Analysis Of The Poem ' Judith Of Bethulia ( Brine, Ciletti And $ 86 )

Judith was not a soldier, but she killed a fearsome warrior of the ancient world. She did this by using the gifts she had: beauty, intelligence, and ruthless cunning. Judith was a high standing woman within Bethulia, and she feared God with great devotion (Jdt 9:10). When Judith heard of her elders testing God and giving him five days to prove something, like making it rain in order to save the people of Bethulia from starving and dying of thirst, she summoned the elders and decided it was up to her to save her people. “For the strength does not depend on numbers, nor your might on the powerful” (Jdt 9:11) supports the thesis that if God is on Judith’s side she can defeat the General of the Assyrians.

Judith Cutting Off the Head of Holofernes (Figure 1), ca. 1640,1 is consisting of a well-dressed female decapitating a middle-age man in his bed with the aid of an old woman. The elegantly dressed female using a sword to behead the man is named Judith. The male figure in the painting is

A less theoretical definition of poetry is, “putting the best words in the best possible order.” A poet may incorporate the theory as follows. The poet may astutely choose words possibly with a double meaning in order to indirectly convey a message, evoke emotions, or to slander. Then, the poet may unconventionally place such words and phrases perhaps out of expected order for the sake of creating a “word picture,” emphasizing the speaker’s feelings, or offering tangibility to the poem. By implementing this idea onto poetic works, the poet will have auspiciously written a superb poem. This theory may be applied to a few of Catullus’s poems specifically “Carmen 5”, “Carmen 8”, and “Carmen 85.” Catullus’s meticulous choice of words and arrangement highlight the central focus of the poem, obliquely criticize traditional Roman law, manipulate the audience’s attitude, transmit the speaker’s emotions, paint “word pictures,” and offer symbolic meaning consequently producing a successful poem.

In the poems, “To Helen” and “Helen”, both Edgar Allan Poe and H.D. emphasize the beauty of the infamous Helen of Troy; however, the speakers’ attitudes differ as one praises and worships Helen while the other condemns her for her treachery and remains unmoved by her beauty.

Though out this class I learned a lot, I never really read much poetry and did not realize how much meaning poems can have. I am glad that we read so many different types and styles of poems and books. It really helped me get a well rounded understanding of poetry. My favorite unit was the collection unit. The other poems we read taught me a lot about the other topics we touched on as well. Before this class I never really gave poetry much thought, this class opened up my eyes to how important poetry really is.

Throughout the three literary periods: The Ancient World, The Middle Ages, and The Renaissance; women have been portrayed and treated in different ways. The Iliad by Homer is about the Trojan War fought by the Achaeans and Trojans which was over the capturing of the wife of King Menelaus, Helen of Troy, by Paris. In The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer, it is about a group of 29 people who are all on a pilgrimage to Canterbury to worship St. Thomas’s shrine; however, as Chaucer describes all these types of people not many of them are very religious and the stories they tell show the perspective and portrayal of women in this time. In Francis Petrarch’s poetry Rhymes, he describes his love and admiration for a woman who doesn’t love him back, yet Petrarch still confesses his love for her through his poetry. Through these stories and poems, The Iliad, The Canterbury Tales, and Rhymes, from the three time periods, the role of women is a progression of how they were looked at and their role in that time period, by men.

This piece of artwork is called ‘Judith Beheading Holofernes’, which was created by Caravaggio in the late 16th century in Rome. It was a type of oil painting on canvas, also, a piece of artwork in the period of Baroque. Briefly, Hood stated that in this artwork, it told the story in Biblical story of Judith, dressed as a well-born Renaissance young lady, standing at a safe distance, and who was saved her people by beheading and seducing the Assyrian general Holofernes, which was a theme very common in the 16th century. As the biblical text reported, ‘’Holofernes was so enchanted with her that he drank far more wine than he had drunk on any other day in his life’’ (Judith 12:20). Judith got Holofernes drunk, then took his sword and killed him. (p.24)

Artists striving for any appearance of propriety created extremely feminine, quiet and bland Judiths, perhaps to avoid the controversy Gentileschi wholeheartedly invited. Veronese's Judith7 (1570) is a perfect example of this. Her hair is immaculately braided and her skin a porcelain white rivaling the delicate pearls around her neck. She gazes into the distance as she daintily places the head of Holofernes in the bag her servant holds out for her. Simply put, Judith appears as dead as the head she holds. She is devoid of emotion, intelligence and humanity. Again, she is nothing but an allegory, a warning for proud and arrogant men.

