A Knight's Journey - Quenton Mosel

True love is allowing both sides of the marriage to have sovereignty, which is the theme of The Wife of Bath’s Tale. In the story, the knight is on a quest to search for the answer to the question “What is the thing that women most desire?” It takes the knight the entirety of his allotted time to complete his quest (a year and a day), to which he is forced marry the old lady who saved his life. The old lady offers to either be young and unfaithful or old and devout, to which she is granted the power of choosing and becomes both and they live happily ever after. This tale along with the drawing by William B. O’Neal go hand in hand for the knight “learns” his lesson and becomes a faithful man, whereas the drawing is of a knight very much in love with his maiden. The knight in the drawing has his armor on, so he may have just gotten back from some form of battle and is now happily relaxing at the base of a tree. The drawing could be a possible look at the knight from the story’s married life if the story were to continue on from it’s ending.

O’Neal, William B. A Maiden Embraced By a Knight in Armor. 1838. pen and brown ink with brown wash, heightened with white, on brown wove paper. National Gallery of Art. Web. 15 Feb. 2014.

A Man's Redemption by Dominick Meyer

Stories can be told by art or by written word but it matters not which is chosen because both can portray even the most amazing of events. The piece I choose is a drawing that I feel embodies the motif of loss and redemption in Fedrigo's Falcon because Fedrigo squanders his wealth in the pursuit of a woman, he sacrifices his most prized possession in the pursuit of honor, but in the end he becomes a man of a finer cloth and wins the woman of his dreams.

Infatuation is a pursuit that will bring nothing but hardship and cold stares if the love is not shared. Fedrigo experiences loss first when he spends a great deal of his money to impress Monna Giovanna but loses track of his funds and finds himself with only a small farm left to work. One example of this is when the story told that “in order to win her“ love, he participated in jousts and tournaments, organized and gave feasts. and spent his money without restraint; but she. no less virtuous than beautiful, cared little for these things done on her behalf, nor did she care for him who did them. Now, as Fedrigo was spending Far beyond his means and was talking nothing in, as easily happens he lost his wealth and became poor, with nothing but his little farm to his name (from Whose revenues he lived very meagerly) and one falcon which was among the best in the world.” Fedrigo was so madly in love he refused to accept she didn’t love him and his wasting of money was really a waste of time. His first loss would however would not discourage his affections toward Monna in any sense. Fedrigo experiences his second lose when he killed his most prized falcon in the pursuit of honor to Monna so they could have a meal worthy of her. The hour was late and his desire to honor the gracious lady was great, but not wishing to turn for help to others (not even to his own workman), he set his eyes upon his good falcon, perched in a small room; and since he had nowhere else to turn, he took the bird, finding it plump, he decided that it would be a worthy food for such a lady. So, Without further thought, he Wrung its neck. In his pursuit to honor Monna he found that his most prized possession meant nothing to him opposed to his desire to please her. Honor is a tool that is necessary for life but can be lost when a man's moral fiber can’t stand against life's challenges. At the end of his descent from a wealthy noble to a poor farm owner Fedrigo still managed to show that he has a heart of gold not the Midas touch. Like when Monna’s brothers said to her “You foolish Woman, what are you saying? How can you Want him; he hasn’t a penny to his name. To this she replied: “My brothers, I am Well aware of what you say, but I would rather have a man who needs money than money that needs a man?” When Monna speaks to her brothers about remarrying she speaks of the selflessness of Fedrigo and how he was a man not rich fool who only thinks with his money and not his heart. Discovery of an old ideal can lead to the creation of a new prospect for all to know.

Fedrigo was a man who thought not of himself but of another no matter how much it cost him, an individual who gave what he prized in the quest for redemption, and one who shows that a mans worth is not in gold but in his actions. No matter how you slice it a picture is worth a thousand words but drawing works just as well.

source: Bruegel the Elder, Pieter. Peasants and Cattle near a Farmhouse. 1553/1554. Pen and brown ink on laid paper. National Art Gallery. Web. 11 Feb. 2014