Le Coup au Coeur
7:00 AM |
| Rene Magritte, Le Coup au Coeur, 1952 |
When seeing Rene Magritte's Le Coup au Coeur it immediately reminded me of the fifth novel on the fourth day of The Decameron. The tale is about a young women named Isabella who falls in love with a man, but she must keep it secret from her brothers. Her brothers find out that she has a secret affair, and they go off to kill Lorenzo, Isabella's lover. She finds out and is heartbroken. Lorenzo comes to her in a dream and she figures out the truth. Isabella, enticed by her love, goes to where he was killed by her brothers and digs up her lovers body. She cuts off his head, wraps it in a napkin, and brings it back to her room where she plants it in a basil pot. Isabella becomes obsessed with her basil and does nothing else but tend to it and water it. He brothers become infuriated with her obsession and take her prized basil plant away. She dies a few days later from being heartbroken.
Le Coup au Coeur in French translates to The Blow to the Heart. This is exactly what happens to Isabella, she is in love with Lorenzo but takes a blow to the heart when her selfish brothers viciously murder him. The bright and vivid rose symbolizes the love Isabella has for Lorenzo and later her basil plant. The basil plant flourished with all the care Isabella put in to it. The brilliant rose dazzles the viewers to see love, but the thorns are replaced by a stinging dagger. The dagger is a symbol for the hatred Isabella had for her brothers and for her lose of her love.
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