Post date: Nov 7, 2016 4:31:56 PM
I wanted to try something different with this e-post and try more of a close reading thing since a passage really caught my attention. Particularly this quote:
"The name of wife may seem more sacred or more binding, but sweeter for me will
always be the word friend [amica], or if you will permit me, that of concubine or whore." (51)
One of the things I could not get over in this reading was Heloise's need to be with Abelard and her need for his approval. In the quote, she seems to be putting a wife, friend, and concubine or whore on the same level. I found this interesting because I feel as if I could argue why friend would be a better or equal term for wife but not concubine or whore. She seems very willing to degrade herself in order to raise up his status. However, I also feel as if she was taking back a lot of the control in these words by asking him to call her these. She goes on to say:
"I believed that the more I humbled myself on your account, the more gratitude I should win from you, and also the less damage I should do to the brightness of your reputation." (51)
I find her use of concubine almost comical because I believe both her and Abelard have been each other's concubines at points in their lives. Heloise is depicted in the first letter as this prestigious girl who is getting a good education from her rich uncle and Abelard is the one who pursues her and seems to be of a lower status than her since it was her uncle's honor which was at state and not Abelard's. As Abelard gains fame, Helois now seems to become his concubine as now she is reliant on him.
Looking up synonyms for whore, I came across a lot of terms that describe Abelard and Heloise in their letters. The most poignant ones I found were sacrifice, devalue, and shame. Heloise is shameful because she believes she will devalue her husband's reputation while Abelard feels as if he is living his life as a sacrifice and could die at almost any moment. In today's use of the word, they both seem to "whore" themselves out for something: Heloise for her love of Abelard and Abelard for his philosophy and the Church. I enjoyed the word play Heloise employed here and it greatly changed my opinion of the woman Abelard depicted in his first letter.