Month: October 2019

What does Wharton want us to consider about the ways in which we do or do not know certain people in our lives? E.g. friends, lovers, family.

In Edith Wharton’s short story, “Roman Fever”, 2 old friends Grace Ansley and Alida Slade meet up for a lunch at a restaurant and reminisce about their past. They discuss a previous trip to Rome where Alida had wrote a fake love letter from Delphin (Grace’s husband) confessing his love for Alida and requesting that they meet at the Colosseum. During that trip Grace had intended to disappoint Alida and make her lose feelings for Delphin who had confessed that that she did have feelings for Delphin. However, Grace’s plan backfired when Alida responded to the letter and Delphin answered Grace’s response and met up with her at the Colosseum. In their discussion, Grace revealed the truth that she had in fact wrote the letter pretending to be Delphin and Alida revealed the truth that Delphin responded and met up with her that night. Alida then revealed the fact that Barbara, Grace’s daughter, was biologically hers as a result of that night at Rome. This story is meant to show us that no matter how well you think you know the people around you, you will not truly know everything about them. In this case, 2 close friends had hidden the truth about the trip to Rome to each other and only confessed years after when Grace, Delphin and Barbara had lived a whole life as a family. From Grace’s perspective, her husband and friend had betrayed her and left it a secret for years. This highlights how you don’t truly know the people close to you even if they’re your family or close friends.

 

How does Joyce depict the differences between Gabriel and the other characters in the story? How are they similar and different? 

In “The Dead,” Gabriel Conroy’s behaviors and thoughts label him as a man of authority and caution. The description of Gabriel demonstrate that he’s wealthy and comes from a highly intellectual background. He’s a man of status and even his attire is nothing short of it with his “polished lenses” and “hair parted in the middle” (3). From the interactions of Gabriel, it seems as though he lacks social skills. This could be seen with his interactions with Lily. He decided to engage in small talk with Lily and she suddenly became defensive when asked about her love life. As a result, Gabriel ended the conversation immediately and compensated Lily with a tip. This goes to show that there’s this class distinction between Gabriel and Lily. Gabriel is unable to connect and relate to others such as Lily and he tries to compensate in his own way, which in this case was to rely on his wealth. He immediately seeks comfort in his education and wealth to rectify unexpected situations that occur. Similar to his aunts, he doesn’t know how to respond and accept “back answers”. It puts him in an awkward position and doesn’t know how to respond, which is seen in his interactions with Lily and Miss Ivors. Also, Gabriel doesn’t seem like he interacts much with anyone unless he absolutely has to. In the story, he’s mostly seen thinking to himself and worrying about his own thing rather than engaging in the party that’s currently happening. Instead of interacting with guests, Gabriel is busy worrying about his speech and what others will think of him. Even when he’s engaging with the party activities, he’s the odd one out. For example, when everyone’s gathering for desserts, Gabriel is seen eating celery as opposed to the pudding. All of his characteristics points to social isolation and unable to interact normally with others.  

What is the significance of the two lovers meeting at Yalta, a resort town?

In this short story, Gurov and Anna fall in love and have an affair in the town Yalta that is known for love affairs. Gurov had a prejudice against women and despised all the stories of sin told about this place Yalta. It ironic because Gurov hates and does not believe these immoral stories about Yalta yet he becomes an example and lives in one of these stories. Gurov an older man has an affair with Anna with younger women and both parties are married. They both commit sin in a resort town known for sin. What’s also interesting about this story is how Gurov has all this hate for women yet falls in love with a woman. Gurov has been apart of many affairs but finally realizes he is in love with this being the first time. Anna is different already regarding herself as low for having an affair. Yalta represents everything Gurov hates. Gurov meeting Anna in Yalta represents the transition Gurov will take in his life.

The structure of Joyce’s story keeps the reader’s mind curious as to what or who it’s really about. At the beginning, a reader may think Lily is the main character and her place in the story is critical to the plot and message. However, as you read on, other characters are introduced such as Gabriel who seems to take over your attention. The beginning seems like a light, joyful story about a family and Lily’s place in the story as the caretaker’s daughter. Once you meet Gabriel and see everyone’s concern with where he is you begin to wonder ‘Why is he so important? What is everyone waiting on him for?’ Reading on, at the dinner table, Gabriel’s way with words in his speech as well as a few descriptions given by Joyce we see themes of love and death. Instead of a light story, there’s a very in-depth thought-provoking underlying theme about life and death and love in between.

After an inferred proposal by Lewis Danyers, Mary rejected him out of pity and her own spite. She could have chosen to marry Lewis Danyers after having a great time in Venice with him, but because of the fact that she had loved Victor Rendel for quite some time during her marriage, she thought it would not have been fair for him to marry her. Victor Rendel never reciprocated her love for him and Mary did not want Lewis Danyers to marry a “disappointed woman,” in another words, someone who treated him as a rebound. So in the end, she chose what she thought was a good moral compass for her, but as she had realized, “it has shown me, for the first time, all that I have missed.”

According to Hurston, forgiveness is something that does not happen instantly, but rather takes time if it does occur. Joe and Missy May lived their lives pretty distantly for a while that it appeared as they were not even in a romantic relationship together with Missy May not even considering them to be man and wife anymore. Joe asking Missy May to rub home down for his back pain and later having Missy May find the piece of money with the bit of chain attached was his way of reconciling with her. Rather than talking about the situation directly, which is something that had been avoided since it happened, Joe was leaving clues. Acceptance is tricky because it’s often assumed that it also means forgiveness, which is not true. Accepting a situation is pertinent to one own’s ability to move on. Considering the love that Joe had for Missy May, and the son that he very much wanted, Joe chose to accept what had happened and moved on. He never brought up the subject and instead chose to resume living their lives together as it was in the beginning. Joe showed his ability to move on from what had happened by using that four-bit piece to buy Missy May candy, something that she loved.

