Abelard and Heloise complete letters notes

Letters 2-6

2 : h to a

Someone brings letter of consolation a wrote to friend to H . “nearly every line of this letter was filled, I remember, with gall and wormwood as it told the pitiful story of our entry into religion and the cross of unending suffering which you, my only love, continue to bear” (47).

Note : H is sympathetic to A and feels so sorry for him in all of this.

“your superior wisdom knows better than our humble learning of the many serious treatises which the holy Fathers compiled for the instruction or exhortation or even the consolation of holy women” (50).

She likes calling herself his ‘friend’ more than his ‘wife’

“tell me one thing, if you can. Why , after our entry into religion, which was your decision alone, have I been so neglected and forgotten by you that I have received neither a word from you when you are here to give me strength nor the consolation of a letter in absence?” (53) – pining

A created new church of teaching (49);

Not even god made him think of her (50)

Heloise went toward God because Abelard told her to (54)

3: a to h

Heloise = his dearly beloved sister in Christ (56).

Abelard : only talk to me if you need to be instructed about god (56).

            Thank God for your prayers…pray for me constantly! (56)

“now that I am not with you, there is all the more need for the support of your prayers, the more I am gripped by fear of greater peril” (61).

If I die, bury me in a tomb near your church so you can pray for me even more (61)

“Live, but I pray, in Christ be mindful of me” (62)

4: h to a

She’s surprised to see her name before his in his letter…woman before man?!?!

She hoped for an uplifting letter and got a depressing one instead

Greater the ascent, heavier the fall (65)

·         We were spared God’s severity while we were unlawful, but when we tried to right the wrong, He “laid his hand heavily upon us, and would not permit a chaste union…” (66)

Heloise believes she is fully responsible and that Abelard had to carry the full burden of wrongdoing (66)

“Men call me chaste; they do not know the hypocrite I am they consider purity of the flesh a virtue, though virtue belongs not to the body but to the soul. I can win praise in the eyes of men but deserve none before God” (69)

“To me your praise is the more dangerous because I welcome it.the more anxious I am to please you in everything, the more I am won over and delighted by it” (70).

o   “I can win praise in the eyes of men but deserve none before God”

5: a to h

Heloise suffers wrongs on 4 counts:

1.      You complain that contrary to custom in letter-writing…my letter put your name before mine in greeting

2.      When I ought to have offered you some remedy for your comfort I increased your sense of desolation and made the tears flow which I should’ve checked.

3.      You went on your old complaint against god concerning manner of our entry into religious life and cruelty of the treachery performed on me

4.      You set your self-accusations against my praise of you and implored me with some urgency not to praise you again

He goes on to justify each count of the above 4

“Why do you accuse me of making you share my anxiety when I was forced to do so at your own behest? When I’m suffering in despair of my life, would it be fitting for you to be joyous?...say no more, I beg you, and cease from the complaints like these which are so far removed from the true depths of love!” (77).

“However , I approve of your rejection of praise, for in this very thing you should yourself more praiseworthy” (78)—he values humility NOW, esp for her…he begs her not to blame god

“It was he (Christ) who truly loved you, not I. my love, which brought us both sin, should be called lust, not love. I took my fill of my wretched pleasures in you and this was the sum total of my love…to him, I beseech you, not to me, should be directed all your devotion, all your compassion, all your remorse”

6: h to a

“Nothing is less under our control than the heart – having no power to command it we are forced to obey” (93).

Multiple wine analogies are made through this letter

“I beg you, who seek to imitate not only Christ but also this apostle, in discrimination as in name, modify your instructions for works to suit our weak nature, so that we can be free to devote ourselves to the offices of praising God” (109).

“After you we may perhaps have another to guide us, one who will build something upon another’s foundation, and so, we fear, he may be less likely to feel concern for us, or be less readily heard by us; or indeed, he may be no less willing, but less able. Speak to us then, and we shall hear. Farewell” (111). 

