“People should not leave looking-glasses hanging in their rooms any more than they should leave open cheque books or letters confessing some hideous crime.” (1224). I believe this opening line of The Lady in the Looking-Glass: A Reflection is a very powerful one. This line suggests that if you do not wish for people to know your business that you should not have a mirror in your house. At first I was very confused by what Woolf meant by this but as I continued to read I felt that I got a better understanding.
The lady in this work is Isabella Tyson whom is known to be “a spinster; that was rich; that she had bought this house and collected with her own hands…the rugs, the chairs, the cabinets” (1225). I found it very interesting that Woolf gave each of the objects in Isabella’s house characteristics. For example she explains that these objects “knew more about her than we” (1225). It seems to me that Isabella wanted to hide herself away from the world and I could not help but wonder if Isabella was a part of Woolf herself. Woolf went through several difficult things in her life which eventually led to her suicide. Perhaps when she was writing this she identified with Isabella and was able to write about herself in the form of another person. Woolf wrote “Isabella did not wish to be known—but she should no longer escape.” (1226). Maybe this was Woolf’s way of saying that she did not wish to be known but yet she knew that she would not be able to escape from reality.
The last part of this work is what I believe to be the most powerful and the part that brings the whole work together. I think it explains why “one should not have a looking-glass.” Woolf writes of Isabella appearing in the mirror and finally seeing the truth,
“She stood perfectly still. At once the looking-glass began to pour over her a light that seemed to fix her; that seemed like some acid to bite off the unessential and superficial and to leave only the truth…Everything dropped from her—clouds, dress, basket, diamond—all that one had called the creeper and convolvulus…Here was the woman herself. She stood naked in that pitiless light. And, there was nothing. Isabella was perfectly empty. She had no thoughts. She had no friends. She cared for nobody.” (1227-1228).
The truth is that even with all the riches in her life she could not truly be happy. She had never experienced lover because she was never married. She never experienced friends and had nobody that she cared for. This is all because she had not wanted to be known and kept her self in seclusion. Perhaps Woolf wrote this has more of a reflection of herself but found it hard to accept it personally. Maybe this was her way of coming into a realization that she did not have everything and a way of dealing with the losses she had experienced. I believe the reason she argues that you should not have a looking glass in your house is because of the truth that they bring to you. Perhaps she did not want to see this truth but was forced to see it in the mirror and finally accept it. A mirror does not only expose the truth that you do not want others to know but it also exposes the truth that you do not wish to accept.
Friday, June 29, 2007
T.S. Eliot
Oh T.S. Eliot. The memories of reading The Waste Land pop into mind. Good times. Hard times. And oh the amount of time it took to read each line out loud in the classroom.
I have always enjoyed T.S. Eliot’s work. Like several of the works we have studied in this class, I was also required to read The Waste Land and the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. I wish some of Eliot’s other poetry would have been provided by our anthology. Perhaps the Four Quartets. Anyways enough of that.
The Love Son of J. Alfred Prufrock is probably one of my favorites by Eliot. I enjoy watching this man struggle with himself in an attempt to find the courage to speak to a woman which is shown in the lines:
“In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.
And indeed there will be time
To wonder, ‘Do I dare?’ and, ‘Do I dare?” (1195).
Prufrock seems to be struggling with his confidence. It seems that he is lacking confidence because his hair is growing thin and his arms and legs are thin. I believe that people are always struggling with themselves to do something that they do not believe that they are capable of doing or just struggling with themselves to believe in themselves.
Prufrock explains,
“For I have known them all already, known them all—
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;” (1195).
This to me shows that Prufrock believes he has all ready seen all the good things that will occur in his life and there being so few he is able to measure them with coffee spoons. I have ALWAYS been very fond of this line and it is probably my favorite in the whole poem. I am sure there are several people who look at their lives and think that there has been very little happiness in their lives. Imagine a coffee spoon. Imagine being able to measure out your life with them, all the meaning to your life fitting in a few coffee spoons. I have often wondered what kind of effect this line would have if Eliot had wrote serving spoons rather than coffee spoons. Would we get the same idea that Prufrock has lived such a sad and pitiful life?
