Mrs. Dalloway through page 63)

McKenzie Maddox, Jordan Bronson, Tania Montalvo

It seems like Mrs. Dalloway is written using a lot of free indirect discourse.  It is tough to tell the difference between conversation and actions as the writing style is ambiguous. There are points of inflection or thoughts while she is in conversation, which makes it difficult to tell which point of view we are getting in certain instances.  For that reason we found it slightly tough to keep track of who is narrating at any given time.  The narration switches sometimes without indication, through the use of free indirect discourse.    

In the beginning we read from Mrs. Dalloway's perspective in first person.  Yet on page 17, the narration suddenly switches to third person, and references Mrs. Dalloway from an outsider point of view.  Thought and action become a fluid entity, and distinguishing
"Clarissa guessed.  Clarissa knew of course," (pg 17).
Sometimes she is referred to as Clarissa, I, or Mrs. Dalloway, or she.  There is confusion from the use of pronouns.

We are first introduced to Mrs. Dalloway, as she is out to get flowers for the party she is hosting.  She emphasizes that she gets the flowers herself, instead of sending a servant to do so.
What is the motive behind this, and why is this detail included?  How does finding this out from Mrs. Dalloway directly influence how the reader views her?

While this is not a retrospective work similar to ones we have read previously, there are episodic memories that give the reader insight into the character's past.
"For a girl of 18 as she then was..," (pg 3).

"She had the oddest sense of being herself invisible, unseen; unknown, there being no more marrying, no more having of children now, but only the astonishing and rather solemn progress with the rest of them up Bond Street, this being Mrs. Dalloway; not even Clarissa anymore, this being Mrs. Richard Dalloway," (pg 10)
This once again shows the ambiguity in identity or ownership of thoughts.  It is interesting that Woolf clarifies which "version" of the character we are learning about, which shows the confusion among perspective and how characters identify themselves. Her name is what gives her a sense of herself, and the one depicted as most important is her name in relation to her husband.  Yet she does not even sleep with her husband because she is ill, and throws parties because she feels lonely.  However she still values her relationship with him as it gives her an outward identity.

Similarly, "(Richard) is very well dressed, thought Clarissa; yet he always criticizes me," (pg 40).  She is very insecure about herself and thus bases a lot of her identity in her relation to him.  Relationships are stressed, which is a theme we have seen throughout the works thus far.  Whether they are relationships formed with motive or not, we see the importance people place on their relations with others, and how that helps them identify themselves.

We are also introduced to Septimus and Rezia.  Septimus fought in WWI, and is now suffering from PTSD which severs his relation with society and particularly with his wife.  His wife constantly takes him to the doctor, yet there is nothing "wrong" with him.  They run into Maisie Johnson, who claims the couple is odd.  When another woman sees Maisie, she thinks about her own life.
What is the purpose of depicting all these seemingly unimportant characters interact and reflect on their own lives in relation to other people?

We learn Mrs. Dalloway has a daughter, Elizabeth, whom she worries spends too much time with her history teacher, yet her husband thinks it is irrelevant.
How does this relate to other novels we have read regarding parenting?

Mrs. Dalloway also runs into Peter, and remembers their past relationship.  She wonders if he still thinks of her and the memories they shared.  This resonated with My Antonia, as Jim often thinks of Antonia and when they finally reconnect, they reminisce fondly of their past.  Antonia even says that she can not wait for her children to be old enough to listen to and understand her stories about her and Jim's memories, which he often romanticizes.  We saw a parallel between this interaction and ones seen in My Antonia.  

My Antonia - Day 3

Chizoba Ukairo
Laura Miron
Kathryn Lazarchick

Book III: Jim’s Transition to College and Lena Lingard

“While I was in the very act of yearning toward the new forms that Cleric brought up before me, my mind plunged away from me, and I suddenly found myself thinking of the places and people of my own infinitesimal past” (189).

• Jim attends the University of Nebraska where he meets an “inspiring young scholar”(186) Gasto Cleric. While Jim reflects on his time with Cleric as “a time of mental awakening as one of the happiest moments of [his] life”(186), Jim admits that while studying at the university, he knew “that [he] should never be a scholar” (188).
• Although Jim enjoyed learning new things and becoming accustomed to the perks of city life, his “mental excitement was apt to send [him] back to his own naked land” (188), as his thoughts still remained in the countryside.

