, but in the end it may only serve to destroy them and the things and people they love. Outlined below are some examples where this theme can be found in the book.
These two short stories have remarkable similarities One example is in their plot; in both stories the narrators are cheaters even though it isn’t in the same way. For example, in “Never Marry a Mexican”, the narrator “witnessed their infidelities, and [she] helped them to it” (Cisneros 171). While she herself never cheated on her significant other since she doesn’t have one, she got men to cheat on their own wives with her. However, in “Maria de Covina”, the narrator is the one committing the act of
She then moves on to be a gracious host to all of these men, again showing success in her womanly duties. Later that night one of the visitors, Sextus Tarquinis, comes into her room, and forces himself upon her, telling her that if she does not comply he will make it look like she had an affair with one of the servants (Livy, 101). She yields to him because she does not want it to seem as if she had an affair and is not able to explain what occurred.... ... middle of paper ...
Lying has deadly effects on both the individual who lies and those around them. This concept is demonstrated in The Great Gatsby. Although Gatsby, Tom and Myrtle have different motives for being deceitful, they all lie in order to fulfill their desires and personal needs. Myrtle’s desire to be wealthy is illustrated when she first meets Tom, dressed in his expensive clothing, as her attitude changes when she puts on the luxurious dress and when she encourages Tom to buy her a dog. Tom’s deception is clear when he hides his affair with Myrtle by placing Myrtle in a different train, withholding the truth from Mr. Wilson of the affair and convincing Myrtle and Catherine that he will one day marry Myrtle. Gatsby tries to convince himself and others that he is the son of wealthy people, he creates an appearance that he is a successful, educated man through the books in his library and assures himself that Daisy loves him. Tom’s dishonesty reveals that he is selfish, while Gatsby’s distortions expose his insecurities, and Myrtle’s misrepresentations show that her sole focus in life is to achieve materialistic success. Gatsby and Myrtle both lie in order to obtain the “American dream.” However, Tom, who appears to already have achieved the “American dream”, deceives others out of boredom and because he takes his wealthy lifestyle for granted. F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates the human flaw of dishonesty for personal gain and how lies have inevitably tragic consequences in his characterization of Gatsby, Myrtle and Tom.
Mrs. Peters suggests that over the course, she has discovered a different aspect of herself that ties more closely to her experience as a woman than to her marriage to Mr. Peters. Mrs. Hale concludes, all women go through the same things at different times. For Mrs. Hale, Minnie Wright's murder of her husband was the ultimate rejection of her husband's identity in memory of the person Mrs. Foster used to be. The play Trifles, in the murder mystery in which the women decide to hide the evidence of the crime and thus end by aiding the murderer, the story leaves this question open of the meaning of duty and justice.... ... middle of paper ...
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Pearl, is a symbol of sin and adultery in the sense that she leads Dimmsdale and Hester to their confession and the acceptance of their sins. A beauitful daughter of the towns adulturist has somtimes demon like traits. She is also the only living symblol of the scarlet letter "A". In another way Pearl also makes a connection between Dimmsdale and Hester.
Lies and Deceit in The Great Gatsby & nbsp; In the world, people try to hide things another, they find out what they are hiding. In the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the secrecy and deceit practiced by Jay, Daisy, and Myrtle leads to inevitable tragedy when the truth is revealed. & nbsp ; Jay failed to realize that if you tell a lie most of the time they tend to come to a boil and burst. For example, "My family has been prominent.
