songs of holy mary

         In the fifth story, the Empress of Rome repeatedly gets in trouble through no fault of her own. I find it strange how Mary helps her out each time the Empress prays for help, but in the end, she brings about her own death by locking herself away. It is as if the world is too much to bear, even with Mar's vigilance. Everything Mary does is reactionary. She only acts when called upon by the empress. I liked the theme of this song because it focuses on betrayal and how no matter what befalls her the Virgin Mary has got her back. I was surprised at the amount of times someone wanted to rape her or harm her. I find it funny how people were so quick to condemn her, maybe its because of a general distrust in women, or maybe its just there for no reason, just a plot device. The emperor didn't even get his wife's side of the story before he had her led off to be executed, and the Count likewise gave her no opportunity to appeal. She is a tragic character because in the end, she can't handle the reality of human nature.
          I found the sixth story comical. I could just imagine the look on the offended Jew's face when he heard "Gaude Virgo Maria". Though I think its funny how the boy knowingly sings an offensive song to a crowd who would find offense. Did he deserve to die? Not by modern standards, but even some Muslims of today would react similarly to a song that offended Islam, so I can thus picture it in my mind. Killing the boy was evil, but apparently killings all the Jews there was virtuous? Hardly, it is disgusting how the sin of one condemns all. Also the deaths of the murderer and the boy are not equal, burning alive is a much more agonizing and slower death then an axe blow that splits the skull. Also, the whole bias towards Christianity and the demonizing of Jews is evident. Why don't the Jews have a champion like the Christian's do? Why did all the Jews have to die? Because they're wrong? It just seems like the Christians here were looking for a way to be rid of the Jews, and found a good reason to kill them at last! This eagerness for bloodshed is disconcerting. Though it does reflect the dark times of the medieval era.
           It's also noteworthy to add that the narrator summarizes the story and then writes as though he has an audience that needs to be reminded before he can even start telling the tale.