The Impossible Dream: Mediocrity in Times of Meritocracy

As we read Don Quixote, remember our focus for this unit: the Middle Ages and Renaissance are the link between the Classical era and the Modern era. This period of more than a thousand years helps us understand how the Western world (and the Western Ideal) developed into what it is today. Here's a short recap of what we've discovered so far about the hero idea:

Greco-Roman Hero: More warrior than leader, the idea of heroism in classical literature revolved around societal values of excellence, pride, and property. The hero is tragic and achieves his status through heroic deeds and adventures; his fate seems out of his hands, and his end is usually dismal. Examples: Oedipus, Achilles, Hector

Medieval Hero: The hero in the Middle Ages is largely transformed by a shift from polytheistic ideas of religion to a monotheistic religion--Christianity--which became the main source of power and authority in society. The hero embodied decorum and loyalty, and then chivalry. His allegiance shifted from his lord to his lady; although his journey was marked by hardships, he usually had a reward (even if it was only in the afterlife). Examples: Roland, Knight (from "Wife of Bath")

Renaissance Hero: The hero now looks quite different; we don't see him in the midst of physical battles, but emotional, mental and spiritual battles. Therefore his journey is also a bit different. It may sound like an inspirational card from Hallmark, but the their goals are really about the journey, not the destination. Success or reward, then, takes on a much less physical form.  Examples: Dante, Federigo

Enter Don Quixote, the Renaissance "hero." I use my quotation marks here, because there is some debate to be had about whether or not Quixote is in fact heroic. Let's look at his track record: He's old, poor, out of his mind... and he gets everything wrong. He dies a lonely and broken man, but only after he's been literally forced to give up his dreams. And what dreams he had; he aimed high, and insisted on upholding an outdated code of chivalry in a world what didn't care to be heroic. This leads to the question: does Don Quixote get an "A" for effort? Is it okay that he tried his best, that he kept on trying, that he went down fighting? Or does all that matter is the fact that he fails?

Let's try to make this more relevant to us: You, as high school students, exist in a culture of meritocracy. In other words, you are constantly being judged and are constantly competing; winning isn't the only thing, it's everything. You've got to have the GPA, got to play the sport, got to do the service hours, got to score high on SAT's, all so you can get into a good college and get a good job and have a good life. There is an incredible amount of pressure on you to achieve. Unfortunately, this pressure to achieve is sometimes at odds with your actual growth; if the highest concern is the grade (or the points) and not the learning, then you might cut corners. If the highest concern is the win and not the development, then you might take steroids. When average doesn't cut it and all that matters is the end result, then the value of the steps in the process start to diminish. If you don't have a 4.something, you aren't worth mentioning. No "A's" for effort; a fail is a fail. Don Quixote's world doesn't seem quite so far away, now does it?

Miguel de Cervantes surrounded Don Quixote with people who ridiculed him because he dreamed big but simply wasn't good enough. And although we laugh at him, in the end we may pity him, as facing the reality of his own mediocrity actually leads Quixote to his death. In our case, life isn't quite as tragic, but when we constantly hold ourselves up to the standard of others, it can feel like jousting against windmills. In a world of 4.something GPA's, all-star athletics... how does the average person feel "heroic"? I tell you in class that the "points" don't matter, that you will wake up in 20 years and have absolutely no memory of that 5-point homework assignment you languished over; but by then, of course, you may be focused on a very different kind of "point"...

QUESTION TO CONSIDER:
(Just one question)

1) Reflect on the questions embedded in the blog: Do you agree or disagree that our society is based, for better or worse, on "winning"? Is competition a good thing or a bad thing? To anchor this to the text, is the character Don Quixote sympathetic, or pathetic? In other words, do we praise him for pursuing his ambitions, or do we criticize him for being unrealistic?

Luck Be a Lady to Knight: A View of Women in Western Lit

The Renaissance is a period of about 250 years in Western Civilization that marks the end of what we call the Middle Ages. It is the era of European culture that saw the death of feudalism and the growth of nationalism. It witnessed the end of the unilateral power of the church and the beginning of the modern nation-state. And yet is was a "rebirth" in several important ways: First, it was the rebirth of classic Greek and Roman ideas. The rediscovery of ancient texts (and the growth in literacy) fueled the Renaissance thinkers. Second, it was the rebirth of interest in the physical world; while Medieval Europeans were largely concerned with the afterlife, Renaissance thinkers turned their attention to the way the world and nature functioned. This, in turn, gave rise to a third rebirth in interest in the sciences and humanities, which lead to drastic technological advances and geographic discoveries. The broadening of the Renaissance man's world--indeed, the shifting focus away from God to man--is perhaps the single most significant "rebirth," placing man at the center of his own universe.

