THE POWER OF LOVE,

or lack thereof

the conference of the birds & a midsummer night's dream

For the final website activity for the fall quarter, our assignment was to connect one of the works we read in class to a previous work, noting similarities in themes, format, uses of animals, and so on. While reading The Conference of the Birds, I noticed a motif of unrequited love and powerlessness in the face of love that connected to Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, especially in regards to Helena's one-sided love towards Demetrius. Love, especially unrequited love, is powerful in the sense that it makes people powerless.

But first of all, What is The conference of the birds?

The Conference of the Birds is a Persian epic poem that follows a group of birds looking for the Simorgh, a mysterious, divine bird that the birds want to be their king. However, they must embark on a difficult spiritual journey in order to find the Simorgh, and each bird represents a different characteristic that prevents them from wanting to go on the journey and ultimately, from reaching enlightenment. However, the birds elect the wise Hoopoe as their guide and the Hoopoe tells stories to encourage the birds to continue on. Right before the journey, the Hoopoe tells The Story of the Sheikh San'an to encourage the birds to renounce the Self.

The Story of Sheikh San'an

Sheikh San'an is a very devoted Muslim who has gone on fifty pilgrimages and follows all the customary laws and practices. However, he is struck with a recurring dream in which he lives in Rome and bows to an idol. Troubled by this dream, he feels impelled to go to Rome and finds a beautiful Christian girl, whom he falls in love with. He is overcome by lust, which causes him reject his faith and his self, willing to do anything that the Christian girl wants, from drinking wine to burning the Koran to becoming a swineherd. San'an's disciples tell a wise man about San'an's loss of faith and the wise man reprimands the disciples for leaving him in his wreched state and not being devoted friends. However, the friends then intercede and pray for San'an, and he is released from his irrational desire and returns to the Muslim faith. The Christian girl also has a dream compelling her to repent and follow the Muslim faith.

A Pilgrimage to Mecca. Typically Muslims are encouraged to make the pilgrimage at least once in their life, but Sheikh San'an has already done so fifty times

What about a midsummer night's Dream?

Shakespeare's, A Midsummer Night's Dream has a very different genre and feel from The Conference of the Birds as a comedic play for entertainment in contrast to a more serious epic poem intended as a spiritual guide. However, they contain similar themes regarding love and power, especially when comparing The Story of Sheikh San'an and the unrequited love between Helena and Demetrius in Act 2 Scene 1. In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Helena and Demetrius are Athenian youths and Helena is in love with Demetrius but Demetrius is not in love with her. Helena, consumed by her desire, becomes desperate and even animalistic, losing her rationality and willing to do anything for Demetrius (much like San'an's attitude toward the Christian girl). She persistently follows Demetrius even after he repeatedly tells her to go away and treats her disrespectfully.

the use of animals to portray the irrationality of love

Although animals are not literally present in these stories as characters, they are literarily present through both the use of animal metaphors and the display of the animalistic nature of humans. In particular, both A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Story of Sheikh San'an use dogs to describe the desperation that love causes. By comparing herself to a spaniel, Helena expresses her blind obedience to Demetrius; no matter what he does to her or how he treats her, she will still love him. Similarly, San'an, overcome by desire, stays outside of his beloved's door, fighting for a place with the stray dogs. Both of these situations uncover the animalistic nature of love. Both Helena and San'an lose their rationality, allowing themselves to be overcome by their animalistic instinct of erotic desire. They lose themselves and any sense of dignity, becoming powerless in the face of love. The power of love essentially makes people powerless.

A performance of Helena comparing herself to a spaniel

HELENA AS A SPANIEL

Helena: I am your spaniel; and, Demetrius,

The more you beat me, I will fawn on you.

Use me but as your spaniel, spurn me, strike me,

Neglect me, lose me; only give me leave,

Unworthy as I am, to follow you.

What worser place can I beg in your love-

And yet a place of high respect with me-

Than to be used as you use your dog? (2.1.203-210)

SAN'AN AND STRAY DOGS

The world lay drowned in sparkling light, and dawn

Disclosed the sheikh, still wretched and forlorn,

Disputing with stray dogs the place before

His unattainable belovèd’s door.

There in the dust he knelt, till constant prayers

Made him resemble one of her dark hairs;

A patient month he waited day and night

To glimpse the radiance of her beauty’s light (1302-9).

A happy ending in both?

Although love is portrayed fairly negatively in regards to Helena and San'an losing their dignity and becoming like slaves to their desires, both stories reward their love and devotion with happy endings. In A Midsummer Night's Dream, the King of the Fairies notices the unrequited love between Helena and Demetrius and uses a love potion to get Demetrius to fall in love with Helena and they end up happily married. In The Story of Sheik San'an, San'an's disciples intercede for him and he returns to his faith, learning about the importance of devotion and losing the self. Love itself is neither good nor bad; rather, the object of the devotion determines the outcome. If love is directed towards a perfect higher power, then the devotion will lead to enlightenment and goodness. However, if the love is directed toward humans, who are flawed, then the outcome is unpredictable.

reflection

In completing the website activities for this quarter, I noticed that I was able to express my creativity and go beyond my comfort zone, especially in creating the video for the Midsummer Night's Dream performance. I spent a lot more time on the format and layout of the page that I had expected, but it was fun trying out different possibilities for the best visual effect. Next quarter, I hope that I will be able to focus more on developing my sense of ethos and academic authority. I feel like in some portions of my writing, I am very casual and informal, while in other parts, I am more serious. I hope to find a balance between the two and to have consistency in tone throughout my writing, being both scholarly and engaging at the same time.

SOURCES

Attar, Farid. The Conference of the Birds. Translated with an Introduction by Afkham Darbandi and Dick Davis.

Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Edited by Wolfgang Clemen. Signet Classics, 1998

The Conference of the Birds Image https://www.nybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/creswell_1-102617.jpg

Mecca Painting https://sacredsites.com/images/middle_east/saudi_arabia/mecca-painting.jpg

Helena Spaniel Performance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8OwQRDMQpQ

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