Dhuoda vs Abelard and Heloise Analysis

Thesis ideas:

Main idea: Letters serve as a vehicle for Dhuoda, Abelard, and Heloise to express their concern in times of physical separation and turmoil

Draft Thesis:

Coping mechanisms are a part and parcel of everyone’s lives, and the lives of medieval writers are no different. Using writing as their medium, Dhuoda, Abelard, and Heloise attempt to handle grief caused by physical separation from their loved ones’ by offering kind words of advice in the form of letters. The writing, geared towards protecting the spiritual health of these respected loved ones, relies heavily on religious belief and references. Although appearing to flee the tasks that their loved ones’ have to face, these three authors fight with a pen as their weapon and the paper as their trusty steed.

Subargument 1:

All authors rely both on religious references and personal evidence in order to convince the other person of the lesson which they are trying to convey

·         Dhuoda

o   Uses religious authority and scripture to guide William to success individuals’ and, eventually, Heaven

§  “If you wish to be truly rich, learn wisdom…it is written: There is a treasure to be desired in the heart of a wise man” (73)

§  “He who curseth his father, dying let him die basely and uselessly” (22)

o   Supplements religious advice with both  personal and alternate religious (non-Bible) advice

§  “In the future, should I fail you by my absence, you have this little moral work as a reminder, so that as you read in spirit and body and as you pray to god you may be able to look upon me as if in a mirror” (13).

§  “Learn from those elders whose understanding is rich whatever good you can with the Father’s help so you may be pleasing to God before all else and then be useful to man” (33).

·         Abelard/Heloise

o   Validate their advice using religious quotes and claims

§  “Consider then the great power of prayer, if we pray as we are bidden, seeing that the prophet won by prayer what he was forbidden to pray for, and turned God aside from his declared intention” (Abelard 57)

§  “You may not be an adulterer, but if you coming murder you are an adulterer all the same” (Heloise 95).

o   Use personal advice regarding treatment of each other

§  “You know, beloved, as everyone knows, how much I have lost in you, how at one wretched stroke of fortune that supreme act of flagrant treachery robbed me of my very self in robbing me of you, and how my sorrow for my loss is nothing compared with what I feel for the manner in which I lost you” (50).

§  “Yet though perhaps I suffered less physical pain at the time, I am now the more distressed for the calumny I must endure. My agony is less for the mutilation of my body than for the damage to my reputation, for it is written that ‘A good name is more to be desired than great riches” (37).

Subargument 2:

All authors feel that their personal crises and misunderstandings with their loved ones’ has a greater impact on these individuals’ lives than the multitude of change happening on a bigger scale.

·         Dhuoda faces a tumultuous societal change in leadership but is increasingly concerned about William’s conduct

o   “Then you clearly see your duty to me…you will have other teachers, but not anyone like me, your mother, whose heart burns on your behalf” (13).

·         Abelard and Heloise face both political and church reform but are forcibly focused on their own shortcomings and misgivings.

o   “had I remained there, for a woman , being the weaker sex,  is the more pitiable in a state of need, easily rousing human sympathy, and her virtue is the more pleasing to God as it is to man” (36).

o   Heloise is “sister in Christ rather than my wife”  (35)

Subargument 3 (Fight-or-Flight)

All authors advise their loved ones to supposedly ‘fight’ against the adversity they are facing, using it to mask a form of flight and therefore neither picking either choice entirely.

·         Dhuoda asks William to fight against his adversity by taking refuge in God’s advice that she passes on to him

o   “Keep faith in God while continuing your search to find Him” (p7)

o   “If you serve your earthly lords and the Lord well, you can rest n the kingdom of heaven and you will be united happily with Christ” (p33)

o   “Stay above bad influences, follow God’s word to be morally right” (p44)

·         Abelard and Heloise convince each other to fight the distance between them by using prayer and putting Christ before each other, fleeing from addressing their relationship

o   Heloise went toward God because Abelard told her to (54)

o   Abelard : only talk to me if you need to be instructed about god (56).

o   “However , I approve of your rejection of praise, for in this very thing you should yourself more praiseworthy” (78)—he values humility NOW, esp for her…he begs her not to blame god

o   “I beg you, who seek to imitate not only Christ but also this apostle, in discrimination as in name, modify your instructions for works to suit our weak nature, so that we can be free to devote ourselves to the offices of praising God” (109).