Europe during the Renaissance was still, then, a "man's world;" as we look at our next frame story, Boccaccio's Tale of the Falcon, we are reminded of themes brought up by Chaucer, and must also be conscious that we are still looking at a view of women through the eyes of men. To give some background on the importance of Boccaccio's work: he set out to authentically represent the Renaissance confidence in human ability and delight in the diversity of human experience. His overriding theme asserts throughout his hundred tales that a truly noble individual must accept the consequences of his actions and confine his desire to what is humanly possible. In that, though, he insists that what is humanly possible is a usually a great deal, and that we can often overcome our fortune or learn to exploit it.

Boccaccio is quite sympathetic and understanding towards human aspirations and emotions. He creates a "hero," Federigo, who is sympathetic and who we can relate to. But what about the woman in the tale, Mona; although we can maybe relate to her paternal motivations, is she sympathetic? Do we pity her? Despite her desire to save her son, do we approve of her methods of obtaining the falcon? What is being said about Renaissance women here?

It seems that there are, at least, two ways we can read the women we've encountered in the the literature we've covered thus far: they are either getting a bad rap, or they are being (somewhat) accurately portrayed. Let's look at the roster:

• Jocasta. She was actually a pretty good mom to her husband, Oedipus, once she found out that he was her son. Ignore the fact that she sent her infant son to die in the wilderness based on a prophecy; that's how the Greek's rolled. You don't mess with the prophecies. You do what you have to do, or risk the wrath of the gods. 

• Helen (of Sparta). Okay, no way to spin this one positively; she single-handedly led to the 10-year conflict, the Trojan War. But she did it for love (right?). Ignore the fact that she was married at the time; that's how the Greek's rolled. You don't mess with the will of the gods, or...  well, you get the picture.
  

• Trojan Women. We get just snippets of other women connected to the Trojan War--Hector's mother and wife, Achille's slave-girls, even the goddesses who intervene on the side of the Spartans (Hera, Athena, Thetis). Maybe we don't get enough from them to draw any conclusions...

• Roland's Wife. Hmm, all we know is she's the reason why Ganelon hates Roland so much and sets him up for the big fall. She's not even a character in the story, and she's still causing problems...

• Chaucer's Angels. (Sorry, couldn't resist.) We already discussed last blog the various women Chaucer depicts in his Cantebury Tales. Each of them really represents a one-dimensional quality of women; taken together, maybe they give us a complete picture of what Chaucer thought of the women of his day. But, again, we are stuck looking through Chaucer's eyes. 

• Dante's Angel. All we know of Beatrice in real life is that he loved her but was never really able to pull off a relationship with her. In the story, she is the one who sends Virgil to rescue him and join her in the Mount of Joy, Heaven. She serves as a beacon to him, although we never see her in the story, and in some ways is responsible for Dante's transformation (or, at least, his journey). 

We have quite a character to round out the list: the wealthy and wily Mona. This collection of women gives us quite a bit to discuss in terms of the role of women in society and marriage...

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CRITICAL QUESTIONS

1) Think about the questions from the seminar prep (p. 26-27 in the packet); what are the most important traits you (personally) look for in a significant other? As a follow up question, think back to the "Wife of Bath" interviews; what do you think causes relationships to succeed or fail? (Answer both.)

2) Think about the female figures we've encountered in the literature we've read thus far; which character do you relate with most? (Okay, fellas--you can answer this question also. Which character do you relate to; in other words, which one makes the most sense to you?) Is there a female character we've read that gives us a depiction of women that's actually close to reality? Specifically, what is your judgment of Mona?

3) Think about the following statements, and consider the response by the "experts." What do you think about these statements? What do you think about the expert opinions? Choose two statements to respond to:

a. Play Hard to Get
Sam Yagan, dating-website cofounder: Playing hard to get starts the relationship off on a deceptive foot. If you want your relationship to be based on trust, honesty, and communication, why would you begin it like that?