Near the end of the poem one feels that Prufrock may have finally found the courage to speak to one of the women. However he then declares “No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be…At time, indeed, almost ridiculous—Almost, at times, the Fool.” (1197). This to me shows that he has not found the courage that everyone hopes he will and he is still very self conscious about his appearance and self. And that is very upsetting. I feel almost as if Eliot is trying to explain to us that we may never be able to win the fights we have with ourselves. Maybe perhaps he is trying to encourage us to not give up and to keep fighting in order to become a better person and achieve more in our lives.
I have always enjoyed T.S. Eliot’s work. Like several of the works we have studied in this class, I was also required to read The Waste Land and the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. I wish some of Eliot’s other poetry would have been provided by our anthology. Perhaps the Four Quartets. Anyways enough of that.
The Love Son of J. Alfred Prufrock is probably one of my favorites by Eliot. I enjoy watching this man struggle with himself in an attempt to find the courage to speak to a woman which is shown in the lines:
“In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.
And indeed there will be time
To wonder, ‘Do I dare?’ and, ‘Do I dare?” (1195).
Prufrock seems to be struggling with his confidence. It seems that he is lacking confidence because his hair is growing thin and his arms and legs are thin. I believe that people are always struggling with themselves to do something that they do not believe that they are capable of doing or just struggling with themselves to believe in themselves.
Prufrock explains,
“For I have known them all already, known them all—
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;” (1195).
This to me shows that Prufrock believes he has all ready seen all the good things that will occur in his life and there being so few he is able to measure them with coffee spoons. I have ALWAYS been very fond of this line and it is probably my favorite in the whole poem. I am sure there are several people who look at their lives and think that there has been very little happiness in their lives. Imagine a coffee spoon. Imagine being able to measure out your life with them, all the meaning to your life fitting in a few coffee spoons. I have often wondered what kind of effect this line would have if Eliot had wrote serving spoons rather than coffee spoons. Would we get the same idea that Prufrock has lived such a sad and pitiful life?
Near the end of the poem one feels that Prufrock may have finally found the courage to speak to one of the women. However he then declares “No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be…At time, indeed, almost ridiculous—Almost, at times, the Fool.” (1197). This to me shows that he has not found the courage that everyone hopes he will and he is still very self conscious about his appearance and self. And that is very upsetting. I feel almost as if Eliot is trying to explain to us that we may never be able to win the fights we have with ourselves. Maybe perhaps he is trying to encourage us to not give up and to keep fighting in order to become a better person and achieve more in our lives.
James Joyce
James Joyce. I already have it set in my mind that I am not going to like his writings because of everyone’s comments in the chat the other night. After reading his works I found that most of their opinions of Joyce were shared by me. I found Joyce to be very boring with his writing.
In Joyce’s work Clay we are shown a day in the life of Maria. It explains that Maria works as a maid at a Protestant charity and that she has plans to celebrate Halloween with a close friend Joe, whom she had watched when he was younger. Maria buys some cakes for Joe, his wife and their children but while on the tram gets caught up talking to a gentleman and forgets the plumcake she had purchased for Joe and his wife. One thing I found interesting about this was how upset Maria was, “At the thought of the failure of her little surprise and of the two and fourpence she had thrown away for nothing she nearly cried outright.” (1136). I believe that Maria was beating herself up for this simple mistake.
One part of the story that seemed very interesting to me was when Maria and the young girls were playing a traditional Halloween game.
Another part of the story that I found to be very interesting was when Maria sings I Dreamt that I Dwelt. Maria makes the mistake of singing the first verse twice but nobody points out her mistake and Joe gets very upset. I wonder if Joe is upset because he is simply remembering the time when Maria watched and sang to him and his brother, whom we learn earlier that he no longer speaks to. It could also be possible that Joe has secretly had feelings for Maria and hearing her sing this song only stirred up those feelings and that it was brings him to tears. I believe the way Joyce finishes leaves the interpretation up the reader. We never know the deeper meaning behind Maria’s life and the selection of the wet clay, or why Joe gets so upset hearing her sing. And that kind of bothers me. Yes I could create my own ending to this work but it still bothers me that I was not able to find an actual meaning provided by Joyce.
