Writing Instruction: Integrating Creativity with Mechanics

WRITING INSTRUCTION: INTEGRATING CREATIVITY WITH MECHANICS
Copyright Oct. 2007

It is imperative that a writing pedagogy address the creative aspects of writing along with the basics of composition. This association is absolutely necessary since authors must learn to fuse the spontaneous characteristics of creative writing with technical, formal writing structures. Simply put, students must be prepared to construct eloquent and well-organized essays that are easily understood, original, and fun to read. Teachers facilitate an understanding among their students that it is both desirable and even acceptable to challenge the writing paradigm and traditional ideology—once the students have mastered the laws of mechanics. This combination of fluidity and traditional structure is the essence that enables the great voices in literature.

The teacher’s role is henceforth that of a facilitator in the discovery of a unique and effective voice. There is a great deal of literature that supports the assertion that teachers empower students through writing. According to Haake, author of What Our Speech Disrupts,
Our purpose as creative writing teachers ought to be to construct a nonhierarchical space within which we can expand prior notions of what might count as writing and extend to every student the privilege of his or her own speech. (18-19)

Without the ability to express themselves successfully, emergent writers cannot affect change or represent their native cultures successfully. Lower-level learners remain voiceless, which is why past societies failed to give certain ethnicities, and the female gender, the opportunity to discover the full range of opportunities in reading and writing. Today, however, the creative writing teacher is a key player in the development of a personal voice and the acquisition of culture.

Haake urges readers to re-examine the purpose of creative writing studies, and to consider that writing enables students to better understand their own essence. On the whole, this book (What Our Speech Disrupts) argues for a shift within the discipline that would respond to student differences and allow for reconceiving creative writing as a practice that takes many forms of value in the lives and educations of our students. This practice is open-ended in that it is accepting of all genders, ethnicities and viewpoints. According to Haake,

Such a classroom might be conceived of as a site of bricolage, where the teacher-writer, together with her or his student-writers, uses everything at hand not just to make writing happen, but to do so within a critical framework that reveals writing systems and gives students authority over their own work. (18)

If students are to develop a voice, they must be empowered through knowledge of the mechanics and creative techniques behind the structure. No matter how meaningful their statements may be, the students’ intent must be clearly understood by others. Authors who acknowledge the need to develop a voice express as much concern about the structure of language as the approaches to expression. According to Selling,

“One part of writing is to pick an interesting subject. However, the more important part is to develop techniques and skills that make the most ordinary subject interesting.” (36)

The creative writing teacher must be able to assist students in developing rudimentary mechanics along with basic skills to organize their ideas effectively. To be more specific, some of these techniques may include graphic organizers, sketches, outlines, and chronological tables. The organization of the paragraph must follow logical rules as it moves from topic sentence to the supporting details and conclusion; meanwhile, a natural flow must occur as one paragraph leads to the next, and each must maintain appropriate topics as well as a logical order.

Beginning students can best organize ideas and grasp the structure of writing if it is based upon their own lives. Selling encourages teachers to adapt life story writing to help students increase technique and voice.

This writing approach is intended and has been used to give students the opportunity to develop a command of the language as a mode of communication. Within this developing language, it is appropriate for young people to see that having feelings, knowing what those feelings are, and expressing them on paper are entirely normal parts of ordinary life experience. (41)

A writing curriculum that, in some manner, engages students in the act of recreating moments from personal recollection may lead to many other possibilities for self-expression, such as fiction based on personal memories, creative nonfiction, and poetry. Therefore, as an intrinsic part of today’s pedagogy, the author would insist upon integrating the personal memoir in all undergraduate or secondary school creative writing curriculums.

Without doubt, there is a sense of hesitancy when assigning writing based upon students’ personal experiences since teachers generally fear entry into unknown and unfamiliar rooms. It is essential to remember that writers are the ones who have the courage to encounter that which others fear, and to ask the questions others dare not pose. This is precisely how a writer acquires her individual voice.

A voice, the essence of life, will not be powerful if it does not integrate the creative aspects of writing with its logical and structural mechanics. One of the best techniques to develop structure and mechanics is that of turning to the narrative masters or reviewing the works most admired by students. This could include master narratives in children’s literature. Sims writes,
If you ask most writers how they learned to write, as I have the ones who appear in this anthology, they will tell you it was by reading the works of men and women who were doing the kind of writing they want to do and trying to figure out how they did it. (1)

The implications of this are that a sound pedagogy integrates examples of quality writing that appeal to student writers. For example, the author is about to read five memoirs prior to her attempt at writing her own. In order to target the manuscript to a particular market, it is important that she get a feel for the style of a few successful authors who have written within the same genre. Such teaching and learning techniques used by professionals are applicable to students at all levels.