Greg Behrendt, coauthor of He’s Just Not That Into You: You shouldn’t play hard to get; you should be hard to get, because your life is so busy and fulfilling. My wife and I call it being a MOD―a moving object of desire.

b. Your Spouse Shouldn’t Be Your Best Friend
Pepper Schwartz, sociologist: I agree. I think you’re asking a lot of your marriage to have the level of confidentiality, truthfulness, and disclosure that a best friendship has. Your marriage can fulfill only so many roles.

Barbara De Angelis, personal-development expert: I disagree. If your spouse isn’t your best friend, then what is he? I think it’s important that you not only love him but like him a lot, too.

John Gray, author of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus: I have no problem with partners who are best friends, but you should have other close friends to confide in as well―especially when you are having relationship difficulties and need time away from your spouse. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

c. You Can Learn to Love Someone
Judy Kuriansky, sex therapist: That’s true, depending on how you define love. You may not have the love-at-first-sight kind of love, but the deep companion kind of love―in terms of trusting each other and being a team―can develop over time.

Behrendt: No, that sounds like settling. I don’t believe in settling, because it’s not fair to the person you’re with or yourself. It’s not like settling on an apartment you don’t love but can live with.


d. There Is Such a Thing As Love at First Sight
Ellen Wachtel, couples therapist: False. Often it takes time for love to develop. For some people, physical chemistry plays such a big role at the outset that it is mistaken for love.

Schwartz: It’s a romantic story when it works out, but you don’t hear about the relationships that end badly. Relationships start slow and build; they aren’t necessarily wonderful from the start.

Howard J. Markman, psychologist: You’ll quickly know if you’re attracted to each other, but not if you’re compatible or fit to stick together through tough times.

e.The Way to a Man’s Heart Is Through His Stomach
De Angelis: The way to a man’s heart is through his heart. Men want a woman who is going to be a great friend and companion―and if they have to order takeout, so be it!

Kuriansky: It’s true if he loves food, but that part about having to feed the needs of his heart is true, too. Still, don’t lose sight of your own needs. For a relationship to be successful, both partners need to feel pleased and fulfilled.

Gray: You’re off by about six inches. Sex is the direct way to a man’s heart.

Mr. Franklin, teacher extraordinaire: The way to a man's heart is through his rib-cage.

Go to Hell: Understanding Dante's View of the Inferno

Dante's Inferno stands among Western literature as one of the great masterpieces, and for very good reason: Dante did a feat of poetic genius in creating such an eloquent poem in vernacular (what we could consider "street" language--we, of course, have a hard time seeing this in the translations!). Perhaps more lasting is Dante's impact on the Western view of Hell. The idea of hell as a place of fiery torments with imps carrying pitchforks is popular largely because of Dante's imaginative descriptions. (PS--Have you ever wondered why they're carrying pitchforks? The Medieval people created some pretty gruesome torture devices; being chased by a pitchfork seems like hell for a farmer!) The Inferno is an allegory, which means just about everything symbolizes something. So, without further ado, here are some things to understand about Dante's view of hell:

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1) STRUCTURE and SYMBOLS. Dante sets up hell on the principle of inverse relationships. Heaven for him was on top of a mountain (of joy), so hell for him is the inverse (a cone of concentric rings, a pit of despair), the worst sinners being at the bottom, the furthest from God's love. The law of hell is symbolic retribution, or contrapasso--as they sinned, so are they punished. Each ring has its own sin and punishment (the contrapasso, which we'll see later), and the sins are further divided into categories:

• Sins of the She-Wolf. Sins of Incontinence, or lack of self-control or restraint--sins of passion, emotion, and self-gratification. These are the first sorts of sins Dante encounters in the Inferno, but it is the last and most vicious of the animals he encounters in the Dark Wood... more on that later. 
• Sins of the Lion. Sins of Violence and Ambition. These include sins such as wrath, but also gluttony and sullenness. This is the ring where we get to see what we expect from hell--not a circus ring, but a boxing ring. This is where Jerry Springer-style fighting happens. 
• Sins of the Leopard. Sins of Malice and Fraud. These are sins of the intellect, unlike the previous sins, which are of the heart and emotions. Dante puts these further down the Inferno because they involved premeditation and intention, people hurting those they had an intimate relationship with, through betrayal or backstabbing. 

