Song of Roland, Celestina, and Voltaire

To say that Roland celebrates the exploits of Charlemagne in behalf of his kingdom and the Catholic Church says that the poem is an artifact of the social establishment in which it emerged. Virtually every part of Roland compasses Charlemagne, the Church, destiny, and Rome. Even when Roland's dear companion Oliver is in the throes of death, his thoughts are of "God, / For Charles his glorious King, and for sweet France" (Song of Roland 69). The themes of Roland are grand and of high seriousness.

By the time of Celestina, written in the period just after Columbus's discovery of the New World and thus on the brink of the Renaissance, the literary preoccupation is not of noble deeds and high-born princes but rather of domestic activity. In Celestina, the focus of characterization is not on high moral purpose of holy war but on seduction. Bentley (1ff) includes Celestina in an anthology of Spanish plays without comment about its form. However, Celestina criticism appears to agree that the work is a novel written in dialogue form, or a closet drama (Wardropper 795; Varey 159) rath

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taken as a symbol of their fall, via illicit sex as the original sin, from moral height. Indeed, Milbea is as it were on the brink of articulating the moral connection when she explains her suicidal intent to her father: "His death inviteth mine. Inviteth? Nay, enforceth. It teacheth that I also should fall headlong down that I may imitate him in all things" (Rojas 94). In the valedictory that closes the play, Melibea's father Pleberio, brings moral closure to the action, cursing Celestina, but also cursing love itself for "murder[ing] those that follow him. Thy enemy to all reason! Thy fire is of lightning which scorches unto death!" (Rojas 95). This attitude can be distinguished from the one presented in Song of Roland. At the death of his great friend Oliver, Roland expresses no regret or contempt for love, but instead great sorrow. Oliver is loved by Roland with the kind of passion reserved for sexual partners, though it appears he and Roland are innocent of each other: "Day after day, year after year, / Have we been linked together in great love" (Song of Roland 70). Celestina offers a rather different perspective of love, seeing it as a moral hazard as well as an opportunity for joy. There is in Song of Roland very little
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2121
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)