Dual Message

As I read I found more elements of satire. You would never imagine how the old woman, now a servant, was once a princess. It was very surprising and unexpected to hear her, “My eyes were not always sore and bloodshot, my nose did not always touch my chin, and I have not always been a servant. I am the daughter of Pope Urban X and the Princess of Palestrina.” This case is very ironic to me, I asked myself how someone with so much power and so much wealth can end up being a servant? I also wonder what it feels like for her from being admired by many, respected, and praised to now being a servant: treated harshly and given orders. She says one of her dresses was worth more than all of the magnificence of Westphalia, by using this hyperbole the author emphasizes this old woman’s drastic change. Life is pretty unexpected therefore you must live life fully and not underestimate it, I bet this old lady never ever imagined herself as something less than a princess.

This old woman’s story can be interpreted in two ways. All these events and suffering she has gone through contradict Pangloss optimism. She has lived through the worst of the worst: rape, war, being a servant, being back stabbed and so on. Simply life can't be viewed in an optimistic way, after all.

It can also be viewed as criticism against religion. For, she is the daughter of the Pope, the highest member of the Catholic Church. How in the world does he not protect her and help her when she is suffering? It’s ironic how his wants to help people, and its his job, but when it comes to his own daughter he does nothing about it.