Oates, the editor of Telling Stories, suggests teachers should integrate the miniature narratives into their lessons as models for later writing:

‘Miniature’ narratives come first for obvious reasons: like the dramatic monologue (to follow), they present beginning writers with a form far more accessible and navigable than the traditional story of greater length and complexity. (3)

Ramjerdi gives credit to master narratives for being the basis for all stories that are to be created: “I would argue that virtually all works that are read in fiction workshops now are at the same time repetitions of antithesis of gradations of a master narrative.” (Ramjerdi and Garber 18-19) Whether or not teachers agree with Ramjerdi’s premise, no one denies that master narratives provide an excellent model to either emulate or contrast. Among other important factors, master narratives exemplify solid grammatical structure along with stimulation for creative ideas.

Students should be encouraged to absorb ideas and structures from the master narratives of other cultures. As an exercise in writing, students who are bilingual may get extra credit for translating texts from foreign writers. When students have studied the professionals or the masters from various multicultural genres, they will have moved closer to acquiring a mature and effective technique. This study of masters is an essential step that all writers must take, whether it is within the framework of the Pedagogy Class, or at some point in the students’ journey to personal mastery.

Perhaps the most significant aspect of the master narrative is the logical flow of events that enables readers to understand the text. The progression is typically from the development of a problem (conflict) to a climax, followed by a resolution. Teachers must challenge their students with these problems by assigning short fictional writing assignments similar to the miniature narratives they have studied. In making the assignment, the students will be asked to address problems that one might encounter on a daily basis, and craft individualized resolutions. The ultimate resolution, although definitive, should leave room for thought afterward.

Master narratives make one’s life easier as a teacher because they provide writing instructors with high quality stories that are eminently suitable for discussion. Students readily accept the value offered by time-tested master narratives. Indeed, these archetypal models are handed down from one generation to the next as ancestral gifts that provide a sense of history and interconnectedness. It is this feeling of continuity that teachers must establish in the writing classroom through critique and mentorship. According to Johanna Hurwitz,
I was fortunate to always be surrounded by books and people who read...Both my parents and my grandmother read to me and I vividly remember enjoying the public library that was just a short walk from our apartment.

Luckily, Hurwitz was exposed to master narratives as well as relatives who served as her writing mentors. (Koehler-Pentacoff 271)

Student writers may not realize that most writers have benefited to varying degrees from the assistance of a mentor as they developed their writing voice. This may be one of the best-kept secrets in writing instruction: Students need individuals who will give them encouragement and whom they can emulate. Effective mentoring is a critical element within the pedagogy that is enhanced when teachers match mentoring pairs who are assigned to give one another encouragement and advice.

In my class, each student will have a mentoring partner with whom he or she will discuss writing topics. Mentoring partners support one another by providing valuable, targeted and affable counsel regarding the improvement of each other’s work. They can discuss readings, edit one another’s work, and share their findings with others in the group. It is likely most students will want a mentoring partner and will gladly accept the teacher’s assignment thereof. Students enjoy caring feedback provided in safe and personal environments, but they are often too hesitant to seek criticism on their own. There are many excellent examples of mentoring partnerships in the English-to-speakers-of-other-languages classrooms in which peers review one another’s work and jointly assist in the editing and revision processes.

Selling has written a chapter on the importance of giving feedback to fellow students. He urges teachers to engage students in the critique process since giving and receiving feedback from mentors can be as meaningful as the writing process itself. He says that “It is possible, however, to form groups within classrooms that have entirely different dynamics.” Demonstrably, these are the groups in which student writers can feel at ease. In smaller groups, “The writer does not feel it necessary to defend his or her work and can, instead, focus on understanding how others are receiving it.”(52-53) The writing class, therefore, is all about developing this sense of community.

Students will learn more about one another, and about writing, through the establishment of a friendly learning community within the larger framework of the classroom. This is one reason why the author has integrated computer-art and computer-writing critiques for students. Such practices, formerly regarded as strategies for teaching lower-level learners, have become increasingly important in a technology-based, visual world. Classroom critiques nowadays must be integrated with Internet communications in the form of message boards. This medium is currently an integral part of the writing process, and it has proven attractive to writers with diverse learning styles.

