Buñuel's "That Obscure Object of Desire"

3. As first, I was very confused as to why Bunuel had two actresses playing Conchita. I tried to look deeper into the attitudes and behaviors of each of the Conchitas and see if each of them was one specific trait that Matthieu was interested in, but in each scene, the Conchitas were unpredictable. One moment, they longed for his love and the next moment they were pushing him away. I began to think about the possibility of Conchita having multiple personality disorder, but that was a little far fetched. The two actresses playing Conchita represented the two things that Matthieu desired within them. Although Matthieu wanted to have sex with Conchita, he also wanted her to remain pure and wholesome, the way that she represented herself. He wanted those two things at the same time that were virtually unobtainable. This is the same because like the two Conchitas, you cannot have the two actresses on screen at the same time. The more conservative version of Conchita was the first one that we see in the movie. She is wise and not as free willing as the other Conchita. For instance, when Matthieu tries to have sex with her and she keeps her underwear fastened on, it seems as if she does this because she legitimately is trying to keep herself from having sex with him. On the other hand, the other Conchita is very passionate and tricky to figure out. She seems to be in a lot more scene where she is trying to make a scene. For instance, when she has sex with another man infront of Matthieu, she is very instinctual.

5. I think that Matthieu is the narrator in the film because he is the one that witnesses her bipolar behavior and no one else. He has to inform the audience what he saw through his eyes so that they can interpret it and give him advice. Matthieu has seen all of the sides of Conchita, but every time he experiences one of her extreme behaviors, he does not know how to react. I think that he tells it in the past tense and in flashbacks to add the other's reactions on the train. At first when we first see him pouring the bucket of water on Conchita, we see him as more of an evil character. He has to gain back the respect by telling the back story as to why he did this. I thought that it was very interesting that all of the people in the train car were all connected in some way and I did not know exactly what to think of the psychologist who was a midget. I wasn't quite sure what to think about that...

Celestina Acts 18-21

1. Melibea and Calisto both meet usually in the dead of night and in the darkness. This says a lot about the nature of their desire for one another and the things that they truly want from each other. The nighttime is a time where things out of the ordinary happen. The fact that Melibea and Calisto meet during the night proposes that their love is not true. They only desire the idea of each other, and the dark of the night does not make them look at each other's faces to realize that. They love the thought of being in love, and they also get together to have sex. This is an obvious reason for them always meeting at night. Their love lies in lust and in their false belief in love.

2. I do not believe that Melibea and Calisto were actually ever in love. I think that in "Celestina," the word love it thrown around a lot, and used falsely. No character ever loved truly; they lust one another. I believe that all of the characters do not know what love really is and in order to just name how they feel about the person, they call it love. I think that Melibea does committ suicide because of the death of her "lover," but I think that she does realize that her love was not true. I think that she knows that she did not love him, but lusted him, for which she feels guilty and commits suicide. Love is fake in "Celestina." Every character falls in love with the image of their partner and does not end up finding true love within them.

6. Melibea is fighting between the matriarchal and the patriarchal society throughout the whole story. She was constantly trying to maintain her position as an innocent virgin woman, but could not fight off Calisto as her lover. This says that society is not very accepting of different standards and ways in which women have the right to live their lives. Melibea was not allowed to live in the world that she wanted because she was constantly fighting the double standard in society.

Celestina Act 12-17

MELIBEA: "No animal is so tame that it doesn't turn fierce when its young are threatened. What would they have done if they'd known I had gone out?"
I thought that this quote by Melibea was very interesting. It is a little bit of the teenage angst and need to rebel against her family. In this short passage, she has to pretend that she is Lucrecia in order to hide from her parents and sleeping with Calisto. I thought that this was a very interesting and "teen-like" quote where she is rebelling against her parents and wonders what they would do if they knew what she was really up to. It is a common case of a teen rebelling against their parents and wondering what the consequences would be if they actually found out what they were doing behind their backs. This quote portrays Melibea in a very interesting and juvenile light where she is tricking her parents to sleep with Calisto. It tells a lot of about her naive character and what she would do in order to have sex with her "true love."

1. In Calisto's soliloquy in Act XIV reflects his happiness of having sex with Melibea. Although he may be ashamed of how happy he is that he had sex with Melibea, he does not scold himself for it. His desire if completely in lust and not in love, but I believe that he understands that. He is disillusioned by the sex that he wants from Melibea.

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.