Tuesday, February 17, 2009

ADMIRABILITY OF THE WIDOW IN “THE WIDOW OF EPHESUS”

In the story “The Widow of Ephesus”, by Gaius Petronius, Encolpius, the narrator, presents two very strong, yet different characters. The first character is Eumolpus, a poet and a storyteller with a deep scorn for all women. The second character is the widow of Ephesus, the main character in the story: between these two characters, the widow of Ephesus is far more admirable because she portrays every quality Eumolpus assures no woman possesses.
In order to understand the widow of Ephesus, it is necessary to examine the character of Eumolpus. After all, it is through Eumolpus’s story and the way he tells it that the widow comes to life. In the beginning of the story Encolpius narrates, he first tells of the state of Eumolpus by saying “[Eumolpus] who was drinking too much wine, decided to amuse us with a few stories.” Eumolpus begins by revealing his low opinion of women. Additionally, Eumolpus criticizes women’s weakness towards seduction. He clarifies that such weakness is not his mere assumption, but that, in fact, he has experienced such firsthand. As Encolpius says, “…he himself had actually seen what he was talking about, and he offered to tell us a true story in illustration.” Because of this resentment, Eumolpus has manipulated the plot of the story he tells in order to prove his point about women. Moreover, it might even be possible that Eumolpus has made up the entire story. Indeed, Eumolpus does not have the sanity to produce words or actions that are worthy of admiration or credibility, especially when he is drunk.
Unlike the person that tells her story, the widow of Ephesus is a virtuous woman who has always tried to live up to the expectations of society. In the beginning of her story, she is a good wife and has a successful marriage. When her husband dies, the widow mourns him almost to the point of death. Her deep-felt mourning is especially meaningful because not every woman will near the point of death in their sorrow. Truly, the widow has done more than what was expected of her; she has been a good wife to her husband and now she is his main mourner. Even the townspeople implore her to discontinue her mourning and to continue with her life, especially since she is a beautiful woman who could easily find love again. Having mourned more than any ordinary woman would have, the widow finally gives in to her human instinct and seeks companionship, both physical and emotional. Thus, the widow fulfills her mourning cycle by finally finding someone who will replace whom she has lost. Moreover, she has fulfilled herself as a strong woman capable of coping with loss and finding a way to keep living her life. The widow has both the right and the necessity to continue living. With such powerful display of character, the widow of Ephesus disproves Eumolpus’s criticisms of women and becomes a woman worthy of admiration.
In conclusion, the characters of Eumolpus and the widow of Ephesus are very different. Eumolpus sees the actions of the widow as proof of his low opinion of women. However, Eumolpus’s opinion of women is biased by his own bad experiences. Therefore, Eumolpus only sees what he wants to see; he does not see the courage and the strength of character of the widow. On the contrary, the widow is a pure person that has lived up to all spousal expectations, even exceeding them. While Eumolpus’s evident character deems him untrustworthy, he does manage to tell the story of a woman truly worthy of admiration.

1 comment:

  1. It's extremely inappropriate that you are using an upstanding site such as Blogger to elicit and participate in plagiarism.

    Students in college English classes are visiting your site to steal essays and using them as their work in English classes. This is the definition of plagiarism. It is clear that this site is intended for this purpose, as there are no other posts on your blog and your blog is titled "Essays!!!!!"

    You should be ashamed of yourself.

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