Anyone who has taught students that possess a wide range of abilities, learning styles, and talents understands well that teachers should never assume learners know the material. The writing instructor must question students in order to ascertain whether they truly comprehend what is expected of them. The teacher must specifically address issues regarding grammar, mechanics, and creative processes. In turn, questions posed by the students themselves indicate they are learning, and no question is too simple to be presented to the group. Indeed, it is the writer’s job to pose such questions and seek answers relative to integrating mechanics and creativity.

Effective writing pedagogies strive to fuse spontaneous, creative production with a grammatically correct structure. Therefore, assignments combine mechanics with creativity to both establish balance and make a powerful statement concerning the development and use of student voices. Critiques, mentoring, and portfolio production represent efficient strategies that move students along the path toward achieving these goals.

Teachers should modify portions of the curriculum to meet the needs of diverse learners. Students benefit from exposure to a variety of genres including persuasive essays, poetry, and dialogue. Some of them will opt to specialize in specific genres since very few writers tend to drift toward analytical writing. Others are more spontaneous. Writing teachers can choose to advocate individual instruction while assisting students to learn useful techniques such as brainstorming, free association, and burrowing.

Burrowing is especially helpful for those students who absorb the world around them and dig deep into their souls. By its name alone, burrowing suggests excavating to the depths of consciousness with structure and great thought. In What Our Speech Disrupts, Haake says that burrowing is the use of ideas based upon a sentence. “Writing proceeds from language rather than image.” (177-79) One sentence leads to the next. The process is akin to free association, except that it involves sentences that inspire successive sentences.

In contrast, free association is the challenge of writing as much as one can within a given amount of time while permitting one idea, rather than a sentence, to foment the next. This enables the writer to be as creative as possible, often pairing two concepts that are frequently antithetical. Free association also has much in common with brainstorming, itself generally a function of the prewriting process.

Brainstorming entails working on a team and surfacing ideas that might seem crazy to some, or even deriving solutions to problems. Mentoring partners may be asked to brainstorm new plots for fiction in a bid to be helpful to one another, much like a critique process. Whatever the assignment, however, one finds that working with others in the writing class builds teams.
Team building is an effective methodology that involves the establishment of multiple intelligence groups. On such teams, students pair with like-minded peers to brainstorm and edit texts. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality questionnaire can be employed to assist in pairing those who have similar personality traits. These corresponding groups of students are very effective when discussing creative visualization techniques and reflections from life.

Teams and critique groups will encounter issues of ethnocentrism and the ethnocentric versus the multicultural voice. At present, these are two sizzling topics that follow the emergence of writers from all cultures whose work expands the context of the English-based writing world. Such topics fall within the realm of spontaneous and grammatical writing as they force classmates to find creative solutions to the gap between ethnocentrism and multiculturalism. It is interesting to examine how immigration and limited English proficiency affect the mechanics of the English language, and to what extent one can, or even should, deviate from normative writing models. A few authors have begun to integrate new word patterns into their texts such as Spanglish, a new language that has found its way into the mainstream from longstanding bilingualism.

Multiculturalism and diverse perspectives enhance creative writing. Indeed, eschewing conformity—daring to be different rather than safe—represents the very nature of the creative voice. Students’ origins often become the seeds of triggering subjects; in other words, their various experiences serve as the inspiration for such students to become writers. Moreover, a triggering subject that arouses the desire to express one’s passion is the very definition of a writer’s motivation. The triggering subjects for some individuals motivate them to endeavor naturally in various arts, often because they have experienced difficulty or euphoria. Other students, however, require assistance in identifying a suitably catalytic triggering subject, the likes of which may be as radiant as "Princess Diana", as groundbreaking as The Beatles, or as gentle and fleeting as the memory of a kind deed. Triggering subjects are undeniably and extraordinarily personal, and they require acceptance within teams of students engaged in the critique process.

A writing pedagogy that integrates the creative and the mechanical aspects of language facilitates openness and candor in discussions. Suitably enabled minds inspire the emergence of new ideas, which is essentially the intent behind encouraging culturally diverse writers to express a personal voice. The teacher serves as a role model for the students as they observe the instructor’s verbal and written responses to their products. Miller writes, “You should always be careful to treat both your audience and your opinions with respect. Few are likely to be converted to your opinions if you treat them like fools and dismiss their beliefs with contempt.” (1-3) Only when students learn the mechanics of persuasive essays do they fully understand the necessity of treating opposing viewpoints with respect. As an analogy to life lessons, the student writers will learn that many points of view can be advanced or suitably defended if one adequately prepares her statements.

