WEBVTT

00:01.550 --> 00:08.700
Prof: As we approach the
episode of Camacho's wedding it

00:08.703 --> 00:13.553
should be readily apparent that
it was--

00:13.550 --> 00:16.370
the story was going to be a
play.

00:16.370 --> 00:19.900
It has a beginning,
a conflict or climax,

00:19.895 --> 00:21.565
and a resolution.

00:21.570 --> 00:27.380
Given that it has a happy
ending its safe to assume that

00:27.380 --> 00:30.550
it was going to be a comedy.

00:30.550 --> 00:34.990
Actually, scholars have
ferreted around and discovered

00:34.987 --> 00:38.337
evidence that,
indeed, it was a play that

00:38.336 --> 00:41.346
Cervantes was planning to write.

00:41.350 --> 00:45.450
And Cervantes,
it seems, found in the

00:45.446 --> 00:51.326
Quixote a book where he
could sort of dump all of his

00:51.329 --> 00:55.179
work in progress,
the stories,

00:55.177 --> 00:59.147
some of which wound up,
of course, in the book

00:59.152 --> 01:02.322
Exemplary Stories,
but some of the stories in the

01:02.320 --> 01:04.580
book,
of course, were written

01:04.584 --> 01:08.914
independently and had actually
circulated independently.

01:08.909 --> 01:13.679
The novel, as it is being
developed in the Quixote,

01:13.680 --> 01:19.930
will be an inclusive kind of
literary work,

01:19.930 --> 01:26.100
with a lose format,
not following the strict rules

01:26.104 --> 01:31.454
of literary forms,
genres, derived from the

01:31.453 --> 01:38.553
classical tradition where these
liberties were not available,

01:38.550 --> 01:43.140
but the Quixote does
allow for this kind of

01:43.141 --> 01:47.641
incorporation of stories and of
various texts.

01:47.640 --> 01:53.240
It is a feature that the novel
will continue to have and that

01:53.244 --> 01:58.104
in the modern period,
of course, will be exploited to

01:58.101 --> 01:59.971
the very limits.

01:59.970 --> 02:08.060
Let us also notice how this
love story is neatly integrated

02:08.062 --> 02:14.332
into the plot of the novel,
as opposed to the more

02:14.330 --> 02:19.720
tangential way in which such
stories were inserted in Part

02:19.722 --> 02:20.292
II.

02:20.288 --> 02:25.558
Here, Don Quixote and Sancho
are more or less involved in the

02:25.555 --> 02:29.145
developments,
and certainly Don Quixote is

02:29.151 --> 02:31.611
involved in the outcome.

02:31.610 --> 02:36.080
Of course, given that this was
going to be a play,

02:36.080 --> 02:39.640
there is a great deal of
theatricality in the whole

02:39.637 --> 02:42.987
episode,
which includes theater within

02:42.991 --> 02:47.251
the theater as these
celebrations for the wedding

02:47.247 --> 02:48.487
take place.

02:48.490 --> 02:53.180
Even nature has been
artistically arranged,

02:53.180 --> 02:58.430
so much so, that the outdoors
now has a roof.

02:58.430 --> 03:01.370
You may recall that,
when they enter the meadow

03:01.371 --> 03:05.401
where the celebration of the
wedding is going to take place,

03:05.400 --> 03:12.030
it is noted that the trees have
been arranged in such a way as

03:12.028 --> 03:18.658
to provide a canopy that the sun
can barely penetrate to reach

03:18.657 --> 03:20.177
the grass.

03:20.180 --> 03:25.650
That is, is nature turned into
architecture,

03:25.653 --> 03:27.313
as it were.

03:27.310 --> 03:34.640
The play within the play is a
way of underlining that

03:34.635 --> 03:41.485
everything is theatrical;
that there is no real action

03:41.485 --> 03:44.635
that is not already theater.

03:44.639 --> 03:48.349
That is, life is already
theater in Part II,

03:52.532 --> 03:56.162
I have been underlining for the
past few lectures.

03:56.160 --> 04:02.690
Let us also take notice of the
abundance that prevails here and

04:02.689 --> 04:07.639
in the second part,
in general, in contrast with

04:07.640 --> 04:08.800
Part I.

04:08.800 --> 04:13.310
Whereas, in Part I,
the characters ate frugally,

04:13.312 --> 04:18.502
now Sancho has so much food
before him that he scarcely

04:18.495 --> 04:21.275
knows what to do with it.

04:21.278 --> 04:27.488
Compare this with the very
frugal meal that Don Quixote had

04:27.485 --> 04:33.255
at that very first inn,
when he ate fish because it was

04:33.262 --> 04:34.442
Friday.

04:34.440 --> 04:38.910
Abundance, contrasted with the
starkest want is typical of the

04:38.913 --> 04:45.133
aesthetics of the Baroque,
this clash, and abundance ties

04:45.132 --> 04:49.912
in with the notion of
sensuality,

04:49.910 --> 04:54.410
the sensuality of Cervantes's
art that Auerbach spoke about in

04:54.406 --> 04:57.056
the essay that you have all
read,

04:57.060 --> 05:02.360
and that he says is the
hallmark of Cervantes' work.

05:02.360 --> 05:04.690
The sensual,
the tangible,

05:04.687 --> 05:09.157
in all its abundance,
turns into a simulacrum and

05:09.156 --> 05:14.366
reveals its opposite,
which is quite literary death.

05:17.610 --> 05:24.560
So we have Sancho's speech
about death being the devourer

05:24.562 --> 05:25.682
of all.

05:25.680 --> 05:30.860
As I said, the overarching plot
and the plot within the work in

05:38.290 --> 05:44.530
Now, we may ask when we come to
this episode,

05:44.529 --> 05:49.059
why are weddings so important
in fiction,

05:49.060 --> 05:52.880
including film,
of course, the theater too,

05:52.879 --> 05:56.109
but in film,
there are many films that you,

05:56.110 --> 06:02.780
I'm sure, can remember,
that center on a wedding.

06:02.778 --> 06:09.388
Weddings mark a moment of
social union and renewal,

06:09.389 --> 06:13.619
both of society and of nature.

06:13.620 --> 06:18.780
They are a transition marked by
feasting, particularly,

06:18.781 --> 06:19.931
by eating.

06:19.930 --> 06:26.020
In fiction, weddings tend to be
conclusions: 'they married and

06:26.024 --> 06:32.324
lived happily ever after,' is a
common and traditional ending to

06:32.319 --> 06:33.519
stories.

06:33.519 --> 06:42.179
In the wedding celebrations the
world is consumed in a way that

06:42.182 --> 06:48.332
leads to the consummation of the
marriage.

06:48.329 --> 06:54.169
The story--and we will see much
more about this in a very short

06:54.166 --> 06:57.046
time--
the story of Camacho's wedding,

06:57.053 --> 07:01.603
like the myth of Pyramus and
Thisbe on which it is based,

07:01.600 --> 07:07.160
is a conjunction of love and
death of Eros and Thanatos,

07:07.160 --> 07:13.150
or love that struggles against
death for continuity and

07:13.149 --> 07:14.259
renewal.

07:14.259 --> 07:19.129
There are intimations of the
death scene,

07:19.129 --> 07:24.109
the culminating death scene,
which is really not a death

07:24.105 --> 07:27.835
scene,
but a contrived theatrical

07:27.838 --> 07:31.478
death scene,
but there are intimations of

07:31.483 --> 07:35.633
that death scene in the calf
that is impaled to be cooked

07:35.634 --> 07:39.714
that our protagonists find as
they arrive at the wedding

07:39.709 --> 07:40.969
celebration.

