Fears and Doubts
Psyche, at first determined to follow Cupid’s orders, is
manipulated by her lying sisters. They pretend to be on her side, flattering
her and saying sweet things to her, when they are really plotting against her.
Psyche has such love for her sisters that they can win her trust easily with
their false sweetness.
The sisters think they deserve everything when they are
actually horrible, while Psyche is humbler. They are focused on themselves, and
Psyche is focused on them too with sisterly love. They jump off the cliff, just
expecting the wind to carry them off, when Zephyr is really doing them a
service. This same arrogant expectation is what eventually causes their deaths.
The sisters say amongst themselves that they would hang themselves
if Psyche ended up having a divine child. To her face, they tell her that they
will be overjoyed about the child and compare it to Cupid (ironic). Poor
Psyche, I wouldn’t know who to trust either.
It’s sad to see Psyche serving her sisters to the best of
her abilities while they plot against her. She has all the music brought out
and gives them jewels, and they think it’s arrogant of her.
The sisters present a very convincing case to Psyche; I don’t
think she’s foolish at all for believing them, or at least not more foolish than
the average person. I think I would have been fooled, too. The sisters use the
fact that Psyche has never seen her husband (which she inadvertently reveals to
them) to convince her that there is an awful reason why she has never seen him.
How can she be expected to trust someone who orders her never to look at him?
It does seem fishy, and the sisters are able to play off of this and wear her
down.
I kept wanting Psyche to go talk to her husband instead of
immediately following her sisters’ plan, but then I would realize that she can’t
trust him anymore. Psyche is in a horrible position where she really can’t
trust anyone. She doubts her sisters, but she doubts her husband, too.
Cupid and Psyche in the Natural Bower, painting by Hugh Douglas Hamilton.
Source: Wikipedia Norway.
Psyche’s Husband
Revealed
Cupid is described as the “gentlest and sweetest” and
beautiful in every way.
Why didn’t Psyche turn off the lamp as soon as she saw that
her husband was not a monster? I suppose she was so enchanted by his beauty
that she couldn’t stop looking. I wonder if Cupid would have found out that she
saw him if she had immediately turned the light off and not spilled oil on him.
Cupid isn’t angry with Psyche when he realizes she’s broken
her promise. He calls her “Poor innocent Psyche” and just seems sad that he
must leave her. He really had her best interest in mind the whole time, but it
was so hard for her to know this from her point of view with limited
information.
Bibliography: The Golden Ass by Apuleius. Link to the reading online.
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