El Cid Answer Page
Name of student ......................... I.D. or other identification..................
Phone....................... E-Mail.............................................
Indicate the correct answer in the spaces below (a, b, c, etc.) as you watch the film. You may want to print out the answer sheet and questions before you watch the film. Relay answers to your teacher by E-Mail, Fax, or Mail using this form. A copy of your answer sheet should also be included in your "Journal" (at the back).
A. Kelley, 154 Chandler Dr., West Chester, PA. 19380-6805
(Tel. 610-918-3793; Fax 610-918-3794; E-mail kak7@psu.edu)
Answers:
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El Cid 25 Questions
Introduction: This film was made in the 1950s and now seems very old fashioned. The people do not age─in actual fact, El Cid wasn't a young man when he died; by then his daughters were grown up and married to members of the aristocracy! At the time of his marriage to Ximena he was about 20, so he ought to age a great deal in the film and his wife even more so-women produced a child per year (most of which died in infancy) and were usually dead themselves before they reached 40, which was a ripe old age in those days. Everyone looks much too clean, even the Christians, who never bathed, and Sofia Loren, as Ximena, is extremely made up. Nobody used lipstick until the 1920s, but Ximena has very painted lips. At least the film doesn't have all the Muslims as baddies and all the Christians as goodies─it shows that alliances were not necessarily by religion, and this is a truer picture than has been traditionally given to the Christian west. One also gets the idea that battles were rather like football matches, which was also the case.
The Time: The Middle Ages, around 1100, more or less.
The setting: The kingdoms in the country that is now Spain. There was no such country as "Spain" until 1492, only small kingdoms. Any mention of "Spain" in this film is an anachronism. The area at the time of the film is part Christian and part Muslim, but religion is not the main divider. Each petty ruler is a potential enemy or ally according to convenience; the rulers are strongmen who run a protection racket. Around 1100 some families have consolidated their power and are beginning to believe themselves chosen by God to rule, as well as having convinced their subjects that such is the case.
For this film to make sense, one must accept feudal law as being God's will. Feudal law says that a subject's duty is to God, then the ruler, then to parents, then to spouse/children─in that order. God made these laws and not to obey them means eternal damnation─burning in hell for ever and ever. The church/society of the time said so, and nobody could dispute it. Society was hierarchical. The common people (i.e., you and me) were serfs─in other words, slaves. Trade in Christian countries was a sin. One received one's social position from God and it was a sin to try to change things. When trade starts up around 1200 in the Christian countries, things begin to change, towns start to exist, free artisans come into being... In actual fact, there weren't any Christian towns at the time of this story─only castles, settlements; but the Arabs had towns and trade already.
The Characters - Goodies:
Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar called "The Cid" from Burgos (Burgos is in northern Spain)
Ximena, daughter of Count Gomez of Oviedo (Oviedo is in the northwest of Spain)
The Emir of Zaragoza, the Arab ruler who gives Rodrigo the title of "Cid," which means "Great Lord"
Characters who are neither good nor bad or who change:
King Ferdinand of Aragon (and of Castile, Asturias, Leon─other petty kingdoms in northern and central Spain) - the Vivars and Gomezes are subjects of this king
Garcia Ordoñez, who loves Ximena
The Calif of Arab Spain─a fat bon vivant who gets along fine with the Christians and Jews until Ben Yusef stirs up trouble
The fathers of Rodrigo and Ximena. The two quarrel, making enormous problems for their children, who are in love and betrothed to each other
Prince Alfonso (eventually changes by the end of the movie)
The Baddies:
Princes Alfonso and Sancho and Princess Urraca (a real bad lot). Princes are called "Infante" and princesses are called "Infanta"
Ben Yusef, Emir of Morocco, member of a fanatical religious sect that wanted to seize power from the current Arab rulers in Spain, and eventually did (but not in this movie!)
The Story─Quiz
1. On the way to his wedding, Rodrigo stops to fight some Arabs led by the emir of Zaragoza. Rodrigo wins and immediately
a) kills them b) tortures them c) pardons them d) takes off
2. Other Christians disagree with his policy, they say he should
a) imprison the Muslims b) kill them c) wipe them out d) all the above
3. Rodrigo says "Chivalry doesn't work that way. The only obligation of the Emir is to pay tribute to our king now." The Emir says
a) you've got the right idea b) I am now your friend for life
c) you're a real gentleman and will be called El Cid (The Lord) d) all the above
4. However, at court opinions are still divided; Rodrigo's and Ximena's fathers quarrel, and since Rodrigo's father is too old to fight, Rodrigo must do it for him─the result is a) Rodrigo is killed b) Rodrigo refuses to fight c) Rodrigo kills Ximena's father
d) the king stops the fight
5. Since Ximena is an only child, her duty is now to a) take off with Rodrigo
b) avenge her father by killing Rodrigo c) kill the king d) kill her mother too
6. At this point, Rodrigo of Calahorra, a neighboring kingdom, starts a fight with Ferdinand; the person chosen to represent Ferdinand in the duel that will decide who wins is, of course
a) the king himself b) the princes c) Rodrigo the Cid d) Old Vivar
7. Rodrigo wins and King Ferdinand says a) now I kill you
b) Calahorra now belongs to me, haha c) this is the life for me!
