tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3079559053290094565.post3760072444764353258..comments2023-12-22T20:36:45.744-05:00Comments on Isle of Wonder: Abelard and HeloiseThe Red Witchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11731703967439763663noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3079559053290094565.post-73729789876899741712010-06-22T09:05:09.877-04:002010-06-22T09:05:09.877-04:00@'her old perpetual complaint'
Really he ...@'her old perpetual complaint'<br /><br />Really he should be pleased that she misses it so much. It shows that he was really good at it.<br /><br />@he really isn't thinking straight.<br /><br />Like a lot of bright people, interpersonal relationships are not his forte.<br /><br />@Yet it's clear from her letters that Heloise is climbing the walls in sexual frustration.<br /><brThe Red Witchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11731703967439763663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3079559053290094565.post-34265997314296740372010-06-21T05:25:27.908-04:002010-06-21T05:25:27.908-04:00I'm halfway through the Letters of Abelard and...I'm halfway through the Letters of Abelard and Heloise and two things strike me. First, Abelard describes Heloise's reaction to the whole business of him being castrated even though they were actually legally married as 'her old perpetual complaint' (or Stop whingeing, woman!) and describes it as 'two were guilty, one pays th penalty' ie. he only considers himself to haveTracyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3079559053290094565.post-35673058575059561462010-04-12T11:10:14.271-04:002010-04-12T11:10:14.271-04:00I haven't gotten very far with it yet - still ...I haven't gotten very far with it yet - still pretty busy at work - but so far I don't find it 'dry'. I will definitely be writing it up on my blog when I've finished.Tracyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3079559053290094565.post-4207055860495409352010-04-12T09:10:40.798-04:002010-04-12T09:10:40.798-04:00I assume you will post some comments on your blog....I assume you will post some comments on your blog. I started it as well. It is a bit dry. I wonder if it would be better if he focused on one person, time and place because his scope is a bit wide. I wonder also how this one compares with "Who Killed Chaucer?' by Terry Jones which has a similar theme but a narrower focus. I am tempted to get the Jones book but I am not sure I will The Red Witchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11731703967439763663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3079559053290094565.post-42720600984903030652010-04-11T09:56:14.254-04:002010-04-11T09:56:14.254-04:00My copy has a detail from an illumination from a f...My copy has a detail from an illumination from a fourteenth century manuscript of 'Le Roman de la Rose' - Abelard has his legs crossed! (Which is how most men react on reading what happened to him!)<br /><br />You'll be pleased to know I've just started reading <i>The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England</i> by Ian Mortimer - it's fascinating - and it starts off Tracyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3079559053290094565.post-33374668031088840842010-04-10T13:12:18.387-04:002010-04-10T13:12:18.387-04:00It's the Penguin Classics edition 1974, transl...It's the Penguin Classics edition 1974, translated by Betty Radice. Cost me all of £1! In a vain effort to limit the book pile I <i>try</i> to only buy books from charity shops which are on my vague 'to read' list, rather than on impulse - so was really pleased to stumble across this one yesterday,Tracyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3079559053290094565.post-13134777637988145152010-04-09T19:12:32.734-04:002010-04-09T19:12:32.734-04:00LOL If you are like me, you have a to read list as...LOL If you are like me, you have a to read list as long as your arm or longer. Who is the translator or editor?The Red Witchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11731703967439763663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3079559053290094565.post-57459784459211147702010-04-09T11:36:12.433-04:002010-04-09T11:36:12.433-04:00I've just found a copy of The Letters of Abela...I've just found a copy of <i>The Letters of Abelard and Heloise</i> in one of my local charity shops - but it'll be a while before I get around to reading it.Tracyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03070070360087765540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3079559053290094565.post-6949261239467241032010-03-03T09:36:56.830-05:002010-03-03T09:36:56.830-05:00So Heloise was the very passionate private corresp...So Heloise was the very passionate private correspondent, and Abelard kept his remarks pretty tame, for public consumption only? <br /><br />Yes, you'd think Abelard would have been able to carry on teaching somehow even if he was married - otherwise it's not really a good advert for being a scholar, is it, not being allowed to marry?Tracynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3079559053290094565.post-32091129783989970332010-03-01T07:42:14.999-05:002010-03-01T07:42:14.999-05:00They married to satisfy Fulbert but he was suppose...They married to satisfy Fulbert but he was supposed to keep it a secret so Abelard would not have to quit teaching. I have to wonder though, since he had such a tremendous reputation as a scholar, if he could not have set up a private school which he had done in the past and carried on teaching.<br />Heloise's letters were not meant to be circulated and were not in their lifetime. The firstThe Red Witchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11731703967439763663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3079559053290094565.post-48425713082953334372010-02-28T11:59:02.050-05:002010-02-28T11:59:02.050-05:00It was probably written to be circulated as letter...<i>It was probably written to be circulated as letters often were copied and circulated around. </i><br /><br />So Abelard wrote very personal letters, ones presumably almost as intimate as Heloise' reply - But meant them to be circulated to whoever was literate enough to read them? It's worse than the internet!<br /><br /><i>Heloise refused to marry him until he convinced her that they Tracynoreply@blogger.com