In conclusion to the new Pedagogy Integrating Creativity and Mechanics, the author wishes to provide a few practical suggestions for teaching that will provide outlets for imaginative expression. The following assignments deal with empathy, characterization, and protagonists.
In the first exercise, the students will interview someone who is of a different culture or age group. Their questions will surround the experience he or she identifies as having been the most effective learning experience over the years. The results of the interviews will be shared with the class. For the second exercise, the students will create a flawed character and explain the psychology that led to the character’s distinctiveness. During the third assignment, the student writers will use index cards to create three protagonists for a fictional story dealing with opposing points of view. The students will later expand these ideas into stories and plays. Afterward, peer writers will trade work and edit each other’s texts prior to commencing the final draft.

Teacher responses and evaluations are essential in providing instruction in creativity and writing mechanics. Above all else, evaluation is critical for creative writing students because it affirms their ability to take the steps necessary to improve their work. Evaluation includes summarizing the teacher’s understanding of student efforts. The instructor must read student writers’ works critically to achieve a full understanding of the overall meaning of that writing. Naturally, different teachers will rely on individual interpretations and understandings of student work, just as separate publishers have conflicting opinions about whether a particular manuscript is worthy of publishing. Since negative criticism from a teacher might inadvertently cause the end of a student’s budding writing career, it is necessary to convey the logic that the instructor’s opinions are merely subjective.

The best way to prevent grading from hindering creativity—or worse, making students abandon it altogether—is to grade multiple aspects of the writing. Teachers should pay attention separately to creative originality, analysis, and grammar and mechanics. There are many methods by which teachers can recognize compartmentalized abilities, either through separately grading creativity and mechanics or by providing students with a score for each. Regardless of whether college-level writing teachers establish such guidelines for grading, the instructor must be sensitive to these creative and mechanical components, individually and collectively, of effective writing.

Research in the area of creative writing instruction indicates there is a need for creative writing classes that focus strong emphasis on the analytical and intuitive aspects of writing. These are separate but unified forms of creativity and mechanics. Students must be encouraged to think independently while they develop a logical voice, which they reinforce with a solid foundation in both grammar and research.

In the real world, an artist employs technique and imagination to create a work of perceived genius. A musician adds masterful expression to the notes he has rigorously followed. Likewise, writing students persist in combining the spontaneous aspects of creativity with formal writing structures to ensure their melodic and emerging voices will be heard by all.


Works Cited

(Daigh Ralph Maybe You Should Write a Book 1973)Daigh, Ralph. Maybe You Should Write a Book. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1973.

(Haake Katherine What Our Speech Disrupts 2005)Haake, Katherine. What Our Speech Disrupts. United States: Premium Source Publishing, 2005.

(Koehler-Pentacoff Elizabeth ABCs of Writing for Children 2003)Koehler-Pentacoff, Elizabeth. The ABCs of Writing for Children. New York: Barnes and Noble, 2003.

(Miller Robert K Informed Argument: A Multidisciplinary Reader and Guide 1992)Miller, Robert K. The Informed Argument: A Multidisciplinary Reader and Guide. Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanich, Inc., 1992.

(Oates Joyce Carol Telling Stories: An Anthology for Writers 1998)Oates, Joyce Carol, ed. Telling Stories: An Anthology for Writers. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1998.

(Ramjerdi Jan Garber Eugene Reflection on the Teaching of Creative Writing 1994)Ramjerdi, Jan, and Eugene Garber. "Reflection on the Teaching of Creative Writing." Colors of a Different Horse (1994): 18-19.

(Selling Bernard Writing Your Life Story: Using Life Stories to Develop Your Writing Skills 1994)Selling, Bernard. Writing Your Life Story: Using Life Stories to Develop Your Writing Skills. 2nd ed. United States: Barnes and Noble, 1994.

(Sims Patsy Literary Nonfiction: Learning by Example 2002)Sims, Patsy, ed. Literary Nonfiction: Learning by Example. New York: Oxford U P, 2002. (Zinsser)

(Zinsser Williams On Writing Well 1990)Zinsser, William. On Writing Well. 4th ed. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1990.