“How I loved to hear [Lena] laugh again! It was so soft and unexcited and appreciative...When I closed my eyes I could hear them all laughing -- the Danish laundry girls and the three Bohemian Marys. Lena had brought them all back to me. It came over me, as it had never done before” (193).

• Jim is in a daze as Lena appears at his doorstep in a manner “so smooth and sunny and well cared for”(191).
• The two old friends attend plays in the city and grow closer through their frequent outings.
• Through Lena, Jim is updated on Antonia’s life. Lena sparks Jim’s curiosity, as she reveals “[Tony’s] always bragging about you , you know”(191).
• Jim realizes that he may never settle down with Lena in his life as he “shall never think of much else when [he’s] with her” (204). He decides to join Cleric in Boston and leave the active city lifestyle with Lena behind in hopes for a more stable future.

Book IV: Jim’s move to Harvard and Antonia’s failed marriage and motherhood

“She loved it from the first as dearly as if she’d had a ring on her finger, and was never ashamed of it. It’s a year and eight months old now, and no baby was ever better cared-for. Antonia is a natural-born mother. I wish she could marry and raise a family, but I don’t know as there’s much chance now” (217).

• while Jim has been away, Antonia has tried to have her new start to life but unlike Jim failed by being deserted by her fiance and left alone with child
• Although she is not ashamed of the child, she goes home and not until birth does  even her family notice
• like in Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre, being pregnant with no husband was a scandal.
• possible ruined her chances of ever marrying (well at this point in the novel)
• Unlike those novels, Lena and other women in this novel have been able to establish themselves (Lena with her seamstress position, etc.)

“We reached the edge of the field, where our paths parted. I took her hands and held them against my breast...over my heart. About us it was growing darker and darker, and I had to look hard to see her face, which I meant to always carry with me...As I went back alone over that familiar road, I could almost believe that a boy and  girl ran along beside me, as our shadows used to do, laughing and whispering to each other in the grass” (219-220).

• Again the two friends must part, physically and emotionally
• the field ends signalling them having to go different ways
• They have to step into a new chapter of their lives again without the other
• They part again with the hopes of seeing the other again
• They are able to part where they first met (in the country) and on better terms
• This quote also shows how much they cared for on another and grew up together so much in that grass and country
• The image of the children running is an obvious flashback to the better days of their childhood
• kind of a where they began to their final goodbyes (for a while)

.

Books 3-5: Antonia’s life comes full circle

• Antonia is back on the farm, where she started when she came to America
• married with a large family and a loving, needing husband
• After the failure of her last “marriage”, Antonia needs this
• It’s surprising to the reader that Antonia is able to get remarried in the first place
• Life has not been easy since Antonia left the Harlings
• Multiple odd jobs, never as homey or as little labor as she had when living with the Harlings
• Her father’s death is when the family’s hardships dramatically increased
• Antonia’s reckless decisions reflect today’s adolescents a lot

:

Questions:

1. While studying at the university, Jim often reflects on his “early friends” in the countryside who “in some strange way accompanied [him] through all of [his] new experiences (189). At this point in his life, did his constant reflection on the past hinder his ability to live in the present?
2. What is the significance of the plays that Jim and Lena attend? Why does Cather briefly explain the storyline of Camille? (pgs 194-195)
3. What role does Gasto Cleric play in Jim’s life? Is Cleric even a significant character at this point in the novel?
4. Contrast significant differences in life outcomes between Lena and Antonia
5. Why does Jim feel so abhorred when he learns about what has become of Antonia after he finishes at Harvard?
6. By the end of the novel, what is the most important event that took place in Antonia’s life thus far? (Excluding her family’s immigration to America)

My Antonia pgs. 127-185

Christine Flynn, Margo Tanner

Role of women throughout the novel

-The country girls are considered a "menace to the social order" in Black Hawk. (p.129)

-Frances Harling disapproves of Jim being attracted to the girls that he has hired, “The problem with you, Jim, is that you’re romantic.” Jim idealizes Antonia, and the other girls because he believes them to be glamorous and out of his reach.  He deems them as “hand-painted china that must not be used” and they are “[his] country girls.”