In Joyce’s work Clay we are shown a day in the life of Maria. It explains that Maria works as a maid at a Protestant charity and that she has plans to celebrate Halloween with a close friend Joe, whom she had watched when he was younger. Maria buys some cakes for Joe, his wife and their children but while on the tram gets caught up talking to a gentleman and forgets the plumcake she had purchased for Joe and his wife. One thing I found interesting about this was how upset Maria was, “At the thought of the failure of her little surprise and of the two and fourpence she had thrown away for nothing she nearly cried outright.” (1136). I believe that Maria was beating herself up for this simple mistake.
One part of the story that seemed very interesting to me was when Maria and the young girls were playing a traditional Halloween game.
“She felt a soft wet substance with her fingers and was surprised that nobody spoke or took off her bandage. There was a pause for a few seconds; and then a great deal of scuffling and whispering. Somebody said something about the garden, and at last Mrs. Donnelly said something very cross to one of the next-door girls and told her to throw it out at once: that was no play. Maria understood that it was wrong that time and so she had to do it over again: and this time she got the prayer-book.” (1137).By reading the footnote provided, I learned that wet clay meant that the person playing would experience an early death. This is obviously where the title of the work comes from but I am not quite sure what it symbolizes in the story. Perhaps it is simply suggesting that Maria’s life will soon come to an end or maybe it is suggesting that he life has already come to its end. No clue really.
Another part of the story that I found to be very interesting was when Maria sings I Dreamt that I Dwelt. Maria makes the mistake of singing the first verse twice but nobody points out her mistake and Joe gets very upset. I wonder if Joe is upset because he is simply remembering the time when Maria watched and sang to him and his brother, whom we learn earlier that he no longer speaks to. It could also be possible that Joe has secretly had feelings for Maria and hearing her sing this song only stirred up those feelings and that it was brings him to tears. I believe the way Joyce finishes leaves the interpretation up the reader. We never know the deeper meaning behind Maria’s life and the selection of the wet clay, or why Joe gets so upset hearing her sing. And that kind of bothers me. Yes I could create my own ending to this work but it still bothers me that I was not able to find an actual meaning provided by Joyce.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
William Butler Yeats
First I want to say that I felt very sorry for Yeats when he was continuously turned down by the woman he had fallen in love with Maud Gonne. I believe that a lot of his poems were written with an inspiration from Maud.
Another thing I wanted to point out was how Yeats wrote in his autobiography “I remember little of childhood but its pain.” (1114). When I read this I felt the pain of his childhood. I believe childhood is supposed to be a wonderful time of a person’s life. It is ultimately a prize in life and even though I have said several times over the years ‘I cannot wait until I am older!’ I regret that my childhood is coming to an end. Thankfully I was able to experience a delightful childhood and have memories of the good times and not just of the painful times.
Yeats’ poem The Lake Isle of Innisfree was one of my favorites. While I feel I still had trouble understanding (mainly because every time I thought I was finally getting the big picture the poem would take a twist and lose me completely) the imagery provided in this poem drew me in. I loved all the description available in this poem and my favorite part of the poem was the second stanza which states
This stanza makes me want to visit this lake because it honestly does sound so beautiful and peaceful. I imagine that one could escape from everything here and while reading this poem I felt that I had escaped to a far away place.
One vibe that I get from this poem is that the speaker is not actually at the lake but is thinking about the lake in order to escape from the world he is living in. I get this from the last stanza which reads
Another thing I wanted to point out was how Yeats wrote in his autobiography “I remember little of childhood but its pain.” (1114). When I read this I felt the pain of his childhood. I believe childhood is supposed to be a wonderful time of a person’s life. It is ultimately a prize in life and even though I have said several times over the years ‘I cannot wait until I am older!’ I regret that my childhood is coming to an end. Thankfully I was able to experience a delightful childhood and have memories of the good times and not just of the painful times.