The way that Hurston describes the roles of forgiveness, reconciliation, and/or acceptance fits that of a Catholic marriage perfectly. Catholicism is big on forgiveness and moving on from whatever issues may arise during a marriage, no matter its’ gravity. It appears to me as though she describes how these roles should occur in an ideal relationship when presented with such a grave situation like cheating.

Prompt: Consider of money and the presence or lack of it–wealth and poverty–on the shape of the story and on the lives of the characters and their personalities.

Money symbolizes status, social class, connections, and power in “The Gilded Six-Bits” story. Joe made Missie May believe that he values money more than love. When he finally realized what he wanted was Missie May, she was already cheating with another guy Slemmons because Slemmons offered her a gold coin. She still loves Joe, I believe she slept with Slemmons for money because she did regret her actions afterward. Missie May is attracted to gold/money, but she didn’t marry Joe for his noble appearance, and she also cherishes every playful moment they had together. She can be seen as the “real wife” of this story during this time. Joe’s ego and pride caused Missie May to betray him, but he eventually finds out that he wanted to love Missie May more than anything else in his life. After the adultery event, Joe taunted Missie May by placing the gilded coin under her pillow. This coin also symbolizes their potential loss of the marriage. The couple remained happy and thrived when they had enough money. Both of the characters’ desire to obtain more money/gold had eventually led to their loss and betrayal.

~ Neo

Consider of money and the presence or lack of it–wealth and poverty–on the shape of the story and on the lives of the characters and their personalities.

Money plays an important role in the behaviors of the characters in The Gilded Six-Bits. The playful interactions between Joe and Missy May involved Joe giving coins to Missy May, and Missy May digging through Joe’s pockets to find money. This interaction with money represents the idea that money is something that is heavily desired. Joe and Missy May were happy despite their low income. However, unfaithfulness occurs when money is introduced to the story through the character of Slemmons. Slemmons, somebody who is seen as very wealthy, is also seen by Joe as someone who is “better ” than him, which puts forth the idea that money is power.

I think the reason the story is only limited to their meetings is because a major theme in the story is this idea of freedom, acting freely on emotions, wills and ideas. Dmitri seeks other women to feel free as he is shackled by his wife and children. He states that he is unfaithful often because he likes the company of women and that “when he was in the company of women he felt free”. And Anna too escapes to Yalta for the very same feeling of freedom. She states that, “I wanted to live! To live, to live! . . . I was fired by curiosity . . . you don’t understand it, but, I swear to God, I could not control myself; something happened to me: I could not be restrained.” She is shackled by the husband who she considers “flunkey” and the life she is expected to live when all she wants is to have a sort of adventure. The two characters connect in this aspect in their search for tasting freedom and the story revolves around them indulging in the freedom of escaping their spouses and going on adventures. In fact, “every evening they drove somewhere out of town, to Oreanda or to the waterfall; and the expedition was always a success, the scenery invariably impressed them as grand and beautiful”. When they were together they were unconfined, free to travel and move, always walking somewhere doing something, escaping the everyday. It was almost as if they’re world was separated from everyone else’s and he states, “every man had his real, most interesting life under the cover of secrecy.” It seems according to Chekhov the real freedom is the kind you experience when nobody else is looking, when you are in your own world, far from the charades of everyday life.

Betrayal and infidelity play a significant role in the shift of behavior within the characters. Betrayal is presented so strongly in the Golden Six Bits, that at times it even seemed to be a character itself. Missie May had seemingly been itching to get a taste of what it would be like to have gold money and be in the company of someone who is rich. Although it is clear that Missy May is apologetic about her actions, her infidelity it puts a massive strain on their relationship. What’s ironic is how Missie May gave off the impression of being put off by Slemmons and his reputation, saying, “Ah don’t see whut de womens see on [Slemmons]. Ah wouldn’t give ‘im a wink if de sheriff wuz after ‘im”(49). Yet, she proceeds to sleep with him. Although it is not clear as to why she decides to sleep with him, Joe’s constant mentioning of Slemmons, of his promiscuity, and his money could have triggered piqued her interest. There is a visible shift in her behavior and perception of Slemmons when she sees him at the ice cream parlor. Missie May becomes star-struck, more so by his gold money and tells her husband, “But he sho is got uh heap uh gold on ‘im. Dat’s de first time Ah ever seed gold money”(57). The change in dialogue reflects how she realized she’d underestimated Slemmons the first time around. It is clear that she is becoming curious about him and his wealth. 

One can take Missie May’s actions and label her as a “golddigger” quite literally. However, May and her husband Joe are poor. They try to live their small, impoverished life with splendor and joy but it is clear that May has an inner desire to experience being rich. Her inner desire does not justify her actions in the least, but I believe it has a key role in her infidelity. With Joe, the betrayal from his wife was like a stab to the heart. It caused him to distance himself from her and doubt her words. He would not return home many times, investing in more time to work. When she got pregnant, he questioned whether or not he was the father. However, Missie May did not receive any harsh repercussions besides getting the cold shoulder from her husband at times. Missie May’s betrayal seemed to push Joe to prove his worth to her. In the end, he did come around to forgive her.