Celestina Acts 7-11

1. Act VII caught me a little off guard with Celestina. I never really believed that she was really up to no good until this act- specifically when she was with Areusa. Like we talked about before, Celestina is actually molesting her when Areusa says "it's higher up, over the stomach" (pg 86). From there, Celestina basically makes her sleep with Parmeno when really, Areusa already has a lover. Areusa doesn't want to do this because she does not believe that two lovers is acceptable, but Celestina makes her. I thought that this scene was a little scary because Celestina was basically forcing rape upon them. Celestina is only out for her own good. She tries to give people what they want, but she ultimately ends up forcing it upon then and going about it the totally wrong way. In Act 7 Scene 3, Celestina basically makes a "house visit" for sex to Elicia. Reading the text, Elicia obviously does not want Celestina there, but Celestina forces her way in. All of this says that Celestina is very selfish and greedy, and all of her motives are out of sexual desires.

2. I found Areusa and Elicia's comments about Melibea to be derived mainly out of jealousy. They fight with their lovers about how is more beautiful, them or Melibea, and I think that it is all out of spite for who Melibea is and her social status. They are both very jealous that their lovers believe that Melibea is beautiful and I think that this is what sways them to make such comments about her. I thought that it was interesting that all of this kind of talk was going on in Celestina's house. Celestina, as a person, is very sneaky and secretive. She knows everything about everyone else, and gossips a lot. I think that because the lovers were in Celestina's house, they became more open and comfortable enough to talk about others.

Celestina Acts 3-6

At the end of Act 6, I found Calisto to be very interesting and very easily swayed by Celestina. Calisto, who is in love with Melibea, gives some of his clothes and riches to Celestina in return for the girdle that Melibea wears. Celestina tricks Calisto into thinking that this garment is actually hers when really Melibea does not care for Calisto. Calisto is easily convinced by Celestina's gifts and is love sick because of them. When Calisto cannot stop looking and touching the piece of garment that Celestina has given him, Celestina says that "melibea sent [him] her girdle out of charity, to cure [his] toothache, not to cure [his] love-sickness. There is something very interesting why Calisto wants a piece of Melibea's clothing and not something else from her. Something as sexual as a girdle suggests what kind of love Calisto really has for Melibea. Calisto lusts Malibea more than actually loves her, just as a lot of the other stories that we read in the Decameron. There is no want for a relationship, but for sex and lust. He wants Melibea in bed. Calisto also speaks about the dreams that he has of her at night about having sex with her and touching her, which causes us to believe that his desire for her is out of sex and not love.

Celestina Acts 1-2

1. The first scene in "Celestina" where Calisto is in Melibea's garden relates a lot to religion. Calisto talks a lot about how he deserves a reward for the services and sacrifices that he has performed and that God should grant him a place in heaven as a saint. I thought that this was interesting considering he never really goes into any of the sacrifices or services that he has performed, and ironically, he is in a garden. A garden, in literature, almost always refers to the Garden of Eden and the "chosen ones," Adam and Eve. In this scene, Calisto believes that he is of the chosen ones and he deserves to live the life that Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, at least until they ate the fruit from the tree. Melibea reacts and gets upset with Calisto for saying such things and that he does not deserve such a life. I think that she scolds him for this because he is in a garden, which is symbolically crucial. I am not sure if Melibea actually means everything that she says- I think that she is more concerned that Calisto is being so pompous while in the presence of God.

3. I found the character of Celestina to be very motherly and kind of reminded me of, not to stereotype, but an Italian mother. She is quick to forgive Sempronio for being gone for so long without any word from him and sit him down and talk with him. She attempts to cover up Elicia's lover, or client, who is upstairs to ensure that Sempronio is happy when he walks in the door. She somewhat neglects Elicia because she has missed Sempronio, which I think is very stereotypical, for a mother to care so much for her son. [Not that she doesn't care for her daughter, but a son's relationship with his mother is much different from one with her daughter.] Celestina is also very upset when Parmeno is harsh to her, because she raised him when his mother left him. She is very motherly and is upset with his accusations. She quickly forgives and tells him that she loves him although he is not worthy of her love. Celestina is a very interesting character in her mood- but that is what makes her character so complex.

The Decameron [7.3, 7.4, 8.3, 8.7, 8.8]

7.3 Question: What do you think about Brother Rinaldo and his longing for his godchild's mother? What does this say about religion and the expectations that men had for women?