A Clandestine Language: Content of Courtly Love Conventions in Realism

The conventions of courtly love and chivalry are unexpectedly evident in the realist novels, Madame Bovary, The Awakening, and Crime and Punishment. To what extent these conventions were pertinent to realist literature, or whether they became obsolete after the 19th century, remains in question since some readers might think courtly love traditions conflict with realism. In searching for an answer, one must examine whether the realist authors perceived irony in courtly love or whether they secretly employed the concept as a viable theme.

“L’amour courtois’” was a Victorian term chosen by Gaston Paris in 1883 to describe the invention, during the Middle Ages, of a passion then referred to as “Honest love” or “Refined love” (Delahoyde 1). Courtly love, also famously known as the Italian “amore cortese,” was a noble yet prohibited, affair characterized by ritualistic adulation, gift giving, adultery and secrecy. In this context, the male lover meditated upon his lady’s magnificence while he kept his affection secret from her spouse and others. The fact that the woman might have been married to someone else did not deter her suitor since sacred love was considered to have been supremely formidable, the single force that could elevate man to his highest spirituality. The lover was controlled and obliging, asking only that his lady provide him with her acceptance and a brilliant gaze that would rectify all tribulations. Love was the most important event in life as it transported the participants to a state of total elation, thus, honorable conduct was guaranteed (Thompson 1).

Courtly love during the Middle Ages was an “artistic phenomenon” that included feminist undertones since it accorded the female more power than that of a wife attached to a dowry or land:“It's been said that in the Middle Ages you married a fief and got a wife thrown in with the bargain. Idealized "love" goes against the utilitarian economics of marriage, and passion was forbidden by the Church, so until the courtly version came along, Love was duty and "Luv" was sinful.” (Delahoyde 1).

Sacred, courtly love was considered to be even stronger than the bonds that tied man to the material world. Writers and artists alike took pleasure in the mere thought of the perfect woman, one who embodied an angelic and healing persona. Such idealized women, whether real or imagined, inspired many great works of art. It seems the yearning for an idealized feminine presence exemplified passionate and even deviant lust, characteristics obviously contrary to sacred idealistic emotions. Ultimately, the sacred and the more earthly connotations became opposite paradigms from which emerged the beloved women who inspired great poetry.

The most famous, Italian beloveds of the Renaissance were Beatrice and Laura, both of whom died during Dante’s (1265-1321) and Petrarch’s (1304-1374) lives. Despite that detail, the women were adored and honored in poetry long after their deaths. Even today, their spirits seem able to impose their timeless beauty upon modern readers. Indeed, the courtly lover prized only one woman and did not shift allegiance simply because she was no longer alive. As a result, the courtly poet transformed his lady into a symbol of the Christian Mary’s magnitude, a leader of the Cult of the Virgin.

Deirdre O'Siodhachain identifies five basic components of courtly love: 1. Sexual love between men and women is something splendid, and in itself an ideal worth striving for; 2. Love ennobles both the lover and the beloved; 3. Being an ethical and aesthetic attainment, sexual love cannot be reduced to mere libidinal impulse; 4. Love pertains to courtesy and courtship but is not necessarily related to the institution of marriage; 5. Love is an intense, passionate relationship that establishes a holy oneness between man and woman (1).

Courtly love during the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance shared its secretive nature with the altruistic Romantic love of the 19th century. It was certainly the precursor to Romantic literature (c.1770-1832) that preceded the Realist Movement (c.1832-1880). The two genres focus on passion, obsession and secret ardor embedded in humanity. Many individuals lead secret love lives, but the difference between gratification and the romantic or courtly pursuits is that the latter forms retain instinctive, steadfast loyalty that transcends physicality. It may be difficult for modern readers accustomed to self-fulfillment and omniscient media to understand the utility of the myriad secret loyalties that were fundamental in the Middle Age world.

Today’s fleeting loves usually become passé once mass media has violated their secrecy. Thus, one expects to learn about short-lived marriages or romances that have blossomed or wilted. Tresidder advises readers, “Courtly love was usually secretive, and Andre’ le Chapelain’s 13 th century Rules of Love advised that ‘a love divulged seldom lasts.’” (Tresidder 86). Perhaps this is why Madame Bovary concealed her affections as she assumed a quasi gender-reversed role that included undertones of secret relationships.