-What role do women play throughout the novel and what is Cather trying to convey about society through the characters she creates?

-What is Lena’s role in the novel compared to Antonia and Tiny?

“Our result of this family solidarity was that the foreign farmers in our country were the first to become prosperous.  After the fathers were out of debt, the daughters married the sons of neighbors, --usually of like nationality,-- and the girls who once worked in Black Hawk kitchens are to-day managing big farms and fine families of their own; their children are better off than the children of the town women they used to serve.” (157)

-The passage conveys two important ideas

1. Foreigners led good lives as immigrants
1. Is there actual truth to this statement? Why or why not?

2. Women were destined to work in homes and had little or no opportunity doing anything else
1. Do you agree with this notion that the women are better off after marrying?
2. Are the female characters empowered and given the tools and resources to pursue other paths than marriage?

Antonia and Larry’s Relationship

-Antonia dances Larry Donovan, and Antonia is surprised when he kisses her more aggressively than she expects. Antonia tells Jim that she hopes he does something more with his life than what his friends have done. Antonia is proud of his success at school.  She says,

-"Now, don't you go and be a fool like some of these town boys. You're not going to sit around here and whittle store-boxes and tell stories all your life. You are going away to school and make something of yourself. I'm just awful proud of you" (143).

-What influence does Antonia have on Larry and Jim?  How does her relationships with each of them differ?

Antonia’s Heritage, and going back to her roots gives her a sense of personhood

-Jim travels along the river banks and takes in the beauty of the country.  He notices Antonia crying and she tells him how she is saddened by the flowers that remind her her of her home in Bohemia.

-Jim comforts her by telling her that he saw her father’s spirit when they were alone in the house together one day in winter.

-Antonia says, "I ain't never forgot my own country." (Page 151)

-How does Antonia retain her heritage while she also tries to adjust to American life?

Conflict as a prominent theme

Which of the following sources of conflict is most prevalent in this set of readings?

-Person against self: Character struggles with his or her own actions and motives

-Person against person: the main character may have conflict with an antagonist

-Person against society: the main character struggles with over-arching organizations and constructs of society or a culture (or a system of beliefs held by society)

-Person against nature: the main character is threatened by a component of nature

Final thoughts

-The themes of the novel include friendship, immigration and prejudice, and loneliness.  Which one was most highlighted in this section of readings and why?

-How does the structure of the novel contribute to the themes and character development?

-How are we continually seeing Antonia grow and develop and what path is she headed down?

Jane Eyre pg 454-556

Jane Eyre pg 454-556

Anqelique, Mike, and Lauren

John Eyre & Jane Gains a Family

-St. John puts the pieces together of Jane’s relations to John Eyre and the Rivers as Jane is the lost heiress that John writes about who will inherit his fortune.

-Jane divides up her inheritance with her new found cousins, allowing for the sisters to leave their governess jobs.

• “I feel I can easily and naturally make room in my heart for you as my third and youngest sister” ~St. John (485).

-How does Jane change with the new status of having relations and money?

Fire and Ice

-Brontë uses the imagery of fire and ice to describe the personalities of the characters, their actions, and even the setting.

-St. John is compared to Apollo the Greek god of music, light, and truth, while Rochester compares himself to Vulcan the blacksmith of the gods. “tall, fair, blue-eyed, and with a Grecian profile. Your eyes dwell on a Vulcan- a real blacksmith, brown, broad-shouldered; and blind and lame into the bargain,”~ Rochester (544). Fire is seen as Rochester jokes about his own injuries and lack of looks compared to the St. John whose Greek counterpart has temples and statues made of marble and stone made representing the ice.  

-Thornfield is burned down due to a fire being set and it is suspected that Betha is the one who started it.  How does the fire at Thornfield relate to lunacy of Bertha?

-What is the importance of this imagery to the personalities of the characters?

St. John and Religion

-Notice how St. John is named after one of the Gospel writers in Christianity. Is there any relation to his name and his namesake?

-St. John does not see Rosamund as a missionary wife “Rosamund a sufferer, a laborer, a female apostle? Rosamund a missionary's wife? No! (470).”

