The Art of Seduction

At the beginning of this semester I was tasked by Dr. Sexson, to grab an attractive girl in the Strand Union Building and recite Shakespeare's sonnet 18 to her. I took my assignment to heart and proceeded to the SUB. I managed to locate an attractive girl and with a little convincing managed to get her to listen to the 14 lines of Shakespeare's sonet 18.

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

Now to be honest, I expected a phone number or at least a good explanation as to why she was not going to give me her number (I mean I did recite one of Shakespeare's most famous love poems). But instead she thanked me and went upon her way. I decided to treat this as a learning experience and an oppertunity to delve into the history of seduction.

After some extensive but not unpleasant research on the subject, I learned that Seduction is a popular motif in both legend and literature. Female seductresses have included: Eve, who enticed Adam to eat the forbidden fruit; the Sirens of Greek myth lured sailors to their death, and Cleopatra who beguiled both Julius Caesar and Marc Antony.

Being a man this research was interesting but not very useful, so I decided to focus more on famous male seducers both real and fictitious. Giacomo Casanova was a famous Venetian adventurer, writer, and womanizer. His charm, intelligence, and looks to ensorcelled scores of women all across Europe. Don Juan is a fictional womanizer whose mythos has inspired artists such as Molière, Lord Byron, and Alexandre Dumas recount his notorious story. That mythos, as stated by Wikipeia, is as follows:

"The legend says that Don Juan either raped or seduced a young girl of noble family, and killed her father. Later, he came across a statue of the father in a cemetery and impiously invited it home to dine with him, an invitation which the statue gladly accepted. The ghost of the father arrived for dinner as the harbinger of Don Juan's death. The Statue asked to shake Don Juan's hand, and when he extended his arm, he was dragged away to Hell.
In Hell, Don Juan was met by the Devil. The Devil informs him that everyone in Hell was cast in a role. The Devil then presents him with a Jester's suit -- "You'll make an excellent fool", he is told. Don Juan is insulted by this, protesting that no other man was his equal, "I am the man who made a thousand conquests!" Intrigued by the claim, the Devil tells him that if he can correctly name one of his conquests, he would not have to wear the suit. Thus the parade of women began, and not once could he name one correctly. Finally, one woman stands before him, tears on her face. Yes," the Devil says, "this is the one woman who truly loved you." Don Juan looks into her eyes helplessly, then turns to the Devil and says, "Give me the suit."

After concluding my investigations I came to the conclusion that seduction requires one thing above all else, deception. Perhaps my approach in the SUB was a little too straightforward. If Casanova had been in my place he probably would have broken down and started to cry in the middle of the sonnet or faked a phone call from a desperately ill relative. Sadly I have a useless poker face and a very unforgiving conscience when it comes to lying about sick relatives. So I guess I'll have to stick to the hopeless romantic angle and a healthy supply of Shakespearian sonnets.

Eros and Psyche

I chose this image for one reason and one reason only. It depicts an equality between Eros and Psyche, both standing and holding each other. This equality between love and the soul is, I believe, the best way to depict the story of Eros and Psyche.

A Star Wars Epiphany

Over the weekend I had some extra time (which was gained by stopping in my reading of the Golden Ass just after the story of Eros and Psyche) so I decided to view the original Star Wars trilogy (4,5,6) in one sitting. Somewhere between Luke Skywalker learning to levitate rocks and Princess Leia feeding what appeared to be a power bar to an Ewok, I had a minor epiphany on the basic yet pervasive structure underlying the most captivating stories in history.

To illustrate my point I will use two of the most captivating stories ever told in my analysis, Star Wars and the story of Cupid and Psyche. There is, in my humble opinion, three essential components to any captivating story. They are: Initiation, Separation, and Return (these terms are taken from a discussion with another story telling enthusiast who shall remain unnamed).

Initiation
In this stage the protagonist is introduced as a young, sheltered, and naive character (obviously both Psyche and Luke Skywalker qualify). During this stage the protagonist endures difficult events (Luke's aunt and uncle being killed or Psyche being abandoned on a mountain) which leads to a new an exciting adventure or experience (Luke going with Obi-Wan to rescue Princess Leia or Psyche being whisked away to live in splendor with her invisible husband). This stage involving a tragic or frightening experience followed by a new and exciting adventure or experience is what I call initiation.

Separation
This is the stage in which the main character abandons or upsets the idyllic environment of the initiation stage by acting impulsively or against their better judgment (Luke abandons his training with Yoda, despite Yoda and Obi-Wan's warning, to go save his friends in Cloud City or when Psyche heeds the advice of her evil sisters and, ignoring the words of Eros, looks upon her husband while he sleeps). This action leads the protagonist to discover the ironic truth of their situation ("Luke I am your father" or Psyche discovering her husbands true identity) which results in tragic circumstances for the protagonist which separate and isolate them from the rest of society (Luke's depression over being lied to about his father's true identity or Psyche's depression at having lost the love of her life because of her own foolishness).

Return
In the final stage, the protagonist seeks the counsel of those wiser than themselves about what they should do next (Luke speaking to Yoda and the ghost of Obi-wan or Psyche speaking to Pan, Demeter, and Hera) the Protagonist comes to terms with the tragic reality of their situation and attempt to confront the problem and rectify the situation (Luke deciding to face Darth Vader and the Emperor or Psyche deciding to confront Aphrodite). The protagonist then struggles and suffers as a result of their confrontation (Luke dueling Vader and being tortured by the Emperor or Psyche attempting to completing Aphrodite's impossible tasks). It is during this struggle that the secondary character, who has some type of bond or connection to the protagonist takes pity on the protagonist and aids them in their struggle (Vader killing the emperor to save Luke or Eros rescuing Psyche). It is through this action that the protagonist is restored or returned to their rightful place- regaining the innocence of their initiation while retaining the wisdom gained through their separation (Luke becoming a Jedi knight and helping to redeem his father or Psyche gaining Eros's forgiveness and becoming immortal).

These are the essential stages that embody the most captivating stories in our history.