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Mar 21
“…as if all happiness was not connected with the practice of virtue, which necessarily depends upon the knowledge of truth; that is, upon the knowledge of those unalterable relations which Providence has ordained that every thing should bear to every other. These relations, which are truth itself, the foundation of virtue, and consequently, the only measures of happiness, should be likewise the only measures by which we should direct our reasoning. To these we should conform in good earnest; and not think to force nature, and the whole order of her system, by a compliance with our pride, and folly, to conform to our artificial regulations. It is by a conformity to this method we owe the discovery of the few truths we know, and the little liberty and rational happiness we enjoy.”

Edmund Burke, A Vindication of Natural Society or a View of the Miseries and Evils Arising to Mankind from Every Species of Artificial Society

Posted at 9:43am

Nov 27
John Everett Millais “Ophelia” 1851-52 oil on canvas Reviving Ophelia: Linking Verdi’s Gilda of Rigoletto and Shakespeare’s Ophelia of Hamlet On Le roi s’amuse is the greatest plot, and perhaps the greatest drama of modern times. Triboulet is a creation worthy of Shakespeare!! —In a letter to Cammarano of 1848, Verdi had expressed a wish to be able to blend the comic and the terrible ‘in Shakespeare’s manner.’ By the end of Jean-Pierre Ponnelle’s filmatic version of Verdi’s opera Rigoletto, we witness the beautiful Gilda floating in a boat on the River Mincio at her father’s side. Gilda begs for forgiveness and expresses confidence in her decision to die for her love, the Duke of Mantua, as she breathes her last breaths. Her father holds her expiring body in utter shock, distraught to see death come to the only person in his life and the daughter for whom he has fought to protect throughout the opera. This is not the first time we see a young woman floating into a tragic death as a result of conflicting emotions between her patriarch and her love interest. About 250 years before Verdi completed Rigoletto, Shakespeare’s Hamlet took to the stage, arguably his most famous and densely analyzed play. Hamlet’s teetering sanity and bipolar antics distract from the sorry plight of his love interest, Ophelia. Torn between her family’s expectations and her love for Hamlet, Ophelia strives to please both. Her father ends up murdered at the hand of Hamlet, who in short time rejects her crudely. At this point Ophelia is understood to have gone insane. She meets an untimely end in the waters of a stream where she drowns herself amongst the weeds, flowers, and other foliage she had often picked as gifts for Hamlet. The cruelty of Hamlet drives Ophelia to suicide, though the emotions that lead her to choose death as the only option are largely dependent on the fact that her father is nonexistent when she experiences that rejection. Read the full essay »

John Everett Millais

“Ophelia” 1851-52
oil on canvas

Reviving Ophelia: Linking Verdi’s Gilda of Rigoletto and Shakespeare’s Ophelia of Hamlet

On Le roi s’amuse is the greatest plot, and perhaps the greatest drama of modern times. Triboulet is a creation worthy of Shakespeare!!

—In a letter to Cammarano of 1848, Verdi had expressed a wish to be able to blend the comic and the terrible ‘in Shakespeare’s manner.’

By the end of Jean-Pierre Ponnelle’s filmatic version of Verdi’s opera Rigoletto, we witness the beautiful Gilda floating in a boat on the River Mincio at her father’s side. Gilda begs for forgiveness and expresses confidence in her decision to die for her love, the Duke of Mantua, as she breathes her last breaths. Her father holds her expiring body in utter shock, distraught to see death come to the only person in his life and the daughter for whom he has fought to protect throughout the opera. This is not the first time we see a young woman floating into a tragic death as a result of conflicting emotions between her patriarch and her love interest. About 250 years before Verdi completed Rigoletto, Shakespeare’s Hamlet took to the stage, arguably his most famous and densely analyzed play. Hamlet’s teetering sanity and bipolar antics distract from the sorry plight of his love interest, Ophelia. Torn between her family’s expectations and her love for Hamlet, Ophelia strives to please both. Her father ends up murdered at the hand of Hamlet, who in short time rejects her crudely. At this point Ophelia is understood to have gone insane. She meets an untimely end in the waters of a stream where she drowns herself amongst the weeds, flowers, and other foliage she had often picked as gifts for Hamlet. The cruelty of Hamlet drives Ophelia to suicide, though the emotions that lead her to choose death as the only option are largely dependent on the fact that her father is nonexistent when she experiences that rejection.

Read the full essay »
Posted at 11:49pm

Nov 26

The Sin and Danger of Self-Love

In modern times I suppose “Self-Love” might sound like something else. But to the early settlers of Plymouth, Massachusetts (yes, who had the first Thanksgiving), it was another way of saying “selfish.” “The Sin and Danger of Self-Love” was a sermon delivered to the settlers by Robert Cushman - a Separatist who fled England and settled in Holland for religious differences, and eventually organized the Mayflower (ship that brought the Separatists, newly dubbed Pilgrims, to America). He’s also an ancestor of mine, which is how I came upon his sermon before analyzing it in American Literature class as a perfect example of the Jeremiad.

Cushman never made it to Plymouth in 1620 with the Mayflower crew. He was aboard another ship that had to return to Europe (it was leaking, I guess). And when he did arrive the next year, it wasn’t his objective to stay. It seems one of his objectives was to deliver this sermon, so pertinent because in their new environs, the Pilgrims were suffering. Not only were they struggling to find food, but they were also coveting it. They weren’t sharing. They were failing to support each other. Cushman’s objective was to point out the flaws in their behaviors and remind them what a good Christian would do.

I’m not sure if historians even know when the first Thanksgiving was, though 1621 is a date thrown around quite a bit. I’m not sure if they even know exactly what time of year it occurred, though the medley of foods consumed today are based on a fall feast. And so I don’t know if the “day of thanks” happened after Cushman delivered his sermon - a sign the Pilgrims took his lessons to heart; or before - which would imply that day was not marked by the peace, gratitude and generosity we teach our children.

Whatever the case, it’s all a lot to think about, poke at, hate, condemn, forgive, enjoy…

1 Corinthians 10:24. Let no man seek his own: But every man another’s wealth.

You can read  “The Sin and Danger of Self-Love” here » (the sermon starts on pg 11)

Posted at 8:36am

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