Yeats’ poem The Lake Isle of Innisfree was one of my favorites. While I feel I still had trouble understanding (mainly because every time I thought I was finally getting the big picture the poem would take a twist and lose me completely) the imagery provided in this poem drew me in. I loved all the description available in this poem and my favorite part of the poem was the second stanza which states
“And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow, Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings; There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow, And evening full of the linnet’s wings.” (1117).
This stanza makes me want to visit this lake because it honestly does sound so beautiful and peaceful. I imagine that one could escape from everything here and while reading this poem I felt that I had escaped to a far away place.
One vibe that I get from this poem is that the speaker is not actually at the lake but is thinking about the lake in order to escape from the world he is living in. I get this from the last stanza which reads
“I will arise and go now, for always night and dayIt seems that he is always thinking of the lake at the Isle of Innisfree and even when he is on the roadway of the world he is living in, he longs to be at the lake. It can always be found in the deep core of his heart.
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.” (1117).
George Bernard Shaw
The first thing that I thought when I say Shaw’s work Pygmalion was wow this is so long and reading it is going to take forever. The second thing I thought about it was after I read the Preface: A Professor of Phonetics and was oh lord I can imagine this is going to be a difficult work to read because of spelling to emphasize a point.
I feel I must confess that I was never taught phonics and have always been bad about pronouncing certain words. I would list examples but I have decided to spare myself of the embarrassment.
While reading the first Act I felt very sorry for the young flower girl. Her speech was awful but I did not believe that it called for some of the attitude and things said to her. I also could not help but wonder if people have thought me foolish, low class and ignorant when I have not been able to pronounce a word that everyone else seems to find so easy. The note taker, whom later we learn is Henry Higgins, continually says things to this young woman that seem hurtful. If you remember back to Shaw’s background information it states
But I was even more shocked (much like Higgins and Pickering) that Eliza had gone to find Higgins in order to take lessons of speech. I had hoped that Higgins would have found a new level of respect for her for stepping up and attempting to learn but he continues to bash her: “Be off with you: I don’t want you…Pickering: shall we ask this baggage to sit down, or shall we throw her out of the window?” (1016-1017). While Higgins continues to give Eliza a hard time while giving her lessons and helping her become more lady like, I believe he gradually begins to fall for her.
I enjoyed reading this play very much so. Like I stated at the beginning of this blog when I first saw how many pages I was to read I thought oh this is going to be terrible but I actually could not put the book down until I had finished the play. You always hear about how the movie based on this play My Fair Lady is such a classic and that everyone must see it. I personally have never seen it, but after reading the play I want to go to the closest blockbuster and rent it. I believe that everyone that has seen the movie and loved the movie should read this play if they have not already. I do believe that perhaps it would open up more understanding of the movie and would also get this lovely piece of literature into lives of more people.
I feel I must confess that I was never taught phonics and have always been bad about pronouncing certain words. I would list examples but I have decided to spare myself of the embarrassment.
While reading the first Act I felt very sorry for the young flower girl. Her speech was awful but I did not believe that it called for some of the attitude and things said to her. I also could not help but wonder if people have thought me foolish, low class and ignorant when I have not been able to pronounce a word that everyone else seems to find so easy. The note taker, whom later we learn is Henry Higgins, continually says things to this young woman that seem hurtful. If you remember back to Shaw’s background information it states
“Pygmalion foregrounds most of Shaw’s characteristic themes: his distaste for and distrust of the British class system, his impatience with the second-class status afforded by women in the early decades of the twentieth century,” (1004).I believe that Higgins comments to Eliza (the young flower girl) are a great example of this. Higgins says to Eliza,
“A woman who utters such depressing and disgusting sounds has no right to be anywhere—no right to live. Remember that you are a human being with a soul and the divine gift of articulate speech: that your native language is the language of Shakespeare and Milton and The Bible, and don’t sit there crooning like a bilious pigeon.” (1013).And later he goes on to tell Pickering “You see this creature with her kerbstone English: the English that will keep her in the gutter to the end of her days.” And once again to Eliza “You squashed cabbage leaf, you disgrace to the noble architecture of these columns, you incarnate insult to the English language” (1013). When I read these lines I was angry with Higgins. I could not believe that he was talking to this poor girl in such a way and did not even care about her feelings.
