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Padre George

  • Last seen on Feb 13 10:19 AM 2006. Member since February 14, 2006.

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  • on Eloisa to Abelard by Alexander Pope, on February 27, 2005
    Friends: Eloisa and Abelard were real people, star-crossed lovers whose punishment for love was the nunnery and the monastery. Peter (1079-1142) took the name Abelard as part of his monastic vows. In the "Story of My Calamities," he tells in graphic language the tale which has become part of classic literature: unrequited love. He fell in love with Heloise, niece of a powerful priest, Canon Fulbert; he recounts all the circumstances of its tragic ending, the brutal vengeance of the Canon, the flight of Heloise to Pallet, where their son, whom he named Astrolabius, was born, the secret wedding, the forced 'retirement' of Heloise to the nunnery of Argenteuil, and his own 'imprisonment' in the Abbey of St. Denis. (All of this happened in France.) Heloise and Abelard carried on an extensive--though secret--exchange of love letters for years thereafter, though they were forbidden by the Church to ever meet again. These letters came to light after Abelard's death in 1130 A.D.
    Hopefully, this will give some a new understanding of both Pope's poem (on the letter exchange) AND to the movie's plot line. [Hint: if love is eternal, can one who has experienced it ever forget it completely?]