Questions.
- Looking at the Lancelot reading again I want to parallel the evil dwarf with the evil Jinn of the Arabian Nights. That’s pretty obvious– they’re both wretched, tricky creatures, even if the Jinn is not that bright, not to mention their hideous physical features. Is this a ridiculous statement, though? Should this be regarded as possible evidence of the Arabic influence on Western medieval literature, or is the depiction of such a villain pretty universal, so much so that the attempt to draw this parallel is pretty worthless?
- What’s going on with the Decameron? I’ve never seen so much un-chivalrous behavior in my life. For example, many of the stories of Day Two dealing with people who run into misfortune only to find themselves incredibly lucky (usually wealthy) one day actually deal with people who have engaged in unseemly behavior and brought misfortune on themselves at some point. There’s the pirate who finds the treasure chest and Andreuccio who agrees to help raid a tomb and regains his money in the form of the corpse’s ruby ring. Granted, these characters often have an admirable quality or two, but they are certainly not quite up to par with our Lancelot. So my guess is that this has much to do with the characters telling the stories, who are more or less your average Joe hiding from the plague, which in turn is a result of the less-than-exalted position this text must hold in medieval literature. As we have learned in our reading, texts that are not in verse are considered far inferior to those that are. But let me know if I’m way off as I was not in class for the discussion yesterday.
- I’m posting from a resort in the mountains. Shouldn’t I get some sort of extra credit for this?