But I was even more shocked (much like Higgins and Pickering) that Eliza had gone to find Higgins in order to take lessons of speech. I had hoped that Higgins would have found a new level of respect for her for stepping up and attempting to learn but he continues to bash her: “Be off with you: I don’t want you…Pickering: shall we ask this baggage to sit down, or shall we throw her out of the window?” (1016-1017). While Higgins continues to give Eliza a hard time while giving her lessons and helping her become more lady like, I believe he gradually begins to fall for her.
I enjoyed reading this play very much so. Like I stated at the beginning of this blog when I first saw how many pages I was to read I thought oh this is going to be terrible but I actually could not put the book down until I had finished the play. You always hear about how the movie based on this play My Fair Lady is such a classic and that everyone must see it. I personally have never seen it, but after reading the play I want to go to the closest blockbuster and rent it. I believe that everyone that has seen the movie and loved the movie should read this play if they have not already. I do believe that perhaps it would open up more understanding of the movie and would also get this lovely piece of literature into lives of more people.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Thomas Hardy
Time-out!! Can we just take a moment to realize that his heart was buried in his wife Emma’s grave? How sweet… in a weird and twisted way…
Anyways….
One of the poems that I enjoyed by Hardy was his Logs on the Hearth, A Memory of a Sister. The poem begins as “fire advances along the log.” (1078). It then goes on to explain how the tree that now burns is the same tree that Hardy and his sister Mary had climbed as they were younger. The thing I found interesting about this poem was that the first 3 lines of each stanza describe something that can be seen as peaceful and beautiful and then the last line uses dark and unhappy words. All except for the last stanza—the stanza about Mary. This stanza begins dark and unhappy as it explains “my fellow-climber rises dim from her chilly grave” but continues on to show her happy and lively again “just as she was, her foot near mine on the bending limb, laughing, her young brown hand awave.” (1079).
While this poem is depressing because Hardy is grieving over his sisters loss, it is also very touching because you can truly see how much Hardy cared for his sister. One thing that I wonder is was Mary a younger or older sibling. I understand that it would be difficult to lose a sibling no matter the age…but it was just a thought. Without knowledge of this, I assumed that Mary was younger because she would be Thomas’s little sister and this could be why he felt so upset because he had protected her while they were younger. I am probably just making this up but I got this because while climbing the tree Thomas was the first and Mary was second. I took this to be that Thomas wanted to make sure the tree was safe for Mary. Another thing that made me think that this may be the case is that as they were climbing the tree Mary’s “young hand was awave.” This to me shows that she was excited to be able to climb that tree with her brother.
I could be completely wrong about all of that but it was how I read it and I believe that I may have read it this way because I am the older sibling and know how my younger brother is. I have never really been close with my brother because we are 4 years apart. I can remember how my brother looked up to me and followed my friends and me around all day and it would drive me crazy. However, recently my brother underwent two brain surgeries in order to remove a tumor that was found and I feel that it has brought us closer. It is awful to think that something so terrible brought to my attention how much my younger brother means to me. I will never forget how I felt when I found out the news and if something were to happen to him I would be devastated. I believe that Thomas and Mary were very close and they were probably very good friends. I hope that my brother and I will be able to continue the friendship that we have just so recently started to form.
Sorry that I got off topic a little bit.
Anyways….
One of the poems that I enjoyed by Hardy was his Logs on the Hearth, A Memory of a Sister. The poem begins as “fire advances along the log.” (1078). It then goes on to explain how the tree that now burns is the same tree that Hardy and his sister Mary had climbed as they were younger. The thing I found interesting about this poem was that the first 3 lines of each stanza describe something that can be seen as peaceful and beautiful and then the last line uses dark and unhappy words. All except for the last stanza—the stanza about Mary. This stanza begins dark and unhappy as it explains “my fellow-climber rises dim from her chilly grave” but continues on to show her happy and lively again “just as she was, her foot near mine on the bending limb, laughing, her young brown hand awave.” (1079).
