I particularly thought this week’s reading of the chapter: The Faery and the Fountain was the most intriguing. The chapter highlighted the theme of enchantment and entrancement of a woman’s beauty which has been a recurring topic in our readings. I love talking about this theme because there’s so many different angles to go about it. In this story, the enchantment serves as the catalyst for their “romantic” relationship where the Raymondin has the intoxicating effect comparable to love at first sight. This further dives into the complexities of desire, infatuation, and the irrationality of love.

These two characters in the story, Melusine and Raymondin, are essentially love bombing each other. They are telling each other they love one another, but Raymondin realizes that he doesn’t even know her name. Love bombing is used to overwhelm another person with emotion and affection to gain control or influence over them, which is what Melusine was doing. She asked him to marry her after a short period of even meeting each other. This is another common theme in our readings where one, usually a man, is manipulated or seducted by another who is usually a beautiful woman. Although, “love bombing” was obviously not a word used in those times, comparing it to its meaning today, it describes this situation very well. Sirens and mermaids used their ability to seduce these men with their beauty and angelic voices. I think the contrast between inner beauty and outer beauty is also a recurring theme we have read through. External beauty is what captures the men initially and they are blind to all else. This is why they are so easily manipulated by these sirens or mermaids because they take their beauty as trust and believe every word they say. Beauty is often associated with trust and even moral character, but these stories are trying to put these beautiful women in a bad light.