d) let's stop fighting among Christians and unite against the Muslims
8. King Ferdinand also a) orders Ximena to forgive Rodrigo for her father's death
b) to marry him c) to live happily ever after with him d) all the above
9. However, Garcia Ordoñez, who loves Ximena, offers to a) kill Rodrigo
b) avenge Ximena's father for her c) marry her d) a and b
10. The attempt to kill Rodrigo is not successful because someone saves Rodrigo's life; that person is a) Ximena b) the King
c) Rodrigo's good buddy the emir of Zaragoza d) his father
11. Ximena will, however, not live with Rodrigo in a castle; rather, she chooses to live a) in Morocco b) in a convent c) in Arab Spain d) in Provence
12. King Ferdinand dies. Since at that time the law of primogeniture had not been installed in Spain, the king's children
a) are now rivals b) fight for power c) divide the kingdom d) all the above
13. Rodrigo insists the princes make up; the Arabs would like to see the princes
a) divided and thus each less powerful b) lose their kingdoms
c) make it possible for Muslim rule to win out in the Peninsula d) all the above
14. A forthcoming battle will take place to win the Arab city of
a) Madrid b) Seville c) Valencia d) Barcelona
15. Rodrigo has sworn allegiance to Sancho. He doesn't necessarily think Sancho is right, but having sworn allegiance he must a) support Sancho to the death
b) obey the rules of feudalism c) never go back on his word d) all the above
16. At this point, thanks to Urraca's nasty plotting, Sancho is killed. Urraca even goes to the convent to stir up trouble with Ximena. Before Rodrigo will swear fealty to Alfonso, he says Alfonso must swear on the Bible he is innocent of Sancho's death. Alfonso does so, and Rodrigo believes him. Why?
a) everyone believed that if Alfonso lied he would be damned
b) if he was damned he would fry for eternity in hell
c) nobody would risk that kind of damnation d) all the above
17. Alfonso, however, banishes Rodrigo after taking the oath; he must give up all his property and wander alone, in exile. Two people greet the banished Rodrigo and prove the common people are all for him. The two characters are
a) a leper b) an innocent child c) Urraca d) a and b
18. Ximena, recognizing her husband's impeccable sense of honor, comes to him. A whole band of knights have decided to go into exile with him, and his friend the emir of Zaragoza allies with him and says some famous lines from the Poem of the Cid
a) take him for all in all, he was a man
b) what a good subject, if only he had a good ruler!
c) to be or not to be, that is the question
d) the quality of mercy is not strained
19. Although Alfonso no longer trusts Urraca, he won't support El Cid because no way is he, Alfonso the Christian, going to ally himself with Arabs as Rodrigo is doing. When Rodrigo goes to see Ximena in the convent, we understand at least five years must have passed since a) Ximena looks older b) the Cid looks older
c) everyone looks older d) Ximena has twin daughters aged about five
[If you are watching the film on two tapes, it is at this point that Tape 1 ends and Tape 2 begins.]
The Siege of Valencia:
20. The Cid is remembered for taking Valencia from the Muslims. However, what happened in real life was that a) the Muslims won Valencia back later
b) the Christians didn't win back the whole peninsula for almost another 400 years
c) the Muslims were in the peninsula from 711 to 1492 d) all the above
21. This film however does make the point that
a) the Muslims were not an "enemy" per se of the Christians, who fought amongst each other as much as they fought Muslims (and the Muslims fought against each other too!)
b) the Muslim empire was the truly "civilized" place to be during the Middle Ages. The arabs had cities, trade, art, music, science, and poetry at court, fine living, philosophy, while the Christian countries had reverted to semi-tribalism. The renaissance really started in Arab Spain
c) the Christians were a pretty crude lot, their castles (copied from the Arabs) were not as elegant as Arab palaces
d) all the above
22. King Alfonso a) takes Ximena and the twins hostage b) imprisons them
c) Garcia Ordoñez, her old suitor, helps her escape and finally throws in his lot with El Cid
d) all the above
23. When Rodrigo takes Valencia, he sends the crown to
a) Ximena b) King Alfonso c) Ben Yusef d) his children
24. King Alfonso repents and will now a) lead the army b) behave like a true king
c) be the man he ought always to have been d) all the above
25. Garcia Ordoñez is killed by the Moroccans and, according to this film, El Cid too is struck by an arrow but he a) is seen as superhuman by this time
b) leads his troops to victory c) has passed into the realm of legend
d) all the above