07:40.970 --> 07:47.630
One could also see in that
impaled calf a scapegoat,

07:47.629 --> 07:54.029
which is typical of feasts and
of celebrations.

07:54.029 --> 07:58.179
Now, Camacho is rich and
powerful like Don Fernando in

07:58.184 --> 07:58.894
Part I.

07:58.889 --> 08:05.649
But Basilio's abilities and
skills prevail over social and

08:05.646 --> 08:07.776
economic forces.

08:07.778 --> 08:16.208
His industria,
his abilities win the day,

08:16.209 --> 08:19.849
and there is much made of how
many skills he has,

08:19.850 --> 08:24.080
he can play the guitar,
he is an athlete,

08:24.079 --> 08:28.669
we later find out that he's
quite an actor,

08:28.665 --> 08:29.425
also.

08:29.430 --> 08:34.700
Now, the episode is a prose
epithalamium,

08:34.700 --> 08:42.320
and I think better write
this--a poem or song in praise

08:42.320 --> 08:48.390
of the bride or groom or both
from the Greek

08:48.389 --> 08:53.749
"epi,"
"at,"

08:53.751 --> 08:58.271
and
"thalamium,"

08:58.268 --> 09:05.798
"nuptial chamber"--
and a verse epithalamium is

09:05.802 --> 09:10.602
actually performed as part of
the wedding celebration,

09:10.600 --> 09:14.110
if you remember,
quite an elaborate one at that.

09:14.110 --> 09:23.150
This episode of a wedding with
such celebrations is common in

09:23.149 --> 09:30.709
the literature of the period;
the most prominent one is in

09:35.158 --> 09:37.398
whose name I may not have
mentioned before,

09:37.399 --> 09:44.619
who is the great Baroque poet;
it is from him that you get the

09:44.620 --> 09:47.590
word in English
"gongoristic"

09:47.586 --> 09:51.176
as something very baroque and
complicated,

09:51.178 --> 09:55.718
and he is famous for many
poems, but the most famous one

09:55.721 --> 10:02.191
is called the Soledades,
and in the Soledades

10:02.191 --> 10:09.111
there is quite an elaborate
wedding ceremony that is

10:09.106 --> 10:10.866
described.

10:10.870 --> 10:17.600
It is like a spring ritual,
a celebration of nature's

10:17.600 --> 10:25.240
replenishment--remember that
Part II, vaguely begins sort of

10:25.236 --> 10:27.046
in spring.

10:27.048 --> 10:32.138
But in the whole episode one
wonders, is nature corrected by

10:32.144 --> 10:34.654
art or does nature prevail?

10:34.649 --> 10:38.659
I think the answer is obvious
that art prevails.

10:38.658 --> 10:41.618
That art corrects nature,
and this is,

10:41.615 --> 10:45.525
again, one of the main themes
in Part II of the

10:45.530 --> 10:46.810
Quixote.

10:46.808 --> 10:53.418
Don Quixote is on the side of
Basilio,

10:53.418 --> 10:58.278
not of Camacho and in this the
episode is very remindful of

11:02.220 --> 11:05.780
when Don Quixote,
again, is on the side of

11:05.780 --> 11:06.650
Marcela.

11:06.649 --> 11:12.539
Perhaps this episode is the
kind of ending that the

11:19.134 --> 11:21.974
I,
the reminiscences of that

11:21.966 --> 11:25.896
episode also in the attempted or
faked suicide,

11:30.263 --> 11:31.723
committed suicide.

11:31.720 --> 11:34.690
Now, the story's a version of
the myth of Pyramus and

11:34.692 --> 11:38.612
Thisbe,
which had been anticipated by

11:38.605 --> 11:45.235
Lorenzo de Miranda's sonnet on
the topic during the episode at

11:45.244 --> 11:49.504
Diego de Miranda's house,
his father's house,

11:49.500 --> 11:53.620
the man in green,
and it's mentioned directly by

11:53.619 --> 11:58.449
one of the students on the road
to the wedding.

11:58.450 --> 12:03.280
It is also acted out in the
danza hablada,

12:03.278 --> 12:06.698
the spoken dance,
the epithalamium,

12:06.698 --> 12:10.218
during the wedding festivities.

12:10.220 --> 12:14.380
So the myth of Pyramus and
Thisbe hangs heavily over

12:14.383 --> 12:15.463
this episode.

12:15.460 --> 12:20.850
John Sinnegan writes, quote:
"The occurrence of the

12:20.846 --> 12:23.206
ceremony in a theater [theater
like]

12:23.214 --> 12:26.804
implies that the wedding is but
one more artifice.

12:26.798 --> 12:31.978
Therefore, when Basilio appears
we become caught up with the

12:31.980 --> 12:34.440
spectators at the wedding.

12:34.440 --> 12:37.270
They, like the audience at the
play were 'suspensos

12:37.268 --> 12:40.308
esperando,' [they were
waiting in suspense to see what

12:40.308 --> 12:41.268
would happen].

12:41.269 --> 12:45.679
The heralded star of the play
has just stepped on stage and

12:45.681 --> 12:49.561
everyone is anxious to see what
he will do."

12:49.558 --> 12:53.888
Sinnegan adds,
comparing this episode,

12:53.889 --> 12:58.759
which is the only one on love
on the second part with the

12:58.763 --> 13:03.913
Cardenio tale of the first part,
and he writes the following.

13:03.908 --> 13:08.708
This is rather a lengthy quote,
but I think a useful quote from

13:08.712 --> 13:10.342
this John Sinnegan.

13:10.340 --> 13:14.750
It goes; "The final result
of the action of Camacho's

13:14.749 --> 13:19.389
wedding is the confirmation of
the propriety of romantic love

13:19.390 --> 13:23.490
and the rejection of the
illegitimate claim on love by

13:23.490 --> 13:24.420
greed.

13:24.418 --> 13:30.868
The same conclusion was
provided by Cardenio's tale.

13:30.870 --> 13:34.050
There are, however,
important differences between

13:34.054 --> 13:35.254
the two stories.

13:35.250 --> 13:40.360
Cardenio's tale ends in an inn,
to which the hand of fate had

13:40.364 --> 13:44.914
led the two couples;
the Camacho wedding episode

13:44.908 --> 13:50.938
however ends in a stage and the
conclusion is brought about by

13:50.941 --> 13:52.821
Basilio's skill.

13:52.820 --> 13:56.280
The difference between these
two endings reflects a

13:56.279 --> 13:59.879
significant difference between
Part I and Part II.

13:59.879 --> 14:04.969
In Part I, only Don Quixote and
the priest acted as authors in

14:04.971 --> 14:09.731
the sense that they tried to
impose fiction on reality.

14:09.730 --> 14:13.530
The role of art was of
secondary concern to the other

14:13.528 --> 14:14.478
characters.

14:14.480 --> 14:17.710
In Part II, however,
art and artifice are extremely

14:17.711 --> 14:20.751
important and a larger number of
characters,

14:20.750 --> 14:23.790
from Sancho Panza to the Duke
and Duchess and,

14:25.778 --> 14:30.788
act as authors by using fiction
to impose their wills on other

14:30.791 --> 14:31.861
characters.

