The Idea Of Bodily Desire
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The Idea of Bodily Desire
Socrates, in Platos work “Symposium”, introduces the ladder of love through his conversation with the God-like figure, Diotima. The more knowledge about love one gains, the higher they climb and the less they focus on physical beauty. After Socrates has explained these concepts, Alcibiades steps in. He is confused because he himself is in love with philosophy, but he is also lost in bodily desire. According to the ideology of Socrates as expressed in Platos work “Symposium” the musician girl from Mehtas “A River Sutra” is at the bottom of Diotimas ladder because she is so entirely infatuated and obsessed with the love of physical beauty, and not Socrates ideal, which is love of wisdom. In the same way, one might say that also Alcibiades is lost in bodily desire at the bottom of the ladder.
In Diotimas Speech, Socrates explains that Love is neither wise nor beautiful, but is rather the desire for wisdom and beauty; “love is wanting to possess the good forever” (Plato 52). He introduces love as a broader term; it is what makes a person happy, and therefore one only desires good things. According to Diotima, Love is a spirit that mediates between man and gods and is therefore not a god. He argues that an ascetic life with passion for wisdom and beauty is the true Love. By saying this, Plato is rejecting the act of sexual love. This argument is in harmony with a philosophers pursuit of truth. The ultimate goal is to live a pure life so that afterlife goes as smoothly as possible. The body is in the way, trying to disturb this process. Therefore, he concludes, the philosophers search for wisdom is the most valuable of all pursuits.
Socrates states that understanding love is a process. The process is called the “ladder of love.” One begins as a young boy who is attracted to one beautiful body in particular and together they take part in beautiful rituals. The next stage is to understand that all bodies are similar and that it is foolish to only love one specific body. This will make the boy love all beautiful bodies. After a while he will understand that real beauty comes from the mind, not from the body. He will then come to appreciate and love those who are beautiful in mind, whether they are beautiful in body or not. This discovery will also make him recognize that all kinds of beauty are similar and he will start loving beauty in general, rather than beautiful bodies in particular. Looking at the different types of laws, practices and knowledge, he will become a lover of these. The process is an increasing generalization where ones love of beauty comes to embrace more and more things.
Socrates lives in moderation and has no interest in physical pleasure in return for educating Alcibiades. He does not want to exchange deep wisdom for cheap thrills. However, according to Socrates it would be right for Alcibiades to experience heavenly love, so that he can climb one step closer toward love of the Form of Beauty. As long as he keeps Alcibiades from doing this, however, Alcibiades will be stuck on the bottom of the ladder and trapped with bodily desire. In this way he confuses Alcibiades, who then tries to seduce Socrates himself which, which logically does not work. “I couldnt help admiring his character, his moderation, his fortitude-here was a man whose strength and wisdom went beyond my wildest dreams!” (Plato 71). This speech shows that Socrates possesses the qualities of the ideal lover which is introduced in Diotimas speech. Socrates is not physically attractive, but his great wisdom attracts Alcibiades more than any handsome man could. The love of wisdom is therefore presented as the most desirable of all kind of love. People have to learn how to control bodily desire because one may quickly grow tired of a sexual partner. However, the attraction to wisdom, truth, and beauty is unavoidable and always fulfilling.
In “A River Sutra” the reader is faced with the same problem as in “Symposium”. The narrator is shocked when he sees the musician girls face because from behind she looked attractive; “She turned around to thank me and I gasped, astonished that she should be so ugly when I had imagined her so beautiful. A large nose tilted across her almost masculine face to overshadow the thin lips lost in a chin that curved upward like a handle” (Mehta 195). This incident makes the reader understand how the narrator is emphasizing bodily attractiveness. In response to the quote above, the musician girl answers “People are always alarmed the first time they see me” (Mehta 195). It is not only the narrator that considers bodily attractiveness to be important, it is the society and religion as well; “Shiva was moved to such tenderness by the sight that he created an instrument to immortalize his wifes immortal beauty-the first instrument of music, the veena” (Mehta 196). The musicians mother never did anything to comfort her when the other kids sniggered at her ugliness. This is another example of how the Indian society values appearance.
The musician has been aware of her ugliness all her childhood. Her father, however, can be said to act as a foil to her, as he seems to be the only one who values other qualities and loves music; “Perhaps only genius can see beauty in what appears ugly. My father can. And he is called a genius” (Mehta 196). In this way we can see the likeness between Socrates and the musicians father, they both desire wisdom of some kind instead of bodily desires. She