Analysis Of The Narrator Hunting, And The Narrative Of...

Daphnis and Chloe begins with and because of the narrator hunting, and the narrative of Daphnis and Chloe themselves begins with animals. Animals are the consistent aspect of a story that contains no absolutes: good characters do bad things, bad characters do good things. The only absolute presented is the beauty, power, and virtue of animals, through which they influence titular characters’ kind nature thereby differentiating them from their morally confused counterparts, inspire people to be better, and further the narrative in beneficial ways. Daphnis and Chloe are the only characters which do not do bad things because they were suckled by and respect animals. They are â€Å"fonder of the goats and the sheep than herdsman usually are, since†¦show more content†¦65). After Daphnis has sex and therefore attains the upper hand in the relationship, he still cries often and demonstrates sensitivity. He avoids having sex with Chloe despite his desires, â€Å"for he did not want her to scream at him as if he were an enemy, or cry as if she were hurt, or stream with blood as if he had murdered her,† (p. 82) as he was told would happen. Daphnis loves Chloe and values her wellbeing over his personal sexual desire even though that is the opposite of what he has seen other men do throughout his life. His newfound higher status in the relationship is used instead for teaching and guidance in the same vein that animals teach and guide characters throughout the narrative. Akin to the way in which animals are responsible for Daphnis and Chloe’s virtue, they influence the less virtuous to make good decisions, as demonstrated by Nape’s aforementioned behavior. If one is inclined to do the immoral thing, nature reminds them of goodness: Lamon’s first instinct when he finds Daphnis as a baby being suckled by a goat is to â€Å"ignore the baby and merely go off with the tokens of his identity† (p. 20), but he raises the child because he â€Å"felt ashamed to show less humanity than a goat† (p. 20). Similarly, when Dryas discovers infant Chloe being suckled by an ewe, he is â€Å"taught by the ewe’s example to pity the child and love it† (p. 21). Not only do animals influence people to make the right