2. Connie's protecting her family the only way she knew how. Although Connie butted heads with her mother, she still loved her. She cried out to her when she picked up the phone. This recognition for her was her turning point. "She thought, I have got to think. I have got to know what to do." Connie was ultimately demanding action from herself, even if that action was something she didn't want. "she watched herself..." She did the only thing she could do, but tried to mentally separate herself from her action, making it less painful. When she felt her heart beat she ultimately realized that her heart and her body was not just hers. She talks early on about her mother's beauty when she was young, comparing it to Connie's. Realizing that her heart belongs to her family and that her body resembled that of her parents. Keeping this in mind, Connie did what she thought she had to do. She took what she believed to be her only viable option, sacrificing herself.
I find the comments by Chris, Dusty and Michele very interesting regarding women’s lib and I find myself agreeing with all of them. I also think the “liberation” that Chopin and Mason are talking about is something a lot of women can relate to, especially older women who have come to a somewhat better understanding of themselves, of the cravings of their inner spirit, of the need for an organic, meaningful existence. Both men seem to be loving husbands, especially Leroy who wants so much for his wife to reciprocate favorably. As a reader, I felt sad for him and at the same time felt that he deserves an honest confession from his wife. My take on this is that these two women seek much more than a mediocre marriage. They crave a nurturing relationship; a satisfying mental and emotional connection. They both find their marriages thwarting their spiritual growth as individuals? Marriage is a wonderful institution but is the reverse if one ends up feeling guilty for not being able to return the affections of the other in the relationship. It is a huge responsibility, a burden almost, to constantly feel obliged to take great care not to hurt the other with the blatant truth, even when the husband gets the sense that the wife wants to be left alone, as in Leroy’s case. These women are bound by responsibility, duty, courtesy, plain good human decency to strive to be good wives at the expense of being true to themselves. Of course life is not as simple as that. One cannot just leave everything behind in search of a selfish endeavor, whatever that may be, be it a spiritual quest or a wild chase for the unknown. Even that kind of freedom has its pitfalls, but Mrs. Mallard seems suddenly ready for that kind of freedom. I think the best example of such a quest is one of Nora Helmer in Ibsen’s “Doll’s House”. It seems mighty selfish and awfully cruel of her to leave her children in her bid to find herself, but it is imperative for her to do so after her realization that she hasn’t been truly alive at all for she has been bound by her husband’s seeming love for her. That he is a cad who merely wants to possess her as an object for her physical attributes and that he’s much too shallow to understand her magnanimous spirit, is beside the point in this discussion. But for Nora, she chooses to find herself as well as do something fruitful with her life than live a lie with her husband. Mr. Mallard in Chopin’s story may have very well been a loving husband, but why is his wife suddenly rejoicing over her newfound freedom at his death? “There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women belive they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature” (251). She doesn’t seem like an insensitive being who cared two pence for her husband. She has been caught up in the social order of life and hasn’t had time to reflect on the truth or question anything until she hears of his death, “And yet she had loved him – sometimes. Often she had not.” (251). With Norma Jean though, I do feel that there’s a mean streak in her, despite her courage to face the truth especially because of the way she leaves disabled Leroy helpless in Shiloh. Had she been a tad respectful of his feelings for her by dealing with the situation in a mature way, she would’ve garnered his understanding and the reader’s empathy. And I have no idea why she “prefers a man who wanders” (835) though. She’s a little confused. I guess I don’t really understand women either Oops, sooo sorry for going off on a tangent there.
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2. Connie's protecting her family the only way she knew how. Although Connie butted heads with her mother, she still loved her. She cried out to her when she picked up the phone. This recognition for her was her turning point. "She thought, I have got to think. I have got to know what to do." Connie was ultimately demanding action from herself, even if that action was something she didn't want. "she watched herself..." She did the only thing she could do, but tried to mentally separate herself from her action, making it less painful. When she felt her heart beat she ultimately realized that her heart and her body was not just hers. She talks early on about her mother's beauty when she was young, comparing it to Connie's. Realizing that her heart belongs to her family and that her body resembled that of her parents. Keeping this in mind, Connie did what she thought she had to do. She took what she believed to be her only viable option, sacrificing herself.
ReplyDeleteI find the comments by Chris, Dusty and Michele very interesting regarding women’s lib and I find myself agreeing with all of them. I also think the “liberation” that Chopin and Mason are talking about is something a lot of women can relate to, especially older women who have come to a somewhat better understanding of themselves, of the cravings of their inner spirit, of the need for an organic, meaningful existence. Both men seem to be loving husbands, especially Leroy who wants so much for his wife to reciprocate favorably. As a reader, I felt sad for him and at the same time felt that he deserves an honest confession from his wife. My take on this is that these two women seek much more than a mediocre marriage. They crave a nurturing relationship; a satisfying mental and emotional connection. They both find their marriages thwarting their spiritual growth as individuals? Marriage is a wonderful institution but is the reverse if one ends up feeling guilty for not being able to return the affections of the other in the relationship. It is a huge responsibility, a burden almost, to constantly feel obliged to take great care not to hurt the other with the blatant truth, even when the husband gets the sense that the wife wants to be left alone, as in Leroy’s case. These women are bound by responsibility, duty, courtesy, plain good human decency to strive to be good wives at the expense of being true to themselves. Of course life is not as simple as that. One cannot just leave everything behind in search of a selfish endeavor, whatever that may be, be it a spiritual quest or a wild chase for the unknown. Even that kind of freedom has its pitfalls, but Mrs. Mallard seems suddenly ready for that kind of freedom. I think the best example of such a quest is one of Nora Helmer in Ibsen’s “Doll’s House”. It seems mighty selfish and awfully cruel of her to leave her children in her bid to find herself, but it is imperative for her to do so after her realization that she hasn’t been truly alive at all for she has been bound by her husband’s seeming love for her. That he is a cad who merely wants to possess her as an object for her physical attributes and that he’s much too shallow to understand her magnanimous spirit, is beside the point in this discussion. But for Nora, she chooses to find herself as well as do something fruitful with her life than live a lie with her husband. Mr. Mallard in Chopin’s story may have very well been a loving husband, but why is his wife suddenly rejoicing over her newfound freedom at his death? “There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women belive they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature” (251). She doesn’t seem like an insensitive being who cared two pence for her husband. She has been caught up in the social order of life and hasn’t had time to reflect on the truth or question anything until she hears of his death, “And yet she had loved him – sometimes. Often she had not.” (251).
ReplyDeleteWith Norma Jean though, I do feel that there’s a mean streak in her, despite her courage to face the truth especially because of the way she leaves disabled Leroy helpless in Shiloh. Had she been a tad respectful of his feelings for her by dealing with the situation in a mature way, she would’ve garnered his understanding and the reader’s empathy. And I have no idea why she “prefers a man who wanders” (835) though. She’s a little confused. I guess I don’t really understand women either
Oops, sooo sorry for going off on a tangent there.