1. Is Tartuffe in fact anti-religious, or does it only attack corruptions of religion?

Tartuffe is definitely not anti-religious, except for in the way that it’s making fun of religion and the hypocrisy that comes with ignorant people that disregard everything but religion. So in that way, it attacks the corruption. Simply by making Tartuffe the antagonist and making him despicable for taking advantage of Orgon’s hospitality, it is putting his hypocrisy and manipulative nature to light, and pretending he is into the spiritual nature to woo his host’s wife, this very satirical of all the negative aspects of religion. It is not exactly putting religion in a bad light or mocking all religious people, but rather, like many intelligent writers in the past, Moliere was writing about the political situation at the time, in particular the Catholic movement and appearance versus reality.

2. In what respects is Hugo’s Satan a heroic figure? How does Hugo’s account differ from Dante’s?

Hugo’s Satan is not the fire and brimstone Satan like Dante’s, of consequence and fear and ultimate punishment, but rather it is like the precursor. Hugo made his poem in a futile yet hopeful tone, a situation everyone can relate to, the possibility of success and the attainment of good, but also the implicated idea of failure and temptation and evil. It is the age-old idea of the devil on one shoulder and the angel on the other, and the conflicting flanks and arguments. Instead of Dante’s evil description of Satan, Hugo’s is more a character with free will who in a way chose his path, much like how we all choose our path and so he is relatable and is very nearly a hero, just a different kind of hero.

3. Discuss and compare the images in any two poems assigned for this week.

I want to compare “A Pine is Standing Lonely,’ by Heine, because it strikes true with seasonal affective disorder in Fairbanks, and compare and contrast it with “Sylvia’ by Leopardi. To me, these two poems invoked the most amount of emotion, because it is such extreme loss. For example, during the winter, people want to be in other places, they dream of the sun and palm trees and a different life. It is an intense sadness, because our bodies are not supposed to go through that, uninhabitable temperatures and only an hour or two of weak rays, and the loss of a woman, or a friend, is another extreme emotion. Unlike the lonely pine, Sylvia starts out so lovely, with imagery such as “climbing towards the summit of our youth,’ “blue skies,’ “gardens gold in the sun,’ “brimming hearts,’ “how large a thing seems life.’ But it switches quickly, into the same emotion of the lonely pine, by mourning the lost soul, and suddenly it is hopeless, without her, he is not whole. Without the sun, the pine is lonely, and without Sylvia, Leopardi cannot enjoy his life.

1- Moliere states that his play Tartuffe is not anti-religious. But I think he protests too much. I believe that his play is anti-religious and encourages people not to blindly follow the church. At the time the play was written the church was a highly influential institution and hypocrisy was a common characteristic of some religious people. I believe that Moliere’s play is a warning to all that religion and religious people should be questioned because sometimes their motives are not truly in the best interest of anyone or anything but themselves. When people start to question the church it can lead to a power struggle and cause the church to loss their influence.

2- Hugo’s Satan can be seen as a hero because he embodies what we all have the choice of free-will. Satan is a living being has the right to make decisions about his own life and his choices have made him a fallen angel, a rebel. His daring to question authority and make his own choices have been romanticized. Even though he has the power to ask forgiveness Satan refuses to. He sticks to what he chose in life.

Datne’s Satan was incapable of moving around while Hugo’s Satan was flying and reaching for the Stars. Dante’s Satan also has six eyes and three chins. He cries from his six eyes and this seems like he is upset at his punishment and is remorseful while Hugo’s Satan is not remorseful, simply angry and upset at being left in the dark.

3- I was drawn to the poems “The Infinite’ and “To Himself’ by Giocomo Leopardi. Both poems have a lot of imagery and connect thoughts and feelings through nature. In “The Infante’ Leopardi is speaking of his longing to see things beyond the home he has always known, his desire for knowledge. He basically is saying he desires to venture out in the world even if in the end it causes him heartache or death. The wind that speaks to him and the present season are images of being alive and moving through life. Seeing new things and opening himself up to whatever may be.

In “To Himself’ he is speaking to his desire to love and be loved. He has lost hope that he will have the love that has eluded him so far and he is saying he is giving up his desire. Both poems are speaking to desire and the heartbreak it can cause. The world being mud and nature being an ugly force are symbols of hopelessness. The end of his dream.

