Ovid’s Myth of Narcissus
The power of rejection is clearly demonstrated in
this piece. We first see it with Echo when her friend mentions that she talks
too much which could be seen as a social rejection. Echo’s response is quite
drastic, only repeating the last few words of everyone’s sentences. It is noticeable, however, that the number of words Echo echos is not always the same. She seems to echo in such a way that changes the meaning of the sentence or only expresses what we can assume she feels. For this reason, Narcissus rejects Echo because he cannot understand her through her abbreviated and borrowed language. Echo's response is again very drastic, voluntary
solitary confinement which she eventually dies from, leaving only her echo in
her place. Narcissus is also rejected but by his own reflection. After falling
in love with the image of himself, he learns that this desired person is
incapable of loving him back and upon this discovery, he allowed himself to
wither away and die. In both cases, we see that failed love and rejection can
lead to death through personal, willing, gradual decay and neglect. What stuck
with me was the quote “he was worn and wasted away with love, and slowly
consumed by its hidden fire.” I think this is accurate in describing the
negative symptoms of love or maybe love sickness. Unfulfilled love can take a
lot out of a person which is probably why so many therapists are able to stay
in business.
Locan’s “Mirror Stage”
Basically, what I took out of it is that “the self”
has many meanings and it’s most pure form can be demonstrated in a child when
he or she first discovers their own reflection in the mirror. This is our first
ever real look at ourselves and probably a very confusing one. Maybe as we grow
up we’re just as confused about what “self” is but the confusion doesn’t come
from “I wonder what this limb does,” it’s more “who am I?” Our first identification as self comes from what we look like or our reflection. Our values, preferences and lifestyles should further define us as we grow old enough to realize that self is more than the shells of our bodies.
Song of Songs
A quote in the third poem stood out
to me, “Do not arouse or awaken love until
it so desires,” which I took to mean that you can’t rush love and it’ll occur
on its own, which is such a change from the last two poems which were quite
cheerful. I found the fifth to be irritating. He goes on to describe her beauty
in detail as well as the way she smells and makes reference to her love but
doesn’t say much about the fact that they are in love. He seems too caught up
in her flawlessness which makes me think he is writing about lust, not love. In
Song of Songs 6, “she” is asked by her friends what makes her lover so much
better than all other men. Instead of describing how caring or honorable or
trustworthy he is, she described his looks in detail, proving the couple’s
vanity once again. In the seventh, a quote stood out to me just because I
thought it was an accurate description. “For love is as strong as death, its
jealousy unyielding as the grave. It
burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot
quench love; rivers
cannot sweep it away.” I guess what made an impression was “rivers cannot sweep
it away,” or in other words, love conquers all, but this is a less aggressive
way of putting it. Love can drive us to heartbreak or personal neglect and
deteriorating self confidence, anyone and everyone can be effected by it because
it’s a certain thing in life, just like dying, and it is as strong as a fire
because it can control our actions and other emotions.
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