Skip to main content

The Tragic Life of a Radical Fangirl /////// Isabelle Ferguson

 It seems like the Romans and Greeks agreed on a common theme when it came to writing: where love goes, tragedy follows. 

The Greek point of view has a shorter summary. Paris chose Aphrodite, and it was all downhill from there. Because Paris 'loved' Helen so much, he had to steal her from her husband. This, of course, leads to the fall of Troy- after an absurd amount of drama. Helen is hated for being the kind of beautiful that causes cities to be destroyed. Troy being destroyed leads to the Roman point of view, where Aeneas leaves Troy and meets Dido. Venus sends Cupid to make Dido fall in love with Aeneas, and she becomes a Roman-day fangirl.

Like most fangirls, Dido falls in love with the tragic backstory of her foreign hero, and she cannot stop thinking about his "courage" and "words" (Virgil, Book IV, lines 1-3). Finding a friend or family member to vent to is the next stage in being a fangirl. Dido's victim is Anna, her sister (Book IV, line 8). Dido begins her shift from normal to radical when Anna encourages her love. Juno is like the fangirl's clueless mom who just wants to support her daughter. Juno arranges with Venus for Aeneas and Dido to be married (Book IV, lines 102-104). Dido and Aeneas throw away their responsibilities as they show their passion for one another (Book IV, 193-194). Thus, Dido has a fangirl's dream come true, and all is well. 

"That first day is the source of misfortune and death" (Book IV, line 169). All is not well. In the same way Dido is a Roman-day fangirl, Aeneas is a Roman-day Geralt of Rivia. He cannot escape his destiny or fate. "...he was to be one who'd rule Italy, pregnant with empire..." (Book IV, line 229). Aeneas is not fated to love, he fated to rule (toss a coin). He leaves, and Dido feels betrayed. After all, her entire world revolved around him for a few days. As a result of her grief after Aeneas's betrayal, she resolves to kill herself. Luckily, there is peace in death.

"There [the Fields of Mourning], those whom harsh love devours with cruel pining are concealed in secret walkways..." (Book VI, lines 442-443). There is not peace in death, apparently. Dido is doomed to roam the "Fields of Mourning" for the rest of eternity, pining after Aeneas. 

And so ends the tragic tale of the Roman-day, radical fangirl. Rest in peace.

P.S. I commented on Haylee Lynd's post and Jessef Leslie's post.



Comments

  1. Abigale BellNovember 16, 2020 at 8:48 PM

    Awesome post! Your comparisons were so accurate. It seems that every time the gods intervene in human affairs, bad things happen. But what would these stories be without their tragedies? Such high emotions in the characters brings readers and listeners to high emotion and deeper feeling.

    ReplyDelete
  2. abbieheddenNovember 16, 2020 at 9:55 PM

    I am SO HERE for Dido being a radical fangirl! I had never thought of it this way. It really reminds me of the way girls were going after Edward Cullen back when Twilight was popular. So many hours of people's lives are dedicated to chasing something that they can't and won't have. What a lesson to learn!

    ReplyDelete
  3. kaitlyn terryNovember 16, 2020 at 10:21 PM

    I LOVE your comparison of Aeneas to Geralt of Rivia!! The Witcher is one of my favorite series and honestly, the comparison of the two is perfect. It makes perfect sense and simultaneously makes me very very happy:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hailey MorganNovember 17, 2020 at 12:18 AM

    I love this take on Dido so much! I have seen many people speak about her as “the first Juliet,” but never before have I heard her called a die-hard fan girl. Many tend to look at the tragedy, but you make a great point by highlighting just how superficial it all is.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Word Painting in Vesta—Lily Caswell

  Word painting in Weelkes’s As Vesta Was from Latmos Hill Descending is quite interesting. And because that is a really long title, I’m calling it Vesta from now on. Word painting is basically when the melody matches up with the lyrics. So in Vesta, when it says “ascending” and “descending”, there are obviously scales going up and down. The madrigal was written for six voices to sing unaccompanied, so when they start to come together, it matches with the lyrics; so if the lyric says “two by two”, there are only two voices; “three by three” there is another voice added, and so forth. All the parts combine in exclamation before Vesta before it is left “all alone” to the highest soprano. All the way to the end of the piece, word painting continues when shouts of “Long live fair Oriana” with the bass sustaining long notes. Word painting in and of itself is a highly interesting topic because a musician takes the words of a poem or a sonnet and writes a melody line that pertains to cer...
4 comments
Read more

Welcome to Honors! (Please Read This)

     Welcome to Honors! My name is Abbie Hedden and I serve as President of Honors. Jamie Peters is our Vice President, and Caroline Tucker is our Secretary. I look forward to getting to know all of you in class during this upcoming year! There are a few things you need to know about Honors.      There are no quizzes or tests in Honors. Grades are provided based on attendance/class participation, blogs, explication papers, and the research paper. The papers will be addressed at a later date, as they aren't due until later in the semester. However, there is a blog post due every week. Bearing that in mind, here are the requirements! Criteria Blog posts are due Monday at 11:59PM , and comments are due Tuesday at 9:29AM . DO NOT BE LATE ON ASSIGNMENTS. Points WILL be deducted from late assignments! Be sure to have your name in your Blogger profile Blog posts should include at least one to two paragraphs on that week’s reading assignment.  Blog posts shoul...
Post a Comment
Read more

Topsy Turvy Day—Lily Caswell

  I cannot remember how old I was when I watched T he Hunchback of Notre Dame  but I was at least 8 or 9. I didn’t realize until probably a couple of years ago that the song  “Topsy Turvy” and the corresponding event was actually based on a real festival. The Feast of Fools was usually held on January 1 though it could have also been held on the 6 th  or the 13 th  of January. It was portrayed as a parody of Catholic feasts. Church bells were rung improperly, songs were sung out of tune, and the celebrants “wore strange garments and masks, and used puddings, sausages, and old shoes as censers.” (Seaton, p 77) In the song “Topsy Turvy”, it says “It’s the day the devil in us gets released / It’s the day we mock the prig and shock the priest / Everything is Topsy Turvy at the Feast of Fools… And it’s the day we do the things that we deplore ‘ On the other three hundred and sixty-four.”  I commented on Haylee Lynd’s and Jamie’s posts. Sources: https://www.brita...
1 comment
Read more