1. Is Tartuffe in fact anti-religious, or does it only attack corruptions of religion?

Tartuffe, the impostor, is not anti-religious. Tartuffe is an extreme hypocrite and shows corruption of religion at its finest. He used religion and faith in god to get what he wanted and to manipulate Orgon. Orgon was a believer of blind faith, just because Tartuffe ACTED like a saint he immediately thought he was sent from heaven. While Tartuffe was running around Orgon back trying to seduce his wife. Orgon was going to have him be married to his daughter. Before Orgon caught the scoundrel in the act by hiding out on a conversation between Tartuffe and his wife, he actually signed away his estate to Tartuffe. Luckily, for Orgon and his family the King had their back and knew what Tartuffe was up too. I found this a very interesting read as well. It is sad how corrupt religion can be and how easily people are to believe things. The sad conclusion of it all is this still continues to happen in religions today.

2. In what respects is Hugo’s Satan a heroic figure? How does Hugo’s account differ from Dante’s?

I can’t say I would consider Hugo’s Satan a hero. Though he does fall on a few categories of the Hero’s journey such as, being forced out on a quest, refusing the call, to transforming and accepting his situation that he had brought upon himself by being disobedient. Hugo’s account differs from Dante by which how the stories are told. Hugo describes how Satan well became Satan. And Dante pretty much takes us threw a journey of the depths of hell. In Hugo’s story Satan is explained to be a more human like figure. While in Dante’s he a farfetched beastly figure.

3. Discuss and compare the images in any two poems assigned for this week.

A Pine is standing lonely vs The Infinite

In both poems we are described places where there is no sounds just the noise of nature, a perfect place to dream and wonder. But to also seek what is far beyond the sunburnt rocky strand and the sea. Both poems we are described a certain amount of loneliness where one is seeking more out of life it seems.

Everyone has different views on people within specific topics. Religion there are highly debated topics of which one is best and what each figure truly stands for. I think that it is pretty accurate to say that in all religions there is a God or God’s and some sort of Devil. Throughout history stories have been written that include the major figures of God(s) and the Devil or Satan. In this class we have read and written about Dante’s Inferno and we are now reading and writing about Victor Hugo’s poem Ex nox facta est. Between these two stories the view on Satan is quite different. But there are also some similarities as well. Starting out with Hugo’s poem and explaining kind of how Satan is seen in this story seems best since that is the main topic of this discussion question.

In Victor Hugo’s poem Ex nox facta es Satan can really be seen as somewhat of a heroic figure. The best way that I could really think to define the way in which he is a hero is by comparing what has happened to him in this poem to the Hero’s Journey chart. Some of things that happened to Him as he was falling from Heaven match to certain aspects of the Hero’s Journey. So from my perspective I feel like it can kind of make him a hero in a sense even though Satan is usually seen as a bad guy, not a hero. An easy link to make between the Hero’s Journey chart and Satan’s fall from Heaven is at the Threshold (beginning of transformation). At this point Satan/Lucifer has done something bad and is being cast from Heaven where as he is falling down to Hell he is losing his angelic wings and getting the bat like wings that look hideous. He faces some challenges such as being cast out and coming to terms with his punishment. After all of that though he comes to terms with it and is somewhat a rebirth for him when he states “He shall have the blue sky, the black sky is mine,’ (481). Shortly after he began flying and transformed into something quite terrible with hideous wings and claws and he realized towards the end that he was not going to be going back to Heaven, ever. But he was able to keep one feather from his angelic wings. By following some of the Hero’s Journey I think that it connects this poem and Satan with the characteristics of a hero to a point. Satan became the reigning person down in Hell making him somewhat a hero. One thing that I think of that kind of fits this situation and how he is a hero is by saying that he is the hero of all of the villains. He is the one who punishes the wrong doers and I feel like that is somewhat the makings of a hero, by stopping evil from doing more.

Dante’s account differs from Hugo’s in a noticeable way. This is seen by the entire way that Satan is described between these stories. In Dante’s he sees Satan in the depths of Hell and he does not speak if I remember correctly. In Hugo’s poem he paints the picture of Satan’s fall from Heaven for the reader. The reader can picture the fall happening and the changes that come to this once angel, where he is yelling at God for doing this to him. Once again in contrast, Dante’s story doesn’t really tell or paint the picture of Satan’s fall. Dante’s account kind of shows what happens and becomes of Satan once he has been down in Hell for so long. Thinking back on Dante’s tale now, I think that it has the same sort of aspects that can kind of make Satan a hero, even if it isn’t blatantly said. It’s about the perspective that these stories are read and viewed in. These two authors just wrote about different events that have to do with Satan, which is really the main difference between the two.

