The Wounding Aurora Sarah Waters’ Affinity uses the identity, Aurora, to represent a wound for the main character, Margaret Prior. The identity of Aurora haunts Margaret through its representation of her past relationship with her former lover Helen; Aurora’s the nickname Helen had for Margaret during their relationship (Waters 114). Therefore, Margaret’s haunted by the person she used to resemble in her relationship with Helen effectively named Aurora; a person she desperately wants to become again. Essentially, Margaret’s haunted by a ghost of herself in the form of an identity. Throughout the book, Margaret’s actions are either a result of trying to heal the wound of Aurora or out of a desire to become Aurora again; her whole existence is based around an identity of a past relationship. Therefore, Margaret subjects herself to the identity of Aurora. The identity of Aurora first presents itself when Selina asks Margaret to “give me a secret name, a name that has, not the worst of you, but the best…” (Waters 114). Margaret answers Aurora conveying Margaret’s belief of Aurora being the best version of herself. Margaret’s belief is conveyed further through her “flinching” (114) at Selina writing the name Margaret reflecting her own discomfort with the identity of Margaret. Therefore, Margaret rejects the identity of Margaret in favor of the identity of Aurora. Moreover, Margaret’s flinching conveys the Bennett & Royle concept of: “Writing can inflict wounds” (129) through
Aurora and the nameless character have a unique and awkward way of revealing their emotions toward the narrator. They are constantly fluctuating their actions and emotions towards each other. As an illustration, the narrator states how after
The American Civil War was fought from 1860 to 1865 between the Union and the Confederates. Many battles were fought during this time period, and all of them were extremely gory. Gettysburg, Shiloh, and Bull Run were important battles for both sides fighting in the Civil War.
Her attractive persona and florid speech resulted in an initial impression of kindness and candor, though what lies beneath is hardly approachable. The one part of Cathy’s outwardly appearance that exposed her was the coldness in her eyes. Samuel Hamilton describes this phenomenon, saying, “There was nothing recognizable behind them,” and that “They were not human eyes,” (C). Cathy’s eyes are the window to her soul and represent her cold, haughty view of the world. Her soul is the the embodiment of whom Cathy really is thus, the real Cathy controls her environment, this controlling comes from the fear of being exposed. Charles recognized and saw through Cathy’s persona and therefore did not trust her blatantly stating to Adam, “I wouldn’t trust her with a bit piece,” (B). Charles saw the dangers of trusting Cathy due to her deceptive and manipulative ways that he easily recognized. He was able to see past her beguiling appearance and saw her as the inveigler she truly was. Although Samuel and Charles were able to see past Cathy, others such as Adam were not able to see her carefully crafted
Further, the suffering of both protagonists provides the basis of the personality as well as the actions of the protagonists. Because Sarah was suffering from losing a mom and then
Women in the Civil War were basically the beginning of a movement, because many people thought that women could not accomplish fighting in a war. The role of women in the Civil War failed to be noticed by people in history. Women’s roles prior to the Civil War were to take care of home and family. Single women or those who were poor could find work outside the home, but there was a short list of things or places for them many women who stayed home also became the center of the arrangement of ladies gathering supplies and raising funds for the soldiers.
Gender dynamics have been present in society for centuries, even dating back to the Ancient Greeks, where women were still encouraged to remain in the home. Gender dynamics in “The Birth-Mark” and “The Crucible” still remain male-dominated, however, the ever-present danger of domestic violence has become more frequent and powerful. The delicate birthmark on Georgiana’s face in “The Birth-Mark” represents, her husband, Aylmer's essential ownership over her, his hand being placed on her face. He is putting his mark on “his wife.” (The Birth-Mark,
As the reader is more introduced to her they can see her manipulation become more evident. “Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you” (23) she tells this to the other girls. This adds a fear element as well as eludes how she can manipulate people into doing what she tells them. This helps to not only prove to the reader the truth of this theme but develop the plot and her role in the
The aftermath of the Civil War shook the nation. A new way of life was beginning for the people of America. A way of life that was beautiful and free to some and absolutely devastating to the rest. The country had changed and nobody did a better job at documenting this change than the authors. The authors used this new world to explore new and unique stories as well as capturing what it was actually like living in the post-Civil War times. This paper will examine post-Civil War Literature and its importance to documenting this period in history.
