Individual Presentation or Panel Title
El paralelismo entre “Tú me quieres blanca” y la humillación de un rey babilónico (The Parallelism between “You want me/love me white” and the Humiliation of a Babylonian King)
Abstract
In the poem “Tú me quieres blanca” by the Argentinian author Alfonsina Storni, the female poetic voice assumes an authoritative position likened to God. She addresses a non-specific man (who represents all men) who has mistreated her with his expectations of her, as a woman, of being pure, virtuous, and faultless, while he makes no attempt to live a life of purity. He sleeps with multiple women, gorges himself, and drinks wine until his lips are stained with purple. The poetic voice finds this man to be prideful, falsely thinking himself to be God, with his attempts to force her into a mold for the perfect human being while he does not try to adjust his lifestyle to the same standard. It is in the pride of this man and the authority that the female poetic voice assumes that I have attempted to make a parallelism between Storni´s poem and the Biblical account of the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. Like the man in the poem, Nebuchadnezzar is overtaken with pride and God has to humble him. With the use of this comparison, I will demonstrate the poetic voice’s intention to teach the man a lesson in humility.
Location
Goodwin Private Dining Room
Start Date
20-4-2013 2:30 PM
End Date
20-4-2013 3:20 PM
El paralelismo entre “Tú me quieres blanca” y la humillación de un rey babilónico (The Parallelism between “You want me/love me white” and the Humiliation of a Babylonian King)
Goodwin Private Dining Room
In the poem “Tú me quieres blanca” by the Argentinian author Alfonsina Storni, the female poetic voice assumes an authoritative position likened to God. She addresses a non-specific man (who represents all men) who has mistreated her with his expectations of her, as a woman, of being pure, virtuous, and faultless, while he makes no attempt to live a life of purity. He sleeps with multiple women, gorges himself, and drinks wine until his lips are stained with purple. The poetic voice finds this man to be prideful, falsely thinking himself to be God, with his attempts to force her into a mold for the perfect human being while he does not try to adjust his lifestyle to the same standard. It is in the pride of this man and the authority that the female poetic voice assumes that I have attempted to make a parallelism between Storni´s poem and the Biblical account of the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. Like the man in the poem, Nebuchadnezzar is overtaken with pride and God has to humble him. With the use of this comparison, I will demonstrate the poetic voice’s intention to teach the man a lesson in humility.