More Fun With Canto V -- Mimetic Theory and Literary Study

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, [2] ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 20:21:27 01/23/08 Wed
Author: Erin Risch
Subject: More Fun With Canto V

I just wanted to briefly continue the analysis of Canto V today. In class, Mike Hamilton said that Francesca abstracts love in order to distance herself from the guilt. I think this is a good point, and I would posit that the reason she does so is that she actually relishes retelling her story, although she claims that these memories cause her the greatest pain of all. But in order to make herself appear the victim/martyr, she must have some excuse, and this excuse can most easily be clung to as long as she isn't recognizing her mediated love. Doesn't Girard say that we will go to any length (and subscribe to any "-ism") to prevent ourselves from recognizing the triangular structure? Francesca may be aware, probably unconsciously, that in recognizing the triangular structure, she would have to forsake blaming of the power of love for her sin. At that point, she would have to own her guilt, which would certainly deny her of her last, albeit tiny, pleasure, the refuge of believing she was a victim, and not actively evil, and also of trapping others into believing her story.

Interestingly enough, I believe this is a different position than I took in my freshman paper on Canto V for Dr. Jackson.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Re: More Fun With Canto V -- Jonathan Dunn, 12:04:31 01/24/08 Thu