The morally rigid model that Irene clings to in “Secret Love” and “October Brown” drives her actions in both. In the first, Irene desperately tries to fill the role vacated by her mother, she makes James’s dinner and “[ladles] gravy over it just so”, does dishes standing “up to [her] elbows in dishwater”: performing the traditional roles of a wife (131). Similarly, in “October Brown”, she takes advantage of being put in a position of power over Brown’s career and lies, saying “Yes . . . she did” when asked if Brown physically abused a student (19). (Here again is a certain amount of composure in the face of potential emotional trauma: Irene is able to make this fictional claim in a “level and clear” voice (19).) At the root of Irene’s behavior is the desire to expunge aberrations from a world she needs to believe is just. By using Irene as a first person narrator, Clair grants the reader access to a more sophisticated perception of her stories: it is Irene’s strongly contrasting sense of fair and unfair that, when challenged, drives her to try and correct the imbalance. Pearlean unjustly ostracizes James; Irene tries to take up the responsibilities she abandoned. October Brown
There is a dialogue between memory and the imagination in Amy Bloom’s “Sliver Water.” The dialogue breathes vivid detail into the story, and gives life to characters that are sustainable and developed for the reader. The author tells a story of a family, with a member who suffers from schizophrenia. The character Rose, who suffers with schizophrenia dies at the end of the story, making that episode the climax.The story is told from her Sister Violet’s perspective. This provided insight on how Rose’s family struggles too, loving and living with a person with mental illness. The author utilizes memory, life, setting, and imagination to write the story. Amy Bloom does not tell the readers the conflict in the story, but shows the reader
Deception is important within any work of literature as it can be used to reveal the personality of a character or present a conflict. Margaret Atwood uses Richard Griffin’s deception against Iris and her sister in order to contribute to the deeper meaning of sexism in common society by illuminating the oppression in order for it to be resolved. Notably, personal benefit or the personality of the individual is often the motive for willingly deceiving others.
Astoundingly, Wakefield left his wife approximately two decades ago, but in the scene where they met each other again in the streets of London, it was being told from an outside. This third person’s lens can possibly make the readers doubt the plot of the plot. Likewise, “The Birthmark” was told from a third person’s perspective, which in a similar way to “Wakefield,” this component causes the readers to doubt and create discussion on the reliability of the story. “’My poor Aylmer,’ she repeated, with a more than human tenderness, ‘you have aimed loftily; you have one nobly. Do not repent that with so high and pure a feeling, you have rejected the best the earth could offer.
However, his desire for perfection in his wife backfires on him, resulting in their punishment. Once Aylmer finally discovers the cure and her birthmark disappears away, so did his wife. Unfortunately, he was too distracted by his own critical judgements on Georgiana’s imperfection to realize the true beauty in front of him. Hawthorne conveys the irony of the situation in which Aylmer and Georgiana relationship could not last with the birthmark remaining, but the reality was that Georgiana had a natural beauty incomparable to the minuscule birthmark residing on her cheek. According to his wife, her husband could not accept what nature has best offered them: “Do not repent that with so high and pure a feeling, you have rejected the best the earth could offer.
Aurora Leigh" tells the story of the development of a woman poet largely as the story of her struggle to understand how her life and art can accommodate love. Aurora Leigh envies male poets because they find it possible to
To establish an overall opinion of someone based entirely off of another person’s assessment causes misinformed prejudice and mindless ignorance. In literature, often times readers are led to form biased conclusions in regards to certain characters based upon the favor of the narrator. For this reason, Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises creates a disguised heroine; Lady Brett Ashley. She is often portrayed in a very negative light due to Jake’s partiality, however, though analysis of the text and collaboration with Hemingway critics, it is plain that Brett is a very complex and realistic character. Her unique