14:31.860 --> 14:37.000
In Camacho's wedding Basilio
acts as author because he is not

14:36.998 --> 14:41.278
content to let fate decide the
end of the story.

14:41.279 --> 14:46.019
Therefore he imposes his will
on the other characters by using

14:46.023 --> 14:50.773
fiction to alter the course of
the story away from its natural

14:50.767 --> 14:51.777
ending."

14:51.778 --> 14:52.788
Unquote.

14:52.788 --> 14:58.018
He's the author but he's also
the actor of this play that he

14:58.019 --> 14:59.259
has made up.

14:59.259 --> 15:04.629
But another way to look at the
episode is to see it a modern

15:04.629 --> 15:10.179
version of the Pyramus and
Thisbe myth which is clearly

15:10.182 --> 15:14.942
in the background and looming,
as I've just said over the

15:14.937 --> 15:15.357
story.

15:15.360 --> 15:18.550
The Pyramus and Thisbe
story in Ovid's

15:18.547 --> 15:23.037
Metamorphoses highlights
the pagan theme of suicide,

15:23.038 --> 15:26.548
which Cervantes,
in his Catholic environment,

15:26.548 --> 15:31.578
uses for dramatic effect but
ultimately avoids.

15:31.580 --> 15:37.490
Now, Ovid, we all know who he
was,

15:37.490 --> 15:41.180
and I gave you some information
in the sheet that I passed

15:41.181 --> 15:43.901
around with the copy of this
episode in the

15:43.900 --> 15:49.140
Metamorphoses;
he was a Roman poet of the last

15:49.144 --> 15:52.524
Augustan age,
he's known for his Ars

15:52.524 --> 15:55.394
Amatoria,
which someone called "the

15:55.389 --> 15:58.539
most immoral work written by a
man of genius,"

15:58.538 --> 16:02.978
it's on love--
don't rush out now to get the

16:02.981 --> 16:03.681
book.

16:03.678 --> 16:08.158
But the Metamorphoses is
his most important work,

16:08.158 --> 16:12.918
which is a long narrative poem,
book,

16:12.918 --> 16:20.418
which recounts legends in which
the miraculous transformations

16:20.424 --> 16:22.644
of matter occur.

16:22.639 --> 16:26.989
In fact, the poem begins:
"My intention is to tell

16:26.991 --> 16:30.621
of bodies changed to different
forms."

16:30.620 --> 16:36.580
And it begins with the change
from chaos to cosmos,

16:36.582 --> 16:43.622
and goes on to the moment to
Julius Caesar being transformed

16:43.620 --> 16:45.530
into a star.

16:45.529 --> 16:49.259
So the Middle Ages took the
Metamorphoses to be kind

16:49.264 --> 16:51.974
of a pagan bible,
like an old testament.

16:51.970 --> 16:57.180
If the Old Testament tells the
story of the universe,

16:57.178 --> 17:01.288
so does the
Metamorphoses using the

17:01.285 --> 17:03.285
classical myths.

17:03.288 --> 17:09.418
His influence in the
Renaissance was tremendous,

17:09.416 --> 17:13.976
and even in the late Middle
Ages.

17:13.980 --> 17:20.280
He was kind of the thesaurus of
myths that artists,

17:20.278 --> 17:25.568
both painters,
sculptures, and writers used

17:25.569 --> 17:27.459
very often.

17:27.460 --> 17:35.700
Now, in Spanish literature he
was very influential as he was,

17:35.698 --> 17:43.248
of course, in English
literature throughout the ages.

17:43.250 --> 17:53.810
He competes with Virgil in
importance as a classical author

17:53.806 --> 17:56.896
to be followed.

17:56.900 --> 18:01.600
Now, there are deeper more
disturbing aspects in this

18:01.596 --> 18:06.416
story,
in Camacho's wedding linking

18:06.423 --> 18:09.913
deflowering,
blood and the connection

18:09.909 --> 18:14.289
between life and death,
into which I will go in some

18:14.288 --> 18:15.098
detail.

18:15.098 --> 18:19.648
Love appears as a mock death to
promote life.

18:19.650 --> 18:25.000
Violence and love are complicit
because violence is the subtext

18:24.997 --> 18:25.857
of love.

18:25.858 --> 18:32.338
The issue here is of classical
mythologies, version of this,

18:32.336 --> 18:36.396
contrasted with Christian
doctrine.

18:36.400 --> 18:39.690
The question for artists of the
Renaissance,

18:39.690 --> 18:42.570
deeply interested in the
classical world,

18:42.568 --> 18:47.658
but living in a Christian one,
was what to do with the ancient

18:47.664 --> 18:48.254
gods.

18:48.250 --> 18:53.560
The most common answer was
allegory;

18:53.558 --> 19:00.358
the myths were seen as moral
allegories, they told a moral

19:00.355 --> 19:01.185
tale.

19:01.190 --> 19:06.270
But in the case of the episode
of Camacho's wedding what

19:06.272 --> 19:11.822
Cervantes seems to be proposing
is a modern reenactment of an

19:11.818 --> 19:16.998
ancient reoccurring dilemma
concerning love and using for

19:16.996 --> 19:22.446
that the classical myth of
Pyramus and Thisbe.

19:22.450 --> 19:27.120
Basilio's arts are used here to
steer the story away from its

19:27.115 --> 19:31.735
pagan ending,
suicide, to a victory of love

19:31.742 --> 19:36.932
and Christian marriage--
you have read the story in the

19:36.928 --> 19:40.178
handout that I gave you in the
last class.

19:40.180 --> 19:45.860
The pagan ending is turned into
theater, into representation,

19:45.857 --> 19:46.897
into art.

19:46.900 --> 19:51.540
Don Quixote has referred
earlier to marriage as an

19:51.538 --> 19:56.058
irreparable accident,
in something that sounds very

19:56.057 --> 20:00.577
funny to us today,
he is just using scholastic

20:00.578 --> 20:05.568
terminology to refer to it,
and always in the context of

20:05.568 --> 20:09.168
these debates about marriage
that I will revisit today.

20:09.170 --> 20:14.460
Basilio makes the accidental
the result of choice,

20:14.464 --> 20:15.874
his choice.

20:15.868 --> 20:19.788
The point is that skill and
wiliness lead to a virtuous

20:19.791 --> 20:20.811
result here.

20:20.808 --> 20:25.808
The whole of the second part of
the Quixote is an apology

20:25.807 --> 20:27.897
for art,
for the artificial,

20:27.903 --> 20:30.693
for the constructed,
for the contrived,

20:30.691 --> 20:33.891
for art helping nature attend
good ends,

20:39.059 --> 20:43.229
I have been underlining in the
past few classes.

20:43.230 --> 20:47.880
It is a way of turning deceit,
which would normally lead to

20:47.883 --> 20:51.253
disillusionment,
into a positive force that

20:51.252 --> 20:53.502
leads to a happy ending.

20:53.500 --> 20:59.320
As I said, Basilio's skills
prevail over the economic

20:59.315 --> 21:03.895
forces, the social and economic
forces;

21:03.900 --> 21:07.150
his craftiness wins the day.

21:07.150 --> 21:13.880
Now, what I claim is beneath
all of that a kind of substory,

21:13.880 --> 21:15.250
a subtext.

21:15.250 --> 21:21.240
The story is a rewriting of the
love stories of Part I that turn

21:21.237 --> 21:26.457
on unequal marriage and that
involve the issue of secret

21:26.463 --> 21:29.173
marriages,
which, as I said,

21:29.173 --> 21:33.253
were the hot topic of the day
which was taken up by the

21:33.250 --> 21:34.760
Council of Trent.

