"Snakes are symbols of both death and fertility in many cultures" (No author). Therefore, it is highly significant that "Her head is made up of the joined heads of two snakes, and the skirt that she wears is made of snakes woven together" (No author). In keeping with the motif of the life that she is emblematic of, the breasts of this goddess are substantially enlarged to illustrate her role as nurturer. However, such effervescence is also tempered with death and its fearsome appearance and role within life, which is demonstrated in the statue by the "garment of human skin" (No author) Coatlicue wears as well as the eminent skull in her midsection. There is a definite aura of gruesomeness manifested by the statue, typified by the goddesses' necklace of hearts and hands, and the claws of her hands and feet (better to dig graves with) (No author), that is decidedly missing from Nike of Samothrace.
Still, although Nike's clothing is not nearly as severe or as eccentric as those of Coatlicue, there is a vibrancy in her clothing that is reminiscent of the liveliness depicted in the latter's. This fact is mostly due to the setting of this sculpture, which is elucidated within the following quotation.
The Nike of Samothrace originally stood on the marble bow of a sculpted warship, a monument that commemorated a naval victory… This monument was erected in a grotto on a hill overlooking the Sanctuary of the Great Gods on the northern Aegean island of Samothrace. A reflecting pool created the illusion that the warship was sailing out of its rectangular base while a misting fountain simulated sea spray (Curators).
As this quotation indicates, this statue was originally set upon a ship. Therefore, the sense of motion, and fluidity, that can be found in the angle of the goddess, as well as in the numerous, lifelike ripples on her clothing, is in accordance to the high winds and movement that characterize life at sea r life on board a ship. The goddesses' outstretched wings seem to reinforce this notion, and give her the appearance as if she...
Necklace by Guy De Maupassant Guy de Maupassant's short story, "The Necklace," deals with many different themes. This work of literature examines notions of beauty and youth, class and money, and a liveliness and zest for life that is contrasted with the conception of aging. Despite all of these thematic issues, it appears to the shrewd reader that the principle theme that this work of literature is based upon, and which
Loisel feels that she has no dresses worthy of the elite party. Rather than appreciate the material goods she and her husband do have, she laments what she lacks and thus seems bitter and ungrateful. Her life filled with fantasy and longing causes quite severe mental and emotional impairment, even depression: "she wept all day long, from chagrin, from regret, from despair, and from distress." Madame Loisel was depressed
757). Chopin (2002) writes: "There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature" (p. 757). Louise is discovering that she will have say over what she does and there will
And as before, rather than expressing openness about her true feelings, in the face of wealth she becomes embarrassed and ashamed, and this also proves her undoing, as if she had only been open about what had transpired with the necklace, then she would not have had to labor her entire life to pay back the debt. Mathilde bankrupts her husband, by losing the paste necklace, but this selfishness is
In Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace” (1884), a beautiful young woman named Mathilde is depicted almost as having been deprived of a higher station in life simply because of her impressive physical characteristics and that fact that she lives in humble dwellings. She is sharply aware both of her beauty and of her modest status. Having been born into a family of clerks and married a clerk, she feels constrained.
Faience Necklace This necklace was found in the Egyptian tomb. Wealthy Egyptians who died were buried with many of their most precious and/or sentimental life's possession that they wished to take with them to another world (the Afterlife). This necklace was found in one ancient Egyptian tomb and evidently manifested value despite its cheap nature. (Faience was a relatively cheap material) (Andrews, 1981) The beads are various scintillating colors representing various
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