Cupid and Folly
Cupid and Folly (French: L'Amour et la Folie ) is the 14th fable in the twelfth book of the collection of fables Fables Choisies, Mises En Vers by Jean de La Fontaine , in which the proverbial blind love is thematized.
Once, folly and the god Cupid played together; a quarrel broke out and the folly struck Cupid in the face so hard that he lost his sight . The gods and the judges of the underworld held judgment and condemned the folly of being the leader of the blind god of love for eternity.
With the burlesque text, the author first gives the impression of defending Cupid and then caricatures the scene of the judgment on folly. In the prologue , La Fontaine is neutral on the issue of love . The actual narrative does not make a sensible decision either: the condemnation of folly is only formal and in reality perpetuates Cupid's blindness, so de facto means the victory of folly over Cupid. The fable is vaulted with the word mystére ; the paradoxical nature of love expresses itself in the fact that love is a god - but blind, an evil - but also a happiness. La Fontaine leaves morality to the lover, i. H. the one who is shaken by these opposites, who can just as little judge as all the gods. He finds that he is not sure whether blind love should be called salvation or illness.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jean de La Fontaine : Fables Choisies: Mises En Vers. Pp. 64f , accessed on January 9, 2020 (French).
- ^ Commentaire "la folie et l'amour" de la fontaine - Comptes Rendus - 766 Mots. Retrieved January 9, 2020 (French).
- ^ Leo Spitzer : Romance Literature Studies: 1936–1956 . Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, 2014, ISBN 978-3-11-154953-8 , p. 192 f . ( google.de [accessed on January 9, 2020]).
- ↑ Andrew Calder: The Fables of La Fontaine: Wisdom Brought Down to Earth . Librairie Droz, 2001, ISBN 978-2-600-00464-0 , Love in the Fables, pp. 177 ( google.de [accessed February 8, 2020]).