21:34.759 --> 21:38.859
Having read Elliott you know
now what the Council of Trent

21:38.857 --> 21:39.287
was.

21:39.288 --> 21:44.418
I spoke about these issues when
speaking about the episode in

21:44.419 --> 21:49.889
which Dorotea allows herself to
be deflowered by Don Fernando.

21:49.890 --> 21:54.980
The difference here is the
lurking presence of classical

21:54.977 --> 21:59.137
myth, typical,
more typical of the Baroque.

21:59.140 --> 22:05.430
In Part I the stories about all
of these young people seem to be

22:05.428 --> 22:09.618
drawn from contemporary legal
archives,

22:09.618 --> 22:14.598
contemporary stories about
conflicts involving social

22:14.601 --> 22:18.021
issues,
states and legacies.

22:18.019 --> 22:24.029
Here the source is much more
imposing and ancient,

22:24.028 --> 22:27.468
the myth of Pyramus and
Thisbe,

22:27.470 --> 22:33.400
but true to the political
character of Part II there is,

22:33.400 --> 22:35.620
in addition,
a protracted discussion of the

22:35.615 --> 22:37.615
issue of marriage by the
characters.

22:37.618 --> 22:40.358
The issue of marriage was a
political issue,

22:40.361 --> 22:44.021
not just a religious issue;
it's impossible to separate the

22:44.018 --> 22:44.308
two.

22:44.308 --> 22:50.118
Other echoes of Part I are
Basilio's madness,

22:50.118 --> 22:54.288
when he hears of Quiteria's
impending marriage,

22:58.714 --> 23:02.664
when they go mad--
in the case of Cardenio mostly,

23:06.390 --> 23:09.370
and, of course,
the issue of suicide which

23:11.338 --> 23:13.778
This is another case,
I emphasize,

23:13.780 --> 23:16.520
of rewriting episodes from Part
I,

23:16.519 --> 23:21.769
so the rewritings involve here
both episodes in Part I and

23:21.770 --> 23:24.990
classical myth,
which is being rewritten.

23:24.990 --> 23:31.190
But there is a deeper take on
marriage at the level of

23:31.191 --> 23:34.351
material transformations.

23:34.348 --> 23:39.108
The story of Camacho's wedding
is about the issue of marriage

23:39.111 --> 23:44.111
as a sacrament,
a transformation of matter for

23:44.113 --> 23:49.703
transcendental purposes,
that of creating a new human

23:49.696 --> 23:54.046
life and how it is
institutionalized through civil

23:54.049 --> 23:58.169
and canon law,
that is, by society and

23:58.165 --> 23:59.255
religion.

23:59.259 --> 24:04.989
The law is based on
prohibition: 'thou shall not,'

24:04.992 --> 24:08.292
here,
the ban instituted by

24:08.289 --> 24:14.809
Quiteria's parents once she and
Basilio have reached sexual

24:14.807 --> 24:18.397
maturity,
which is quite evident,

24:18.403 --> 24:23.693
if you read the story their
prohibition comes up when they

24:23.691 --> 24:26.661
have reached sexual maturity.

24:26.660 --> 24:30.590
She has begun to menstruate and
he is now capable of

24:30.594 --> 24:32.064
impregnating her.

24:32.058 --> 24:36.658
Her parents are reluctant to
have her reproduce with an

24:36.660 --> 24:40.580
impecunious Basilio who,
for all of his skills,

24:40.578 --> 24:42.878
has no profitable ones.

24:42.880 --> 24:47.340
But that stands also as does
simply the prohibition:

24:47.337 --> 24:48.997
'that shall not.'

24:49.000 --> 24:56.220
As we saw when discussing the
issue regarding Dorotea,

24:56.220 --> 25:01.010
clandestine marriages--which is
lurking here in the background

25:01.011 --> 25:05.181
because we must assume that
there had been one between

25:05.176 --> 25:09.956
Basilio and Quiteria,
clandestine marriages could

25:09.961 --> 25:11.791
lead to polygamy.

25:11.788 --> 25:17.008
And I could say to any girl
that I was involved with,

25:17.009 --> 25:22.919
yes, yes, I will marry you,
and then if it took,

25:22.920 --> 25:27.440
as it were, you could be
married to several such women.

25:27.440 --> 25:35.140
And also, how can a vow hastily
made in the heat of passion yoke

25:35.136 --> 25:40.876
partners for life in what Don
Quixote calls,

25:40.880 --> 25:42.930
again using scholastic
terminology,

25:42.930 --> 25:45.160
"un accidente
irreparable,"

25:45.155 --> 25:47.585
meaning something that cannot
be taken back,

25:47.588 --> 25:49.908
in the Catholic Church you
cannot take it back.

25:49.910 --> 25:55.940
That is, how can such--how can
words uttered in these

25:55.939 --> 25:59.649
circumstances make a marriage?

25:59.650 --> 26:04.620
How can freewill be so easily
surrendered?

26:04.618 --> 26:08.618
The Council of Trent proclaimed
that the church abhorred

26:08.624 --> 26:12.264
clandestine marriages and
ordered the clergy not to

26:12.263 --> 26:16.493
celebrate weddings without
published bands and the presence

26:16.486 --> 26:17.866
of witnesses.

26:17.868 --> 26:22.038
This was incorporated by Philip
the Second into Spanish

26:22.037 --> 26:26.197
statutory law in 1564 and
remained as the foundation of

26:26.203 --> 26:30.143
marriage in Spain until the
nineteenth century.

26:30.140 --> 26:35.660
The conflict is dealt with very
subtly in this story.

26:35.660 --> 26:39.650
Basilio is proficient in canon
and civil law,

26:39.653 --> 26:45.103
and he puts it to good use in
his trick to marry Quiteria.

26:45.099 --> 26:46.819
How does he do that?

26:46.818 --> 26:50.658
Well, he threatens to die
without confession.

26:50.660 --> 26:54.720
I have to underline this
because, even if you are a

26:54.720 --> 26:59.350
Catholic, this is very difficult
to conceive from a modern

26:59.349 --> 27:00.649
perspective.

27:00.650 --> 27:03.270
So, you want to die without
confession?

27:03.269 --> 27:05.249
So what?

27:05.250 --> 27:06.480
Go ahead, be my guest!

27:06.480 --> 27:15.220
But, by threatening to do that,
he his accusing them of sending

27:15.221 --> 27:22.201
him irrevocably to hell,
because suicide is a mortal

27:22.204 --> 27:29.384
sin, and if he dies without
confession and commits suicide,

27:29.380 --> 27:31.310
he's going to hell,
no matter what.

27:31.308 --> 27:34.048
This is how he convinces
everyone;

27:34.048 --> 27:37.718
he knows canon law and he knows
civil law.

27:37.720 --> 27:44.080
So to die without confession if
she will not give in would

27:44.082 --> 27:47.992
condemn him to eternal
damnation.

27:47.990 --> 27:53.600
Quiteria and the others would
have done more harm to this way

27:53.604 --> 27:57.914
than murdering him;
murdering him would be nothing

27:57.914 --> 28:00.344
compared to eternal damnation.

28:00.338 --> 28:05.568
Then he has both Quiteria and
himself utter the words about

28:05.567 --> 28:10.347
free consent that would
legitimize the marriage before

28:10.346 --> 28:12.416
church and society.

