First of all, let me say that I really liked this morality play. There is a great emphasis on beauty, strength, confession, knowledge, and discretion. Sometimes I wonder why we put such great importance on these "things." Today in class, some students were talking about how some family members had wanted a closed casket and how elderly grandparents can't go out without makeup. This just seems to exemplify that "beauty" is very important to almost each one of us--whether you are vain or not. Some people, myself included, strive to be beautiful, strong, intelligent, and discrete.
I guess being raised in a non-Christian home--my religion is shamanism--I view the play in a different light. We [my family and I] value beauty, strength, knowledge, discretion, goods, good deeds, fellowship, and our kin. The way I feel about it is--live now. Enjoy the things you have either been blessed with or have worked hard to earn. I'm not saying that you should go about sleeping around, cheating, and lying. I'm just saying that if I were to live life the way I wanted, I would enjoy my things and the time I have with people I love. And I guess, from my religion, we revere our kin (living) and ancestors (dead) to an extent that Christians can't seem to understand. (I feel this way because of my teacher--has to do with a discussion with my World Religions professor, who happens to be a preacher--and I told him that I flip flop between shamanism and Christianity on a daily basis. And I somehow got the feeling from his argument that I should not be doing that--which really offended me. The way I feel about it is, I have that right to exercise whatever I believe--regardless of what others believe. Because right now, I feel like I'm in a transitional stage in where I take the good 'lessons' and 'morals' from both religions and incorporate them into my life...anyhow...) At our funerals, friends and kin alike come to "watch" or "look after" (if translated literally) the dead. We offer libations, or sacrifices, such as money, animals, food, etc. to our dead. We want to prepare our dead for his afterlife, in taking great care to provide things for that person to have. We also believe that our ancestors are in the afterlife awaiting us when we die.
-----to be continued
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
The Canterbury Tales
This is my version of a 'traveler' who is destined for Disney World: The Real Housewife of ???
She smiled invitingly at college boys abroad the bus, destined for the great Disney World. She was with her two daughters, ages 11 and 15, along with her 55 year old husband. She sighed inwardly, at the prospects of having to room with her husband for a whole week. But a promise was a promise, and she couldn't let her daughters down this time. She pulled out her compact mirror and pasted on lipstick, the dark shade of fresh blood. She pouted prettily and warily eyed the furrows across her forehead. The botox the Hollywood doctor injected was apparently failing. Her meticulously, manicured fingers dove into her Prada bag for the blackberry and she promptly scheduled another roundtrip to Hollywood, exclusively for another visit to Dr. 90210. She frowned as she noticed that her body of 34 years, did not truly portray how young she felt. She still went out with her other married girlfriends to the local bars and clubs, dancing most of her nights away. She primly crossed her long, slender legs and carefully placed her five inch-heels at just the right angle to present an alluring picture. Her bleached blond locks were crimped and curled cruelly around her face, falling beneath her breasts, which were showcased by her risque-Marilyn Monroe-inspired, white dress. Clearing her throat once, she replaced her Gucci sunglasses upon her powered face and leaned back into the uncomfortable seat to silently stare at her aging husband.
She smiled invitingly at college boys abroad the bus, destined for the great Disney World. She was with her two daughters, ages 11 and 15, along with her 55 year old husband. She sighed inwardly, at the prospects of having to room with her husband for a whole week. But a promise was a promise, and she couldn't let her daughters down this time. She pulled out her compact mirror and pasted on lipstick, the dark shade of fresh blood. She pouted prettily and warily eyed the furrows across her forehead. The botox the Hollywood doctor injected was apparently failing. Her meticulously, manicured fingers dove into her Prada bag for the blackberry and she promptly scheduled another roundtrip to Hollywood, exclusively for another visit to Dr. 90210. She frowned as she noticed that her body of 34 years, did not truly portray how young she felt. She still went out with her other married girlfriends to the local bars and clubs, dancing most of her nights away. She primly crossed her long, slender legs and carefully placed her five inch-heels at just the right angle to present an alluring picture. Her bleached blond locks were crimped and curled cruelly around her face, falling beneath her breasts, which were showcased by her risque-Marilyn Monroe-inspired, white dress. Clearing her throat once, she replaced her Gucci sunglasses upon her powered face and leaned back into the uncomfortable seat to silently stare at her aging husband.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
I did my class project on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. At first, I picked it because there was pretty much nothing else to do it on. But now that I've read it, I must admit that I really enjoyed reading it. When at first I started reading, I thought, "Okay--so this game...where is this story going? What in the world is it about?" But once I got further into my reading, due to procrastination on my part, I liked the concepts behind Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
This story has a great emphasis on chivalry. And personally, chivalry is essentially respect, honor, and courtesy. It's pretty much about doing what's right and what's noble. And I think that this code of chivalry would work if this world was colored in black and white and there were lines to distinguish between doing what is right and doing what is wrong. But life isn't that easy. As human beings, we all make mistakes but what makes the difference between good and bad is if we learn from our mistakes. I feel that we should make mistakes, little ones and really, really big ones. How else would we learn? I for one, take into account advice given freely from others, but I never believe them until I have fallen into hard times and seen, firsthand, what a horrible choice I made. As humans, we tend to go through a phase in which temptation stares us in the face, and we fall. I find that that is the only natural way that we grow as a person.
This story has a great emphasis on chivalry. And personally, chivalry is essentially respect, honor, and courtesy. It's pretty much about doing what's right and what's noble. And I think that this code of chivalry would work if this world was colored in black and white and there were lines to distinguish between doing what is right and doing what is wrong. But life isn't that easy. As human beings, we all make mistakes but what makes the difference between good and bad is if we learn from our mistakes. I feel that we should make mistakes, little ones and really, really big ones. How else would we learn? I for one, take into account advice given freely from others, but I never believe them until I have fallen into hard times and seen, firsthand, what a horrible choice I made. As humans, we tend to go through a phase in which temptation stares us in the face, and we fall. I find that that is the only natural way that we grow as a person.
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