[lit-ideas] The White Badge of Courage

 


Henry Fleming, if memory serves me, was an isolated individual to start with 
and initially didn’t stand.  But when he was befriended, albeit for his false 
“red badge”


 


 


a Common Romanic word, answering to a L. type *coraticum, from cor heart. 





  The heart as the seat of 
feeling, thought, etc.; spirit, mind, disposition, nature.  


c1300 
K. Alis. 3559 Archelaus, of proud corage. 









 ------

Funny, I'm not familiar with the story, but then it's all furrin to me.

I wouldn't think 'courage' is too serious a concept though, word-wise. I read 
from the OED it's "Romanic", not "Roman". And possibly a survival of 
Aristotle's apt theory, though, that it was the heart (cfr. enthymeme) which 
was the seat of things.

For the more cerebral, dualist Plato, it was the _cold_ brain!

Odd that I should remember the Liguarian stories of the drummer-boys and 
others, depicted in "Cuore" (Heart) by D'Amici. So perhaps there is something 
there, too.

Cheers,

J. L. 
    "Once a Spartan"
    "Once a Ligurian"
    "Once Late"
   

________________________________________________________________________
More new features than ever.  Check out the new AOL Mail ! - 
http://webmail.aol.com

Other related posts: