Paper 5

PAPER 5: Due On Session 35

DIALOGUE: Write a dialogue between two speakers trying to understand what either of the movies The Secret Lives of Dentists or Babette’s Feast has to teach them about love. The speakers should be discussing details of the movie, and how they interpret or respond to these details. (Such details may focus on the plot, but they may also include, for example, musical or visual aspects of the movie that contribute to the speaker’s response to it.) Construct one speaker’s point of view by drawing on Plato, either Symposium or Phaedrus, and the other speaker by drawing on Andre Dubus, “The Timing of Sin” or “Out of the Snow.”

ALTERNATIVE ASSIGNMENT: At the conclusion of his speech (Symposium 222A), Alcibiades says, "These are the things, my friends, for which I praise Socrates, as well as those which I complain of in him." Do two things in this paper: (1) Explain as precisely as you can the nature of Alcibiades' ambivalence toward Socrates as a lover. What does he praise and what does he complain about? Focus on what is most important, and be sure to support your account with specific references to the text. (2) Consider this portrait of Socratic eros from the point of view of either the Aristophanic, Diotiman, or Catholic ideal. From this perspective, how justified are Alcibiades' praises and complaints?