Jealousy, Heartbreak, and Insecurity: Wharton’s Fears as Displayed in Greek Mythology
Wharton’s “Pomegranate Seed” gives insight into her own struggles as a person and a writer. She formed characters based on these struggles and connected them to Greek Mythology through the myth of the abduction of Persephone. She wrote a summary of the myth at the beginning of the story in order to introduce the connection to the reader, although she does not specifically reference that connection in the plot of the story. Wharton’s use of the title “Pomegranate Seed”, as well as the similarities between her characters and those in the referenced myth, show how her own fears, as well as the characters’ fears of being less valuable and desirable than other
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Goluboff, another well-known critic, makes this point when he says “[t]he summary of the Persephone myth that Wharton made for Loring lacks several important details” (Goluboff 219). In the original myth, Persephone had been taken to Hades without her consent. In “Pomegranate Seed,” Wharton implies that it was Kenneth’s choice to go join Elsie; this is shown through Kenneth’s reactions to the letters as he struggled to decide between his two wives. Also, in the Greek myth, the pomegranate seeds are what keep Persephone in Hades, while in the short story, the letters from Elsie convince Kenneth to join Elsie. Wharton even forms a connection between the pomegranate seeds and the letters; she creates a symbol out of it by talking of them as singular objects. In the myth, Persephone eats 6 pomegranate seeds, but in the title, Wharton depicts the seeds as a singular object. In the story, Kenneth receives 9 letters, but Charlotte talks about how in her eyes they had combined into the one thing that drove her to extreme jealousy. Probably the most blatant difference between the two is that Kenneth is the husband who is being tempted by his wife, while in the Greek myth, it is Persephone, a woman, who is brought to the land of the dead. Similarly, Charlotte is Kenneth’s wife, but she …show more content…
She also connects those characters to Greek mythology by ambiguously summarizing the myth of Persephone’s kidnapping at the beginning of the story and choosing a title that creates a symbolic connection between the letters and the pomegranate seeds. Through Charlotte and Kenneth, she symbolizes Zeus and Persephone by showing the conflicting emotions that occur in Persephone and Kenneth. Kenneth’s ambivalent disposition coupled with Charlotte’s jealousy, insecurity, and ignorance of how to best handle those feelings, correspond to Wharton’s personal feelings as well as those of the Greek gods and
Greek myths are fascinating stories, they are stories of powerful men and women with powers. They teach us life lessons and how to get through problems in life. A good example is, odysseus and penelope, in the painting penelope and odysseus, heinrich uses penelope to reunite with odysseus to show that a secretive situation it causes distrust between 2 people, and causes them to separate, while in her poem “you are odysseus”, linda pastan uses the same scene to show that in order to have a healthy relationship, people must be there for each other. In “you are odysseus”, linda pastan uses imagery, to that people need communication to have a healthy relationship. Pastan states that penelope says “hide my songs under my tongue.”
Though Penny Wharvey McGill is portrayed as a “Southern 1930’s” version of Penelope, this heroine has many contrasting characteristics compared to the wife of Odysseus from Ancient Greece.
I will argue that we may view the woman as representative of Odysseus’ grief in his moment of pity and pain, the simile in its entirety may be regarded as analogous to a potential future for his own oikos. Should he fail to return home or succeed to return only to deceit and demise, Odysseus will initiate the splintering of his home into the rabid hands of the suitors. The simile shifts from referring solely to Odysseus to encompass the possible fate of his entire household. This promotes the idea that this hero reaps what he sows for, as the perpetrator of like monstrosity, he faces the tragedy of a future akin to that of his own surviving victims.
The Rape of Persephone began as a simple story of peace and unchanging atmosphere. Demeter, goddess of the earth, agriculture and fertility in general, withheld her gifts from the earth in an act of isolation and depression once she lost Persephone. Before tragedy struck, she was loved by all for providing a climate for crops to flourish year round.Persephone held the sweetest disposition and was admired by all who knew her- including the God of the dead, Hades. However, unbenounced to her and her mother, her father Zeus had agreed to the turmoil that would soon ensue. As Persephone quested for the most enchanting flower, Hades, “the lord of the dark underworld, the king of the multitudinous dead, carried her off underneath the earth, driving a
Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome is vividly real to its readers, its issues continually relevant to society, but through its structure and moral lessons, it is intended to be read as a 'fairy tale'.
Repeatedly, Wharton's characters sacrifice self to the more powerful collective. Within this sacrifice lie the elements of modern tragedy.
Penelope is praised throughout the story for her faithfulness and wisdom; but note the how her “excellences” are all directly linked to her relationship with her husband. Penelope’s narrative centers on Odysseus. She is held up as an ideal woman because of her fidelity, and for no other reason.
