For the second novel I read, Nights
at the Circus, also by Angela Carter, I chose the poem Portrait d’une Femme by
Ezra Pound. The speaker of the poem is acknowledging a woman that is very
similar to Fevvers. Both are strong, cultured woman who are constantly in the
presence of people described in the poem as: “one average mind- with one
thought less, each year” (10). And
because of this, both of the woman find themselves without identity or
fulfillment, taking in the “ideas, old gossip, oddments of all things, / Strange
spars of knowledge and dimmed wares of price” (5-6), they are the great
Sargasso Sea in which the social current back washes into. “The tarnished,
gaudy, wonderful old work; / Idols and ambergris and rare inlays” (22-23),
these images show the life that Fevvers lives, acting out in an overcompensated
personality and acquiring a gushing of flashy material items. The tone of the
piece is also similar to that of Walser as he interviews Fevvers; evaluating
and criticizing, picking her apart as he asks her to tell him her story. And in
the end, his words to her are just as climatic as the last three lines of the
poem, in which the speaker exclaims: “No! there is nothing! In the whole and
all, / Nothing that’s quite your own. / Yet this is you” (28-30). This line can
be paralleled the Walser demanding Fevvers: “What is your name? Have you a
soul? Can you love?” (pg. 291). By asking her this, he is dehumanizing Fevvers,
taking away her name, heart, and soul- proving that nothing is her own because
she has already given it away to something else.
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DeleteThe focus on magic realism in your presentation intrigued me. Although we did analyze fairy tales earlier in the trimester, it surprised me that those elements showed up again in contemporary novels. The use of fairy tale archetypes and themes in Angela Carter’s books served to create a base for Carter to satirize traditional gender roles. Those fairy tale influences became essential: without them, she would have nothing to build off of. Your presentation truly shows how seemingly archaic tales can still have an impact.
DeleteI completely agree with your analysis of Walser's attitude toward Fevvers. He continually doubts her, in order to try to understand. His questions, his words, truly dehumanize and diminish her worth. However, I slightly disagree about how this line parallels the conclusion of the poem. Rather than parallel, I think the lines juxtapose each other. Although Pound does call out the woman who has "nothing that's quite [her] own" (Pound 29) he doesn't diminish her worth. Immediately after calling her out, he says "Yet this is you" (Pound 30). Through this line, he acknowledges that the woman does have an identity, one crafted out of different sources, but an identity nonetheless. In this way, he builds up the woman while Walser tears down Fevvers.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with you take on the poem compared to the novel that you read. However, since I have not read the novel I am not sure if I can whole-heartedly support your connections. I do think that in your analysis you could have focused more on the poem instead of on the text. I think that the idea of, “one average mind- with one thought less, each year,” (10) is an interesting concept. I also think that there is a possibility that someone as, “strong [and] cultured,” (Moretto) as the women from your novel could be swayed by the people around them and eventually become similar to them. I think that you analysis was good, but I think that you could go deeper.
ReplyDeleteNights at the Circus and “Portrait d’une Femme” do have the strong connection you have mentioned. Angela Carter’s writing style goes into deep detail, as I noticed while reading the passages. However, the bulk of understanding her work is understanding the characters, settings and objects that make a scene. The most elaborate way I saw this was through the use of short sentences and rhetorical questions that express the feelings of the characters, as seen in the sentence when Walser demands to know if Fevver’s has “a soul” and if she “can love” (Carter 291). The punctuation she uses is important as well – the use of explanation marks emphasizes places that are of high importance, especially in the climatic scenes I have read. The dashes are also used to slow down the tempo, and allow the reader to understand and breakdown shocking revelations.
ReplyDeleteThese elements are extremely prevalent in the poem as well. So along with you stating that the two thematically relate, you can also relate the writing style between the poem and the passage as well. Though few dashes are used in the poem, they are used in crucial moments to contrast the “average mind” with that of the “great mind” (Pound). The fact that the dashes are only used to describe this contrast is significant in emphasizing the shallow mind, with an analytical one. The adjectives used in the poem, also emphasize descriptions that allow the subjects, as Carter places her emphasis on descriptions to her characters.
I loved you presentation! The references to the fight for feminism and fight for power for the female characters was amazing. Aside from your presentation, I was for sure that in a book with so much sexual tension and imbalance of power, you would certainly aim for the aspect of how supporting characters affected the main female lead but, I was captivated by your depth on how you focused on something as original as the satisfaction of hunger in Angela Carter’s works. Obviously, there is hunger for food but, but especially interesting was how you connected her component of hunger with the fairy tale ideals.
ReplyDeleteCommon works such as “Hansel and Gretel”, as you mentioned in your presentation, had similarities on how hunger affected characters. After you made this connection in your presentation, I understood more about works that have a center on food and other items to satisfy hunger. For instance, I was even able to understand my novel better though your explication of food and hunger. Although a few of my criticisms dealt with how food is a connector, it is clear to tell that other authors, such as Jhumpa Lahiri, also use elements to overcome hunger. As Walsar, in your novel craves for connection with Fevvers to satisfy hunger, characters like Amit and Miranda name personal connections as their “food” to overcome situations. In society, there are many items or ideas that people attach to in order to overcome difficulties. For some that may be food, for others it may be things such as alcohol, sex, or drugs.