Visions of courtly love seem to fill the mind of Flaubert’s realist protagonist in Madame Bovary (1857). Emma Bovary adored secret gifts, maintaining clandestine affairs, and adultery for the sake of romance. Emma’s illicit behavior was spurred by her readings of romantic literature, but such books, coupled with her courtly love affairs, eventually led to her downfall. Emma’s husband, Charles, could never have been her chivalrous lover since he was a mediocre and common man who lived within the contract of marriage. Charles was a reliable husband and a symbol of the new realism that focused criticism on the romantic notions of courtly love. Ironically, Charles also embodied several of the qualities of a courtly lover, which made him appear foolish. For instance, he exalted Emma Bovary after her death despite her dishonesty. Unfortunately for Charles, he was destined to become the rejected third party in the love triangle and the spurned husband in a marriage arranged for social and economic reasons (Flaubert 247-327).

Flaubert seemed to denounce romantic literature that contained remnants of the courtly love tradition as he illustrated how Emma Bovary paid the ultimate price for her romantic imagination. Conversely, the psychological realist, Chopin, author of The Awakening (1899), honored the spiritual knowledge that Edna Pontillier gained about herself through platonic love affairs. Edna was a married woman whose husband, Leonce Pontillier, held a stable position in business. Edna had children, but she was dissatisfied with the confinement her family represented. Because her personality had been eclipsed by the situation, she felt unable to fulfill her creative desires, including that of being a painter. On separate occasions, Edna found extramarital love with two chivalrous suitors who met her in the Creole setting of Grand Isle near New Orleans. Edna’s platonic lovers, Robert and Arobin, possessed all the characteristics of courtly suitors, specifically, secrecy and adulterous desire, each which fomented an uplifting spirituality that transcended the physical (Chopin 161).

Edna Pointillier brought pleasure to all who regarded her. Similar to the thoughts Dante expressed for Beatrice, or those penned by Petrarch for Laura, Edna was a goddess—a blessed woman. Chopin described Edna thusly: Venus rising from the foam could have presented no more entrancing a spectacle than Mrs. Pontellier, blazing with beauty and diamonds at the head of the board, while the other women were all of them youthful houris, possessed of incomparable charms” (Chopin 173).

Little did Edna’s male admirers know that she would soon perish of her own volition in the seawaters, a symbol of regeneration and renewal. Water is considered a symbol of baptism and a return to humankind’s genetic origins, especially when attached contextually to the disappearance of a protagonist. One might compare Edna’s return to the waters with the emergence of man in the prehistoric form of a fish; therefore, since she is seen as moving on to better things, her fate is not necessarily deemed tragic.

Edna’s death is considered by some to be the rebirth of the female consciousness. Edna Pontillier is akin to a supernatural being that was sacrificed for the salvation of womankind’s spirit. This literary situation appears reminiscent of Dante’s beloved Beatrice who was also a kind of female savior.

Beatrice saved Dante’s soul even after her own death. The following is Rubin’s explanation of her “goddess” status conveyed with the help of numerology: She is the figure 9 who dies in the 9th hour of the 9th day in the 9th month which the perfect number (10) had completed 9 times in the century (Vita Nuova 29). He makes this love a transcendence: she becomes the glorious woman of my mind” (155).

Both Edna Pontillier and Emma Bovary were realist protagonists who were also involved in love triangles. Similarly, courtly beloveds Dante and Beatrice, constituted two legs of another love triangle that included Beatrice’s absent and forgotten spouse. To the courtly lover, a situation talis qualis would have been unremarkable since love surpassed the rules of society. Naturally, love triangles serve as sources of conflict in realist novels and add interest to the outcome. The romantic tradition that preceded Realism, as well as the courtly traditions themselves, generate and acknowledge widespread love triangles. For example, Edna was married while she was pursued by Robert. Emma Bovary was married to Charles, but she loved Leon and Rodolphe at different times during that marriage. Husbands were unable to impede their wives from loving others or from being adored by others. The younger Leon pursued Emma Bovary in the tradition of the courtier while he glorified her spirit and essence:

Never had he met with such a grace of language, such modesty of dress, such tableaux of drowsy maiden-innocence. He admired the exaltation of her soul and the lace on her skirts. Besides, was she not a lady, a married woman! A real mistress” (Flaubert 247)

The sentiments Emma Bovary stimulated in Leon are similar to those aroused in Dante by Beatrice. As may be readily observed, Leon was sensitive to every aspect of how Emma felt and looked:By the variousness of her (Emma’s) moods, successively mystical and joyful, talkative and taciturn, passionate and nonchalant, she roused a thousand desires in him, kindling instincts or memories. She was the lover in every novel, the heroine in every play, the vague she in every volume of poetry. On her shoulders he found the amber colors of Odalisque au bain; she had the long body of some feudal chatelaine; she looked like the pale woman of Barcelona, but supremely she was the Angel” (Flaubert 247).

