It’s not hard to see that all of Cabiria’s escapades revolve
around her need for love, genuine love. She lives in a constant cycle of
looking for love, believing she’s found love, ending out of love, and once again
looking for it.
There is something about love that Cabiria is fascinated
with, engulfs herself in as quickly as she can. We can see it is obviously a
habit of hers to very quickly become head-over-heels for whomever walks into
her love life. Unfortunately Cabiria does not call them very well, seeing as how
two boyfriends-one a fiancé actually-tried to kill her for her money. Her
constant revolving around romance is even displayed in her profession. Having
sex with multiple men would supply a quick gratification of “romance,” clearly
never genuine making it never sufficient.
I believe she carries a very strong genuine love with her
throughout the whole movie though, one for herself. Not loving herself in a
narcissistic way, but in a way of appreciating and loving herself for always
being there when she hits rock bottom, often. She does not really have friends,
no family, no significant other, only herself. In the very end, when Cabiria
has no house, no belongings, no money, in the very end she still smiles. She still
has hope in herself, in herself because that is all she has had to get her
through everything she has at this point.
All of Cabiria’s actions, mishaps, thoughts in some way
revolve around romance. When I was thinking of Cabiria being so “romantic” I
decided to Bing the definition of romantic: making you have feelings of love
and excitement, someone who is romantic tends to believe that things are better
or more exciting than they really are. I thought this to be so true of Cabiria.
Small things make Cabiria happy, like a child almost. When she finds something
she thinks is good, she becomes so excited. She does this at the budding of
every relationship, every man is the man of her dreams. For the most part she
sees things better than they are. She assumes herself to be better than the stereotype
of her circumstances, even in the end when she has nothing left, she smiles.
How romantic.
Romance being an axis mundi is an interesting point. But, I also feel that she believes in this romance and trying to marry because she believes it will make her happy. Her current lifestyle is something she is not proud of and does not make her happy in life. Cabiria clings to relationships so hard and easily because she sees them as a way to bring this happiness she strives her. This movie represents her self-journey towards seeking her happiness which could also prove as a possible axis mundi.
ReplyDeleteI like how you included Cabiria's appreciation for herself in talking about her love of other things. I think that was one aspect that Cabiria was often emphasizing. She was constantly telling other people (and perhaps herself) that she was very proud of being self sufficient. Her small house wasn't palatial, but she had paid all of the debts and had full ownership.
ReplyDeleteSince you say romance is Cabiria's axis mundi (and I agree,) do you think that the most obvious pilgrimage to ask something of the Madonna is perhaps in a way a pilgrimage to find romance? After all, she asks to change and better herself, and it seems that she believes (and is told by the priest asking for alms near her house) that the way to happiness, as Gabrielle said, is to marry.