Great Works of Literature II, Fall 2019 (hybrid) HTA

Consider Mary’s role as Rendle’s muse and its relation to this problem–a person who inspires another person’s work but may not benefit from himself/herself–more generally. What is Wharton’s commentary here? To put it another way: what exactly is the muse’s tragedy in this case? What is most tragic about this story?

The muse’s tragedy, in this case, is Mary Anerton’s one-sided love for Vincent Rendle. Mary Anerton is a critic of Rendle’s books and she offered advice on his work. They had been together for almost fifteen years. Rendle never saw Anerton as a potential lover, but only as a friend and a muse. He grew quite comfortable around her and will often hang out with her. This led people to think that they were lovers and that Rendle wrote his poems of love based on her. Anerton supposedly represents “Silvia” from his sonnet. She wished that the rumors were true, and that Rendle had loved her but she knew he never loved her. She described Rendle’s actions as only from a friend to another friend, “he treated me as one man treats another…He never made love to me… The sonnets to Silvia, you say? But what are they? A cosmic philosophy, not a love-poem; addressed to woman, not to a woman!”.  This shows that only Anerton understood the true meaning of the poem, and instead of revealing the truth, she went along with it.

Anerton lives a life with a false perception of herself and from others. She became famous and people worshipped her as a celebrity just because they assumed she was Silvia. Anerton also wished it was true and built her life on that lie. She purposefully published their letters in a way that reveals that they had secretly loved each other. Deep down, however, She know it was all lies and struggles with her inner self that knows the truth and her outer self that is hopeful of their love. The most tragic element of this story is unrequited love that she never received and the battle between appearance and reality.

Consider the role of the setting in the story and the lives of these two women (and their daughters?).

The setting in the “Roman Fever” takes place in the late afternoon at the Roman terrace restaurant with views of the Colosseum, the Forum and other ancient sights in Rome. The setting in this story plays a big role in the lives of the two women, Grace Ansley and Alida Slade and their daughters. This is because it was the same restaurant Grace and Ansley met in their youth. Now, they return back twenty-five years later with each of their beautiful daughters running off to meet young men, setting memories of themselves in the past. Besides the fact that they ran into each other at the same place in Rome, Rome itself is significant in this story. Over the centuries, Roman Fever was used to describe the deadly disease that would occur frequently in Rome. Grace recalls the story of how her great-aunt Harriet sent her sister to pick out flowers in the forum. In reality, she wanted to expose her to Roman fever due to the fact that they were in love with the same man and as a result, she died. 

Similar to this incident, Grace also went out on a chilly evening after dark to meet Delphin at the Colosseum, the man who Alida was engaged to, after receiving a letter from him even though it was actually from Alida. Not only did Alida resent the fact that Grace fell in love with her husband, but she also became jealous of Grace’s daughter who she describes as a beauty with “an edge”. It is important that Wharton places the characters in a place where they have a sight of the ancient ruins surrounding them because it reflects on the characters’ pasts and symbolizes how the relationship between Grace and Alida falls apart. Furthermore, the time setting seems to always occur during the evening when it is dark which represents the deep dark secrets that the two women have been hiding from each other since they first met. 

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.