When looking over the last two stories we read, Voltaire's Candide and Saikaku's The Barrelmaker Brimful of Love, we see how passion and reason are somewhat tied together, while neither one overcomes the other. For example, throughout the story Candide tries to rationalize everything according to the philosophy of Pangloss, yet his actions were ruled by his passionate love(lust) for Cunegonde. When Candide hears of the death of Cunegonde, he is devastated and thought only that it could be because "of grief at seeing me kicked out of her noble father's elegant castle"(Voltaire 525). This is the total opposite from Cunegonde because she lived by what was best for her not for her love of Candide. When asked to marry the greatest lord in South America, Cunegonde consults the old woman who reasons that it would benefit her and that she would "make no scruple of marrying My Lord the Governor, and making the fortune of Captain Candide"(Voltaire 540). This is interesting to me because despite the fact that Candide was kicked out of the castle for her sake and paid for her release on the ship, Cunegonde did not consider the love that was involve and readily married the Governor. Osen on the other hand brought both passion and reason into the mix. Osen commited suicide because she “realizing that it was a hopeless situation for her”(Saikaku 603). She reasoned that Cooper would kill her and knew that she could never fulfil her love for Chozaemon. Since she could not be with Chozaemon, she did not want to be with anyone. In this situation I cannot really say which, passion or reason, ruled over the other.
Kirsten, I think that you have made some good and valid points; however, I totally disagree with you when you say that Osen committed suicide because of her love for Chozaemon and that she chose death since she couldn’t be with him, also that she wanted no one else. I think she chose death by her own hand instead of her husband’s hand or by the executioner’s hand. Osen was a woman of passion who acted irrationally and off of her emotional impulses. She saw no way out of her predicament: she knew that there was nothing that she could say that would convince the officials or her cooper of anything other than what he had seen with his own eyes in his own house. This is expressed when the author states, “Her corpse was exposed in the Shame Field with that of the scoundrel Chozaemon when he was at last executed” (Saikaku 603). She knew that the same thing that happened to her lover, would likewise happen to her. Therefore, she reasons that she can save them from taking the next step of killing her and just do the inevitable herself. This suicide was committed out of an act of emotional reasoning not an act of passionate love.
ReplyDeleteI see that you made some good valid points on supporting you argument. I do agree that both passion and reason was tied together in the story of Candide. One major and valid point that I would like to add to your argument that is even though throughout the journeys that they have had together that the love that Candide ad Cunegonde had started to fall apart at the end. Now this would be where the reason would tie in best to me. As stated “ At heart, Candide had no real wish to marry Cunegonde: but the baron’s extreme impertinence decided him in favor of the marriage, and Cunegonde was so eager for it that he could no back out” (578). Even thought that is passion there but for him to reason and to marry her against his will and for him not to feel pressure from the barron, he reasoned and decided just to go ahead and marry what he thought was his love.
ReplyDeleteGood posting, Kristin. I agree--passion and reason get convulted...and just wait: it only gets more complicated as we move into the 19th century.
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