The theme of matrimony in the Wife of Bath’s Prologue as well as in the Miller’s Tale does not fit in with traditional fourteenth-century culture. The characters in these two texts turn what is suppose to be a sacred unity into a promiscuous and taboo fantasy for pilgrims. The characters narrating these two tales promote the idea of what fourteenth-century canon law would define as adultery—to have had a third lover while married is the new societal trend for the characters in these tales. And so, marriage becomes a component to the larger fantasy of having a relationship with a character who is already in a marital bond, i.e., cuckolding is a fetish for Alisoun in the Wife of Bath’s Prologue as well as for Nicholas and Absolom in the Miller’s Tale. That is, Alisoun’s pursuit of her lover Jankin while being married, promotes the idea that having a third partner amplifies one’s sexual life, meanwhile, Nicholas’s and Absalom’s quarrel over (a different) Alison encourages the idea that engaging with a married someone enhances the gratification of adultery. In other words, marriage is not portrayed as a scared bond, but as a device to fulfill a pilgrim’s sexual fantasy; and, this new fantasy is what the pilgrims try to make a trend throughout England. Note that I will be using the name, “Alisoun,” to represent the wife from Bath, and I will be using the name, “Alison,” to portray the wife in the Miller’s Tale.

 It seemed as if the court almost condoned his actions and felt little pity for Artemisia.  Her paintings, at this point in her life, become drastically different.  In about 1612, she paints the first of five works of Judith and Holoferness.  The gory scene shows Holoferness, an Assyrian general being beheaded by Judith, a Jewish widow.  The scene shows ample amount of blood, however, it does not feel like a room of murder.  The killing of Holoferness by Judith is done in order to protect her homeland and life.  Also, she prays to god in order to give her the strength to do the killing.  Therefore, she felt it was justifiable.  It is a rare message for the early 1600's in that it is the woman avenging a man.  The powerful scene  of   It seems that Artemisia paints these works in order to avenge her own suffering from Tossi as well as the justice system.  By depicting such a strong and powerful woman, Artemisia is, in a sense, creating a world which she believes in.  In this world, women can speak up and women are heard.  Women are just as capable of murder, leadership, and power as any man.  Artemisia paints four more scenes of Judith and Holoferness all varying slightly.  However, her overall theme and meaning of the work is consistent.  Simply put, Judith is a woman to be looked at and respected for being a strong willed woman who stands up for what she

I believe, as do others, Judith and the Maidservant with the head of Holofernes is perhaps homage to her rape and subsequent treatment during her adolescent years. Her painting`s inspiration also plays tribute to the biblical story of Judith, who sleeps with the King Holofernes and than decapitates the drunk King in his sleep. Both Judith and the maidservant are now dominate in the painting over the dead male, they are quiet, unobtrusive and tense. A single candle burns within the dark room creating stark contrast between light and dark. The artist`s great skill can be seen in the bright highlighted details of Judith's hand and in the folds of clothing of the two. Depth and dark core detail can also be seen in the dark and reflective shadow areas within the room. Judith's hand covers the candlelight as she peers at the outside world, perhaps in an attempt to help in

       As the tale begins we immediately can sympathize with the repressive plight of the protagonist.  Her romantic imagination is obvious as she describes the "hereditary estate" (Gilman, Wallpaper 170) or the "haunted house" (170) as she would like it to be.  She tells us of her husband, John, who "scoffs" (170) at her romantic sentiments and is "practical to the extreme" (170).  However, in a time

The story behind this painting is a Biblical tale about a strong heroine named Judith, who was known for her bravery and resistance against the Assyrian troops that come to assume control over her people. In this story, Judith uses her wit and seduction to ease her way into the Assyrian troops' camp and continue with a genius plan to execute the Assyrian General, Holofernes. She seduces him, and once he is drunk, beheads him in his own tent, with his own soldiers all around him oblivious (Branch). Judith was able to defeat the enemy and resist what could have been the end of many Israelites' lives. Cranach's choice suggested a political resistance that required a bravery similar to that of Judith's. Small details in the painting such as the bodice of the dress and Judith's jewelry show Cranach's love for a decorative surface, as well as the

In this essay, I will discuss the startling differences between two depictions of the story of Judith and Holofernes. “Judith with the Head of Holofernes”, 1495, created by Andrea Mantegna, is a small-scale painting that was completed during the Renaissance. The second is a Baroque painting, “Judith Slaying Holofernes”, c.1620 by Artemisia Gentileschi and is on a larger scale than the version created by Mantegna. Both artworks take inspiration from the religious story that appears in the Catholic editions of the Bible. The story is about a young widowed Jewish woman, by the name of Judith, who murdered an enemy army general, Holofernes, to spare her people from death. I will compare and contrast how the scene has been depicted in rather different ways by each of the artists and the influencing factors that contributed to the overall outcome of both works. I will also be discussing how form and naturalism are portrayed between the two paintings, use of colour, symbolism and religion, as well as the Renaissance and Baroque eras.

When I was looking through 17th-18th century European artwork in the Norton Simon Museum, there was one piece of art that really stood out to me. That beautiful art piece was the Bay of Naples by Claude-Joseph Vernet. This piece stood out to me because of the beautiful scenery that is displayed and the deep serenity the piece gives me when I look at it. The Bay of Naples is a painting of a landscape that captures the daily life of the bay. The materials used for this painting was oil on canvas.