The Disenchantments of Love II

Before the story of tale four begins, its narrator (Filis) has some opening remarks about men and women (pp. 139-40). How do you interpret these remarks? How do they serve as an introduction for what comes later in the story?

The fourth story is unique in comparison to the other stories because it raises the idea that both men and women are equally fallible. It shows that they can both be evil, although I think it would be foolish not to point out that the “evil” woman in this story is black, and is described negatively due to this fact before her character even comes into play. Don Jaime also mentions that he does not sleep with her though he has Elena believe that he does. This is clearly due to her race because if it were a white woman he would absolutely have done just as he said.

The story is also unique because it is told mainly from the point of view of a man. Don Jaime is evil and foolish for punishing Elena the way that he does and for believing the slave without getting solid evidence before rashly acting on rumor.

At the end however, the story is more sympathetic toward don Jaime. He is taken care of, though he has lost his mind. The slave woman however is dieing and then don Jaime stabs her to death. The narrator says that “her punishment was well deserved” however I cannot think that starting a rumor is deserving of being murdered. I'm not defending her actions but it should not be misunderstood that don Jaime is the real villain here.

What do you think is the significance of the skull in story four? Think about what a skull might mean in a variety of contexts (especially the skill as the remains of a head – what are the functions of a head?).

Elena is given her cousin's skull to drink out of because don Jaime thinks this will be further means of punishing her because he believed her to be having an affair with him. Since this was not the case, the skull must represent something more, though I am not sure what. Bone is the barest form of the human body, because everything else has been stripped away. This could be viewed as a symbol of truth, perhaps representing that Elena was true (a bit of a stretch, I know).

In both the 4^th and 5^th stories we have the theme of the “image of a woman.” We have spoken about this before, but what does this theme bring to these two stories? (An understanding of the myth of Pygmalion helps here.)

In both of these stories there are innocent women who are punished. They are both very beautiful and are both starved until they are emaciated and malnourished. Yet they stay 'beautiful' throughout the years of their torture. Dona Ines loses her eyesight but remains beautiful, as if this is the more important attribute. The description of dona Ines after she has been in the wall for 6 years is quite disgusting yet she is still considered beautiful. This shows that beauty is their most valued virtue (or at least what others value most in them, so while they are starved and lose weight they remain beautiful.