A Challenge to a Lover Who Has Offended Her free essay sample

A Challenge to a Lover Who Has Offended Her† Even though a man can do much harm to a woman’s ego, mind, and body, there is always something about the man that can lead her back into his arms. The poem â€Å"A Challenge to a Lover Who Has Offended Her† by Veronica Franco demonstrates just that. Franco goes on to describe how she has been lied to and cheated on by the love of her life. Yet, towards the end of the poem, instead of describing how she wants to tear him limb for limb, she would rather challenge him to a love match in bed, if that would better suit him as well. At the beginning of the poem, Franco talks about letting the attendant (the man is never named in the poem) choose the place, weapons, and seconds for the â€Å"duel†. As soon as he sees that she is serious, hopefully he will understand how â€Å"ungrateful and faithless† (14) he has been towards her. We will write a custom essay sample on A Challenge to a Lover Who Has Offended Her or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In lines 16 through 20, Franco rests assured that she is not going to go back on her word of â€Å"tearing [his] living heart from [his] very breast† (18), but there is always that chance in the back of her mind that she will. Franco, like many other women in todays age, has a very hateful tongue when talking about the man that deceived her. While elaborating on how she is going to make her man suffer, one could easily tell that she has regret in her heart. â€Å"Although I hope, SMITH 2 ithout any doubt, to spill/ a a river of your blood-indeed, I am certain/ I can, without shedding a drop of my own-/ what if you were to offer me peace,† (67-70). Next in the poem, Franco leaves it up to the man to decide if he wants a bloodshed fight, or a love match in her bed. Even after he has deceived her, she is still willing to make love to him in her bed. â€Å" I’d not, perhaps, depart/ from what is decent and proper to do,† (77-78). Here, Franco is saying that ev en though her getting revenge on him would be the right thing to do, she would make the choice of â€Å"love over war† and â€Å"follow him to bed†. A historical context is used when Franco is describing what noble knights used to do to clear their name. â€Å" either they reach an agreement on their own,/ or, if they can find no road to peace,/ they may sate their thirst for each other’s blood,† (61-63). The diction used in the poem changes from beginning to end. At the beginning, Franco uses most of her words harshly and derogatory towards her man, â€Å"The deceiving tongue that lies to do me harm/ I will tear out by it’s root, after it’s been bitten/ against the palate with repentant teeth;† (19-21). But, by the end of the poem, Franco writes, â€Å"I’d fall upon you, and in daring combat,/ as you too caught fire defending yourself,/ I would die with you, felled by the same blow,† (83-85). Here, she is using less harsh language to describe them having an intimate relationship and climaxing together, but all still while taking revenge on him. Franco’s tone, again, changes from beginning to end; Almost forgiving at the end, but still wanting to seek revenge. At the beginning of the text, she is very disparaging and set on her will to make him pay for what he has done to her. Franco goes from SMITH 3 wanting to rip his heart out, â€Å" I will, in all boldness,/ tear your living heart from your very breast,† (17-18), to wanting to end her own life to end the sadness, â€Å"But hold firm, my strong, undaunted heart,/ and with that felon’s final destruction,/ avenge your thousand deaths with this one. / Then end your agony with the same blade,† (88-92). Towards the middle of the poem, Franco starts to reminisce on the times she shared with her man. She reflects on how they used to be so close together in her bed, â€Å"Here before me now stands the bed/ where I took you in my arms, and which still/ preserves the imprint of our bodies, breast to breast,† (34-36). This would be the turning point of the poem, where she’s not so much angry anymore, rather she’s willing to work things out if he’s willing to also, hence giving him the option to make love to her in her bed. Many women also face this dilemma of giving the man the option when, either trying to move on, or trying to make their partner understand how bad they are hurting. Franco seems to be very complex when trying to describe her situation. She uses very elaborate terms when illustrating what she wants to do to him. Her imagery is fantastic as she tells how she is going to make him pay for deceiving her. â€Å" I will rejoice/ at having turned to bloodshed for my revenge,† (23-24). Here, Franco is very adamant that she would like to do everything in her power to hurt him. Hurting him physically would be just equally as painful as what he put her through mentally. As seen in the poem â€Å"A Challenge to a Lover Who Has Offended Her† by Veronica Franco, it’s not had for a man to get a woman to forgive him after he has betrayed her. Even though Franco writes about how bad of a man he was to her, how he lied, cheated, and deceived her, she still finds it somewhere in her heart to make SMITH 4 peace with him. As cruel as Franco may seem at the beginning of the poem, she is only using harsh words out of anger and spite. In all reality, she does not mean everything she is saying, because she regrets them later on in the poem.