Dante’s analogous description of Beatrice, a female redeemer much like Emma Bovary, is simply laudative:

‘Deus, venerunt gentes,’ the ladies,
Now three, now four, in alternation sang,
Beginning their sweet psalmody in tears,
And Beatrice, sighing and compassionate,
Was listening, her face so changed in its expression
That Mary’s, at the cross, was hardly more transformed.
(Purgatorio; Alighieri 685).

Dante’s Beatrice ignites in much the same way as Chopin’s Edna Pontillier “blazes with beauty.” The adulated object of courtly love always seems to be a sizzling vision who commands mystical healing qualities. Her gaze has a baptismal effect upon the courtly lover for the anticipation of love is more uplifting than even its carnal expression. Beatrice’s acceptance of Dante, along with her divine nature, directed Dante to the baptismal waters—much like those of Edna Pontillier’s sea of renewal near the end of The Awakening. Finally, water represents a symbol of renewal in both books.

From those most holy waters
I came away remade, as are new plants
Renewed with new-sprung leaves,
Pure and prepared to rise up to the stars.
(Alighieri 693)

It was Beatrice who was there to meet Dante among the stars since she was already deceased. Beatrice, whom Dante glorified as saintly and noble, had married another man and died at age twenty-four. All the same, Dante treasured Beatrice in the tradition of courtly love with a clandestine and unrequited reverence for the rest of his life. Beatrice would serve as inspiration for writers and lovers spanning the centuries, from courtly lovers to the Romantics.

Ironically, there are commonalities between the angelic Beatrice and the lusty, realistic Emma Bovary. Edna Pontellier seems to manifest Beatrice’s glow and majesty, but Dante’s influence does not stop there. Courtly love also emerged unexpectedly in Dostoyevsky’s realist novel, Crime and Punishment, in lurid, crime-ridden St. Petersburg, the murderous lover found salvation and reformation in angelic Sonya.

Of course, the answers to redemption are unclear for Dostoyevsky’s realist protagonists, but Raskolnikov undertook a journey much like that of Dante, finally understanding that Sonya’s love was the key to salvation. Love and redemption served as the very basis for his journey as he learned en route that mercy awaits even those who have committed crimes provided they find spiritual love and serve penitence.

Courtly love is the secret language that was spoken where it was least expected, even among the lower classes of realist fiction when they had noble aspirations and desires. Sonya’s presence brought joy to Raskolinov, the repentant murderer incarcerated in a Russian prison camp, as he unexpectedly discovered Sonya beside him:

Her face still bore the signs of her illness, it had grown thin and pale and sunken. She gave him a pleased, friendly smile, but, following her habit, extended her hand to him timidly (Dostoyevsky 654).

Raskolinov, having received his lady’s grace, was overcome by bliss and outwardly revealed his adoration for Sonya, his female savior and equivalent of Christ’s mother. He survived the city, which was like Dante’s “hell,” and eventually found himself in a prison that was metaphorically a rural paradise on earth where Sonya would return to save him:

She understood everything. Her eyes began to shine with an infinite
happiness; she had understood, and now she was in no doubt that he loved
her, loved her infinitely, and that at last it had arrived, that moment . . .


They tried to speak but were unable to. There were tears in their eyes. Both of them looked pale and thin; but in these ill, pale faces there now gleamed the dawn of renewed future, a complete recovery to a new life. What had revived them was love, the heart of one containing an infinite source of life for the heart of the other
(Dostoyevsky 654-5).

The venerated lady who partakes of courtly love romance is obliged to tender a spiritual acceptance of her lover, even after she has feigned indifference. If this is a contest, then these are the rules that must be observed to achieve success. Most importantly, the beloved must accept the lover’s gift unconditionally. How surprising it may seem that such intrigue exists even in realist settings!

Crime and Punishment is a well-known model for modern realism; yet, one observes that the secret language of courtly love lies somewhere near the roots of the realist plot. Sonya, unlike Dante’s Beatrice, Emma Bovary, and Edna Pontillier, is unmarried. Indeed, she is similar to a married woman only in the respect that she is not a virgin since she has prostituted herself in order to feed her poor step-siblings. However, this does not deter Sonya from rising above that situation because, she, too, is intrinsically noble in character as the kindhearted savior of poor, hungry children.