Why does St. John not see Rosamund as a missionary’s wife and not the match for him but sees Jane as such?

-On page 518, we get the proposal scene between St. John and Jane. “If I listened to human pride, I should say no more to you of marriage with me; but I listen to my duty, and keep steadily in view my first aim- to do all things in the glory of God (518).”

-Jane sees St. John differently “his look was not, indeed, that of a lover beholding his mistress; but it was that of a pastor recalling his wandering sheep- or better, of a guardian angel watching the soul for which he is responsible.”

-Why does Jane ultimately reject St. John? Also compare and contrast her relationship to St. John and Mr. Rochester.

Jane & Rochester

-Jane heard a voice calling her back Rochester. Why do you think she listened to it?

-What makes Jane and Rochester a good match even after he gives her the opportunity to leave?

-What is the importance of Rochester gaining some of his sight back when he and Jane have their first child?

-In the end Jane and Rochester have a small, quiet wedding.  She feels like she still has her freedom, she has found love, and a place to belong. “I have now been married ten years. I know what it is to live entirely for and with what I love best on earth,” (554).

Jane Eyre pg. 325-453

Rochester’s Weird “Proposal” (p. 338)

1. Compare and Contrast Rochester's proposal with the proposals in Pride and Prejudice?
1. Is Rochester more like Darcy or Collins?
2. reference pg. 337 

Jane's uneasiness about marriage/ Theme of Freedom

1. she longs to escape and attain the freedom she has never had before and marrying rochester symbolizes her being once again tied down
1. marrying Rochester while it would give her a loving relationship, would also position her into the status of subordination. 
2. Chapter 24- Jane expresses her anxiety of the marriage because she hates the idea of marrying above her status as she does not want to owe Rochester anything

Introduction to Bertha

1. Mason and Mr. Briggs object to Jane and Rochester's marriage, we do not know why at first, however we suspect it has something to do with the mystery surrounding Rochester. It is revealed that Rochester is already married to Bertha. 
2. Background- got married 15 years ago in Jamaica because of the assumption that Bertha was wealthy
1. What does Bertha symbolize?

Jane's Decision to Leave Rochester

1. She is very torn up about it because while she acknowledges that he loves her and she loves him, she cannot bear to be with him because of Bertha, his wife. She realizes that she will only respect herself if she leaves him (bottom of p. 409)

Jane is taken in by the Rivers sisters

1. What do the sisters mean to Jane?
1. She finally finds a relationship where she is not subordinate to anyone
1. How does this connect with the theme of Freedom
2. The sisters befriend Jane, however St. John never appears to like her. Why does he seem so distant?
3. Why does Jane use a fake name at first?

Jane Eyre 188-325

Jane Eyre 188-325

Jordan Bronson, Tania Montalvo, McKenzie Maddox

Jane’s First Introduced Encounter with Mr. Rochester

She goes downstairs and tells her about his life; He tells her about Men in green. Fairies?

Why is it so important that she shows him her musical and artistic abilities? What importance does Bronte put on art and beauty? Jane is seen as physically unattractive yet her art is seen as mesmerizingly beautiful.

Mrs. Fairfax tells Jane about Mr. Rochester’s brother and father and how Mr. Rochester was not the favorite:        “He is not very forgiving. He broke with his family, and now for many years he has led an unsettled kind of life “(198-199)

That’s why he shunned the place.

The Mystery of Mr. Rochester

Mr. Rochester pretends to be the gypsy. He gets rid of Lady Ingram’s love for him by telling her through pretending to be a gypsy that he is not as rich as he is perceived to be.

 Mr. Mason is from the West Indies. What is the mystery behind this man? When Jane goes up to the library to tell Mr. Rochester that Mr. Mason has arrived, Mr. Rochester immediately becomes uneasy.

Grace Poole is also another unsettling character that Mr. Rochester hosts in his home. She is known for her crazy cackling and often heard throughout the house. One night a startling yell from Mr. Mason is heard and a wound is found on his arm. It is later found that Mrs. Poole has caused the wound demonstrated through the disgusting quote:

“she sucked the blood, she said she drained my heart” (294)

What is the mysterious story behind these people and how are they related? Why is Grace Poole still in the house/allowed to be in this house?

