The Marble Statue Analysis

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Although Eichendorff’s story displays religious elements, the pious facets take on a different form than in Psyche. In “The Marble Statue”, Sunday remains a holy day where evil subsides. God and Satan manifest into the metaphysical through characters, settings, and motifs. Fortunato is a pure character directing Florio towards the path of the righteous man while Donati is a sinister man leading the boy into temptation. The seductress is the embodiment of evil while Bianca is the good. The aspect of religion is demonstrated in a more direct manner in Psyche. The artist abandons a life of art to become a brethren of the covenant where it is proclaimed the Goddess of Art is “a witch who carries towards vanity, towards earthly pleasure”. The good and evil is left to interpretation in “The Marble Statue” while religion in Andersen's tales contains a straightforward portrayal of faith and sin. Florio and the artist are guilty of violating the same deadly sin: Socordia, or sloth. While sloth has been characterized as physical laziness, an emphasis is placed on spiritual apathy. It is related to melancholy and considered as “willful refusal to enjoy goodness of God”. Fortunato tells Florio “There are too many nice, gentle young people, particularly ones in love, who are determined to be unhappy. . .get out into God’s fresh morning air” and if the problem is not solved then it must be the “devils work”(Eichendorff 145). By the 17th century, the Christian cardinal sin of sloth was defined as the failure to apply one's talents and failing to do what one should. By this definition, the evil is within the young artist as he abstains from utilizing his ability. His old friend Angelo reveals this by exclaiming, “Why you have sinned against god ... ... middle of paper ... ...has seen her before. The relationships the two protagonist have with those around them can somewhat be mirrored. Their closest companions are the voice of reason. As the young artist is about to smash his marble statue into a thousand pieces his friend Angelo holds him back calling him crazy. His friend sees the talent God has blessed the artist with and is frustrated as his lack of ambition to let the world see his creation. Even after the monotonous years passed of the young artists life, Angelo scorns him for throwing away his gift. Florio’s guiding light is his friend Fortunato. He introduces him to Bianca and bids he go out to pray. When Florio is spending his last moments with the seductress, he runs out of the castle and is saved by Fortunato’s music playing in the distance. The two companions in each story try to help the men recognize their true potentional.

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