I am probably not the best person to argue for or against feminism but it is something that is constantly made an issue in just about everything discussed today (whether it is this class, or my US government class) and yes it is an important topic but does it have to be the most important topic? i would have liked very much for Lolita's part of the novel to be more detailed and for her to have had a larger part. I'm a sap and really enjoyed the romance and the scandalous relations and the gossip-y nature of the women (even if it perpetuates a female stereotype). more or less i feel i've run out of things to say for now but may continue later ....
Sep 15, 2008
Who would have thought it.... probably not Ruiz de Burton
So i know my blog is late but in a way i'm glad it is because today's discussion changed the way i am viewing the novel. I don't really have a thing for mrs. norval, or for lavinia or any of the other women in the book. what i don't like is having to define the novel as being from a feminist or non-feminist point-of-view. I just don't think Ruiz de Burton wanted future generations to look at her story as being about the power that women do or do not have. I really see this novel as being about people and the state of the world at the time and how everyone coped with their situations. Yes, the women in this novel play very central roles, and have a lot of power (whether it is acknowledged by the men or not) and they all know their own strength (ex 1: [pg94] mrs. cackle admires mrs. norval and the wives of the 'divines' and looks up to them because they are stronger women than she. it takes dr. norval's generosity to bring mrs. cackle - and her family - to the same status as the other women, but she still views them as the more affluential and reports back to them regularly. ex 2: [pg 51] ruth knows that her father has no real power in the household and that she 'enjoys managing her mother' because she holds the actual power within the family).
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2 comments:
wow! i am in complete accordance with you. i really felt that whether or not the book was a feminist one was probably not the most important fact to dwell on and discuss. i was however surprised at the responses on the 'for' side today. i haven't learned most people's names but the guy that spoke first that totally winged it kicked ass. go team go!
Hey, I also agree with you. I don't view Ruiz de Burton's work as something that was necessarily a "call for action" for feminism or a radical exposé on the state of New England during the American Civil War. I think of her work more as a reflection of her life and her experiences as an American “foreigner”. I feel “Who Would Have Thought It?” is more of a (hypothetical or fictional) story of the interactions of dynamic society at the time it was written. However, we should really take into consideration that of course Ruiz de Burton biased in viewing the time and place through her own eyes, just due to her personal experiences. The actions and plots in the book played out she would have perceived them to...I’m just thinking how this book would have played out if somebody like the fictional Mrs. Norval would have written it…
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