Rachael’s Blog

 

       The poem In an Artist’s Studio by Christina Rossetti explains an artist observing a model and painting pictures of her. The first quote that I thought was interesting stated, “Every canvas means the same one meaning, neither more or less.” Since before this, the artist was explaining how lovely and angelic she is, this line could mean that she is simply beautiful. I was confused by the part where she said neither more or less because it makes the reader question the artists view on the model.       The next line that stood out to me was at the end; it stated, “Not as she is, but as she fills his dream.” I think this line was trying to say that the artist paints the model not how she actually looks or is, but how he dreams of her. One thing that this could possibly mean is that the model isn’t a real person and only exists in the artist’s head. On the other hand, this could mean that the model isn’t as beautiful as models are supposed to be...

       The poem Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti represents a theme of women and the power that they have not only in the story, but also in life. The first quote that represents this idea is towards the beginning of the poem where Lizzie tells Laura, “No, no, no; Their offers should not charm us, Their evil gifts would harm us.” The goblins in this story are meant to represent men and how they target women. The goblins don’t target men to eat their fruit, they only target women. In this, the word choice that the goblins use is also fairly seductive; the goblins try to seduce the women into eating their fruit.       The second quote that I thought also represented women’s role in society explained what Laura looked at the goblins when they were seducing her. The poem stated, “Laura stretch’d her gleaming neck Like a rush-imbedded swan, Like a lily from the beck, Like a moonlit poplar branch, Like a vessel at the launch When its last restrain i...

       In Lady Audley’s Secret, the film begins right off the bat with Robert returning home to the wealthy Audley Court to see Alicia. This being said, he immediately has a crush on Lucy, which Alicia doesn’t seem to like. Although she doesn’t say anything to him, it is evident that she is hurt through her facial expressions. He seems to know that she is hurt, but keeps pushing it off and putting no attention to her to reassure her. Even with his actions, Alicia continues to treat him the same way, but it is evident at this time that there is going to be conflict regarding love interests throughout the film.       Later in the film, Dr. Mosgrave is talking to Lucy about her sanity after everybody seems to be questioning it. Dr. Mosgrave leaves the room screaming, “Mr. Audley, she is not fit to be in decent society.” Lucy responds to this comment quietly, “I am just a woman.” I thought that this part was interesting because we have spoken so much...

       The documentary Who Was The Real Jane Austen enlightened us on how Jane Austen’s life really was and how it differed from many other women writers. At the beginning of the documentary, the narrator teaches us about Jane Austen’s childhood and where she grew up. This was interesting to me because she grew up on a farm, and she actually did work on the farm. Typically, women of this era do not help on the farm or do any dirty work at all, so this separated her from many women writers we have looked at so far.      It also stood out to me that Jane’s father bought her a mahogany desk for her to write at and better her work. This was interesting because it was different from the readings we did at the beginning of the class where nobody supported women as writers, especially men. In addition, the film also explained how Jane wasn’t exactly in the best shape when it came to finding a husband. We have yet to read about a writer who had this issue, so ...

       In the second half of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice , we see a lot of controversy regarding love interests amongst the characters. One quote I pulled from the reading stated, “His sense of her inferiority—of its being a degradation—of the family obstacles which had always opposed to inclination, were dwelt on with a warmth which seemed due to the consequence he was wounding, but was very unlikely to recommend his suit.” In this, Darcy was explaining his marriage proposal to Darcy. But with doing so, he was very degrading towards her. He spent more time being condescending towards her than he did explaining why he wanted to be with her. In this, she rejected the proposal, which I felt showed her power in the situation. The later we get in time, the more power women seem to have in situations like these.      Another quote that stood out to me occurred when Elizabeth was speaking to Darcy. She stated, “You may as well call it impertinence at o...

When reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, many of the ideals revolving around marriage that we saw in The Duchess film were prevalent. The first quote that stood out to me was talking about the mother and stated, “The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news.” The way that this sentence is worded leads the audience to interpret that the only job that a mother has once she has a daughter is to find someone of high power to marry them. This is heartbreaking to learn about because mothers in today’s world have children for various other reasons, the main one being to take care of and spend time with them. Back then, people had children for the sole purpose of keeping the family name going and keeping power in the family. This sort of marriage is emotionally draining on the wife’s part, but also on mothers because all of the pressure is on them to get their daughters married.       Later in the text, Austen stated...

       After reading Fantomina by Eliza Hayood, we see a different perspective of women during these times than we had seen before. The first quote that stood out to me stated, “She was told by 'em all, that she was the most lovely Woman in the World; and some cry'd, Gad, she is mighty like my fine Lady Such-a-one, – naming her own Name. She was naturally vain, and receiv'd no small Pleasure in hearing herself prais'd, tho' in the Person of another, and a suppos'd Prostitute.” In The Duchess film, we saw that women were portrayed to only be useful when it comes to having a child. In this reading, we see a different perspective because the men are telling her that she is the most lovely woman in the world. This brings up the point that men care mostly about the sexual encounter, considering she was dressed as a prostitute when they were saying this. In addition, before she dressed up, no man would ever have said that to her but now that she looks like she has h...

       The internal conflicts that are presented in the film The Duchess clearly represented the role of the woman in these times and how it impacted them on an emotional level. The first quote that stood out to me from a more surface level standpoint was when the duchess was in a conversation with her husband about her clothing and she stated, “It’s just our way of expressing ourselves I suppose. You have so many ways of expressing yourselves where we must make do with our hats and our dresses.” Her husband was asking her why women’s clothing is so complicated and that was her response. When looking at the message behind her response, she is trying to get at the fact that women rarely get to express themselves, and the only way they actually can is by their choice of clothing. Even with their clothing, there isn’t much wiggle room because they all pretty much have to wear the same type of dresses. This was one of the first comments in the movie that stood out to me...