For one the connection reinforces Hannibal's point that B+A do
pelican-work... for if the brood at Error's spew is a sacrilegious parody of
the pelican-mother, then B+A are a "good" version of that "evil" insofar as
they mirror it; insofar as Error is associated with false (Catholic)
spiritual doctrine, then what B+A nurture themselves with is good spiritual
doctrine, hence reinforcing the connection of Chrysogone with the mother
church (as Error, and Duessa, allegorize the false church or aspects of it;
Duessa is Chrysogone's anti-type insofar as Chrys. is described as beautiful
in bath --6.6.6-9-- and Duessa is famously revealed as hag-like in hers).
As for whatever Irish cultural anxieties may be present thanks to the
nursing image, this conclusion seems hard to avoid given the repeated stress
on the "salvage forests" (6.1.4) in which the insemination takes place (as
RCK penetrates Error's darkling wood, his glinting shield shining like a
bridegroom's torch?).
--Tom H.
On 2/3/06 3:08 PM, "Harry Berger, Jr." <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> My colleague, Jody Greene, notes several reminiscences in III.vi of
> the scene with Error in I.i (for example, III.vi.8-9 and 35-36), and
> wonders whether the reference to blood-sucking in III.vi.5 reminds
> anyone else of Error's brood. And if so, what to do with these
> allusions?
|