In the Roman de la Rose, Franchise and Pitiè are sent by god (dieus) as soon as Amant is in need of additional help for persuading Dangiers and then Bel Accueil to let him approach the Rose. Through their eloquent words and by appealing to Dangiers’ noble feelings and mercy – both qualities that these two characters embody – the two women manage to appease the latter and then to persuade Bel Accueil to reacquaint himself with Amant. Venus, in the Rose, comes to the dreamer’s aid mediating between Amant, Bel Accueil and the Rose. Through her fiery intervention, Bel Accueil yields to Amant’s wish to kiss the Rose. Finally, in the Hypnerotomachia, the High Priestesses of Venus serve as mediators between the couple and the gods of love, being their divine representatives. There are two High Priestesses: one in Book I who presides the ritual at the temple of Venus Physizoa and one in Book II, who is associated with the temple of Venus in the quasi-historical Treviso. The latter’s acceptance of Polia’s repentance and her blessing of the couples’ union is equivalent to the approval and goodwill of the gods that she represents, Venus and Cupid. It must also be noted that the High Priestess of Diana as a representative of a higher divine power is also a mediator, but her adversity to the couples’ union marks her as a negative agent and, as such, she belongs in the category of obstructors. …show more content…
The Friend in the Livistros and Rodamne is both an informer and a mediator during the courting process.
He is one of Livistros’ hundred companions who accompanied him in his quest to find Rodamne. Noticing that days pass without any development in the pursuit of Rodamne, the Friend takes the initiative and advises Livistros on how to approach his beloved. In doing so, the Friend initiates the courting between the two lovers and becomes a mediating agent of his own volition, befriending the eunuch Vetanos and procuring valuable information about Rodamne for
Livistros. Overall, this analysis has shown that some characters perform multiple roles at different moments or in relation to different characters. For example, Vetanos is an instructor to Rodamne but an informer to Livistros and a mediator to both; Queen Eleuterylida is an informer but her information serves as guidance for the new space that Poliphilo is about to visit, the realm of Queen Telosia; Bel Accueil, while serving as a gatekeeper for the rose garden, is mainly a mediator between Amant and the Rose, which he also represents, as we have seen in the previous subsection; the gods of love can be instructors, guides, informers, and they also serve as the primary mediators in the relationships of the couple, causing them to fall in love. Another general remark is that most secondary characters are vaguely defined and they do not reappear after their function is no longer required. Consequently, they do not develop as characters, the way that main characters do. This is a characteristic trait of medieval narrative. The protagonists’ capacity for subjectivity, the ability to reflect upon and develop through their experiences, in the romances overshadows the development of the secondary characters.
Comparing the Demeter of the Homeric Hymn to Hesiod’s portrayal of Pandora, each representation may, at first glance, appear as two entirely separate characterizations of an archaic wife’s role. A closer look at each story, however, suggests that the two women are actually made from the same substance, and each fulfills the same functions expected of women at the time.
The depiction of the Greek and roman myths are given unique insights from different authors. The Hymn to Demeter and Ovid's Metamorphosis provide and insight to Demeter's love for her daughter, Persephone, and explores its affect on the surrounding environments. The theme of separation and isolation is present in both of these myths, however, in Ovid's Metamorphosis, he symbolizes the environment in important events, has characters playing different roles, and empowers female deities.
“The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas” is a document written in ancient Roman times that exhibits the role religion plays in the forming of a culture and the lives of individuals in the ancient world. For her belief in Christianity, they throw Perpetua into jail. Her execution is fighting animals in an arena. She does not renounce her faith in the face of persecution and thus becomes a martyr. This text is a unique key into the past in many ways. Part of it is written by a woman, it gives a detailed account of her martyrdom and gives us some insight into the culture of ancient Rome. For these reasons, this document provides us with valuable knowledge, specifically concerning the purpose for the composing and preservation of this document.
From the very start we see Apuleius using references to Roman myths as similes to everyday occurrences. When Fotis, the slave, enters his bedroom to make love to him, he remarks that "she stood, transformed into a living statue: the Love-goddess rising from the sea. The flushed hand with which she pretended to screen her mount of Venus showed that she was well aware of the resemblance; certainly it was not held there from modesty." He describes a slave girl trying to seduce him as Venus rising out of the sea. Some of this description may be a hyperbole for Lucius' love of Fotis. However, Apuleius goes beyond this by linking Fotis directly to Venus. Thus, the most beautiful goddess in the Pantheon is easily seen in a slave girl. Similarly, Thelyphron, when telling the story how members of a household attacked him, describes himself as feeling "like Adonis mauled by the wild boar, or Orpheus torn in pieces by the Thracian women." This...
