Thursday, April 12, 2012
I See What's Coming
Sardanapalus keeps being referred to as effeminate, the Man-Queen, soft, and feminine. He is wicked and a man-whore, and these things apparently go hand in hand with the fact that he is not a very masculine man. This idea seems to be tied to the fact that he is a self-indulgent, wicked, lascivious man. This just makes me very angry. On another topic altogether, Ninevah is biblically the city that Jonah pronounced as wicked and worthy of destruction. He goes to the city, tells the people to repent, and they do, so God spares them. This pisses Jonah off, and then the belly of the whale bit comes later. Also, Ninevah was apparently destroyed in an act of God because of the Assyrians a while later. Also, Nimrod keeps getting mentioned and he was the king of Babel -- that's right, the king of the city that tried to built a tower to heaven, but then God struck everyone with different languages so they couldn't understand each other. So that gets us about 4 lines in and I'm angry, God's angry, and I have a feeling there is going to be lots of death and destruction before this whole thing is over.
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Let's not forget we've also got a domestic dispute on our hands at the outset of the work as well. Byron seems to be taking dramatic foreshadowing to the next level, perhaps this is because he is not a playwright by nature. I noticed how poetic the dialogue is… Byron is heavy on the alliteration, imagery, and metaphor. He even throws in refrains.
ReplyDeleteLots of anger here. The equation of weakness and corruption with femininity, or the lack of masculinity, in the character of Sardanapolus, are definitely frustrating to contend with as a female reader. But I don't think Byron is necessarily saying that the kingdom is going to fall to the "death and destruction" that you mention, Anna Leigh, purely because it is ruled by a feminine king; the greater problem is with Sardanapolus' individual character, his laziness and tendency towards partying and peace instead of addressing pertinent political issues.
ReplyDeleteI also couldn't help but notice the fact that it's set in Ninevah. The biblical king of Ninevah wants peace and will go to great measures to prevent the destruction of his city (repent of their sins, etc), but Sardanapolus wants peace and basically just talks the talk, no walking at all.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say that Sardanopolis is really wicked either, though he definitely possesses major character flaws and sinful tendencies. While he is certainly self-satisfying, it appears at least initially that he believes his behavior is only personally damning and not gravely detrimental to his realm. He consistently argues that a state of peace is better than a state of war because it doesn't thrust his subjects into peril, and though he is certainly justifying his laziness he does have a point. Also, he later spares the lives of the men who are accused of treason and lets them off with banishment to their respective home countries instead of killing them on the spot. Byron aimed to make him an amiable man despite his many vices so that we would pity his demise, adding depth to what could have been a straightforward story of the destruction of a corrupt empire.
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