I think that Brother Rinaldo pining over his godchild's mother is very common for a man in this time. It is interesting, considering he is a friar, to be longing after not only a woman, but a woman who is married with a child. He stops at nothing to lie with her and eventually does get her in bed. Like a lot of the other stories in "The Decameron," there are friars, monks, and nuns, all sleeping with each other which is a definite corruption of the church and everything that they believe in. Friars pining after women was very bad in the church's eyes, but they continued to do it. I also think that it is interesting what this story says about the expectations that men had for women in those times. Men believed that women should be willing and open to sleep with a man if he wished to. Men believed that there was no consent in sexual relations between them and any lady that they wished. It was a "sleep with me, or die" kind of look that men had on the situation.

7.4 Question: Why do you think that there is such a wide theme of women fooling men? What is it about femininity that makes Boccaccio right about women being so deceiving?

I think that there are so many stories about women fooling men because they believe that women should have the same pleasures of men. Although it is not widely accepted, and is still not fully accepted today, in the medieval times, women were used only for an object of attraction. They were highlighted in stories for their leniency with sex and these tales of women tricking men are a way to get back at the stereotype. Boccaccio creates femininity as being so deceiving because they are the weaker sex in his eyes and possibly wants to create them and make them seem more evil that they really are. He is warning the reader of the temptations that women put men through and how sometimes, women's power over men can be painful and very deceiving.

The Decameron [5.8, 5.9, 5.10, 6.7, 6,10]

5.8 Question: What do you think about Nastagio's plan to trick the maiden into marrying him? Do you think that this is right? What do you think of the story that the knight told Nastagio?

I thought that Nastagio's plan in tricking the maiden into marrying him was very sneaky and sad. When the knight was telling Nastagio of the heartbreak that he had gone through with the maiden and how they were condemned to do this for the rest of their lives, I knew that Nastagio began thinking about how this story could be of use to him in his personal life. I think that it was very sinister and upsetting that he would trick the woman that he was in love with into believing that if she would not take him for his wife then after death, she would be condemned to the same fate. I think that it was unfair of him to do this to the maiden. I think that the story that the knight told Nastagio was very interesting in that the maiden was being torn to pieces every day for being unfaithful to the knight. I think that this is very interesting because a lot of the stories in "The Decameron" deal with women fooling their men. Many times in these stories, the women have the upper hand.

5.10 Question: What do you think this story states about gender and how women were perceived in society?

I loved this story because of the opinions that the speaker gave in the beginning and the end of story. I thought that it was funny how the speaker, Dioneo, was very raunchy in explaining what she thought. She says, "a woman can wear out a number of men, while a number of men cannot wear out one woman" (434). I think that this is a very loose representation of femininity during those times. I feel as though Dioneo focuses mainly on the uses of women for sex and not for their use in society. She refers to their only talent is sex and giving birth.

The Decameron [3.3, 3.6, 3.9, 4.3, 4.9]

3. I found this story to be one of my favorites from "The Decameron." I liked how it wasn't the male, but the female who was the brains of the operation. At first, Beltramo wants nothing to do with Giletta and basically tells her that he will come back when the impossible happens. Giletta finds a way around this and tricks Beltramo and ultimately gets him back in the end. I think that Beltramo's new love to Giletta is very false by the end of the story. It is all about lust and luck. It is not true love and that is how a lot of the relationships in "The Decameron" are.

4. This story reminds me a lot of the story where the woman slept with 9 men. Each of them died by the next lover killing them. It was an ongoing process that never ended. I feel as though this story is a lot like that. Personally, I think that this story was a confusing web of mixed up lovers who are unaware of what they truly want, so they resort to killing. I never think that killing is a justified reason for anything. I believe that this story is morally wrong, considering the third sister had nothing to do with the killings and her and her lover were blamed.

The Decameron [2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.9, 3.1]

3. I thought that this story was very interesting. The trickery and deceit that the lady goes through to end up where she is at the end of the book is quite funny. This story is definitely a mockery of femininity and I am surprised that such a story would be told to a court of royalty. It proposes that women are as permiscuous as men in the medieval times and that it is common for a woman to sleep with many men [just as long as she doesn't tell anyone]. I feel as though the gender roles are completely switched here. Usually you see the men more sexually open and more easily convinced than women, but in this story, the lady gets upset when she realizes that he love at the time is gone and cries, then quickly gets over it and moves on to the next man. I think that the theme of lust is very important in this story and it is what drives the men. Each man wants to prove that they are better lovers than the man before, so they fight [even if it causes a death] to get the lady, all out of lust. Overall, the story is making a commentary on what would happen if women acted a little more like men in the medieval times. We also have to ask, was it really like this? Were the women pretending to be virgins when they married, or is this a story based on false pretenses?

