Julia:“ I grow dizzy when I look down, but down I must. But I’m not brave enough to throw myself; I cannot hold fast and I long to fall–but I don’t fall.” (9)
Jean:“It is horrible! But there is no other way. Go! [Countess Julie goes out resolutely.]” (34)
Throughout the play of Miss Julie one theme is clearly evident and that is identity. Throughout the entire play both Julia and jean struggle to find their true selves. In these two quotes Steinberg reinforces that Julia is incapable of making her own decisions. In the first quote by Julia we see that Julia is incapable of making any decisions for herself. She longs to fall but cannot bring herself to commit this action because she in incapable of doing so. Julia caught between her mother’s emotions and her father thoughts see herself as half woman, half men. Truly Julia is a woman but she depicts herself as this because her identity consists of both her mother and father and none of her own thoughts or emotions. This is why Julia cannot fall without assistance because she lacks an identity to call the shots for herself. This brings us into the second quote by jean as Julia is incapable of leaving the manor- unable to throw her, and so Jean must take the authority as the count and send Julia away putting an end to her misery. Julia caught between her mother and father- half man and women, cannot come to leave the manor on her own thus jean, makes the decision for her and is the one to execute her.
5 responses so far ↓
r.zhao3 // Mar 19th 2016 at 9:33 am
Your quotations are very good and shows Julie’s characteristic. Both quotes show Julie has difficulty making decisions without relying on others. Even though Julie’s social class is much higher than Jean, she agrees whatever Jean says and follows him. Meanwhile, Julie inherits her mother’s hatred of men. Julie has authority partly because she is her father’s daughter and she also has women’s imagination about love and wants to change her life with love. So her contradictory characteristic leads to her tragedy.
z.huang1 // Mar 19th 2016 at 10:41 am
Great quotations that show the major conflicts in the story directly and indirectly. The first quotation directly depict her mental activities fighting against the major opinion of how relationship between upper class and normal people should be, in a logic sense, and how Julie is struggling to follow her heart. The second quote indicates Julie’s lack of courage and needs for supporting, showing her character as a half-woman. She doesn’t want restrictions as a well-behave woman, but she has lack of courage the man has to take risk.
lh154081 // Mar 19th 2016 at 11:44 am
I think that your choice of quotations are very good and help to prove your point. I agree that throughout much of the novel, Miss. Julie struggles with finding her identity. Being called a “half-woman,” it is evident that she is unable to fully place herself in either category- man or woman. Her inability to think for herself, as illustrated in these two quotes, ultimately lead to her downfall.
lh154081 // Mar 19th 2016 at 11:47 am
(post continued)
Perhaps what is most ironic is the fact that although she considers herself to be”half-woman,” she is not courageous enough to take risks. This reflects how no matter how she identifies herself, she will always act more upon her female nature.
s.lau // Mar 19th 2016 at 11:49 am
The quotes shows that Julie is at a state of insecurity and confusion about her identity. Both quotes demonstrate that she has emotional outbursts and is in need of help. They also show Julie as incompetent and dependent on her male counterpart, Jean. Eventually, Julie relinquishes her position of authority and Jean sends her away since she can’t make a decision for herself. The quotes establishes Julie’s characteristics as those with Stringberg’s comments. Julie is initially in power and then loses the empowerment due to her feminine characteristics. It is her dependency, insecurity, emotional instability that leads to her downfall.
You must log in to post a comment.