Lacey Kirwan
Notes- The Eyes, The Letters, Autres Temps, Xingu
10/31/11
The Eyes-
I will never again be able to read the word "turn' without thinking of the Turn of the Screw.
"his study of the human race seemed to have resulted in the conclusion that all men were superfluous, and women wee necessary only because someone had to do the cooking" lol wow
It seems a common type for Whartons women to never be exceedingly exceptional, do Daisy Millers
What did he do? He was trying to hurt her or get a reaction out of her by telling her he was leaving but then her reaction made him propose? What?
The imagery of the eyes is extremely disturbing
"if she had had more imagination--or longer lashes" page 202
"At first I used to wonder what had put into that radiant head the detestable delusion that it held a brain." Hilarious page 205
"behaved as little like a fool as it's possible for a fool to behave"
I think the eyes are a double to Murchard, they are his eyes only when he sees them he is looking at his future self. At the end when he looks at his reflection with growing hate it is because he recognizes what Phil sees. The hateful eyes are there on his face.
The eyes appear only when Murchard is doing or about to do something good for someone else. As he describes the eyes, 'belong to a man who had done a lot of harm in his life, but had always kept just inside the danger lines' that is Murchard. He lead an innocent girl on and basically humiliated her, and then he led a boy on and then laughed at him, who then turned into a drunk.
The Letters-
"it is not the kiss endured, but the kiss returned, that lives." Nice line page 216
The never see him again is cool
"the fact that he abstained seemed to show that he trusted her as she trusted him, and that they were one most of all in this complete security of understanding" is she just deluding herself?
His letters are better to her than his actual presence because they don't demand anything from her she doesn't have to be careful or watch what she says
"Lizzie brooded over every syllable till they formed the undercurrent of all her waking thoughts, and murmured through her midnight dreams; but she would have been happier if they had shed some definite light on the future." Page 226
'serve as scenary or chorus" interesting page 228
"he felt heavy and clumsy, like some other woman's child; and his screams annoyed her." Page 242
"Oh, why had she given him the bag." Page 246
Very poignant story, it was better to live in a love based off of lies than to have no love at all
Autres Temps-
"Yes, Leila's done just what her mother did. With such an example what could you expect?"
Ide has a crush on her?
"it's as if an angel had gone about lifting gravestones, and the buried people walked again, and the living didn't shrink from then" she paints a horrible picture of how society was lol
"I've seen what it did to one man, and there must never, never be another." Wow
Her ex-husband arranging a job for her new husband that's a stretch
'a life broken under their inexorable pressure'
Charlotte wynn- I feel as if I have read that name before?
Leila keeps calling her you precious darling and things like that was it really common for daughters to speak to mothers like that?
So despite being ok with Leilas divorce and remarriage Mrs. Boulger is still not okay with Mrs. Lidcotes?
Why is she saying to Ide that it was her idea to stay up in the room?
...and if we're moved suddenly into new ones we're likely to find a stone wall where we thought there was thin air, and to knock ourselves senseless against it. I saw a man do that once." Either her situation was horrifying or she is way overdramatic and puts way too much emphasis on it
That story was horrible, he is saying that times have changed and no one shuns her yet he does the same thing her daughter did to prevent her from seeing people shun her
Xingu-
Omg I would walk out of this book club at some point what the hell
"Mrs. Leveret felt like a passenger on an ocean steamer who is told that there is no immediate danger, but that she had better put on her lifebelt." Wow
This reminds me of Henry James in an opposite kind of way. He wrote stories about this kind of thing putting himself in the place of the revered person in the story and then lavishing that character with praise. Here I believe a similar thing is happening but where James would love to have his books scrutinized and read so seriously like this, I think that Wharton is mocking the people who read books like this and take all of the life and fun out of the book.
"Only Mrs. Roby went on placidly sipping her chartreuse" I love her
"It was as though her countenance had so long been set in an expression of unchallenged superiority that the muscles had stiffened, and refused to obey her orders." Lol
'it was an it' this is literally cracking me up
'almost forgot the joy of assisting at the discomfiture of miss dane" lollololol
Xingu doesn't exist does it? Lol
I love this, dane takes off with Roby
It's a river that's awesome
All the branches, the source is difficult for a woman to discover because it is difficult for a man as well due to the hiking and all, lol this is great
I think that Mrs. Roby will laugh her ass off when she gets the letter asking her to resign lol I loved this story, it was the funniest thing I have ever read
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