Essay: Crime and Justice in Dante's Inferno

Dante's Inferno deals almost completely with crime and justice. Dante's walk through the circles of Hell shows that different circles deal differently with punishing sinners for the sins they committed while on earth. The justice that all of the sinners faced was basically the opposite of whatever it was that they had done wrong while they were living.

For example, the churchmen described in Cerberus and Plutus were said to have been so avaricious and indecisive that their eternal punishment was to roll giant weights across a circle and collide with others before making it to the other side. Even if justice hadn't been served to them when they were on earth, they were paying for their evil deeds by suffering in this manner for eternity. Divine Justice is referenced to in this part of the unit, because Divine Justice is responsible for the punishment that the sinners must endure for their past deeds.

(Cerberus, a punisher in Hell)

Justice is served more and more severely as the circles of Hell deepen. One of the first circles that Dante visits is Limbo. In this part of Hell, people are simply made to dwell there because, although they were people of worth, they weren't baptized and therefore couldn't be saved. Since they weren't saved or didn't worship God correctly, they are made to live without hope and are overwhelmed by a desire to get the afterlife that they will never get.

One of the most twisted examples of justice can be found in Ugolino. Count Ugolino made a pact with Archbishop Ruggieri, but then the Archbishop betrayed him and imprisoned the Count and his children. Since no food was given, everyone began to starve, and eventually Ugolino's children began to offer themselves as food to their starving father. When Dante sees Ugolino in Hell, he sees that justice has been served in an awful way. Since Ruggieri starved Ugolino during their time on earth, he has become eternal food for Ugolino in the afterlife.

Week 12 Essay: Crime and Justice in English Fairy Tales

This week, I read English Fairy Tales. The tales had many themes among them, but one of the most prevalent was that of crime and justice. 

One example can be found in The Rose Tree. In the tale, the wicked stepmother despises her stepdaughter so much that she kills her by chopping off her head. She then takes her heart and liver and feeds them to her husband, the girl's father. Justice is served after her brother buries her and a white bird collects things to give to her father, brother, and stepmother. The first two get good things because they loved her. The stepmother, however, gets a millstone to the head. These kinds of stories are interesting because justice comes into play differently than it does in the real world. Had this actually occurred, a long and tedious police investigation would occur, and then an even longer trial would take place. Justice is taken into the characters' own hands in the most creative of ways.

The Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh present another perfect example of crime and justice. The stepmother and new queen is jealous of the king's daughter and turns her into a fierce dragon, one that must be rescued by her brother. Her brother has to kiss her three times to break the spell, but he has gone overseas to seek fame and everything else knights sought at the time. Even when he hears about his sister's plight and returns, he has a hard time getting to land because the witch step mother attempts to use the dragon against him. Justice is served when he manages to land and rescues the princess. Justice is further served when the evil queen is turned into a toad. Justice ends up being very sweet in this tale, and what’s even better is that nobody really dies.

(Brother rescuing sister)

Week 11 Essay: Tragedy and Pathos in the Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury Tales unit contains a fair share of tales that deal with tragedy and pathos. Although most endings are happy, several end on a melancholy note, while yet others contain both sadness and happiness. This kind of collection of stories allows for the unit to be well-rounded and one that is definitely worth reading.

One example of tragedy and pathos is the tale of Little Hugh. The little boy grows up with a love and reverence to the Virgin Mary. When he hears a song to her that he doesn't know, he asks to be taught the song so that he can sing his praises to her. After learning the song, the little boy sings it as he walks throughout the city, which upsets those in the Jewish quarter. Hugh is murdered for his singing, and the one's responsible for his death are severely punished. Although he is revered and gets an exquisite burial, this doesn't take away from the fact that there was violence and tragedy involved. The anti-Semitism of the story adds to the tragedy, because Jews were looked down upon for centuries. Historically, the tragedy pertains to the Jews, and in the story, the tragedy pertains to little Hugh.

Another story that deals with tragedy on several levels is The Promise of Dorigen. Dorigen's husband goes off on his knightly duties, leaving his beloved wife at home. She makes herself sick with worry and can't stop thinking about her husband dying by having his ship shatter on the large rocks of the sea. A squire falls deeply in love with Dorigen, and she promises him her love only if all of the rocks disappear. The squire encounters tragedy upon the husband's safe return, yet Dorigen suffers when the squire enlists the help of a magician to cover up the rocks. She sorrowfully tells her husband of the promise, and he too undergoes tragedy because he must let his wife go. The squire sees all of this and releases her from her promise, but for him, the tragedy is unrequited love.

(Tragedy in love)

Essay: Recurring Motifs in the Tales of the Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest unit has several recurring motifs in its stories, but one that really jumps out is the creation of the world. Each culture has their take on how the earth was created, and the tribes of the Pacific Northwest are no different.

What's interesting about the creation stories from the Northwest is the use of animals in some of the versions. For example, in How Silver-Fox Created the World, Coyote and Silver Fox live in the heavens above the earth's water. One day, Silver-Fox decided to descend to the world beneath the sky and created an island. From there, the tale describes in more detail how Silver-Fox expanded the earth and how Coyote helped him. Animals played an important role in the tribal communities, so it makes sense that they had animals represent the spirits of the other realm.

Another tale that deals with creation is How Kemush Created the World. In this tale, the central figure is not an animal, but an old man. However, his method for creation has some similarities to the first creation story mentioned. Just like Silver-Fox was responsible for creating everything on the land, was the old man in this tale. One difference is that Silver-Fox added land to a realm of just water, whereas Kemush added vegetation and animals to the world where land already existed.

