Nasty Trick in Stephen Crane's The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky
"The great Pullman was whirling onward with such dignity of motion that a glance from the window seemed simply to prove that the plains of Texas were pouring eastward" (91). Boom! We're on a train witnessing the liquid landscape of Texas. This fact is all Stephen Crane chooses to tell us. In fact, he doesn't even use the word "train" until the ninth paragraph when he is writing dialogue for the man who is the betrothed to the woman implied in the title of the piece, "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky." We learn in the second paragraph that the couple is on a coach from San Antonio and that "the man's face was reddened from many days in the wind and the sun" (91). We also learn
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Why do we learn this? Because we are told he feels like he has betrayed "his innocent and unsuspecting community" by going off and "inducing" a girl from San Antonio "he believed he loved" to marry him (92). Now that is quite interesting. An "innocent and unsuspecting community" (92). It would almost seem to suggest and "innocent and unsuspecting" couple. Somehow I don't think this inference is an accident.
Now in Yellow Sky people marry just like anywhere else, or so we are told. But we learn that Jack Porter feels such a sense of duty to his town that he feels he feels "heinous," guilty of "an extraordinary crime," because he never overtly garnered their good graces before the fact. In the nineteenth paragraph he thinks to tell them, but "a new cowardice" has taken stole over him (93). The short sentence Crane chooses says it succinctly: "He feared to do it" (93).
He turns these thoughts of guilt over in his mind, thinking how he will slink into town, tail tucked dutifully between his legs. Then our attention is brought to rest on the bride: "What's worrying you, Jack?" His reply? "I'm not worrying, girl; I'm only thinking of Yellow Sky" (93). Then we learn "she flushed in comprehension" (93). From here they look at each other "with eyes softly aglow," Potter laughs "the same nervous laugh," and "the flush on the bride's face" seems
When he admits his affair,“Excellency, forgive me, forgive me. An-grily against himself, he turns away from the Governor for a moment. Then, as though to cry out is his only means of speech left: She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, t lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat.
The story begins with the narrator’s use of dramatic irony which already tells the reader that something is suspicious about her. “John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage” (508 Gilman). The narrator, which is unknown, states
In the first line, “My river was once unseparated. Was Colorado”, she shows the past. Next, she shows the current state of the river, “Now it is shattered by fifteen dams” (5). Then she shifts her vision from ground to the upper sky. She describes how the milky way was made, which is the title of this poem.
He flaunted his mistress around the town so bluntly as to show that he cared nothing about Delia or their marriage. He was the worst husband possible and did everything he could to disrespect and belittle his wife
This shows that neither may be happy in the relationship or Curley is worried about his wife cheating due to the relationship being out of necessity for Curley's wife and she may not get enough attention so she looks to other men which may make Curley insecure. There is also a chance that the relationship may be abusive due to Curley's wife admitting to wanting to hurt Curley.
knowing he was already married. Laci Peterson later on did find out about Scott cheating on her
“In Venice, they do let god see the pranks they dare not show their husbands.” This shows what kind of social background he has had and his low opinion of women.
The speaker also talks of Nell, his ex-wife. Though there were things that annoyed him about her, he still speaks fondly of her. For instance, he remarks, "That's why Nell was good to have round. She could be a pain in the ass, you know, like making me hang those stupid bells, but mostly she knew what to do." This allows the reader to see that the loss of his family has had a deep impact on him. He misses his wife and son and speaks of how families should be together, though his never will be again. This is what provokes him to do what he did next.
“He never wanted anyone to question his honesty. Cheating was bad, bad business. ”(pg 37 and 41) .
Jack: “If I marry a charming girl like Gwendolen, and she is the only girl I ever saw in my life that I would marry, I certainly won’t want to know Bunbury” – This shows that Jack does want to settle down and is very much in love with Gwendolen. He feels that if he has her in his life, he will no longer need to escape out of where he lives to have fun and be wilder, as he won’t want that anymore.
facinated by a married women even took his own life. The nineteenth century was when
Mr. Higgins and Colonel Pickering decide to take her to a horse track to test out her skills. The track, of course, is dominated by the upper class. They are all dressed up in gorgeous gowns and nice suits. When Mr. Higgins’ mother finds out about Eliza coming to the horse track, she is disgusted that her son invited a common flower girl to her private box. The upper class does not take too kindly to the lower class. They enjoy and respect their differences, sometimes even push it. While at the track, Eliza screams at a horse to move its “bloomin’ arse,” in her native lower class, crude language. The people of the horse track are shocked by this and cannot believe what they heard. After this, Colonel Pickering wants to call off the bet with Mr. Higgins. Pickering does not believe Eliza could be taught to walk and present herself as a lady at the Embassy
Later, when Lady Bracknell and Gwendolen enter, two more ideas of marriage are brought to the forefront. Lady Bracknell portrays the aristocratic Victorian view of marriage but to a more extreme extent. According to Ziegenfuss, marriage in the Victorian era was not romanticized or fairytale-like. Love actually played a very minor role in the majority of matrimonies that took place. Engagement was entered into as one would approach a business deal, with rules and guidelines (Ziegenfuss). This is blatantly obvious when Lady Bracknell interviews Jack to see if he’s fit to marry Gwendolen. She attacks Jack with questions about family, fortune, and even place of residency and his answers need be appropriate for a union between the two families. (Kupske, Souza, 122). Even when Algernon wants to marry Cecily, Lady Bracknell voices, “I think some preliminary inquiry on my part would not be out place.” (Wilde, 46). Gwendolen, however, has the same view of marriage as Jack but, still has strong ideals about social protocol. This is seen when Jack tries to propose, she replies, “Of course I will darling…I am afraid you have had very little experience in how to propose!” (Wilde, 11)
Eliza, in the climax scene vulnerably asks Higgins, why he made her a sophisticated Duchess if her never cared for her, and why did not he thought of the trouble it would make for her, on which Higgins shocking reply says: