Troubadour Poetry, Slavoj Žižek, and Buñuel’s “That Obscure Object of Desire” reponse

 Troubadour's poetry brought to light the paradoxical complexity of love and desire. This quote in the poem summarizes the underlying theme in all three things we cover this week, “my pain is beautiful, this pain is worth more than any pleasure, and since I find this bad so good, how good the good will be when this suffering is done." in Zizec's essay he discusses masochism in one passage " The  Masochistic Theatre of Courtly Love" his views on this stuck with me. We all desire something knowing very well it is consuming us and inflicting emotional agony. Wanting it to stop but running  back for more. We tell our selves it’s all a part of the game and it will get better, if we endure it a little bit longer. The worst part about it is we like this pain; it makes people feel alive, like without this pain love couldn't be real. The pain is the only sign that love isn't just a dream. 

    At one point in the essay Zizec defines masochism “...violence is never carried out, brought to its conclusion it always remains suspended as the endless repeating of an interrupted gesture" this thought directly relates to Mathieu's tumultuous relationship with Conchita. The two actresses who played Conchita each represented different sides of this one character. She was innocent and thoughtful on one side, and a manipulative seductive vixen on the other. Her innocence drew him in and her seduction kept him at bay.  Mathieu desired Conchita so much,even when he had opportunities to leave but went back and was willing to endure his self inflicted pain. He allowed her to emotionally beat up his heart. Never allowing him to satisfy his thirst for her, Conchita had complete control of him; his desire took away his free will. Mathieu was suspended. He waited idly by for his suffering to end so he could feel how " good the good [would] be."

  

reponse to Song of Songs, Narcissus, and Lacan's "Mirror Stage"

In the “Song of Songs” the lovers each describe each other in way that implies that the other is a precious and luxurious commodity, something for the entire world to behold. Each time the lover describes the beloved they make references to fruit and gardens, which may be in relation to the bliss that is the Garden of Eden, precious metals which relates to their importance and worth, and animals like gazelle or a young stag, which suggests they possess a kind of grace. When describing the beloved the lover gives details that represent each of the senses for example, how they smell, what it feels like in there embrace, comparing the beloved to the taste and indulgence of wine. The lover sees the other in such a way that they are obsessed with every little detail that makes up the other person. The language used makes the reader imagine this perfect person. You begin to see the beloved in the rose colored glasses that lover sees them in; when in reality they are like everyone else, filled with imperfections. But the beloved then begins to feel they themselves have more worth, at least to this one other person, and that means the world to them, and why it wouldn’t. The idea that someone can love you even with your flows is endearing. But at the same time isn't your lover seeing an illusion of what they think you are?
This idea directly relates to Ovid's myth of Narcissus, Narcissus was in love with an illusion. He believed that his idea of his lover to be reality and that ended in his demise.
"…excited by the very illusion that deceived his eyes. Poor foolish boy, why vainly grasp at the fleeting image that eludes you." the lovers in the “Song of Songs” are guilty of the same thing so vainly involved with other not taking a moment to really consider reality. In “Mirror stage” Lancan discusses how a young child is able to identify its species in a way that it hadn’t before, this moment of awareness alludes to its first sighting of an illusion. What one sees in the mirror reflects something different from the realities of those around them. The same is to say about the relationship between a lover and the beloved; the lover sees something about the beloved that is not the reality to those outside of the relationship.