Next to a taped-up poster of Mona Lisa on the blackboard, I draw a five-point star.
“Five points, referenced by a star shape, or conversely, by the fingers of one’s hand, make up a Pentacle of Criteria by which art, literature, (and much music too,) might readily be evaluated,” I say to my interested students. “For example, let’s take Mona Lisa.”
“Ha! She always smirks at us!” interjects Buddy, with a laugh.
I smile. “Very good. Humour, like our palms, may be central.” My hand high; I wiggle my fingers. “Yet, like all other possible points, not always obvious.” I draw a smiley in the star’s centre, then scribble a stuck-out tongue. “Next?” My index finger points. “What starts things?”
“How about ‘action’?” Roger suggests. “After all, adventures need ongoing action.” He points: “Look at those disappearing pathways, behind her. Like our ‘two paths in a yellow wood’.”
I turn, and at an arbitrary point of the star, I write: Action/Adventure.
Purposefully, I thrust up my middle finger. “Next?”
“Sir!” Felicity demurs. “Don’t be rude!”
“Ah! Very good. But how do we know that it’s a rude gesture?” I ask. “In some countries it might be construed as a good luck symbol. Very many symbols have esoteric references, or intellectual terms, and like innocent children, we may yet come to learn their significance.”
“So,” Felicity ventures, “would the next point of the star be: Esoteric/Intellectual?”
“Say,” Clarence offers, “given the finger, we once discussed Shakespeare’s overt sexual references, or sensually subliminal ones, ‘not just to appeal to the commoners.’ But I do not see any of that in the Mona Lisa.”
“I do!” Buddy brags. “Look at that cleavage, and at her satisfied smile,” he adds, a trifle lewdly.
I shrug, give a thumbs-up, and write: Sensual/Sexual.
“But just look at her eyes!” Mandy suggests. “They’re full of love and care! Might the fourth point be: Romance, and Sentiment?”
After chalking up the phrases, I put up my pinky, and say, “Insightful observations, thanks. Now then, what might be the fifth? Given the over-arching intentions of this class, lesson after lesson, for what are we consistently searching? Is it just knowledge? Or is it something more?”
Little Linda, the youngest in our class, stands up. “We are in a search for wisdom, Sir. Always. We are, as we have often discussed, ‘spiritual beings, being human.’ And Mona Lisa does look as though she knows something that we do not, yes?”
I smile, and write the last label: Wisdom/Spiritual
“Wonderful. Thank you. Now then, along with your insightfulness, we’ve devised, or divined, yet another rubric for what might be endemic to most enduring works of art, or literature, or music, and film too. Our criteria, even if subconsciously, variously appeals to the broad spectrum of humanity. What bears recalling is that, like the five fingers of one’s hand, those diverse aspects are not necessarily equally deployed. From our thick thumbs to our little pinkies, differentiation can be variously ascribed. Hence our circle, lest we presume that there is a necessary hierarchy, as opposed to a preferential focus. After all, just like humour, good for us as it is, every element is not necessarily in any and every classical artform. Why, even Mona Lisa, here, is but caught up in a moment.”
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