The Power of a Queen
In the poem "The Conquest of Orange" by Joan Ferrante, readers get a look at the typical ego stroking; the power of conquering a town, the power of greed, the power of overpowering one man's masculinity and control, and taking a man's woman. These crusaders are not only motivated by the reasons above, they are also motivated by sheer stupidity. Count William has conquered the land of Nimes, and even though the town has "well-groomed horses, and strong chain-mail and gilded helmets, sharp, cutting swords and fine buckled shields, and splendid spears fashioned of heavy iron, and bread and wine and salted meat and grain", the land has "no harpers or minstrels, or young ladies to delight our bodies" (58-62). So when Gilbert, a prisoner of three years from the land of Orange, comes to tell of his grief and poverty during the time that he was held captive by the African king and his town, he brags about the place where he was imprisoned. Although it's curious to believe that a prisoner would brag about his place of imprisonment, Gilbert is persuasive enough to make Count William impressed. Gilbert brags about the stunning queen, Lady Orable, and how beautiful the land of Oran
paint their bodies in front and behind, their faces and their chests, even their feet, so they resemble devils and demons" (375-376, 378-379) is beyond me. When the people of Nime find out that Count William has been taken, their motivation is to get their leader back, regardless of why he left his town. How full-blooded Africans who have been around Muslims for years can be fooled by men smothered in so much "ink ground in a mortar and other herbs that the baron knew of. Now, their motivation is to kill because he has tricked them. Meanwhile King Aragon, who is supposed to be the leader of his town, finds it more suitable to pout and push weak warriors in to fight instead of proving why he's the king. What kind of ink only comes off when someone is struck in the head? The men of Nimes obviously believe that they are either extremely intelligent, which they are not, or the Muslims of Orange are extremely dumb. Count William, before going to Orange, never considered the fact that Lady Orable may be completely dedicated to her actual husband. She falls for him just from his words. The town of Orange is almost in shambles before he decides to jump on a horse and kill three people before being slain himself. The woman, Lady Orable, who is married to King Tiebaut, completely forgets about her husband when Count William comes along and becomes madly in love with him. He demands that Gilbert, who has just now escaped, go back to the land of Orange with him, along with his nephew Bertrand.
Common topics in this essay:
Count William,
Lady Orable,
King Aragon,
Africans Muslims,
Joan Ferrante,
Muslims Orange,
count william,
King Tiebaut,
lady orable,
Orange Gilbert's,
land orange,
William Orange,
,
beautiful land,
king tiebaut,
muslims orange,
king town,
king aragon,
|
Acceptance Essays