To understand the City of Ladies and appreciate Christine’s use of ancient sources, we must examine what feminism initially looked like during the renaissance, including the views men had on women and women’s opinions of themselves. Then we must look at how Pizan wanted to change this outlook, and with the help of Reason, Rectitude and Justice, makes women seem more powerful and influential. Then we will consider how ancient sources have helped her in multiple ways: by providing an earlier position on feminism and the treatment of women, by showing that women are equal to men on many levels, and by inspiring and stimulating important questions on a woman’s place in society.
This paper concerns itself with the accusation of witchcraft against Apollonia Madizza. Apolonia’s imprisonment and escape drew the eye of the Catholic Church, who at the time was investigating accusations of witchcraft and devil worship in the countryside of Friuli towards the end of the Renaissance. This is not a tale of simply witch-hunting a woman who fit all of the descriptors of a witch, but rather a tale of a woman described as “dynamic” and “clever”, which not only was well connected in her small town, but also well connected with nobles in Venice. Trying to unravel the truth from the lies of her story is impossible, but there is much to learn from her story, the possible lies within that story, and the society in which she lived.
--- Goddesses, Whores, Wives and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken Books. 1995, 2010. Kindle Edition. Location 2733 of 6360.
Christine de Pisan in her Querrel de la Rose criticizes Roman de la Rose, which is a love poem. This poem “describes the ultimately successful quest of a lover for the mystical and fleshly Rose”. Christine is totally against the poem and attacks of strongly.
The story begins with the Marquise de Merteuil corresponding with Vicomte de Valmont regarding a luscious new act of ‘revenge’, as she describes it, against the Comte de Gercourt. The young Cecile de Volanges has just come home from the convent and her marriage to Gercourt has been arranged. However, before he can wed the innocent child, Merteuil proposes Valmont ‘educate’ her, thus spoiling Gercourt’s fancy for untarnished convent girls. Valmont is uninterested in such an easy seduction and is far more aroused by the thought of lulling The Presidente’ de Tourvel, the very epitome of virtue, into submission. And so the tale unfolds.
...ul wife. The love she has for him helps him throughout all the hardship and moments of weakness he encounters on his journey home. When he finally made it home to his queen is was nothing but continuous sobbing because of the love both of them was feeling and enjoyment of being in each other arms again (xx111.231-240).
Tradition is losing its value; people want to experience new things rather than the same routine. In One Perfect Rose, Dorthy Parker changes the emotional feel the readers get from the beginning, then how it is towards the end of the poem. Emphasizing how she is tired of the traditional rose and hints her admirer in breaking away from the perfect rose. Her love story impacts how she wrote and definitely resembles in the poem. She also uses imagery and repetition to get her message clear on leaving the typical rose behind.
This reading constructs Desdemona in a way that relies on a traditional understanding of the Virgin Mary; pure, chaste and sacrificial, however an alternate interpretation places her more into the role of someone like Germa...
The decline and fall of the Roman Empire is a scholarly article written by Justin Ott about the Roman Empire and the events leading up to its fall. The article mostly focuses on the military and economy of Rome in the third century A.D. It lists in the beginning a few of the different theories people have of how Rome fell, including led poisoning and the spread of Christianity. The article seems to want to disprove these theories, showing how they are not the main causes for the collapse of Rome. “Gibbon’s arguments in these sections can be accurately summarized as “the insensible penetration of Christianity in the empire fatally undermined the genius of a great people.” The problem with this conclusion is two-fold. First of all, this explanation is too narrow as it is difficult to believe one single factor brought down the empire. More importantly, it is clear that the Eastern Roman Empire was by far more Christian than the West, therefore if Christianity was behind the fall, the East should have fallen first.” The article’s audience appears to be historians, or those who are interested in history, or just the Roman Empire. It
Because the setting in The Merchant of Venice is characterized by a hierarchy of gender roles in which males hold authority over females, a character like Portia’s father, one who reigns in authority over his daughter, is made possible. Additionally, the presiding social structure allows for his action of subjecting Portia to the mechanism which will determine her husband. Fortunately for Porti...
Hieronimo is a symbol for the authority of law within The Spanish Tragedy. From his soliloquy in act III scene II, one can see Hieronimo’s ambiguity in deciding whether to pursue either justice or revenge. It could be argued that Hieronimo’s actions and concerns change throughout the course of the play by the wills of others and not his own desires; thus representing the failed authority of the law. This can be shown by analysing Hieronimo, Bel-imperia, the Gods, Lorenzo and the Law.