During this assignment it really made me think of what a hero truly is. I now think that a hero can be good or evil. While God is a hero for good reasons, I think that Satan is a hero for different and bad reasons, but just because there are differences it doesn’t mean that they can’t somehow be similar. Both of these figures have a hand in punishing people who do wrong, God casts them down to Hell and Satan hands out the punishment that they deserve. Many people think of Hero’s as a person who does good and is good. But now after reading this my perspective has changed. I think that a hero is anyone that has a good amount of qualities a hero is outlined to have, good or evil. Just because someone is known as being evil doesn’t mean that they can’t do heroic type things.

1. Is Tartuffe in fact anti-religious, or does it only attack corruptions of religion?

I found Tartuffe to be a very interesting read. I did not feel that it took an anti-religious standpoint, but simply used a religious hypocrite to exemplify how fraudulent people can be, in a way that many people can relate to as a community. In my experience, I have met many “religious” people that point fingers at other’s faults and can turn around and perform strikingly similar acts behind closed doors. The spreading attitude of bigotry, in the community presented in the story, was there to show a growing prudence and ignorance to the problem at hand. The way the tale was delivered provided the effects that hypocrisy creates in society and through the intellect and awareness of the King, the scam is seen through and the short-coming of society is identified. The Office states, “A King who’s foiled such liars by the dozen.” This brings to light that this is a common problem in society that should be dealt with.

2. In what respects is Hugo’s Satan a heroic figure? How does Hugo’s account differ from Dante’s?

Hugo’s Satan, like many heroes of old, is a rebel of his society and thus banished by his father to the dark abyss. In his plight, he is challenged in a series of different aspects, which are meant to inspire fear and despair, but he overcomes these through determination and mere spite, while also finding supernatural aid of “beast like wings.” In the story, this scene is depicted in the verses stating, “In an instant he felt some horrendous growth of wings; he felt himself become a monster, and that the angel in him was dying, and the rebel then knew regret.” Satan is faced with less and less light, as the suns disappear. At one time, Satan tries to replenish a dying star and with his breath creates what we now call a hurricane. The power to create is heroic in itself, but the shear determination to continue through the adversity is a hero’s path. Once the void is complete, “Nothing” is able to raise his head from the abyss, triumphant in this and the heart of his star sends forth a jet of sulfur and creates his Angels. In the limitless shadow, Satan sees all that was preadamic, gaining the boon of wisdom and creating a new society, in which he reigns. This last bit fits the “Master of Two Worlds” theme in “The Hero’s Journey Defined” by Joseph Campbell because he is able to peak into the world he came from, but then chooses to reside below with all that he has seen.

3. Discuss & Compare the images in any two poems assigned for this week.

I would like to compare To Himself by Giacomo Leopardi and A Pine is Standing Lonely by Heinrich Heine. One similarity I noticed immediately was the use of nature or living things to display the phases of life the eventual bareness and death. Heine uses a pine tree that can be viewed to be full and resilliant to harsh weather, like a young man in the troubles of early life. The tree sleeps through life and is enshrouded in ice and snow, like a person that can truely only depend on themself and never truely acts to find love and eventually fades to white or grey hair. This pine dreams through life about a palm tree, which is a desirable vision that usually corrolates to tropical and beautiful weather and could be viewed as a beautiful girl. Sadly, the pine dreams or believes that this palm tree will stand lonely, sunburnt… drying and dying its life away. This could be seen as a view that life is meant to be lonely, hopeless and in the end…pointless. Both of the writers display a depressing view toward life and either a lack or loss of faith. Leopardi is more discrete at times than Heine like in his line, “The last Illusion is dead that I believed eternal. Dead. I can so clearly see–not only hope is gone but the desire to be deceived as well.” This last illusion could be faith or life after death, but could also be love. Leopardi says, “The world is mud.” In this statement, it claims that there is not much but bland exchanges to be had and he further determines that there is nothing to have anxiety over becasuse there is nothing to hope for. Leopardi blames nature itself for being the cause of his demise and ultimate dissatisfaction, where Heine uses it more as symbolic representation for people in life and the hopelessness it has for us.