“Of all those that he devoured none
pleased him so well as the ones that had been composed by the famous Feliciano
de Silva, whose lucid prose style and involved conceits were as precious to him
as pearls; especially when he came to read those tales of love and amorous
challenges that are to be met with in many places, such a passage as the
following, for example: ‘The reason of the unreason that afflicts my reason, in
such a manner weakens my reason that I with reason lament me of your
comeliness.’ And he was similarly affected when his eyes fell upon such lines
as these: ‘…the high Heaven of your divinity divinely fortifies you with the
stars and renders you deserving if that desert you greatness doth deserve.’”
-Don Quixote, Cervantes, 2226
If
you’re going, “What…??,” then you got it exactly. In this passage, Cervantes is
commenting on the ridiculous nature of the writ of love. The circular speech
and repetitive wording in both of the quotes Cervantes tells us that Don
Quixote adores dizzies and confuses, and we see a commentary on obsessive love
and romance addiction, because certainly if Don Quixote is taken by such verse
as these, he has some level of addiction to romance. Cervantes himself is quick
to point out that the lines make little to no sense whatsoever, and that even
the greatest minds could not unravel their meaning. Not to claim myself among
those greatest minds, but I did try, and eventually I got through them, I think
able to glean something akin to what they may have been intended to mean,
but honestly, I am still not sure.
The
overdone sap that drips from these lines reminds me of many lines in Twilight,
but a few, for example, might be: “His voice was like melting honey. I could
imagine how much more overwhelming his eyes would be” (102); “I was consumed by
the mystery Edward presented. And more than a little obsessed by Edward himself”
(67); and: “It was hard to believe that someone so beautiful could be real. I
was afraid that he might disappear in a sudden puff of smoke, and I would wake
up” (87). But none so clearly overly obsessed as the passage that reads: “
About three things I was absolutely positive. First Edward was a vampire.
Second there was a part of him—and I didn’t know how dominant that part might
be—that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably
in love with him.”
Romance
addiction is an affliction suffered by many, at differing levels. Some mild
cases simply yearn for the un-reality that “I must get butterflies in my
stomach every time I see him, no matter how long we’ve been together,” while the
more extreme cases involve violence and abuse to themselves and/ or their “loved”
one. It may be the difference between caffeine and heroine, but addiction—to substance
or romance—is dangerous regardless.
The
purpose of this blog is to find beauty in things, and so, the beauty I find in
these passages from both Don Quixote and Twilight is this: We see through them
that obsessive love is consuming, maddening, ultimately unhealthy. Through them
we learn to seek what is true love: giving, service, and kindness.
“Love is, above
all, the gift of oneself.” –Jean Anouilh
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