Placebo and Justinus
After discussing the dangers and advantages of marrying young women,
January asks friends for advice. Placebo [Latin, "I will please"]
flatters him, telling him he is right to marry a young woman. Justinus
[L. "just one"] warns him of the dangers he risks and counsels him not
to marry, based on his own experience as a married man. January does
what he wants, in the end, and suffers for it.
Their speeches are almost a little play about bad and good advice. Are
they played for satiric/comic effect, or do they seem to tend toward
tragedy? Especially note the way January responds to their advice
(IV.1566-1571).
January then discussed his problem with his friends and expressed his
desire to marry a very young maiden of not more than twenty years old.
This led to a great debate and a dispute between the Knight’s brothers
named Placebo and Justinus. While Placebo told January to take his own
decision without taking anybody’s opinion into consideration, Justinus
counseled against marriage since women are fickle. January then
decided to get married.
January, wished to have a young wife of no older than thirty, for a
young wife would be more pliable, but Placebo warned him that it takes
great courage for such an aged man to take a young wife. He warned him
of the misery that can come from taking a wife, for she could be
shrewish or a drunkard, facts that a husband will not learn until well
into the marriage. Despite the common opinion that Placebo has a
wonderful wife, he knows what faults she has. They argue about the
merits of marriage, with Placebo predicting that January will not
please his wife for more than three years, but Placebo eventually
assents to January's plan. January finally decided to take a young and
pretty wife, foolishly believing that nobody would find fault with his
choice. He spoke to Placebo and his friends about his choice, praising
his intended wife. January, however, worries that a man who finds
that he is a brave man. As soon as his wife is accused, John quickly
“Instinctively, with sudden overmastering passion, at at the sight of her helplessness and her grief, he stretched out his arms, and next, would have seized her and held her to him, protected her from every evil with his very life, his very heart’s blood… But pride
. . .” implies the narrator can only see through so much of the door, his sight is restricted to only his father. This allows for a very strong description of his father in the moment. The narrators’ father was walking towards his bedroom with his back to his wife. He had clearly dismissed his wife’s’ argument until she cruelly remarked “Well, I hope you 'll be satisfied when they come home knocked up and you 'll have had your way.” (Alistair Macleod 229). Without stopping, revealing how shocked he was to hear this, he turns around. He is mid stride, but so taken back that he spins to face her. The offence that he feels is a result of his opinion that it would be best for his children to find a better way of life than his own. His children have an opportunity for a much more fulfilling life and he wants nothing more than for them to pursue it. This would seemingly be a goodtime for him to explain to his wife the way he feels; instead he holds it in, knowing that she would not understand. By turning back around without saying a word the only statement he makes is that he is mad. In this moment he is described as looking old and hard worked, though very
The speaker's relationship with her husband had to go over a few changes. At first, she did not want anything to do with her husband, she was still fourteen years old consequently feeling unready on handling such a big responsibility, but she had no other choice but to stay with him as she was a part of an arranged marriage. Later on, the speaker accepts her relationship with her husband and
against him and that little can bring him joy. He had lost his innocence, and
away. In an argument with his wife he says, “’ I should have roared you down when you
father in return and was sympathetic to his senility, she had the urge to help him. However, since
, how it drowns to his attention how much he had longed for his sister/future wife to be. Yet he never felt so lonely whilst within her company. Whether it was the fact that the burning desire driven him away. Or just his sheer highly intelligent curiosity got in the way of settling for second best.
without her. "He was his wife's man and not his own." When he became aware of
...s “And immediately the impulse to retreat, which had already assailed me several times leaped upon me with a sort of demoniac violence”(lines 34-35) in addition he says “If anyone expected me to go into that house and sit there alone for several hours, they were mistaken!”(line 36-37)
life is gone. That to give up life is the coward's way. To his father,
Justinian I Justinian had a very significant role in world history. There are many things that are overlooked when speaking of Justinian. For instance, Justinian was a great architect. Many times we overlook the little characteristics of Justinian and we focus on the code of Justinian.
care of her, and wanted the best for his only daughter. Though his love was great, he
Social Isolation Imagine living in a small town where everyone knows everything about each other. The overall effect of gossip leads to insecurity. Insecurity leads to feeling alone in life and struggles. This theme is shown in the Southern Gothic story, “A Rose For Emily” by William Faulkner, written in 1930. During this time period, the south was undergoing many changes in their way of life.
He comes across an old woman who tells him that “women desire to have dominion / over their husbands as well as their lovers, / and to be above them in mastery”