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

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

                A reoccurring theme is present in all that we have read and watched this past week; we desire what we can’t have. Another theme that has been unraveled is this idea that with love there is violence. That in some way we seek love through interrupted violence. From what I get from the readings, movies and discussions; love is a dangerous thing that only mentally disturbed people seek. We as humans, all desire something; however, is it love that we all really desire?

“I bear more pain from love”-Troubadour poetry:

                If we carry negative weight from falling in love then I am starting to believe that we do not know how to define love. Love should be something that feels good and feels right. Of course, with love comes many obstacles because we live in an imperfect world, but with love you can overcome said obstacles and grow stronger. This sense of pain was found in “That Obscure Object of Desire” when the aged man tormented himself with his desire for Conchita. She herself said if she sleeps with him he will not love her any longer. Mathieu’s love for Conchita made him do stupid things because he was ultimately pained when they weren’t together. Mathieu was violent when he finally came to his senses about being teased by Conchita; does violence make you love someone more?

“That Obscure Object of Desire”

                There are two actresses that play the role of Conchita. I see these two actresses as good love and as bad love. The good love actress, for example, comes to see Mathieu at the end of the film to see if he showed how much he loved her by killing himself. However, when they go and have a private discussion the bad love comes out of Conchita and her role changes. She becomes an antagonist. She wants him to beat her in a sense because now she knows how much he cares. She begs for him and his love again, and she tries to return the key so that he can come over anytime he wants. The bad love is the love in which we desire; the love that seems nearly impossible to attain. Slavoj Žižek’s states in his essay, “Lady in courtly love loses concrete features and is addressed as an abstract Ideal” which is how I perceived these two characters; the good and the bad.  Mathieu could not develop concrete features of Conchita because what he desires is so skewed and unattainable. Conchita became an abstract ideal; one moment she blessed Mathieu with beauty and delicacy and the next minute she pained him with rejections and teasing.

                I think that the terrorism was a reoccurring theme in the film because it shows a sense of power and violence. The love Mathieu sought of Conchita was both powerful and violent; however, he did not have the power. Slavoj Žižek says that “We fear more than a Lady who might generously yield to this wish of ours,” and in this case, Conchita did not yield to Mathieu’s desires which led him to fear her absentee almost as much as he feared the terrorism in which he could do nothing about. 

"Song of Songs"-Narcissus-Lacan

For the "Song of Songs":

I first distinguished that a lover and a beloved person, although similar, can be different. A lover can be a person who has either a sexual or romantic relationship with another. A lover can also be a person who is in love which by my definition is a combination of both a sexual and romantic relationship. A person who is beloved might be seen as someone who is dear to one’s heart. “Song of Songs” portrays the love of two individuals; one of a high class and one of a lower class. Vocabulary employs that there is a passionate relationship or desire for one another such as the line, “Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out.” This line suggests that the name of the King, the man who is loved, is overwhelming. Maybe even to the lady in love, a sexual arousal. The imagery is vivid when reading the “Song of Songs” through the use of the language. For example, the comparison that she says, “My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi.” I envisioned this beautiful scenery, a wonderful place that this love was like.

I think that theology by nature is a bit erotic. Every biblical story has a root of love and desire entwined in it. Commonly, Adam and Eve are discussed and we tend to imagine the love or lust between the two. I feel that without the eroticism we would not be the same as we are now as human beings because we attach everything we do in life with some feeling or some emotion.  Of course, not every story or everything in everyday life is erotic, but typically two people may share that between each other.

For Narcissus:

Narcissus wanted love, yet he rejected all those who loved him. Echo, like the many boys and girls, fell in love with Narcissus. Juno punished Echo for her chattering tongue that tricked Juno and made it so Echo’s voice was strongly limited. Now Echo can still repeat the last words she hears spoken as well as sounds that she hears, but that is it. When Narcissus wandered from his comrades he asked “is anybody here?” Echo repeated, “Here!” Their conversation continued and when it was time, Echo made herself present. Narcissus shooed her away saying that he rather die before he have her touch him. In response, Echo stated to him, “I would have you touch me!” When Narcissus found his reflection in the water it was not him that he loved, it was what he couldn't have. Due to Echo’s pain from the cruel rejection of Narcissus, she we withered away to simply a voice. She now could never be touched. Love is something that is felt emotionally and while there are physical aspects one must be to feel to be in love. Narcissus did not die because he found himself; he died because he said he’d rather die than have Echo touch him. Echo then spent her life lonely, invisible, and in caves.  Narcissus had treated many spirits of the woods and waters the way he treated Echo and one of them decided that he too should fall in love, but be unable to gain the love from that person. Narcissus might not have replied to Echo’s request for love because he thought he was far better than Echo could be; maybe, far too beautiful.

As humans, like Narcissus experiences, we want what we can’t have and when we have something we always want more.  To live is to desire, and without desire one would not live. It is an unfortunate reality that life is this way for all humans, because if we did not want we would not progress, we would not succeed, we would not produce and we certainly would not fall in love. As humans, we need to learn to control our wants and desires to live happily, but not greedily.

For Lacan:

There is a parallel between Narcissus and Lacan’s “The Mirror Stage.” For example, the chimp recognizes it’s reflection before the child. Narcissus recognizes his reflection in the water. The child is playful to the mirror as to try and figure out how to play with his/hers reflection. Narcissus, 16 years old, an adult in this story, but merely a child in today’s world, is playful towards his reflection in the water. The “imago” is the imagined concept of a loved one the remains the same through adulthood. Narcissus saw his beauty, his own perfection that should (would) remain the same throughout the entirety of his life.  When Lacan writes “an image that is seemingly predestined to have an effect” Narcissus realizes the power of reflection. Narcissus exemplifies Lancan’s statement when he explains how the reflection replicates the movement of the individual, but in reverse and feels that the image is animated. Narcissus does this when shedding his tears in the water.  “The jubilant assumption of his specular image by the kind of being” is an example of how Narcissus embraced his image. The word “primordial” is used frequently, and I related this to Narcissus because from the beginning he was “a child with whom one could have fallen in love even in the cradle.” He knew nothing more but to only desire beauty and perfection which as humans is unrealistic. The syntheses (the combining of material and abstract entities), which Narcissus was unable to do: Had Narcissus combined the physical attributes of Echo as well as the abstract thought that she loved him, he would have overcome and found love rather than death.