Dostoyevsky’s story concludes with Raskolinov’s salvation through love, acceptance and adoration, “A new story begins, the story of a man’s gradual renewal, his gradual rebirth, his gradual transition from one world to another…” (Dostoyevsky 656).

Raskolnikov is reborn through faith in his female savior for whom he has carried a secret admiration throughout the tortuous journey. Wishing to follow Sonya just as Dante emulated Beatrice’s grace, Raskolinov ponders whether he can be more like Sonya, “What if her convictions can now be mine, too? Her feelings, her strivings, at least. . . “(Dostoyevsky 656).

Raskolinov, much like Dante, attains salvation as he travels from Purgatory to Paradise, but whereas Dante and Beatrice are upheld to be superb models of ethical behavior, the dual protagonists of Crime and Punishment, Raskolinov and Sonya, are ennobled from humankind’s inner spirit, even after having committed crimes. The imperfections of these realist characters reflect authentic struggles. One is able to see clearly the divergence between modern realism and early Renaissance writings. Such realist protagonists are less idealized and embody a greater number of shortcomings. Nevertheless, there remains a desire for adulation and spiritual love in the real world, along with an underlying, courtly tradition that transcends carnal love.

Laura is another precursor of Emma Bovary, Edna Pontellier, and Sonya. Petrarch imbued with courtly love the sonnets he wrote for Laura, his spiritual guide. Indeed, his description of Laura was written during the Renaissance, centuries before the emergence of realism.
She was unlike the earthly, mortal things,

As one who cared for heaven, nothing else.
My soul that burned and froze under her spells,
Wishing to go with her, opened its wings (Petrarch 473).

The sonnet was written to mark Laura’s early demise. Death and bereavement are also persistent themes in Madame Bovary and The Awakening. The resplendent and unattainable ladies die leaving their lovers to reflect upon their greatness. Emma Bovary, regarded by many readers as a wicked adulteress who rightly deserved her painful death by arsenic poisoning, made concerted efforts to be admired in the manner of the courtly beloved. Indeed, there were moments when her lovers felt overwhelmed by her vast beauty. Charles Bovary, Emma’s husband, adulated her beauty after her demise. Arguably, Flaubert’s intention may have been to provide a forum for discussion about the disadvantages of romantic love based on courtly ideals since such soirees could end in painful tragedies like Emma’s.

It seems that realism effectively debases courtly love since it concentrates on and details the aspects of everyday realities, especially loathsome environments, death, pain, blood, and despair. Politics are also woven into realist plots just as they were apparent in The Divina Commedia. For example, Dostoyevsky painted a fetid, gray vision of St. Petersburg with its rampant prostitution, child abuse, and starvation— a place like the inferno—yet, in the darkest of spaces, the essence of courtly love afforded the protagonist a glimmer of hope and the feeling of spiritual salvation. But while readers of realist literature might reluctantly admit an essential need for courtly love, who among them could deny the redemptive qualities of the adulated and courtly beloved?

Works Cited

Alighieri, Dante. La Vita Nuova. London: Adamant Media Corporation. 2005.

Alighieri, Dante. Purgatorio. New York: Doubleday. 2003.

Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. New York: Penguin Books. 2003.

Delahoyde, Michael. 2006. Courtly Love. Washington State University. 24 June 2006. http://www.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/medieval/love.html

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment. New York: Penguin Books. 2003.

Flaubert, Gustave. Madame Bovary. New York: Penguin Books. 2003.

Petrarch, Francesco. Sonnets and Songs. New York: AMS Press. 1978.

O'Siodhachain, Deirdre. 2006. The Practice of Courtly Love. 22 June 2006 < http://moas.atlantia.sca.org/oak/04/court.htm>.

Rubin, Harriet. Dante in Love. New York: Simon and Schuster. 2004.

Thompson, Diane. 2006. Courtly Love Study Guide. 24 June 2006.
http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/eng251/amourstudy.htm#history

Trtesidder, Megan. The Secret Language of Love. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. 1997.

Viegnes, Michel. 2006. Space as in Love in the Vita Nuova. 22 June 2006

Posted by Laura Sweeney, Ed.D. at 6:21 PM 0 comments