5. I think that the first story of the third day is very interesting. It is almost opposite as the seventh story of the second day. One story involves a mute woman who is unknowingly whoring herself, while the other involves a mute man who is also unknowingly whoring himself. Both characters are very sought after people by the opposite sex. While the mute woman does not say anything because she does not know the language of the other men, the mute man does not speak because he was physically mute because of a disease he got. Both say that the opposite sex has a way of having a power or force over the other. The nuns are very surprising in this story because they are all very eager to sleep with the mute man. They unknowingly all end up sleeping with him which causes the question, why would the nuns sleep with him in the first place?

Both stories of mute people bring up the question of who is really in power in the situation. I also think that it's funny that these stories are being told to the court who are supposed to obey the church. These stories are obviously making fun of the church and creating a mockery. What does this say for the rest of society?

The Decameron [1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.3]

1) "He fixed Ser Ciappelletto so firmly in the minds and the devotions of all those who were present there that after the service was over, everyone pressed forward to kiss the hands and feet of the decease, and all his garments were torn off his corpse, since anyone who could get hold of a piece of them considered himself blessed."

This quote came from the first story of the first day of "The Decameron." I absolutely loved this story because I thought that it was so interesting how easily Ser Ciappelletto was able to get through the friar by lying. He had been known as one of the worst men ever known between his gambling and wickedness throughout the land and once he goes for confession, everything changes. He is a liar throughout the whole story, telling the friar that he has confessed every day, when really he has never even been to confession. This whole story is about trickery and the difference between genuine and fake statements.

2) "And let me say the same thing to you, my lord, concerning the three Laws given to three peoples by God our Father which are the subject of the question you put to me: each believes itself to be the true heir, to possess the true Law, and to follow the true commandments, but whoever is right, just as in the case of the rings, is still undecided."

This quote came from the third story of the first day. I thought that it was very clever the way that the Jewish man answered Saladin's question with a story. I love this quote because both the Jew and Saladin know that he did not answer the question the way that Saladin wanted him to, and to make a point as to the Jew's indifference on the subject, he says this quote. Like any other controversial issue, no one is completely right in what they say. There is no right and wrong between these three religions and there is no politically correct answer.

3) "The young girl, who was by no means as hard as iron or diamond, most willingly agreed to the Abbot's wishes. He took her in his arms and kissed her many times, then lay down on the mink's bed. And perhaps out of concern for the heavy weight of his dignified person and the tender age of the young girl he did not lie on top of her but rather placed her on top of him, and there he amused himself with her for quite a while."

This quote came from the fourth story on the first day. I thought that it was very interesting how quickly this monk's intentions changed from wanting to out the other monk for sleeping with the young girl, to actually deciding to sleep with her. I found it very interesting that in the passage, he says that the young girl was permitted to be on top during sex. It is a little bit of female empowerment, or control over the monk. This is significant because usually men are more dominant in these roles and I thought that it might've been a connection to his betrayal of his religion. Just like he is going against his religion, he is going against the common expectations of society.

Tristan and Isolde: The Movie

1. The beginning of the movie begins with a battle scene to help set the background problems between both countries. Although the beginning of the book starts off with Tristan killing Morholt, the movie had to ease into the situation. It is harder to accept things in a movie when they are happening to quickly. You cannot fully understand everything that is going on within the story until there is a plot line. Beginning the story with the information that Britain and Ireland have always been fighting, you look at the story from a different angle. Tristan and Isolde are almost more like Romeo and Juliet in that they are from families and countries that hate one another. Throughout the whole movie, there is always a rivalry between Ireland and Britain, which makes their love even more scandalous.

2. I actually like that the movie does not have the love potion in it. It is more realistic and actually serves the story as an actual love story. Tristan and Isolde fall in love and unknowingly put themselves in a situation where Isolde must be given to King Mark. It is is a more sentimental view of their love and not one where Tristan and Isolde are constantly blaming one another or the love potion for their mishap. I personally, am able to sympathize more with Tristan and Isolde more in the movie than the book, mainly because they are truly in love, not forced into love by the love potion.

I personally really liked this movie. It might have been because I had seen it many times before actually reading the book, but I thought that it was a good interpretation on it. Although many things in the movie were switched around from the book, I felt that the love story of Tristan and Isolde will be a story that I never forget, thanks to the movie. I know that that may sound corny, or stupid, considering many people did not care for the movie, but I actually was able to cope with Tristan and Isolde's love because it was real, not a fake like the love potion made it.