- Mar 2024
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pressbooks.online.ucf.edu pressbooks.online.ucf.edu
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Those same men, when by base subjection and constraint they are brought under and kept down, turn aside from that noble disposition by which they formerly were inclined to virtue, to shake off and break that bond of servitude wherein they are so tyrannously enslaved; for it is agreeable with the nature of man to long after things forbidden and to desire what is denied us.
This particular section stood out to me because it reflected Rebelais humanistic ideals. By creating a system of teleology within a large group of people- here being the Thelemites- where all coercion of internal thoughts, feelings and actions are eliminated, these people can live their lives however they want as a whole community. The satire of organized religion is shown here, by Rebelais demonstrating the lack of blind commitment to any dogma and rather liberty for man to focus on his own pathway to enlightenment. It makes sense as to why this story is controversial, since Rebelais is challenging the ideas around religion, was unfamiliar during the Middle Ages.
Sources: Griffin, Robert. “Rabelais’ ‘Humanisme Dévot.’” L’Esprit Créateur, vol. 3, no. 2, 1963, pp. 75–79. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26276991. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.
https://www.marxists.org/subject/art/lit_crit/btomashevsky/rabelais.htm
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to others he crushed their arms, battered their legs, and bethwacked their sides till their ribs cracked with it. To others again he unjointed the spondyles or knuckles of the neck, disfigured their chaps, gashed their faces, made their cheeks hang flapping on their chin, and so swinged and balammed them that they fell down before him like hay before a mower. To some others he spoiled the frame of their kidneys, marred their backs, broke their thigh-bones, pashed in their noses, poached out their eyes, cleft their mandibles, tore their jaws, dung in their teeth into their throat, shook asunder their omoplates or shoulder-blades, sphacelated their shins, mortified their shanks, inflamed their ankles, heaved off of the hinges their ishies, their sciatica or hip-gout, dislocated the joints of their knees, squattered into pieces the boughts or pestles of their thighs, and so thumped, mauled and belaboured them everywhere, that never was corn so thick and threefold threshed upon by ploughmen’s flails as were the pitifully disjointed members of their mangled bodies under the merciless baton of the cross.
This particular portion of the text reveals quite a bit of Rabelais writing style. Here, we witness Rebelais using his own knowledge with his experience in the Renaissance medical world and his joy for satirical writing by employing heavy descriptions of imagery with his long lists of the violent acts Friar John does to his enemies. While this piece might be on surface disturbing to read, Rebelais finds a way to distract his audience of the victims sufferings with the clinical language he uses, making the scene comical. He takes away the moral anxiety one would experience by making the readers expend their energy on articulating the words and following the passage of wounds they experience, taking the reader from the sick joke.
Source:
Williams, Alison. “Sick Humour, Healthy Laughter: The Use of Medicine in Rabelais’s Jokes.” The Modern Language Review, vol. 101, no. 3, 2006, pp. 671–81. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/20466901. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.
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pressbooks.online.ucf.edu pressbooks.online.ucf.edu
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Then Gawain bethought him, and it came into his heart that this were a jewel for the jeopardy that awaited him when he came to the Green Chapel to seek the return blow–could he so order it that he should escape unslain, ’twere a craft worth trying
Here the green girdle serves as a symbol of life, however we come to see the meaning of the girdle changes throughout the text. We see Sir Gawain not follow with his chivalrous values and duty of faith as the presentation of the girdle challenges his beliefs as it becomes a stronger symbol of faith than God himself. This is an interesting development considering how previously in the text Sir Gawain was devoted to his faith, turning to it in his moments of need by praying "that Mary may be his guide". I think this is a key moment in the text because it reveals the humanity in Sir Gawain and his fear for death. As time goes by and the day to which he is interred to meet with the Green Knight approaches, he resorts to supernatural objects in the midst of fear for his own life.
Works cited: Malarkey, Stoddard, and J. Barre Toelken. “Gawain and the Green Girdle.” The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, vol. 63, no. 1, 1964, pp. 14–20. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27714339. Accessed 6 Mar. 2024.
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I shall look upon it when I ride in renown and remind myself of the fault and faintness of the flesh; and so when pride uplifts me for prowess of arms, the sight of this lace shall humble my heart
In this part of the text, we see that Sir Gawain experiences remorse and shame. He repents his actions with the green girdle of accepting it from lady Bertilak and lying to Lord Bertilak about it, due to the fact they don't align with his values as a virtuous knight. It also demonstrates he is not as faithful to God since he stoops to relying on an earthly object for his fate which is contradictory to his values since he wore a shield that displayed a pentangle, a religious symbol. Thus, in the midst of all the shame Sir Gawain experiences, he wears the green girdle as symbol of guilt and a sign of penance due to the fact it superseded the pentangle.
Words cited: Malarkey, Stoddard, and J. Barre Toelken. “Gawain and the Green Girdle.” The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, vol. 63, no. 1, 1964, pp. 14–20. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27714339. Accessed 6 Mar. 2024.
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- Feb 2024
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pressbooks.online.ucf.edu pressbooks.online.ucf.edu
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Abstaining from a work grievous to flesh, When one saith “‘Tis unpleasing!” this is null! Such an one acts from “passion;” nought of gain Wins his Renunciation! But, Arjun! Abstaining from attachment to the work, Abstaining from rewardment in the work, While yet one doeth it full faithfully, Saying, “Tis right to do!” that is “true ” act And abstinence!
Here Krishna is arguing to Arjuna the matter of renunciation and how it stems from desire. However, in comparison to how he praised renunciation of ones fruit of actions, in chapter five, here he distinguishes between renouncing of ones action versus attachment to the gains of one's action. This is crucial at the text comes to an end because Krishna is bringing back the reasoning Arjuna should fight in the war, as he will be engaging in his action but doing so without any attachment of the "reward", ultimately in alignment with dharma.
Source: https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-bhagavad-gita/discourse-18
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But, as often as the heart Breaks–wild and wavering–from control, so oft Let him re-curb it, let him rein it back To the soul’s governance; for perfect bliss Grows only in the bosom tranquillised, The spirit passionless, purged from offence, Vowed to the Infinite.
This line stood out to me because it highlights the fact that we are human, beautifully imperfect, and are bound to have our thoughts waver. Krishna discusses this in relation to being in that meditative state, which makes sense to me since when I meditate my mind often starts trailing to other things and not "shutting the doorways" as said in line 910. Krishna counters this by explaining one must practice giving up control, removing that attachment, in order to focus on god. In doing so, one will attain transcendence.
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