This is Dante's moral geography; aside from literally creating a map of hell, he also ranks and values the different sins and sinners he populates hell with. Moreover, his system of justice is the contrapasso, which is the relationship between the sin and the punishment. People that were flakey in life (opportunists) have to chase a flag flapping in the wind. People that were driven by their passions are whipped in a whirlwind. People who betrayed their loved ones are frozen in ice (huh? Okay, that one needs some explanation--check the introduction to Canto 32, which you can find on the class website!). 

Now, Dante (the character, not the author) finds the She-Wolf the most difficult, nay, impossible to pass. Think about what Dante (the author, not the character) was going through; he was suffering the exile from his beloved country and the loss of his love, Beatrice.  He was in a depression that kept him from seeing the light of God--no wonder this was the most difficult thing for him to face. There's one more thing to focus on, which connects to this...

2) THE RESPONSE. As Dante moves through the Inferno, his response to the sinners changes. This is the transformative journey motif, and this is the medieval spin on that topic: he achieves his enlightenment (and thereby works out his salvation) as he goes through the journey, not when he reaches the end. Remember the sin he had the most trouble with (She-Wolf)--well, these are the sinners he is the most sympathetic to. Not only does he give them the lightest punishment (Paolo and Francesca, floating together for eternity--aww), BUT he also pities them when he encounters them. He swoons (faints) because he is so overcome by their love and the fright of it all. Talk about a drama queen. By the time he gets down to the bottom, he hates the sinners, and relishes seeing them in torment, and doesn't hesitate to kick a few in the frozen face right before he hops on Satan to climb towards the exit. Change of mind, indeed. Thus, the first part of his journey--the recognition of sin--allows him to put sin in its proper place, so he can be open to redemption and the love of God.

3. THE PARADOX. I left this one un-bolded because it's probably the most touchy, and we won't have time to discuss this much in class. Dante sets up an interesting paradox: he believes the people in hell deserve to be there because they desire to be there (check Canto 3 line 123, and Canto 5 line 8). Hell, and therefore Sin, is what the damned really wish for--it is their actual and deliberate choice, for divine grace is denied to none who wish for it in their hearts. The damned must actively turn from and reject God to be here, so they clamor for their judgment and their punishment. Do we buy this? Here's the second can of worms: according to the sign above hell, God created hell (not the devil), and He created it even before He created man. In other words (or, in Dante's words), loving, merciful God created this terrible place in preparation for people before He created man, knowing that some would suffer the torments for eternity. This is a theological debate that is delicate, and I don't have an answer to it (so I won't be posing any questions about it)--just food for thought.

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Keep these things in mind as we read and prepare to write: Dante's system of justice seems like the "eye-for-an-eye" system of the Old Testament (angry God), as opposed to the unmerited grace of Christ int he New Testament (merciful God). What do we think of his system and set-up of Hell? Also, think of Dante's transformation through his journey; does he qualify as a hero? Remember the shift we're seeing from the Classic (Greek) to the Medieval; would we consider Dante a hero even with the new standards?

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER/CRITICAL RESPONSE:

1) Do you agree with Dante in how he rates the sinners? He places people who lie further down than people who murder and rape. He's certainly got a point to make, but did he get it right? If so, why do you agree with him? If not, why do you disagree, and how would you place the sinners?

2) What is the worst sin imaginable? Or, what is a  sin that's not so bad, but that you'd like to see punished? Imagine that Dante and Virgil are about to enter a new circle of hell. People in this circle have all committed the same sin. Decide what sin they have committed and what this particular circle of hell is like. Also decide what their punishment is (remember, it should fit the crime). Be vivid in your description, like Dante, and include an encounter or conversation he has with someone there. Include the names and labels just like we find in our book. With your write-up, include an illustration!

3) What is your idea of hell? Create and describe a rough sketch of your Inferno. Who would be your guide? What would you encounter in life that gave you a preview of the afterlife (ie, like the three animals Dante encounters)? Which sins would you have the hardest time overcoming, or the most sympathy for? How would your hell be shaped, and how would it function? Who would we find there, and what would be going on? This can be less detailed than #2, but should be a bit more broad to encompass the big picture. Include a sketch on your write-up!

4) What would Dante's Inferno look like today? Take the basic structure of the Inferno, and populate it with people who have lived since Dante's time. You may also include people that are living (as Dante did), though you may want to be cautious about including your "frenemies." Focus your description on the parts of the Inferno that we read in class (Cantos 3, 5, 33, 34) AND the circle you're reading for your group presentation.