In letter 6, I was struck by the inconsistency and borderline hypocrisy of Abelard's remarks to Heloise. He asks her to "write no more"(pg.86) to him, and entreats her to remove him from her heart and focus on her own salvation. He recognizes that she is still "enslaved to human love"(pg.88), and speaks to her of temptation and suffering. But Abelard shows signs throughout the letter that he still struggles too in turning his heart from her to Christ, and his plea for the cessation of her letters reads to be as much for his sake as for hers. He writes,
"Think not, Heloise, that I here enjoy a perfect peace; I will for the last time open my heart to you; I am not yet disengaged from you, and though I fight against my excessive tenderness for you, in spite of all my endeavors I remain but too sensible of your sorrows and long to share in them. Your letters have indeed moved me; I could not read with indifference characters written by that dear hand! I sigh and weep, and all my reason is scarce sufficient to conceal my weakness from my pupils. This, unhappy Heloise, is the miserable condition of Abelard. The world, which is generally wrong in its notions, thinks I am at peace, and imagining that I loved you only for the gratification of the senses, have now forgot you. What a mistake is this! People indeed were not wrong in saying that when we separated it was shame and grief that made me abandon the world. It was not, as you know, a sincere repentance for having offended God which inspired me with a design for retiring" (pg.87).
He not only admits his continued love for her, but admits to having retired to be a monk out of shame and grief for losing her and the events that transpired, rather than out of a desire to repent. To me, Abelard seems almost unfair in his letter in the way he expresses himself to her, in one moment even dwelling in the idea of making his home at the Paraclete and watching over her and the other sisters, and then instructing her to forget him and focus on religious perfection. Anyone else agree that Abelard seems inconsistent in what he gives Heloise to think about and what he tells her to think about?
I agree with you when you say that Abelard is inconsistent. In one letter he completely confesses the whole story and his true feelings, and in another letter, he changes his tone to sound completely professional and remove himself personally from the situation. I feel like Abelard has nothing to lose since authorities keep shutting down his attempts at revitalizing his reputation, so he might as well be honest.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that Abelard and Heloise are opposites. Throughout their letters, Heloise is blatantly subservient, subjugating herself to Abelard because she feels that is what a woman should do for the man she loves. Meanwhile Abelard is arrogant and confident in his attempts to court her, and is the obvious instigator of the relationship. But in these letters, we see Heloise being boldly unrepentant for the things she's done with Abelard, even claiming that she "loves her sin," and raunchily dismissing religion as the "most banal hypocrisy." She's very solid. On the other hand, as you brought up, you have Abelard's wishy-washy inconsistency. He's constantly on the fence about maintaining contact with her, calls her a "sister in Christ" instead of his wife and mother of his child, and veils much of his affection in conversations that don't stray from convent matters. For all his arrogance in the beginning, Abelard is, I think, a coward. And for all her willingness to submit to another human being, Heloise is braver than him.
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