Celestina: Part 2

The second half of Celestina was in a way just as dramatic as I was hoping it would be, the whole plot charged through to the end in quite the Shakespearean fashion providing both closure for the audience as well as a cathartic tragedy all in one. In act 11 the "small chain" as Calisto puts it is one of the most obvious symbols in the whole story, on many levels it represents a binding. To Calisto the chain represents him relinquishing his enslavement to his own misery and heartache that originated from his love of Melibea which he has been freed from upon learning that his affections are returned, it also represents what he might have believed to be his last tie to Celestina herself being that their "contract" was finally fulfilled. However that being said to Celestina the chain represents Calisto being bound to her in favor for presumably an indefinite period of time. A woman like Celestina is respected for two reasons, the first being for her age, talent in her trade, and wisdom, the second being out of fear. Celestina has power over people because she knows their most intimate secrets such as clergy violating vows of chastity, brides who did not maintain their true maidenheads for their husbands to take, and husbands who sought woman besides the wives they took in sanctity. The moment that Calisto enlisted the help of Celestina she knew he would be indebted to her and the payment to Celestina in the form of a chain represented that to her. For Parmeno and Sempronio the chain bound them to Celestina, in the text it literally was the payment they wanted and their desire for their share of it drove them to kill her and ultimately to their own deaths, but on a deeper level it represents the desire that all people experience. It is the powerful force that binds us to destiny and drives us to our fates much like in the case of Parmeno and Sempronio they were powerless to their own selfish desires as was Celestina. In act 14 Calisto finally is able to experience Melibea the way he yearned for the entire story up until that point, while I had assumed his happiness would be apparent that was not the case. Calisto is disappointed by the encounter for its brief timing and the shame that he has brought upon his household. He claims his passion is cooled and now he only feels the pain from where fate has left him at the early hour. His two closest servants were killed ultimately because of his tie to Melibea and he spent relatively little time mourning them, he also feels the shame of giving into his desires and the deep dishonor he has brought upon his ancestors. The theme of these darkened desires is also played up in the interactions between Calisto and Melibea in the way that the only meet in the twilight hours. By society's standards what the two lovers are doing is engaging in immoral behavior, things that could only occur by the dark of night, but the way it is portrayed absolves their passion of sin. The lovers only bathed in reflective moonlight seem pure and entitled to give into their desires, and Melibea being a source of this light in Calistos life is almost a validation of his desires, he is powerless to her and subsequently to his desires like a moth drawn to a flame.