Finally, the story How Old Man Above Created the World, has both aspects of the previous stories in it. Like the first tale, the Old Man Above has to bore a hole into the sky to get to the earth below. Like the second story, the old man walks around the earth and creates plants, animals, and humans. In this version of creation, though, the Old Man Above makes a teepee to live in on the earth, and the teepee is Mount Shasta.

(Mount Shasta)

Essay: Tricksters and Fools in African Stories (Lang)

One common theme in the unit of African Stories from Lang's Fairy Books was the theme of tricksters and fools. Basically every story presented had this theme, and the tricksters and fools were most often depicted by animals.

In the first tale, for example, the trickster is Motikatika, and the fool is the ogre trying to eat him. Motikatika tells the story that promises an ogre that he can eat her son in exchange for some water. When the magical child finds out about this, he figures out how to outsmart his mother and the ogre several times using magic items and his powers of transformation. In the end, he fools the ogre into eating his father instead of him because he says that his father is the one that deserves to be eaten since he was the one that wanted the water.

(The ogre and the mother)

In some stories, the trickster is also the fool. For example, in Jackal and Spring, the jackal both tricks others and then himself gets tricked. He fools the rabbit and the hare into letting him drink from the well because he wants to offer them honeycomb and will only do it if they tie themselves up first. The jackal is the fool in the end, however, because the tortoise guarding the well doesn't fall for his tricks and latches onto his leg when he tries to get a drink of water. He then gets shamed by all of the other animals that come to see if the tortoise has done his job.

The trickster also becomes the fool in Adventures of a Jackal. The jackal and his hedgehog friend trick the panther, then the panther tries to trick the jackal. Failing to do so, the panther gives up. Then, the jackal ends up getting tricked by the shepherd from whom he tries to get a sheep. The shepherd disguises a dog with sheep's wool, and when the jackal tries to eat him, the dog kills the jackal.

Essay: Recurring Motifs in Women Saints

One of the main themes of the unit was women forgoing marriage in order to live a Godly life as virgins. These women saints were so anguished over the prospect of losing their virginity that they would alter their appearances in order to join monasteries.

One example of this motif is the story of Saint Pelagien. In this story, Margaret, a woman of noble birth, is forced to marry a man she does not love. The prospect of her losing her virginity causes her to change her appearance and enter a monastery as a man, Pelagien. Similarly, Saint Eugenia also dressed up as a man and went to a monastery to become a servant of the Lord.

(Saint Eugenia)

Both of these stories have another recurring motif: perceived adultery. Saint Pelagien is accused of impregnating a woman while he is overseeing the nunnery. Saint Eugenia is also accused of adultery while embracing the life of a monk. Saint Eugenia's story has a different ending than the story of Saint Pelagien, because the former manages to convert someone before her death, whereas Pelagien dies in his prison cell.

Another interesting recurring motif is dragons. In two of the legends, dragons play an important role in helping solidify the holiness of the women that defeat them. The legend of Saint Margaret tells of how a dragon appears in Margaret's prison cell and swallows her, but she makes the sign of the cross and defeats the dragon. The dragon in Saint Martha has become famous and was even named the Tarasque. The legend describes this woodland dwelling dragon as a Leviathan, and one that would eat men and destroy the land. Martha uses holy water and the sign of the cross in order to subdue the creature, and afterwards the people slay him. Both dragons seem to show that the cross is holy enough to defeat anything.

(Saint Martha and the Tarasque)

Essay: Gods and Goddesses in Cupid and Psyche

In the story, Apuleius's Cupid and Psyche, gods and goddesses play some of the main roles. Although the story primarily involves Psyche, her path of life is heavily entwined with that of Cupid and Venus. In this week's story, I thought that the gods and goddesses portrayed were overall very cowardly. When one thinks of gods, strength and power typically come to mind. In this story, however, those characteristics were hardly prevalent.

One of the first examples of cowardice seen is Venus's jealousy of Psyche's beauty. A goddess shouldn't feel jealous and insecure because of the beauty of a human, yet Venus goes crazy at the thought of someone being more beautiful than her because that means that her beauty isn't the most incredible. A prime example of this is the reaction Venus has when she finds out people have been pretty much worshiping Psyche in Psyche's Beauty.

Another example of cowardice is Cupid's behavior after she finds out that he has been secretly married to Psyche. Instead of standing up to his mother for the sake of love, he goes and sits nursing his wounds in his mother's house while Venus searches far and wide for Psyche in order to punish her. Venus's outrage and Cupid's reaction can be seen in Venus and the Goddesses.

One final example, and probably the best one of cowardice, is the behavior of the gods that Psyche appeals to for aide. She appeals to several in order to gain safety and comfort because of Venus's persecution, but they all reject her because they are afraid to offend their fellow goddess. Instead, Psyche's help comes from ants, a reed, and a turret. The turret was the thing that surprised me most because it was the least alive out of all the things that helped Psyche in her quests (The Jar of Beauty). Why the insignificant characters in the story helped Psyche more than the powerful gods and goddesses did is something that I thought was interesting. It just proved that the Greek gods and goddesses weren't as mighty as they made themselves out to be.

(Venus assigning Psyche a task)

Overall, this story was a fine one, and the character development throughout was excellent. The main part of the story for me, though, was that gods and goddesses would be the best people for soap operas and reality TV.