Celestina- Day 4

The existence of Pleberio's male dominated world and Celestina's female dominated world can be likened to one of those books that have a clear plastic page over a paper page. Bits of the paper show through in the gaps where there is no printing, but the majority of the image comes from the ink on the plastic. In Celestina, Pleberio's world is like the plastic, and Celestina's is the paper. On the surface, everything appears prim and proper. Melibea seems to be a young virgin, Pleberio thinks he and Alisa are in control of Melibea's destiny, and their household seems impervious to the outside world. While all of this is true, parts of Celestina's world show through. Celestina and Calisto manage to enter their house, and Alisia warns Melibea of Celestina's true nature.

Once the page is turned, however, it is easy to see how Pleberio's utopia is merely a facade. Celestina's influence extends farther into Pleberio's world than he would ever imagine. Melibea is no longer a virgin, and in reality, her parents do not even know her. Alisia believes that Melibea doesn't even know about the existence of sex, and this lulls the parents into a false sense of security. Celestina knows Melibea better though. While Melibea's parent's are clueless about their daughter's thoughts and emotions, Celestina knows exactly what Melibea wants, and how to make sure she gets it.

To stick with this metaphor, the situation in Celestina reminds me of one such book that I had as a child. The book was a picture book of Roman architecture. On the plastic pages were artist's renderings of what they thought Roman constructs like the Colosseum looked like in their prime. On the paper pages were actual images of these buildings now, obviously much more delapidated and derelict than their plastic counterparts. In Celestina Pleberio attempts to hide Celestina's world. In his first "speech" he says that the best way to make a girl seem respectable is for her to marry young. His thought behind this is to stop her from sinning before she can sin. I think it is obvious that this is merely a "quick fix" for a much deeper "problem" in Pleberio's society. If he were alive today he would probably be a politician. The world that Celestina has created is the reality of life. It is not as nice as Pleberio's, but there are several key differences that make it more appealing. First, it is based on reality, not illusions. While the prostitutes create an illusion of love, it is one that is mutually understood, and I would imagine, sometimes necessary for them to perform their job. Second, Celestina's world is focused on life and living it. Pleberio focuses on life too, but he spends much time dwelling on death and trying to refuse living. Celestina uses death as a motivator to live life, Pleberio uses it as an excuse to refuse those around him the right to live their lives. This sentiment is shown where Pleberio says:

"And since we are uncertain when we should be called, seeing such clear signs, we must gird up our loins and pickup our burdens in readiness for our enforced march."

What Pleberio is saying here is that one should always act righteous, because they can never know when death is coming for them. This differs from something Celestina would say in the sense that she would advocate for the opposite, telling someone to live life to the fullest, because they only have a short time to do so.