Sunday, September 27, 2015

Ah, "love".




So when reading this tale about the Knight who utterly *ucked up and was sentenced to death before a random act of pity upon his life kept him alive and inevitably got him a beautiful wife and a happy life, I realized that I cannot even accidentally say the incorrect answer in my math class without the judgment from everyone around me with the expectation to leave the room immediately in shame and disgrace to my entire family's blood line. BUT THIS GUY, gets it all after raping some random girl just because he was horny. But hey that's none of my business.

            Now that I have that rant out of the way, what I truly do not understand is how this tale can possibly end with the ending that because she was beautiful, that all of a sudden it is possible to live a long, blissful life in love with someone that you had to marry because all they did was do you a favor. Granted, that favor saved the Knight's life, but that is besides the point. Also, not to mention that he is setting himself up for a life of bossy wifedom given that he knows the answer to the question; women want to control their husbands!

We know she will be loyal and beautiful and whatever, but she is still some random woman with magic powers, how does this always seem to work out with love in literature?
"I don't wanna", "But I saved your life!"
                I'm not quite sure what I am trying to get through in this post other than my own complaints about how the "punishment" never fits the crime. As far as this tale goes in my own eyes there was nothing really to learn from it other than the other tales we have read, such as Beowulf. We learned much about consequences and other types of self meaning because what Beowulf did always had reasoning and a deeper purpose in what the reader was supposed to evaluate in their own terms. I have had several months since the last time I read this tale under Dr. MB's instruction, and I can now understand that this tale in my eyes had nothing for us to take from as far as a life lesson though, other than for a man it would simply be easier to let the woman take complete control of your life, because then they will love you. Why don't we just hand over the man-card now?? The Knight did.
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2 comments:

  1. UnknownSeptember 29, 2015 at 7:53 PM

    I really liked how you mentioned "the punishment never fits the crime". That's all I was thinking when I was reading this tale. Rape is such a serious crime and, while I believe that the death sentence is a little too severe for any type of crime, just simply finding the answer to a question is not a proper punishment either. I understand it was meant to teach him a lesson and help him understand the mind of a women, but I feel like it fails to provide a satisfying ending for the reader.

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  2. ErinSeptember 30, 2015 at 7:08 PM

    I think you make a good point that he was setting himself up when he knew that women just really wanted control. I also think that there were slight hints for what was coming. Personally if someone came up to me and was like "hey I'll save your life, but I won't tell you what I want in return until after" I would be a bit suspicious. Saving a life is a pretty hefty favor, so I think it would be safe to assume that you are going to pay for the favor (even though I think it's less of a favor and more of a deal). She saves a man from death and then he goes off and treats her horribly because of her looks..hehem shallow. I agree that he definately didn't get what he deserved in the end.

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