While this poem is depressing because Hardy is grieving over his sisters loss, it is also very touching because you can truly see how much Hardy cared for his sister. One thing that I wonder is was Mary a younger or older sibling. I understand that it would be difficult to lose a sibling no matter the age…but it was just a thought. Without knowledge of this, I assumed that Mary was younger because she would be Thomas’s little sister and this could be why he felt so upset because he had protected her while they were younger. I am probably just making this up but I got this because while climbing the tree Thomas was the first and Mary was second. I took this to be that Thomas wanted to make sure the tree was safe for Mary. Another thing that made me think that this may be the case is that as they were climbing the tree Mary’s “young hand was awave.” This to me shows that she was excited to be able to climb that tree with her brother.
I could be completely wrong about all of that but it was how I read it and I believe that I may have read it this way because I am the older sibling and know how my younger brother is. I have never really been close with my brother because we are 4 years apart. I can remember how my brother looked up to me and followed my friends and me around all day and it would drive me crazy. However, recently my brother underwent two brain surgeries in order to remove a tumor that was found and I feel that it has brought us closer. It is awful to think that something so terrible brought to my attention how much my younger brother means to me. I will never forget how I felt when I found out the news and if something were to happen to him I would be devastated. I believe that Thomas and Mary were very close and they were probably very good friends. I hope that my brother and I will be able to continue the friendship that we have just so recently started to form.
Sorry that I got off topic a little bit.
Gerald Manley Hopkins
Gerald Manley Hopkins threw me for a loop. It was very difficult for me to understand several if not all of his works. I read them over and over again trying to grasp just the tiniest sliver of understanding but feel like I never actually got a hold of it…or perhaps I did…as a splinter of pain in my side.
The poem that I feel like I did understand the most would be Spring and Fall. Hopkins wrote about nature and God a lot in his poetry, which was not common for the Victorians. Spring and Fall is a great example of how nature still influenced him in his writing. Hopkins writes of a young child weeping over the falling leaves, “Margaret, are you grieving Over Goldengrove unleaving?” (776). Many writers wrote of the seasons and each season was a symbol of the time period in a persons life. Spring was associated with childhood because there is liveliness, joy, color and innocence as the world is being reborn. Winter is often referred to as death because everything is cold, dark, grey and the trees are naked like bare skeletons. When I read this poem these symbolic seasons came into mind. I believe in this poem Spring does represent Margaret’s innocence and childhood and that Fall does represent her coming into knowledge and losing her innocence as she learns about death and mortality. The speaker goes on to explain to the child that,
The poem that I feel like I did understand the most would be Spring and Fall. Hopkins wrote about nature and God a lot in his poetry, which was not common for the Victorians. Spring and Fall is a great example of how nature still influenced him in his writing. Hopkins writes of a young child weeping over the falling leaves, “Margaret, are you grieving Over Goldengrove unleaving?” (776). Many writers wrote of the seasons and each season was a symbol of the time period in a persons life. Spring was associated with childhood because there is liveliness, joy, color and innocence as the world is being reborn. Winter is often referred to as death because everything is cold, dark, grey and the trees are naked like bare skeletons. When I read this poem these symbolic seasons came into mind. I believe in this poem Spring does represent Margaret’s innocence and childhood and that Fall does represent her coming into knowledge and losing her innocence as she learns about death and mortality. The speaker goes on to explain to the child that,
“Ah! as the heart grows olderIt as if the speaker is explaining that even as she gets older, the leaves falling from the trees will no upset her as much as they did in her childhood but she will still feel sorrow but for a more realistic meaning. She will “know” that she is not weeping for the trees but for herself and the fact that she is not immortality and will soon meet the same fate of the leaves on the trees.
It will come to such sights colder…
And yet you will weep and know why…
It is Margaret you mourn for.” (776).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