28:12.420 --> 28:16.990
I'm sure you remember the
episode in which he insists,

28:16.988 --> 28:20.948
and the proper words,
the legal words are used,

28:20.952 --> 28:22.852
affirming consent.

28:22.848 --> 28:27.248
She confirms later her
determination afterwards to

28:27.252 --> 28:32.462
dispel any doubt about her
desires and make void any future

28:32.464 --> 28:37.274
claims to dissolve the marriage;
that is, she confirms it

28:37.270 --> 28:40.940
afterwards, so it wasn't just in
the spare of the moment,

28:40.936 --> 28:44.076
she confirms that she wants to
marry Basilio.

28:44.078 --> 28:50.598
All of these are very carefully
constructed episodes to show

28:50.596 --> 28:53.686
Basilio's lawyerly skills.

28:53.690 --> 28:58.630
But, as I am suggesting,
in this story Cervantes probes

28:58.628 --> 29:03.288
deeper into the issue of
marriage, deeper than legal

29:03.292 --> 29:04.302
issues.

29:04.298 --> 29:08.928
He goes back to marriage as a
kind of transubstantiation,

29:08.929 --> 29:13.889
a transcendental metamorphosis
of matter, a transformation of

29:13.890 --> 29:14.800
matter.

29:14.798 --> 29:18.998
The blending of bloods,
literally, that makes the union

29:18.998 --> 29:21.018
indivisible, presumably.

29:21.019 --> 29:25.189
In looking at the episode with
this background in mind it

29:25.186 --> 29:29.426
appears that Cervantes is
favoring the clandestine "I

29:29.429 --> 29:33.149
do" that Quiteria must have
articulated,

29:33.150 --> 29:38.560
while at the same time having
her and Basilio observe the

29:38.560 --> 29:42.910
rituals prescribed by the
Council of Trent.

29:42.910 --> 29:47.480
It seems to be a middle course:
the sacramental nature of

29:47.477 --> 29:52.447
marriage lurks in the subtext of
the story through the myth of

29:52.452 --> 29:54.902
Pyramus and Thisbe.

29:54.900 --> 29:59.620
It is a tragic story the myth
of Pyramus and Thisbe in

29:59.616 --> 30:03.936
which a cruel fate befalls the
young lovers because of a

30:03.941 --> 30:08.401
misinterpretation,
although it could be read as an

30:08.395 --> 30:12.575
admonitory tale about the
recklessness of youth.

30:12.578 --> 30:16.148
The myth goes back to the
conjunction of love and death at

30:16.147 --> 30:20.277
the moment when love ripens and
is about to become regenerative.

30:20.278 --> 30:23.788
Driven by desire,
the young lovers are to meet at

30:23.794 --> 30:26.214
the tomb of Ninus,
where they die,

30:26.209 --> 30:30.089
not killed by the lioness but
by their own hands.

30:30.088 --> 30:33.938
The bloody veil can be seen as
an image of the hymen,

30:33.940 --> 30:37.120
rent in the act of love,
a bloody event,

30:37.118 --> 30:41.278
the renting of the hymen,
that also recalls the onset of

30:41.284 --> 30:44.414
menstruation;
that is, the beginning of the

30:44.413 --> 30:48.403
capacity for reproduction but
also the recurrent death of a

30:48.400 --> 30:49.500
woman's ovum.

30:49.500 --> 30:54.340
The red of the tree's fruit is
both a symbol of resurrection

30:54.336 --> 30:57.776
and of death,
as it recalls menstruation in

30:57.778 --> 31:00.318
their reoccurring coloring.

31:00.318 --> 31:05.088
The myth reenacts a tragic
human predicament symbolized by

31:05.086 --> 31:08.346
the spilling of blood at
conception,

31:08.348 --> 31:12.148
birth and death,
leaving open the possibility

31:12.154 --> 31:15.644
that the law,
here the parent's disapproval,

31:15.643 --> 31:19.643
can overcome or forestall the
fatality of the situation.

31:19.640 --> 31:23.080
But the prohibition is also
allied to death because it is

31:23.077 --> 31:26.207
instrumental in bringing about
the tragic ending.

31:26.210 --> 31:31.290
In Ovid, the conflict appears
to resolve itself in beauty,

31:31.290 --> 31:34.590
the gorgeous red fruit of the
tree.

31:34.589 --> 31:37.339
In Cervantes it goes further.

31:37.338 --> 31:43.948
By way of contrast and
comparison we will later see how

31:49.460 --> 31:53.030
In Cervantes the myth of
Pyramus and Thisbe is

31:53.029 --> 31:55.709
given in chards,
fragments, with a faint

31:55.707 --> 31:58.107
outline, like a distant memory.

31:58.108 --> 32:01.578
It looks forward towards Joyce,
the Ulysses,

32:01.578 --> 32:04.848
where these fragments appear,
more than backwards to the

32:04.847 --> 32:08.177
Middle Ages and the Renaissance
where the myths were more

32:08.176 --> 32:08.946
coherent.

32:08.950 --> 32:12.610
I am inclined to believe,
however, that Cervantes had

32:12.606 --> 32:16.476
Ovid's text in front of him,
or that he had a prodigious

32:16.476 --> 32:17.246
memory.

32:17.250 --> 32:20.550
For instance,
when Basilio feigns being near

32:20.546 --> 32:23.456
death, his eyes are part of the
act.

32:23.460 --> 32:28.010
If you remember:
'his eyes already turn in his

32:28.009 --> 32:28.819
head.'

32:28.818 --> 32:32.998
He's playing that he's about to
die so he has his eyes turned

32:32.996 --> 32:36.326
into his head,
which recalls the moment when

32:36.332 --> 32:39.452
Thisbe asks Pyramus to answer
whereupon--

32:39.450 --> 32:42.810
I'm not going to read you the
Latin because then I'm going to

32:42.807 --> 32:45.157
really sound like a priest
saying mass--

32:45.160 --> 32:48.700
the translation:
"He heard the name of

32:48.703 --> 32:53.683
Thisbe and he lifted his eyes
with the weight of death heavy

32:53.683 --> 32:56.793
upon them,
and saw her face and closed his

32:56.788 --> 32:57.498
eyes."

32:57.500 --> 32:59.370
So the eyes,
the element,

32:59.373 --> 33:03.903
this is one of the chards that
I say remain of the myth.

33:03.900 --> 33:08.130
My argument follows what I
would like to call or what I

33:08.130 --> 33:11.970
like to call an "itinerary
of blood."

33:11.970 --> 33:15.790
From the pregnant calf on the
spit that Sancho sees when they

33:15.791 --> 33:19.301
arrive at the wedding which
foretells of the sacrificial

33:19.295 --> 33:23.075
victim,
the groom, which he replaces.

33:23.078 --> 33:26.768
It also recalls the violence at
weddings, Romeo and Juliet being

33:26.773 --> 33:29.593
the most famous example in
western literature.

33:29.588 --> 33:32.618
The violence,
the blood, announce gestation

33:32.622 --> 33:36.452
and the spilling of more blood
as the new human being,

33:36.449 --> 33:40.419
the most elemental purpose of
marriage is produced.

33:40.420 --> 33:44.490
The consumption of the animals,
the wine and the bread have

33:44.491 --> 33:46.951
obvious Christian symbolism,
too.

33:46.950 --> 33:50.150
To consume and to consummate go
together in a wedding

33:50.154 --> 33:52.194
celebration, as I said earlier.