The Theme of Happiness

“since is happiness is irrevocably denied me, I have a right to get pleasure out of life and I will get it. (208)

Life is seeming to turn around for Jane, as she is starting to gain status, wealth, and fortune.  While her sisters no longer get along, they were never nice to her anyway, and now the man she had feelings for is seeming to reciprocate them.  The lady who has caused her so much misery, Ms. Reed, is now dead as of the end of this reading.  Why is Jane seemingly able to forgive Ms. Reed?  Are these true feelings? 

** Also we were slightly confused about religion related to Ms. Reed as it seems like she is Christian however she did not lead a life supporting those beliefs.

Developing Love between Rochester and Jane

Although Mr. Rochester is technically in power over Jane we see that he values her as a person even more so than Ms Fairfax.

Through the fact he doesn’t finish his sentence when he sends her off to bed he says “goodnight my-“ (259) it shows that Jane has an effect on him and that he is starting to develop feelings for her.

Jane’s Love:

“I had learned to love Mr. Rochester, I could not unlove him now, merely because I found that he had ceased to notice me” (264).

When do you think Mr. Rochester fully acknowledges his intimate love for Jane?

“I believe I have found the instrument for my cure in-“ (301) Rochester

Theme of Jealousy

Celine and Adele

Mr. Rochester explains to Jane his relationship with Adele and his love for the French opera dancer, Adele’s mom. Like Mr. Rochester is impressed by Jane’s artistic drawing ability, again we see the reoccurring love that Mr. Rochester has for the arts in another form, dance.

Celine claimed to Mr. Rochester that Adele is his daughter but Mr. Rochester does not completely believe this, and even Jane agrees because there is hardly any resemblance between Mr. Rochester and Adele. What does Mr. Rochester mean by this quote in reference to Adele:

“My spring is gone, however but it has left me that French floweret on my hands; which in some moods, I would fain be rid of?” (212)

Why does he assume responsibility for Adele? Is he doing a good job as a father?

How does Mr. Rochester’s character change from his first encounter with Jane to the end of this section of reading?

Jane Eyre, Part One

Laura Miron

Chizoba Ukairo

Kathryn Lazarchick

Jane Eyre Discussion Part One

Religion:

“‘Well, Jane Eyre, and are you a good child?...No sight so sad as that of a naughty child’ he began, ‘especially a naughty little girl. Do you know where the wicked go after death?’” “‘They go to hell,’ was my ready and orthodox answer.” “‘And what is hell? Can you tell me that?’ ‘A pit full of fire.’ ‘And should you like to fall into that pit and to be burning there for ever?’ ‘No, sir’” “...a good little child whose soul is now in heaven. It is to be feared the same could not be said of you, were you to be called hence” (91)

• The extreme nature of this conversation Mr. Brocklehurst has with Jane, who is only ten years old, whom he he just met, should be noted
• She is only 10 years old and already being condemned to hell.
• She does respond the “good Christian way” as she has been instructed
• The nature of their conversation shows how religion in this time period is very important
• Later Mr. Brocklehurst says Jane has a “wicked heart” solely for not liking Psalms and thinking it boring (92).

Helen, a dear friend to Jane in the boarding school, teaches Jane to “love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good to them that hate you and despitefully use you” (120).

• This is important because Jane at this point only feels hatred to her only relations (Mrs. Reed, etc.)
• Helen offers a relief in Jane’s life
• Helen’s optimistic attitude shows how good of a person Helen really is. She is able to find peace in a seemingly impossible condition of the school (not enough food, poor quality everything, strict rules, etc.)

