Beauty and the Beast : Social Expectation and Womens Roles B

20 February 2003 Beauty and the Beast : Social Expectation and Womens Roles B
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/16568/98632

The translation from Cupid and Psyche to beauty and Beast reflects the influence of Christianity that the woman's roles should be passive: the obedient child to the submissive wife that is packaged neatly on a wedding day to get shipped off with the china to her husband's house. The Piano, an Australian film, explores the historical exploitation of women in contracted marriage.

IMDB : The Piano by Jane Campion
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0107822

This concept does not originate with Apuleius' story, but stems from the later remake, that Beaumont crafts to instruct young ladies on imprending marriage. According to Apuleius, when Cupid was instructed by his jealous mother, Venus, to shoot Psyche, thereby causing her downfall he himself becomes the target of love. Rejected by society, Psyche remains alone, unloved and unmarried. Although beautiful and intelligent, no one particularly wants her; a fate often bemoaned by super-achieving women. Until lately, any women wanting to pursue a PhD or professional career, often sacrificed marriage to be accepted.

Plotinus: Cupid and Psyche
http://www.plotinus.com/myth_cupid_psyche.htm
beautifully illustrated version

Rejected from society, nothing assauges the loneliness or pain within, Psyche courageously accepts her fate to be given in marriage to no mortal man, but a flying serpent. Like Iphigenia, she confronts her destiny of self-sacrifice out on a rock.

Instead of being consumed, she wakes to find herself in an enchanted palace. The conflicts of the story center on the jealousy of Venus/Aphrodite of her beauty and the loyalty of Cupid. Venus, is no nasty mother-in-law, but ruthless in mythology, her alter-ego appearing in Ovid as Artemis who transforms the luckless Acteon into a stag to be devoured by his own hounds. Nor was human sacrifice a distant myth in Apuleius' time, shadowed by the brutal death of Orpheus by the frenzied Maenads in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Spurn the gods or incite their jealousy and nearly anything can happen including Arachene transformed into a spider.

Like Pandora, Psyche is incited by curiosity, spurred on by the jealousy of her sisters, to violate the "No Peeking Rule" found throughout literature. In Bluebeard, the price is the young woman's death. Rebellious against oppressive ignorance, she peeks. Cupid disappears, moralizing that love cannot remain where distrust exists. Unfair in judgement, admittedly it must be difficult to be the wife or child of a mole or spy engaged in secret services of a government. Imagine answering the constant inquiries of what your husband does, or the constant gap in personal communication. "Honey, what did you do today?" "Sorry, it's classified. You know we're not allowed to discuss departmental business with the spice." Like Eve, she is cast out of paradise and left to harvest the thorns of life.

If Apuleius left the story at this point, then Psyche could be seen as the suffering martyr; but he develops her character. Distressed, she resolves to recover her loss and in doing so, encounters direct conflict with the jealous temperament of Venus once again. And although she seems to be submissive, she aggressively pursues her goal. Beset with Heraculean tasks, she fulfills them. Instead of moralizing on marital duties and obedience, Apuleius examines her more closely. Only when we have a glimpse of the thing that we envision, we possess the courage and determination to pursue it. Perhaps this is why she is called Psyche, for it takes something beyond the systematic and rationale to pursue a dream, whether marriage or a career. Often, our intuition leads us into life-changing decisions. The quest for achievement begins at that first glimpse of self-realization, although the goal may, like Cupid, be elusive. Psyche, understanding this, endures the brainless tasks that Venus imposes. She fights back, enduring the drudgery to overcome the hardship and obstacles she faces to be legitimately acknowledged as Cupid's wife and accepted by divine society.

It's no magic. Cupid, like Romeo, runs away from the conflict. His life is easier when hiding behind his mother's skirts. His great token of affection can be seen in sending a mouse to separate the grains. In the end, he seeks the formidable authority of Juppiter, but never defends his future wife. A coward, he prefers to be won.

Shakespeare's Sonnets: Commentaries upon Sonnet 116
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
http://www.shakespeares-sonnets.com/116comm.htm
illustrationed with examples of other sonnets at the time

Psyche fights back although she fully knows that her final goal may finally elude her. Genuis by itself, wins nothing; but the application and drudgery that paves the road to success.

Consider the life of Clara Schumann. A brilliant pianist, she is most often overlooked, a subheading, the wife of a famous composer. She not only fought for her marriage, but earned substantial income as a brilliant concert pianist. She escaped the tyranny of her father to become enslaved to an enormous family and clinically mad musician, living constantly on the border of financial disaster.

Not only a genius, she broke the social rules of the day, by applying it.

Stacy Schiff, Clara: The Stressed-Out Schumanns
New York Times Book Reviews, 16 February, 2003
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/16/books/review/16SCHIFFT.html

Clara Wieck Schumann
http://www.geneva.edu/~dksmith/clara/schumann.html
an enormous site that has additional links and biographical resources concerning Clara Schumann including a discography, bibliography, films and works

Rutgers University : Clara Josephine Wieck Schumann
http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~eversr/biogra1.html
a bio presented with links for compositions, photo album and links that is neatly arranged for easy reading and browsing. ibliogaphy and musical samples.