Orpheus and Eurydice - The Book Review Essay Example

Orpheus was to settle in his native land after marrying Eurydice. His anticipated wedding ended up being a separation as the bride did not show up. She had stepped on a snake and lost her life. That ended their life completely as Eurydice soul had gone to rest. Orpheus wanted to ascend to heaven and unite with Eurydice, and so he started singing mourning songs, calling for death so that he can be joined with Eurydice forever. This paper critically analyses the commitments that come after separation in marriage in contrast with the belief that separation in marriage brings a lot of complexities. Although there is the question of the sacrifice and commitments that come after separation in marriage, this story shows that marriage has brought the personal and cultural complexities of life including separation, and even the fall of man. The death of Eurydice becomes Orpheus defeat in life. Her errors led to her death, and this influenced the life of Orpheus negatively. After the death of Eurydice, Orpheus motifs cannot be compared with human personality. His entire self is concentrated on to a single impression which he is possessed with. There is the maximum tension between Orpheus himself and the whole world. The external reality is not contemplated, but Orpheus overcome the natural man and confronts the mind of God. "At last complaining the gods of Hell were cruel, he wandered on..." (236).

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Orpheus achievements became his most significant defeats for he lived his life desperately for the love of a woman. His death was horrible as he was released by scornful women to reunite with his beloved "Your death could be my sorrow, but your blood shall be a flower" (257). With the Orpheus music soothing the wild beasts, he lived in great tension and turmoil. "Orpheus had drawn to hear him, and the beasts and birds made a circle all around him" (238).

Orpheus identifies his entire being with the impersonal perspective of the unconscious mind. Therefore, he cannot be viewed to possess the personal trait of a human being. "And his blood grew thin from that incessant weeping, His limbs were green in color, and hair over his snowy forehead" (238). From Orpheus attachment to Eurydice to the extent of Orpheus confronts the gods, Eurydice appears as a consequence of tragic fall of Orpheus.

Orpheus was to go through the ego framing reality and reflect beyond the conscious personality. That was to be through the imaginations and intimations of the progressive thrust. The Eurydice death brought a loss of footing path in Orpheus life but through the dismemberment, there as a soulful reunion and final resting place in the shade with her. "His love was given to young boys only, and he told the Thracians that was the better way" (236).

Orpheus entered the war between life and death and wanted to go beyond the Eurydice deadness and bring her back to life. Through the death of Eurydice, it is clear that there is first natural alienation of the existence followed by the spiritual reality that is beyond nature.

Orpheus shows the ability of man to charm his unconscious power. He thought that imaginations and the exercise of the right kind of art by beauty and proportion of music could cause a miraculous effect. By doing the right thing with the right imaginations and in the right way, one can lose his soul. Therefore, this implies that one must return to the life of the earth and conform to the human personality traits. Hence, why Eurydice disappeared from Orpheus who was there playing the flute all day, with bears and lions roaming around. After that, Orpheus was in great troubles due to a life of marriage. "Since death is of all those others has not warned him, since life is such a bore, is he to die?" (254).

Although the mortal eyes saw the marriage of Orpheus and Eurydice as fruitless, in a real sense, it bared the moment of the embodiment, the emptying of Orpheus' self-artistic work and the separation of the already known natural being. There is also the experience of timeless. "Wife and marriage go to the winner, but the slow ones get the prize of death" (253). Orpheus believed that unable to come together in life with Eurydice would make it hard for them to come together when one died. That is why he made every effort to ascend into heavens and confront the gods. Finally, Orpheus and Eurydice joined together when they had suffered death. It shows that the souls and the spirit come into conjunction when the body is separated. "It was the time when all things rest in Heaven" (248). Orpheus reunion with Eurydice unfolds the motif of death and resurrection on earth. It showed that there are hope and assurance even after the alienation by death which is not natural as it involves the crossing of the soul and spirit. The motifs of love and marriage, loss, and death, success and failure, dismemberment and reunion are all unfolded from the demise of Eurydice and life of Orpheus. "The marriage she has made. The crescent moon fills to the full orb, nine times, and wanes again" (243).