19 May, 2014
The internet generation will be a lot better at forgiveness than older people – The Guardian
Their private tutorials were supposed to be about the finer points of Aristotle’s philosophy, but “more words of love than reading passed between us and more kissing than teaching”. Héloïse d’Argenteuil was nearly 20 years younger than her teacher, the celebrated theologian Peter Abelard. And their 12th-century love affair became the stuff of legend – her pregnancy, their rows, their secret marriage and finally the brutal castration of Abelard by Héloïse’s angry and protective uncle.
With their physical love at an end, Héloïse retreated brokenhearted to a convent, sometimes exchanging charged and tearful love letters with Abelard, other times desperate to forget him. Centuries later, the poet Alexander Pope would make famous Héloïse’s desire to forget as a wish for the “eternal sunshine of the spotless mind”. In 2004, a film was made with that phrase as the title, in which two lovers have their memories wiped in order to forget the pain they caused each other.
Read the rest: The internet generation will be a lot better at forgiveness than older people | Giles Fraser | Comment is free | The Guardian.
Loading ...
Liked this article? Share it!