Penelope and Helen are the real human women who can steal men's hearts with their own feminine ways and they never let their man go. Helen stole the heart of Paris and later married Menelaus-the love that Paris had for Helen began the long Trojan War. Even with her shaded past, Helen is able to live her life as a proper adjusted middle-class matron. Penelope and Odysseus were only together for a few years before he was sent off to war and, while he was gone for over twenty years, his love for her lasted. Penelope is the symbol of marital fidelity, of trust, honor and devotion.
erica’s obsession with Greek and Roman culture has been around for centuries. Buildings like the Capitol, the White House, and even the Lincoln Memorial were designed with the intended purpose of portraying the intimidating architecture of Ancient Greece. In fashion, elaborate clothing crafted by designers imitate early Greek attire to display a regal femininity or a warrior-like masculinity. For entertainment purposes, books, television shows, and movies are used to carry on the myths and stories of the Greek gods and Heroes. Depending on each myth, the story could have been compromised from the act of being passed down from generation to generation. In the original myth of Perseus, multiple archetypes were used and provided stereotypical roles in the myth. However, the modern day Clash of the Titans movie portrayed the myth in a completely different context, added or removed new characters and even changed the archetype of the characters, thus changing the meaning of the story.
In Ovid Metamorphoses, the Roman literature described the ruthless act of Pluto of rape, to seize and carry away Proserpine without the consent of Ceres and in parallel in the Homeric Hymns of Demeter; Persephone was seized and carried away by Hades without the consent of Demeter. The invariant theme that was identified in both the Greek and Roman literature was the loss of innocence of Persephone/Proserpine. Despite the various differences the story was presented, it reinforced the innocence that was stolen from the god of the underworld, Hades or also known as Pluto. Throughout this paper, it will discuss the similar characteristics of the two myths such as the motive that led and encouraged the god of the underworld to kidnap
Primarily, Plath illuminates her emphasis on contrast through the use of caesuras. The first caesura, “Two girls there are: within the house” (1), introduces the foil of Persephone’s dual personalities. This is significant as it elucidates the concept of there being two people within one character setting. In this case the two girls portrayed in the house allude to the existent impression that women are two-faced. Women are known to have two sides for they only ultimately show what is perceived as face-value, and preserve their other individual persona hidden. Similarly, Plath uses a second example of a caesura, “One sits; the other, without” (2), to clarify the erratic contrast amongst her two personalities. This is
The tale of Oedipus and his prophecy has intrigued not only the citizens of Greece in the ancient times, but also people all over the world for several generations. Most notable about the play was its peculiar structure, causing the audience to think analytically about the outcomes of Oedipus’ actions and how it compares with Aristotle’s beliefs. Another way that the people have examined the drama is by looking at the paradoxes (such as the confrontation of Tiresias and Oedipus), symbols (such as the Sphinx), and morals that has affected their perceptions by the end of the play. Nonetheless, the most important aspect is how relevant the story is and how it has influenced modern ideas like that of Freud and other people of today.
A modern adaptation of Homer 's Odyssey – one of the most widely read ancient literary works in the world – Margaret Atwood 's novella, The Penelopiad, retells this classic story, this time from the perspective of Penelope, Odysseus ' wife, who spent ten long years waiting faithfully for him to return form the Trojan war, and is now lameting her life from the greek underworld, Hades. The Penelopiad deconstructs the portrayal of penelope in the Odyssey, showing that instead of waiting and wasting away, she instead employed her wits, feminine charm and strength of character to build a strong empire and achieve her own ends, or at least, that 's what she would like us to believe. Chapter 26 is a courtroom scene, where Odysseus is on trial for the hanging of the 12 maids, which he justifies by convincing the judge of their supposed indescretions. Atwood employs various literary devices, such as the exploitation of genre and dark humour, to convey the double standard between genders, the failures of the justice system, and the lack of consequences awarded to those in power.
Eavan Boland’s poem “The Pomegranate” utilizes the intricacies of the Greek myth of Persephone and elegantly intertwines the story to detail the bond of daughter and mother and the cyclical journey from daughter to mother. The myth of Persephone deeply resonates within Boland due to the versatility and impactful meaning of the story. Which in turn gives the poem a ambivalent and bittersweet emotional narrative with a reflective tone. Boland immediately manipulates the cyclical essence of the poem through juxtaposing the little girl in the myth, Persephone, to the little girl reading the poem, the narrator. The author does this by seemingly mixing the two together as displayed in the following lines, “I can enter it anywhere and have. As a
It conveys the effort of reality and existence into convictions of philosophy. As Barth's literary characters Ambrose Mensch ( Lost in the Funhouse), Ebenezer Cooke (The Sot-Weed Factor ) and George Giles (Giles Goat-boy ) are to name important examples both Perseus and Bellerophon try to develop their identities, to describe their aesthetic sense. And particularly for Bellerophon, this attempt conveys mainly postmodern answers. Basically, it appears that he acquires a protean nature, holding different characters at different views of his story, Bellerophon asserts that he wondered "how many people are narrating his tale", and then repeated he thought he was dead. He was scared. He has full of voices, all that, he couldn't hear directly who's speaking (Chimera, 142). Nevertheless, this is only the starting of his spiritual journey. Half way completed his myth; seeing only gaps and breaks in the tale, the hero bravely achieves what he is gaining cannot be considered as identity change. With regard to knowledge an identity crisis, one must first have rejoiced in some sort of identity (Chimera, 150). From his multiple fallible stories, it arises that he had no identity at all and so there is no effect which could lead his life. Finally, it conveys that Bellerophon really is not a story teller- he is a