Celestina 3

1. Celestina is praising Areusa as she did when she was talking to Parmeno in the previous scene – this is because they either have something that she wants, or pose a threat to her. Celestina wants Parmeno to be loyal to her so that she won’t have to worry that he will betray her to Calisto, so she uses Areusa to barter with him. “Parmeno, my friend, you know what I promised you; and you, my daughter, know what I asked you to do” (89). Celestina’s language in the scene between she and Areusa displays once again how her character is the personification of lies and deceit. I thought it was interesting that Celestina herself noted that actions speak louder than words: “I believe in deeds; you can buy words cheaply anywhere” (87). She also says something very interesting about the nature of women: “You can’t enjoy your own good looks, so let those enjoy them who can. Do you think you were created without a purpose? When a girl is born a boy is born, one for the other. Everything in this world was made with some design and nature has a use for it. It’s a sin to vex men when you can help them” (86). Here, Celestina’s words convey the idea that what a woman does with a body is her “purpose,” and that it is only right and natural for a woman to use her body in the most profitable way possible. She suggests that the purpose of any one woman is to fulfill the desires of a man. In a large way this turns the popular Medieval conception of the purpose women on its head: women in the Middle ages, and indeed through much of history, were often more limited in their ‘career’ choices than men: basically, they could either marry or become part of the church and be expected to abandon their sexuality altogether. It is therefore ironic that the theme of prostitution in this text would have been looked down upon, as it would seem that women are often looked at simply as sexual objects. In a large way, these women are simply fulfilling the ‘roles’ that society, and perhaps even the church, has assigned them with openness as opposed to hypocritical denial. Clearly then, the only way to put an end to hypocrisy and prostitution is to look at women in terms of something more than a mere sexual object. Celestina, while using society’s conception of women to her advantage, does not liberate anyone from their classified social stations, but forces them to be buried further into them: she encourages Calisto to become the hunter and applauds women for fulfilling nothing more than base desires. Celestina thrives off of the absence of both love and God in the text: if either of these two things were genuinely present, her line of work would not be as prosperous as it currently is. Though this complexity of character certainly makes the text by far the most enthralling of all the stories we have read, the almost misanthropic tone doesn’t really ‘sit well’ with me; I feel as though the text would be more compelling if there were a more morally stable character to counter Celestina. Since this state of things leaves me looking for a character in which to place my sympathies, I was, for a time, forced to have more sympathy for Calisto than anyone else, at least until he started to make this even more difficult. I do understand Calisto’s major faults, and the fact that this text really doesn’t offer a character towards whom the reader may project their sympathies, but I wanted to clarify my reasons for going against the idea that Celestina should somehow be praised as a complex character when in fact Calisto can be considered morally complex in the idea that he thinks he embodies the spirit of true love even though he clearly does not. It seemed as though this particular interpretation caused some dissension in class.

2. While jealousy may play a large part in Areusa and Elicia’s comments about Melibea, I think that it has just as much – if not more – to do with what Melibea stands for in contrast to these two women. For Areusa and Elicia, Melibea’s character may be an insult to their stations: while the two prostitutes are open about their place as women in desire-driven society, Melibea hides this very same desire behind a distain for such things. The prostitutes must consider this a kind of hypocrisy; if they are jealous of anything, it is probably not Melibea’s “beauty” and “gentleness,” but the fact that due to her craftiness she would be able to fulfill her desires while maintaining her social standing. Thus, the hypocrite gains more than those people who are honest about their identities. I find it ironic that though Celestina’s work is very much one with illusion, it stems from a kind of truth. Therefore, this goes back to my thoughts in the previous question about Celestina’s house being a mockery of the roles that society places on men and women.

4. The chain that Caliso gives Celestina represents both a kind of prison as well as truth. It is interesting to note that he gives her the chain instead of the cloak and skirt that he promised her: while cloaks and skirts cover people up, the chain may show people for what they truly are. For Calisto, the chain represents his state as a prisoner to desire. The fact that he gives this chain to Celestina may represent her control over him in this respect.