Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Storytelling Week Three: The Shirt of Nessus

When a woman is in a relationship she does a great many of questionable things.  It is a socially recognized phenomenon that girlfriends in today’s society are absolutely crazy.  However, the blame can’t be placed solely upon the shoulders of these women.  With all the social media these days tracking one’s significant other has become all too easy.  “Who just texted you?”  “Babe, if you like one more of her photos..”  “You were tagged WHERE with WHO?”  “Who’s this on your snap bestfriends?” “Why did you retweet her?”  I know for a fact that women say these things.  I know this because I’m a woman and I’ve said them and I surround myself with many a girl friend and I know they too have said them. 

Now most times women and their incessant need to play super spy on their significant other yields no result.  There is typically not another woman, or some hidden bungalow, or some sketchy offshore bank account.  If you have ever discovered one of these things… I’m sorry.  The offshore bank thing though?  You may want to call someone about that.  That being said it is always important to have some kind of plan, an emergency action strategy, in the event of a relationship-breaking occurrence.

 This is where the crazy really gets interesting as we women absolutely obsess over which course of action conveys the perfect message.  Should we go from the passive aggressive subtweet?  Maybe we should go directly to confront the source of the problem?  Play up some tears for some sympathy?  Let me go out all night and post an excellent snapstory.  No, I don’t want to seem too happy about it, I’ll just Instagram a girls night photo.  But this ice cream is too cliché so let me go on Pinterest and find a baking recipe first.  I definitely have to tweet that I’m working out, that’ll show em.  We all do this to some degree. Don’t even deny it.  It’s all in the pursuit of what action will best convey the message that you know and you are displeased.

You're a liar if you haven't at least considered this...
Image taken from Twitter
Original Source: Someecards


Author’s Note:  This week my story telling isn’t really a story so much as an account of what the modern instance of the situation would look like.  In the story The Shirt of Nessus, Deianira finds out that Hercules has cheated on her while he was away fighting.  When she finds out what happened she obsesses over how to handle the situation.  What should she say to Hercules?  How should she behave in front of the other woman?  Her inner turmoil is endless, until she reaches the perfect conclusion for what message to send.  As I was reading the story I couldn’t help but to draw tangencies between Deianira and the modern society girlfriend.   The original text has a detailed segment dedicated to the mental train that runs through Deianira’s mind before she finally reached that perfect conclusion.  I decided to write out the tangents that I identified during my reading because I thought they spoke volumes about how our society works today.  I also thought it was interesting that these tangents could be drawn to a classical greek mythology story.  The consistency in which we obsess over relationships and the “proper” course of action has maintained course throughout a long period of time. 
 
Bibliography:
Book: Ovid’s Metamorphoses
Author: Tony Kline

Year: 2000

3 comments:

  1. This was an interesting story. You definitely hit the nail on the head about the way women today react to men. And, as you can tell from the story, it has been happening even longer. Even though we didn't have snapchat and facebook in the past, we still found ways to check up on the men in our lives. I can't even imagine how young men can cheat these days between social media and phone tracking!
    I really liked the way you wrote this. You sound like you are just talking to a friend and it's real easy to read.

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  2. I found this post to be amusing. It is so true! And isn't subject to just girls by the way. I have known guys who do the same things and act the same way. It is pretty humorous to think that the same thing was happening that long ago albeit on a much smaller scale. The story was very easy to read and I can relate to lots of what you are mentioning. Sometimes I can't help but think that maybe social media is getting a little out of hand! Good job!

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  3. This modern day account was hilarious, simply because it's all so true! It's so interesting how social media effects relationships these days. I thought your idea to paint this image rather than fully tell the story was interesting. The modern day technology references were a great touch because with our society as technologically savvy as we are, everyone understands the references you made and can relate. The only thing I could maybe suggest would be to use everything that you talked about in your story and perhaps create a dialogue between a man and a woman in which a situation like this occurred - especially all of those things you mentioned in the last paragraph because let's face it, so many girls have experienced one (or all, probably all) of those thoughts at one point or another! Other than that, I think you did a fantastic job! Also, that e-card was an excellent touch. And your comment below it was a hilarious touch!

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