DB

Abelard uses a lot of emotion-filled words – particularly throughout the beginning of the story. One thing that struck me was that the paragraph in which Heloise is introduced is lacking in emotion. The cold way in which he is evaluates her as a lover reminded me of the scene in Austen’s Pride and Prejudice in which Mr. Collins comes to Longbourn. Abelard infuses the rest of the chapter with enough emotion to make the love (or at least the passion) believable. The tone changes in the final chapter in which he relates his persecution. It too is lacking in emotion. Abelard seems deflated and mildly bitter.

Second one:

The title “History of My Misfortunes” evokes a feeling of dread as you begin reading the story. When one starts reading the History of My Misfortunes, because of the title, we are expecting tragedy and when the tragedy occurs we are not surprised. The tragedy in this story is expected and the miseries just continue to pile on top of each other. There is however love in the story which unfortunately causes much of the aforementioned misfortunes. The love between Abelard and Heloise in itself is a sort of surprise since you are only expecting misery because of the title of the story. The romantic relationship between the two is only temporary and even with the initial surprise of love in the story we are filled with dread as we realize that the love will lead to tragedy for both.

From reading Abelard’s recounting of his misfortunes you can tell that he is bitter about all the situations he was in, especially the ones involving his teachers and critics. Abelard is also very analytical and cold even when he is talking about either Heloise or especially his teachers/critics. In the case of Heloise he is talking about his love for her but it seems as if he is monotone is his writing or lacking emotion, as mentioned before he is cold and analytical.