33:52.190 --> 33:57.240
They consume the world around
them including the earth through

33:57.239 --> 33:58.149
the wine.

33:58.150 --> 34:01.040
It is a form,
again, of transubstantiation.

34:01.038 --> 34:04.958
Transubstantiation is the word
for the Eucharist,

34:04.959 --> 34:09.939
when the body of Christ is
transformed into bread and wine.

34:09.940 --> 34:14.890
That is of transforming one
substance into another through

34:14.893 --> 34:18.983
actions that involve both
pleasure and violence:

34:18.980 --> 34:21.840
hunting,
butchering, squashing the

34:21.840 --> 34:23.780
grapes and, of course,
sex.

34:23.780 --> 34:27.070
Basilio's intervention
postpones the blood Quiteria

34:27.074 --> 34:31.034
would have shed in Camacho's bed
substituting it for the fake

34:31.030 --> 34:33.140
blood that he has concealed.

34:33.139 --> 34:38.679
This blood stains his garment;
the proxy blood suspends the

34:38.677 --> 34:41.427
real blood that would seal the
marriage.

34:41.429 --> 34:45.359
But I contend that there is
another hidden blood that

34:45.360 --> 34:49.820
forestalls the consummation of
the intended marriage between

34:49.820 --> 34:51.710
Camacho and Quiteria.

34:51.710 --> 34:57.080
And you don't have to follow me
on this or be persuaded if you

34:57.076 --> 34:58.216
don't want.

34:58.219 --> 35:01.769
To put it bluntly,
I think that Quiteria is

35:01.773 --> 35:04.653
menstruating on her wedding day.

35:11.338 --> 35:15.028
de la mala noche que siempre
pasan las novias en componerse

35:18.409 --> 35:22.329
Jarvis: "The fair Quiteria
looked a little pale occasioned

35:22.333 --> 35:25.823
perhaps by want of rest the
preceding night which brides

35:25.815 --> 35:29.295
always employ in setting
themselves off and dressing for

35:29.297 --> 35:31.827
their wedding day
following."

35:31.829 --> 35:35.939
"Descolorida"
in the Spanish does not just

35:35.938 --> 35:37.618
mean pale,
a little pale,

35:37.619 --> 35:41.729
but to have lost one's color,
because of an illness,

35:41.726 --> 35:43.156
or a fright.

35:43.159 --> 35:45.899
And "componerse"
means to dress up,

35:45.904 --> 35:48.964
of course, but also to recover
from an illness.

35:48.960 --> 35:50.930
Why mention that she's pale?

35:50.929 --> 35:53.709
I believe that the suggestion
is that she's menstruating.

35:53.710 --> 35:57.820
Menstruation is fraught with
all kinds of prohibitions and

35:57.824 --> 36:01.514
lore in all cultures,
in ours going back all the way

36:01.505 --> 36:03.305
to the Old Testament.

36:03.309 --> 36:05.799
Now, menstruation,
in this case,

36:05.802 --> 36:10.542
would have been a providential
blood that would have impeded

36:10.543 --> 36:15.293
the consummation of Camacho's
marriage postponing Quiteria's

36:15.286 --> 36:19.866
hymeneal blood and preserving it
for Basilio's bed.

36:19.869 --> 36:24.499
Quiteria's menstruation,
her regla,

36:24.500 --> 36:27.510
which is another word of saying
menstruation in Spanish,

36:27.510 --> 36:30.100
and it means,
"rule,"

36:30.099 --> 36:34.069
simply "rule"
would be a superior law

36:34.070 --> 36:39.340
inherent in the blood itself in
determining the outcome of the

36:39.335 --> 36:40.625
conflict.

36:40.630 --> 36:45.510
Marriage is seen as ordained by
God part of a divine plan that

36:45.510 --> 36:49.910
supersedes custom or law and
overrides considerations of

36:49.909 --> 36:51.989
unequal social status.

36:51.989 --> 36:55.859
The process of marriage is
embedded in bloods itself,

36:55.855 --> 37:00.165
in the general transformation
of matter according to divine

37:00.166 --> 37:00.906
grace.

37:00.909 --> 37:04.119
In the Bible,
man and woman would become one

37:04.117 --> 37:05.397
flesh in marriage.

37:05.400 --> 37:10.970
In Ovid's pagan version there
is no salvation possible,

37:10.969 --> 37:15.449
the lover's fusion is only
achieved as ashes in a funerary

37:15.449 --> 37:19.459
urn or in the beauty of a
mulberry tree in bloom.

37:19.460 --> 37:22.830
In Cervantes,
a form of justice has been

37:22.827 --> 37:24.887
made,
and that is every reason to

37:24.887 --> 37:27.417
believe that the commingling of
bloods will lead to

37:27.418 --> 37:31.058
regeneration,
to the birth of a new human

37:31.059 --> 37:31.779
being.

37:31.780 --> 37:37.100
This is a kind of conclusion
that we did not find in Part I,

37:37.099 --> 37:41.729
where marriages are yet to
occur, except in the tale about

37:41.726 --> 37:46.836
foolish curiosity where there is
also a great deal of blood,

37:46.840 --> 37:49.060
if you remember.

37:49.059 --> 37:52.899
I think that in a deep sense
Cervantes is true to Ovid and to

37:52.898 --> 37:55.328
the spirit of
Metamorphoses,

37:55.329 --> 37:57.449
"meta,"
movement

37:57.449 --> 38:00.829
"morphoses"
the change of form,

38:00.829 --> 38:07.079
but has given it a Christian
twist and translated it into the

38:07.077 --> 38:08.117
present.

38:08.119 --> 38:12.549
In Cervantes,
the myth is not retold with a

38:12.554 --> 38:17.524
didactic satirical or even
aesthetic purpose.

38:17.518 --> 38:20.638
In fact, it is not so much
retold, as recycled.

38:34.760 --> 38:40.310
which was--from 1340--was a
book in French by Pierre

38:40.313 --> 38:44.043
Bersuire,
which influenced many writers,

38:44.038 --> 38:47.528
including Chaucer,
and into which fifteen books or

38:47.529 --> 38:50.319
chapters of the
Metamorphoses are turned

38:50.317 --> 38:53.267
into allegories,
as I mentioned before,

38:53.268 --> 38:54.688
moral allegories.

38:54.690 --> 39:01.880
Here this is not what Cervantes
does at all either on the level

39:01.878 --> 39:07.908
of marriage as a social
institution and so forth,

39:07.909 --> 39:14.179
or that deeper level that I'm
claiming is told in this

39:14.175 --> 39:21.145
substory or subtext that I
called the itinerary of blood.

39:21.150 --> 39:25.820
Now in this use of myth
Cervantes resembles

39:34.000 --> 39:41.410
and now we have to douse the
lights or put the curtains down,

39:41.409 --> 39:44.949
and Elena is going to be good
enough to be showing us some

39:48.614 --> 39:49.674
this context.

39:49.670 --> 39:55.160
So if you wait a minute for the
theatrical part of the

39:55.157 --> 40:00.127
presentation today to be
prepared, as it were.

40:00.130 --> 40:05.840
All the way down,
all the way down.

40:05.840 --> 40:07.630
Over there it cannot go all the
way down...

40:07.630 --> 40:09.890
Okay, that's good enough.

40:09.889 --> 40:19.599
And then we turn off the lights
and I have to let my eyes adjust

40:19.603 --> 40:24.233
so that I can read my notes.