Children (Their role in society and expectations of them)

• Children were seen as things to be corrected
• “The fact is, I was a trifle beside myself; or rather out of myself as the French would say: I was conscious that a moment’s mutiny had already rendered my liable to strange penalties, and like any other rebel slave, I felt resolved, in my desperation, to go all lengths.” (69)
• “Loose Bessie’s hand, child: you cannot succeed in getting out by these means, be assured.  I abhor artifice, particularly in children; it is my duty to show you that tricks will not answer” (75)
• Jane’s opinions/ideas, as a child, were not taken very seriously    
• “Children can feel, but they cannot analyze their feelings; and if the analysis is partially [a]ffected in thought, they know not how to express the result of the process in words” 81
• At the Lowood school, the orphans were taught very, very strictly.  Any wavering at all was dealt with harshly, and expectations were set very high.  Jane could barely comprehend how students like Helen Burns endured the treatment with resilience.
• Helen plays a seemingly large role in helping Jane adjust to the school, and rise to the high expectations of pupils there

The Poor Conditions at Lowood:

“My plan in bringing up these girls is, not to accustom them to habits of luxury and indulgence, but to rather them hardy, patient, self-denying”(125). -Mr. Brocklehurst outlines the purpose of Lowood in regards to the students.

Strict Uniformity: Jane’s first impression of Lowood and the students: the girls “number to me appeared countless, though not in reality exceeding eighty; they were uniformly dressed in brown stuff frocks of quaint fashion, and long holland pinafores”(103). Individuality among the girls was further squelched as Mr. Brocklehurst is at dismay when noticing a student’s curly hair as he insists that “all those top-knots must be cut off”(127).

• Discipline: Lowood was an institution that not only taught academics, but also thrived in correcting the “faults” in the young women. For example, as Burns has unclean fingernails, Miss Smith scolds her and “instantly and sharply inflicted on [Burn’s] neck a dozen strokes with the bunch of twigs”(115).
• Alienation of Jane by Mr. Brocklehurst:
• Jane is ten years old, drops her slate on accident  
• Mr. Brocklehurst condemns the young girl through biblical references insisting that Jane “who might be one of God’s own lambs, is a little castaway:not a member of the true flock, but evidently an interloper and an alien”(129). It appears that Jane cannot escape adversities even in her new environment.

Condition of the school during the harsh winter: “Our clothing was insufficient to protect us from the severe cold: we had no boots, the snow got into our shoes and melted there; our ungloved hands became numbed and covered with chilblains, as were our feet”(122).

• Lack of Food: Jane reflects that “many a time I have shared between two claimants the precious morsel of brown bread distributed at tea-time”(122) as she swallows the remaining bit of her portion with an “accompaniment of secret tears, forced from me by the exigency of hunger”(122).
• Typhus Fever:
• product of “semi-starvation and neglected colds”(141)
• Jane vividly describes the fever at Lowood: “disease had become an inhabitant of Lowood, and death its frequent visitor; while there was gloom and fear within its walls, while its rooms and passages steamed with hospital smells”(141)  

Lowood after the Fever:

• “new regulations were made, improvements in diet and clothing introduced; the funds of the school were entrusted to the management of a committee”(149).

Jane Arrives to Thornfield

“What do I want? A new place, in a new house, amongst new faces, under new circumstances: I want this because it is of no use to want anything better”(152).

• Illustrates Jane’s restlessness to obtain a new status in life, explore new environment other than Lowood

Jane Addresses the Reader as she embarks on her new journey to Thornfield: “A new chapter in a novel is something like a new scene in a play”(160).

Why did Charlotte Bronte include this type of narration?

Description of Thornfield on her first morning as governess: “Everything appeared stately and imposing to me: but then I was so little accustomed to grandeur”(166).

Enigmatic Introduction to Mr. Rochester and His Life: Mr. Rochester is introduced through Mrs. Fairfax.

Questions and Points to Ponder:

1. How was Jane’s relationship with Helen Burn influential in Jane’s life at Lowood? What new perspective did Helen Burns reveal to Jane during Jane’s time at Lowood? How did the death of Helen Burns effect Jane?
2. Is Jane’s perspective as a narrator completely reliable at this moment in the book as she was only a young girl?
3. How did Jane find solace in these rough conditions? What does her time and success at Lowood reveal about Jane’s character?
4. Religion is a prevalent point in the novels we have read thus far. Does this have to due with the questionable nature people at the time have towards reading during one’s free time?
5. Is religion being prevalent in novels at the time just to make it an “acceptable reading source” or was religion that prevalent in society?
6. Does Eyre’s sense of restlessness in her situations seem to increase throughout the novel?