This story focuses on the extra-marital affair a housewife named Calixta has while her husband and son are away due to a storm. Although we learn that Calixta has an affair we also know that she doesn’t completely defy the Cult of Domesticity. From the story we get the idea that she remained pure until she married her husband and as Chopin tells us in page 689 “She had not seen him very often since her marriage, and never alone,” this line suggest that even if she saw her past lover around she would not speak to him because neither of them were ever alone and they both didn’t want to disrespect their marriages. In addition Calixta seems to be a very good housewife and mother. She appears to be always tending her home. In page 689 we learn that “[sitting} at a side window sewing furiously on a sewing machine. [Calixta] was greatly occupied and did not notice the approaching storm.” She is so focused on her chores that she didn’t even notice a storm. For Calixta sewing and doing chores around the house is what is normal. She has assumed a role as a married woman and mother and she is fulfilling it. Before the affair you can say that by societies expectations she was a true woman, she kept her virginity until marriage, she makes sure her house chores are done, and she takes care of her family. Even after the affair she acts as if nothing has
Joyce first reveals to readers how obsessed the narrator is with sacred allusions to a chalice and a prayer. The narrator tells readers he “imagined that [he] bore [his] chalice safely through a throng of foes” (598) as he remembers the girl when he is making his way through the crowded market. The chalice is a biblical reference to the cup from which Jesus drank during the Last Supper in Matthew 6. This sacred reference “elucidates the importance and value the boy places on the very name of his love” (Flynn). This allusion to the chalice allows readers to see how sacred the girl is to the young narrator. Shortly after this, while the narrator is in his room he “[presses] the palms of his hands together until they [tremble], murmuring: O love! O love!” (598). This semblance of prayer also shows how sacredly the narrator upholds the girl he likes. However, she soons tells him she cannot attend Araby, a bazaar, because “there would be a retreat that week in her convent” (598), making readers assume she is going to be a nun. If she is going to be a nun, then the narrator has no chance of dating or marrying her, and his obsession with her is pointless. Unfortunately, he does not come to realize this until the very end of the
For instance, in “Federigo’s Falcon” Federigo was willing to kill his last source of happiness in order make the women he loved appreciate him and “without thinking twice he wrung the bird’s neck and promptly handed it over to the housekeeper…” (Boccaccio 163). By killing his bird Federigo ironically ruins the one thing she, Mona, had wanted from him. While in “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” the knight is given an ultimatum by the old woman for her to be young and unfaithful or old and faithful and in response the knight states “In honor to us both I don’t care which;/…‘And I have won the mastery?’ Said she,” (Chaucer 378-382). Thus, the knight surrenders his power, and puts his fate into the hands of the old woman, with the hope she will choose to become young and beautiful. Hence, both tales have their similar themes of sacrifice, although some discrepancies behind the meaning of each sacrifice seem to be
Firstly, the literary technique symbolism has been used to represent power. The ruby choker, given to the Bride by the Marquis, is a symbol of power. The Bride describes the choker as a ‘choker of rubies, two inches wide, like an extraordinarily precious slit throat...bright as arterial blood’. This depiction is a useful method of representing the Marquis power because the necklace acts like a collar. This signifies how the Marquis behaves like his Bride’s master. (why master?) An example of the Marquis expressing this power is when the Marquis takes the Bride’s virginity. The Marquis tells the Heroine to wear the choker before consummating their marriage; in relation to power, this shows how the Marquis has the right to her body. Moreover, the overwhelming presence of lilies in the bridal chamber represents the loss of virginity. The quote ‘[mirrors] on the wall...reflected more white lilies that I’d ever seen in my life’ (pg10-11). This exhibits the overpowering image of lilies for the reason that lilies in reality connote death or loss, in the context of the story; this is the loss of the Brides virginity. In addition to this, the resemblance of th...
In the play, Claudio has been sentenced to death for getting his fiancee pregnant (his crime was not so much getting her pregnant, but having sex with her at all). Claudio's sister, Isabella, who is in the process of joining a nunnery, feels that Claudio has done wrong, has sinned and committed a crime, but she feels that the sentence--death--is too strict. So, she goes to the ruler of the city, Angelo, to plead for her brother's life. The previously virtuous Angelo falls into lust with Isabella, and he propositions her to save her brother by having sex with him (Angelo). Now, remember that Isabella is in the process of becoming a nun. She, of course, rejects this propos...