40:24.230 --> 40:27.760
Let's go to Los
borrachos.

40:27.760 --> 40:29.210
Ok.

40:32.219 --> 40:36.769
whom I have mentioned before,
but I think that I want you to

40:36.768 --> 40:40.328
remember him as part of--
can you see from this side?

40:40.329 --> 40:41.269
No.

40:41.269 --> 41:08.059


41:08.059 --> 41:11.359
I mentioned him before;
he's the most important Spanish

41:11.356 --> 41:12.986
philosopher of the twentieth
century,

41:12.989 --> 41:16.859
known in this country mostly
for his book The Revolution

41:16.858 --> 41:20.788
of the Masses,
but also--he also should be

41:20.789 --> 41:24.049
read for many books,
but one is The

41:24.050 --> 41:28.030
Dehumanization of Art,
which is about the avant-garde

41:28.034 --> 41:28.374
art.

41:28.369 --> 41:31.769
In any case,
the Spanish philosopher Ortega

41:36.458 --> 41:41.388
classical gods with unsavory or
ordinary characters from every

41:41.393 --> 41:46.083
day reality is that there are no
gods and no transcendental

41:46.083 --> 41:49.563
meaning,
if we take the gods to be the

41:49.556 --> 41:53.606
representation of the higher
sense of things when seen in

41:53.605 --> 41:55.625
connection to each other.

42:02.219 --> 42:09.179
"...an atheistic giant,
a colossal impious man.

42:09.179 --> 42:14.629
With his brush he banishes the
gods as if smacking them with a

42:14.625 --> 42:19.355
broom [I love this simile
because you can think of the

42:19.356 --> 42:24.256
brush as a little broom]
in his Bacanal [which is

42:24.264 --> 42:29.854
this painting,
known in Spanish as Los

42:29.853 --> 42:34.433
borrachos,
The Drunks]

42:34.425 --> 42:43.705
there is not only no Baccus but
a rascal impersonating Baccus.

42:43.710 --> 42:46.640
Bacanal has nine
figures, two of which seem to be

42:46.635 --> 42:49.965
dressed,
rather undressed for a bacanal

42:49.969 --> 42:53.819
[bacanals are feasts in honor of
Baccus,

42:53.820 --> 42:57.010
the god of wine,
celebrated in the spring and

42:57.012 --> 42:57.522
fall.

42:57.518 --> 43:02.528
These two guys who are near
naked].

43:02.530 --> 43:07.120
The others are lusty peasants
roughly clothed in contemporary

43:07.119 --> 43:11.399
dress and with the same sort of
casual not posed air that

43:11.402 --> 43:15.842
characterized the naturalistic
genre scenes called in Spain

43:15.838 --> 43:20.118
"bodegones"
[which is simply "still

43:20.121 --> 43:23.651
lifes" in English,
in Spanish they're called

43:23.653 --> 43:25.003
"bodegones"].

43:25.000 --> 43:34.410


43:34.409 --> 43:37.649
This painting sought and
achieved the effect of a

43:37.650 --> 43:39.810
casually chosen slice of life.

43:39.809 --> 43:43.769
But Bacanal is carefully
composed around the light flesh

43:43.768 --> 43:46.448
of the bogus Baccus at the
center."

43:46.449 --> 43:52.869
Jonathan Brown says--he's one
of the great experts on

43:58.342 --> 44:04.472
Spanish architecture,
that attempts to interpret that

44:04.467 --> 44:08.167
painting,
quote: "as a parody of the

44:08.173 --> 44:13.113
Olympian gods or as a sermon on
the evils of drink have failed,

44:17.246 --> 44:21.376
a giver of the gift of wine
which freed man temporarily from

44:21.384 --> 44:24.824
the harsh unforgiving struggle
of daily life.

44:24.820 --> 44:28.840
Deprived of the beneficent
liquid, the beggar finds no

44:28.840 --> 44:33.620
respite from the hardships which
in sober moments will be shared

44:33.621 --> 44:36.051
by all of the company."

44:36.050 --> 44:42.410
This marvelous painting hangs
at the Prado Museum,

44:42.409 --> 44:48.039
and if you remember the words
by Auerbach about the subtle

44:48.041 --> 44:51.601
plastic nature of Cervantes'
art,

44:51.599 --> 44:56.839
of his depiction of things and
of sensuous,

44:56.840 --> 44:59.730
you can see that there is,
besides the connection I'm

44:59.731 --> 45:04.161
trying to establish here,
a kinship between Cervantes'

45:07.760 --> 45:11.680
and you can imagine these
characters as appearing in

45:11.677 --> 45:15.977
episodes of the Quixote,
I'm sure.

45:15.980 --> 45:23.710
Look at the face of stupor on
this drunk, he has sort of a

45:23.710 --> 45:30.360
grin of stupidity and
drunkenness, and the others,

45:30.356 --> 45:32.116
you know?

45:32.119 --> 45:42.099
The Spinners,
Las hilanderas,

45:42.099 --> 45:51.839
was painted around 1657,
it is thus a very late work,

45:51.840 --> 45:54.910
contemporaneous with Las
Meninas,

45:54.909 --> 45:58.349
and nearly as complex and as
ambitious.

46:03.414 --> 46:09.004
one from the classical
mythology and the other from his

46:08.996 --> 46:10.336
own time.

46:10.340 --> 46:14.060
It is a commonplace work scene,
as you can see.

46:14.059 --> 46:18.129
There are, in fact,
two stories from classical

46:18.128 --> 46:22.288
mythology combined in the
picture: the fable of

46:22.289 --> 46:28.439
Arachne and the story of
Jupiter's Rape of Europa.

46:28.440 --> 46:31.940
In the foreground we have the
activities of tapestry

46:31.938 --> 46:36.258
manufacturing as was done in the
factories under royal patronage

46:36.260 --> 46:38.550
in Madrid,
and in the alcove,

46:38.554 --> 46:41.164
in the back,
the classical tale of the

46:41.155 --> 46:42.415
weaver Arachne.

46:42.420 --> 46:46.970
The scene takes place at
Arachne's shop,

46:46.972 --> 46:52.702
where, as a great artist,
she's visited by elegant

46:52.695 --> 46:53.975
ladies.

46:53.980 --> 46:58.190
The tapestry hanging on the
back wall of the alcove,

46:58.190 --> 47:02.490
which is presumably Arachne's
work, is the key to the

47:02.485 --> 47:05.785
relationship between the two
scenes.

47:05.789 --> 47:10.329
It is a woven copy of Tizian's
The Rape of

47:10.331 --> 47:14.431
Europa--Could you give me
that painting?

47:14.429 --> 47:20.639
This is the actual painting by
Tizian, The Rape of

47:20.644 --> 47:27.944
Europa which--back to the
Hilanderas--which we find

47:27.936 --> 47:31.996
in the back, in that tapestry.

47:32.000 --> 47:36.770
The Rape of Europa is
one of the most celebrated of

47:36.766 --> 47:40.776
Jupiter's erotic adventures with
mortal women;

47:40.780 --> 47:44.470
Arachne has challenged Minerva,
patroness of weavers and

47:44.469 --> 47:47.219
goddess of wisdom to a weaving
contest.

47:47.219 --> 47:50.779
It was called a draw,
but because Arachne's tapestry

47:50.784 --> 47:53.794
was judged to be the equal of
Minerva's,

47:53.789 --> 47:56.299
and further,
because it depicted such a

47:56.297 --> 48:00.687
scandalous act by her father,
the goddess punished Arachne by

48:00.686 --> 48:02.666
turning her into a spider.

