Whatcha Say

I know this is song is extremely old and worn out by the radio stations, but I thought this certain verse of Whatcha Say by Jason Derulo was a great quote to represent this past post.
" I was so wrong for so long
only tryin´ to please myself (myself)
girl i was caught up in her lust
when i don´t really want no one else
so no i know i should of treated you better
but me and you were meant to last forever."

I think it really embodies the Edwards Scandal because John Edwards admits what he did, but wants people to forgive him. 

The Edwards Scandal Timeline

Here is a link to a time line for the Edwards Scandal.  Hope you guys find it helpful!

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/edwards-scandal-timeline-john-edwards-rielle-hunter-affair/story?id=9621755&page=2

Dante's Views on a Current Scandal

                  Elizabeth Edwards’s death this past Tuesday, December 7 brought back a particular scandal to mind, one that I feel Dante would have strong feelings on. Back in October 2007, John Edwards was questioned about having an affair with Rielle Hunter, but he did not admit to the crime until early August 2008.  It is an interesting idea that scandals in modern times are very similar to those back in the early Renaissance. In Dante’s Inferno, the sinners in circle two are the people guilty of lust. Contrary to my reaction, which was surprise and anger towards John Edwards, I believe that Dante would be a tad more forgiving and understanding than the general public because of his writing in circle two. 

          In August 2008, John Edwards, who had planned on running for presidency that year admitted to having an extra marital affair with Rielle Hunter, and later it was announced that he was the father of her child. All of this occurred shortly after Jon’s wife, Elizabeth, had been diagnosed with a resurgence of breast cancer. Rielle Hunter was part of John Edwards’s political action committee, and she followed him on the campaign trail, making videos and posting them on the internet. Not much was said until multiple tabloids found out she was pregnant. She claimed that her baby, Frances Quinn Hunter, was John Edwards’. He was questioned and refused to claim the responsibility until recently, when he admitted to being the father of the love child. This has been what the last three years of Elizabeth’s life have involved. Constant reminders of her husband’s affair and the death of her oldest son haunted her. This is a classic case of adultery and lust.

          It is all too similar to the cases of adultery/lust in circle two of Dante’s Inferno. Take Paolo and Francesca for example. Francesca was Paolo’s lover and sister in law. Although the Edwards scandal does not include a family member, Paolo and Francesca were two people who were meant to be together. Dante’s views on lust are sympathetic and less harsh compared to the other sins because of the placement he put these sinners in hell. Dante says “" The other wept in such a way that blurred my senses; I swooned as though to die...” (31). This quote shows you how sad he feels for the lusters. They are in one of the higher circles, and the punishment, which is tumbling around in violent winds, is less harsh than other punishments in the Inferno. I think that Dante would feel a certain amount of empathy for John Edwards, because of his relationship with Beatrice, whom he loved and cared about deeply.

         Lust and adultery were both things you had to worry about back when Dante wrote the Inferno, and are still issues today. About the Edwards scandal, I think that Dante would have reacted with patience and empathy as well as understanding, where as I, along with most of the general public reacted with outrage to find out that one of the leaders in today’s society had done something so wrong, and while his wife had cancer. The world was saddened to find out the sad news that Elizabeth died this past Tuesday, and we can only hope that Rielle Hunter stays out of the picture for a while.

Trees as Archetypes

         Throughout history, trees have been archetypal symbols of knowledge and life. Many works of literature have used the symbol of the tree to deeper enlighten readers to understand certain characters. Dante’s Inferno is no exception. Trees are the archetypes in circle 7, round 2 (the violent against themselves). The people that committed suicide are forced to be gnarled, deformed trees in a dark forest, where they are tortured by harpies. Dante uses the symbol of the tree to show to the reader what he thinks of the lack of wisdom and lack of consideration that people who commit suicide have. 

          Trees are well known for representing wisdom and knowledge. Many people know the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Another example of trees representing knowledge is that Buddha reached Nirvana under the Bo tree of wisdom. Dante uses the symbol of the tree to emphasize the lack of knowledge (not to insult anyone, but there are so many different options, rather than to take your own life) of people who commit suicide. Dante shows that because they are not knowledgable about their death in life, they are forced to become the symbol of knowledge in death. In this circle, Virgil’s diction also point back to knowledge, because while talking to Dante, he uses words such as “learn” “to understand” and “thinking.”

           Trees are also known for representing life. Most people known the phrases “tree of life” or “family tree.” Dante uses this symbol to enhance the contrapasso of this circle. Because people who committed suicide took themselves out of the “tree of life,” they are now forced to be trees. The irony found in this example is similar to that of Dante’s found throughout the book. The poet says “ Briefly is the answer given: when/ out of the flesh from which it tore itself/.....It falls into the wood, and landing there/ wherever fortune flings it, it strikes root”(105). This quote helps explain that the reason for the sinners becoming trees, is their “taking themselves out of the tree of life” so to speak.

         Dante uses the symbol of the tree in Circle 7, round 2 in the forest of the people who committed suicide, to enhance the contrapasso and provide more reasons for the punishment that he chose and that he thought was fit. 

Circle 3 The Gluttons

             In Dante’s Inferno, the gluttonous people are in circle three. Gluttons are the people who eat excessively in life, and who in death are punished by being forced to lie in garbage and slush, while the three headed dog, Cereberus eats them. Dante seems to assert that being a glutton is one of the worst sins, because the punishment is harsher and Circle three is below the circle with the people who are lustful.

  The sin of gluttony is described in Merriam-Webster Dictionary as habitual greed or excess in eating. The notes of Canto IV quote “In life, they made no higher use of the gifts of God than to wallow in food and drink, producers of nothing but garbage and offal” (44). Their punishment is to lie in garbage and slush, while frozen black rain falls on them and Cerberus the dog eats them alive. The punishment for this sin is more intense compared to the other punishments. This shows the reader that Dante views gluttony very seriously. The reader can infer that the reason he puts gluttony below lust is because of his own feelings for Beatrice. 

The imagery of Cerberus, which Dante quotes as “His eyes are red, his beard is greased with phlegm/his belly is swollen, and his hands are claws/ to rip the wretches and flay and mangle them (45),” represents the people that are in this circle of hell. They had swollen bellies from eating too much and ripped their food while eating it.

   For contrapasso, Dante has the gluttons: lying in garbage, because all they did in life was create garbage, being eaten by Cerberus, because they ate too much in life, and lying in the cold slush because the warmth that they got in life was because of eating food, so when they were in hell, they could not find the warmth that they spent their lives eating for.

  By the showing of the dark and very serious punishment of Gluttons, the reader can infer that Dante seems to assert that being a glutton is very bad, and through the punishment of lying in cold, wet garbage and being eaten by Cerberus, the three headed dog, Dante shows readers how serious he is about Gluttony.