The Blasphemy of Oscar

The character of Oscar in Nights of Cabiria is presented as this "knight in shining armor" figure when he enters. He embodies a fantastic perfection in the sense that he seems to be the mythical Oscar from the magician's tale for the hypnotized Cabiria, someone who is speechlessly in love with her.

  

He is different from all of the other men that he doesn't ask anything of Cabiria.  Eventually he becomes her husband, but in the climax of the movie, he betrays her and steals her money.

Oscar is blasphemous according to Plate's definition because he represents an inappropriate mixture of the sacred and the profane.  Mostly, he is a combination of the sacred role of a husband, who is supposed to be loving, caring, and selfless, with the profane selfish desires of a human thief, who is concerned entirely with himself in an almost animalistic way.  But also, for him to blaspheme the role of a husband is to therefore blaspheme the sacrament of matrimony in its entirety, as Oscar does not do it for any righteous or holy purpose involving love or family but instead to simply take advantage of Cabiria and profit financially from the arrangement.  As was referred to in Plate's article, this is a common representation of blasphemy, the combination of what is arguably the most prevalent aspect of civilization, the economy, with sacred rites or symbols (in this case marriage.)

Again, the first portrayal of Oscar is very positive, and it causes the audience to have hope for Cabiria, that she may finally be free of a life of prostitution and live happily. This also causes the audience to begin to put faith in the Madonna's role in the movie, that she may actually be bestowing a miracle upon Cabiria.  However, the scene with Oscar and Cabiria on the cliff near the end of the movie proves to be cathartic in that Oscar's true motives are released, and his actual nature is revealed to be selfish and valuing only the money Cabiria possesses instead of Cabiria herself.  This scene demonstrates the fierce nature of Oscar's primal self in shots that show only a close, intimate view of his eyes and the sweat surrounding them

as well as Oscar's silent, frozen position.

  

Cabiria begs him again and again to speak or do something, but he stands silently as if he is incapable of human speech or the acknowledgement of another human.  He is totally inverted into himself.  Of course, this scene also causes the audience's feelings towards Oscar to turn negative, as we are dismayed for poor Cabiria.  It also causes us to question the involvement of the Madonna, as it appears that there was actually no mercy given for Cabiria's pilgrimage. She continues to show hope for better days as evidenced by her smile at the end of the movie, but she seems to be in the same state as before, remaining optimistic.  Again, this portrayal of Oscar supports the notion that he himself is a blasphemy, as the audience is driven to reject the realization that Oscar is actually just after Cabiria for her money.  We reject this notion because Oscar is supposed to be a good character, and these actions seem incongruous and inappropriately mixed.

Oscar's character is both realistic and idealistic.  He is realistic in that it is not unheard of for someone to be in a relationship with money.  In fact, the audience's attention is driven to recognize this sort of personality from the beginning of the movie, when Cabiria is again at water's edge with another man she is romantically involved with, Giorgio, who pushes her into the water to steal her purse for the money.  At the same time, I feel that this characteristic is itself idealistic in the sense that it inquires about love itself and how relationships can mean different things to each person involved.  It also asks about the value of love in relationships versus other benefits that may be gained from what appears to be romantic involvement, specifically questioning the goals of males in relationships with a female.  After all, the movie's main character is a prostitute, a female whose work is to satisfy the sexual but not romantic needs of males.  Prostitution is often considered a blasphemy against the act of sex, which in the most strict religious sense should only take place between married couples.  However, Oscar's character may cause the audience to ask if prostitution itself is actually a blasphemy.  What if prostitution is only a result of the blasphemous views of males toward the sacred institution of marriage?