48:02.670 --> 48:08.020
The story is also drawn from
Ovid's Metamorphoses,

48:08.018 --> 48:09.068
book six.

48:09.070 --> 48:14.570
This is the reason Minerva is
shown gesturing angrily.

48:14.570 --> 48:20.900
Jonathan Brown,
again, believes that by,

48:20.898 --> 48:23.878
quote:
"by inserting a quotation

48:23.876 --> 48:26.296
from this famous work,
The Rape of

48:29.693 --> 48:33.033
believe in the nobility and
transcendental value of the art

48:33.030 --> 48:34.010
of painting.

48:37.610 --> 48:42.260
reconcile the artificial world
of myth with a palpable world of

48:42.260 --> 48:46.310
visual reality without
sacrificing the decorum required

48:46.309 --> 48:50.059
by the one and the
verisimilitude by the other [the

48:50.059 --> 48:54.709
decorum by the classical myth
and the verisimilitude,

48:54.710 --> 48:57.010
the realism by the other].

48:57.010 --> 49:00.750
The contrast [he goes on]
between the foreground where

49:00.753 --> 49:05.203
sturdy women toil at burdensome
tasks and the refined atmosphere

49:05.204 --> 49:08.454
of the artist's atelier [the
scene in the back]

49:12.621 --> 49:16.721
about the distinction between
craft and art."

49:16.719 --> 49:20.739
While this is fine--that's the
end of the quote by Jonathan

49:20.744 --> 49:23.584
Brown--
and at the time there was a

49:23.577 --> 49:28.237
raging dispute as to whether
painters were artists or mere

49:28.237 --> 49:32.967
artisans;
this may seem strange to us but

49:32.969 --> 49:34.299
there was.

49:34.300 --> 49:36.510
And, of course,
Tizian had been a favorite

49:36.507 --> 49:39.277
painter of Charles the Fiftg,
the previous century,

49:39.284 --> 49:43.054
and Philip the Second,
so the painting is in homage to

49:43.052 --> 49:45.232
him,
and there is no doubt that by

49:48.887 --> 49:50.567
himself at the same level.

49:50.570 --> 49:54.610
But there is a lot more to it,
it seems to me,

49:54.610 --> 49:58.390
as in Las Meninas there
seems to be a revelation of the

49:58.385 --> 50:02.835
act of artistic creation,
which in the painting has to do

50:02.844 --> 50:07.384
with Minerva and Arachne,
but that taking the whole work

50:11.327 --> 50:12.187
creation.

50:12.190 --> 50:17.130
Creation appears as a layered
process that involves the real--

50:17.130 --> 50:21.660
this is the real--either
because art is a reflection of

50:21.655 --> 50:25.505
reality or because art
illuminates reality,

50:25.510 --> 50:31.040
but also because reality
unveils the artificiality of

50:31.041 --> 50:31.681
art.

50:31.679 --> 50:35.719
In The Spinners we have
paintings within paintings,

50:35.719 --> 50:38.049
and the presence in the
foreground--

50:38.050 --> 50:41.040
and the present,
this is the present in the

50:41.041 --> 50:45.471
foreground--
appears as a repetition of the

50:45.469 --> 50:47.299
classical past.

50:47.300 --> 50:51.570
But it is a repetition that is
also a comedown:

50:51.572 --> 50:56.962
can the present day spinners
recall the myth of Arachne?

51:00.579 --> 51:04.949
as Ortega y Gasset suggested
about the Bacanal this

51:04.949 --> 51:09.629
diminishing the gods,
and also by showing Minerva's

51:09.632 --> 51:15.402
studio within the weaving shop,
he's showing the inner recesses

51:15.396 --> 51:18.896
of representation:
it's backstage tricks,

51:18.900 --> 51:24.210
as it were, and as he showed in
Las Meninas.

51:27.407 --> 51:29.817
other words is what I'm trying
to say.

51:29.820 --> 51:33.770
What we take to be gods are
like today's spinners.

51:33.768 --> 51:38.058
The weaver's shop is no
different from Minerva's studio

51:38.061 --> 51:42.671
in both the deception of art are
created to deceive man.

51:42.670 --> 51:46.130
We see the contemporary weavers
in relation to the classical

51:46.130 --> 51:48.130
fable,
and we see at the center of

51:51.409 --> 51:53.949
It is, again,
an infinitely receding

51:53.949 --> 51:56.639
sequence,
a play of mirrors within this

51:56.643 --> 52:00.293
workshop of representation that
we are being given here,

52:00.289 --> 52:02.619
which is like giving us a
workshop of

52:10.929 --> 52:18.369
Now, the process is similar to
what Cervantes does in Camacho's

52:18.369 --> 52:23.409
wedding episode,
and of the whole of the

52:23.409 --> 52:27.489
Quixote dealing with myth.

52:27.489 --> 52:30.769
The fable of Pyramus and
Thisbe takes place in

52:30.771 --> 52:33.801
fabulous Babylon;
Camacho's wedding takes place

52:33.804 --> 52:36.214
in an insignificant village in
Spain.

52:36.210 --> 52:40.750
What Basilio does is to use the
artistry of the fable to deceive

52:40.751 --> 52:44.061
those in attendance,
particularly Camacho and his

52:44.059 --> 52:46.089
friends,
but also Don Quixote,

52:46.094 --> 52:49.574
Sancho and even the reader,
who does not know what is

52:49.565 --> 52:53.165
happening until the moment that
the trick is revealed to bring

52:53.166 --> 52:56.056
the story to a climax and
eventual resolution.

52:56.059 --> 52:59.269
There is a mirroring of myth
and present reality,

52:59.268 --> 53:01.828
and the elaboration of a deceit
through artistry,

53:01.829 --> 53:08.499
acting, playing the role of the
mythological Pyramus--

53:08.500 --> 53:12.040
Basilio playing that role,
acting it out.

53:16.139 --> 53:19.889
The backstage of representation
is displayed as in Las

53:19.893 --> 53:23.103
Meninas,
and as we shall soon see in the

53:27.268 --> 53:31.268
puppeteer and most revealingly
in the culminating episode in

53:31.268 --> 53:36.418
the whole of the Quixote,
the one about Montesinos cave,

53:36.423 --> 53:41.853
in which we are given the whole
underpinning of Don Quixote's

53:41.853 --> 53:45.213
madness,
his actual subconscious.

53:45.210 --> 53:49.340
Now, whereas in Part I
Cervantes seems to be addressing

53:49.340 --> 53:53.630
the romances of chivalry and the
picaresque as models and

53:53.625 --> 53:55.905
sources,
in Part II he takes up the

53:55.909 --> 53:58.739
grand tradition of Homer,
Ovid, Virgil and Dante,

53:58.739 --> 54:02.499
particularly in episodes such
as the cave of Montesinos and

54:02.496 --> 54:06.186
the pageant in the forest that
we will be seeing soon.

54:06.190 --> 54:08.630
This is very significant.

54:08.630 --> 54:13.540
It seems to me that he now
knows that he is in their league

54:13.539 --> 54:18.029
and that he has created a
literary character that will

54:18.025 --> 54:22.585
endure like theirs and like the
characters in classical

54:22.594 --> 54:23.954
mythology.

54:23.949 --> 54:29.999