Week 14 Project Action Plan: Social Inequality in Hedda Gabler

The prompt I have chosen to address is:

"How are class differences presented in the work?"  using the play Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen.  

I have chosen to do this project because I am interested in learning more about the classes of the time and also to show the social class inequality in the play.

Some topics I am brainstorming currently are wealth, patriarchy, victorian values, class differences

"Do you remember how she would go out riding with her father? In that long black outfit, with the feather in her hat?" (783)

"But where did she get her manners, flinging her hat around any way she likes here in the drawing room.  People just don't act that way" (789).

"If you just bring yourself to call her Aunt Julie, for my sake Hedda, hm?" (789)

These are quotes that I have found just from Act 1.  I have not yet read Act 2-4 but plan on doing so before next weekend.  I will definitely need more evidence to support my claims.  I am also interested in watching the play from an online video.  

Working (very rough) Thesis- Henrik Ibsen uses Hedda and her interactions with other characters in the play Hedda Gabler, to show 19th century social class inequality.

As I read the rest of the play, i will update this with more quotes and examples from the text.


Citation: Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen, Page 781-838

Week 14 Analysis: Lispector

I found "The Daydreams of a Drunk Woman" to be a very depressing story.  The part of the story that touched me the most was her interaction with her husband.  It was pretty clear to me that her alcoholic habits impacted the relationship that she had with him.  For example, when the husband came home from work, he knew that she was under the influence and let her be.  "What the devil's the matter with you?" (810).  The husband however, received backlash from this confused drunk for no reason.  The lady yelled at her husband saying, "Go to hell!...prowling round me like some old tomcat" (810).  Clearly this lady's alcohol abuse has affected the way she acts towards her husband, and ultimately impacts the kind of relationship they have.  The husband however seems to be understanding and knows this lady is not herself.  He knows the alcohol is affecting the way she thinks.  He replies to her backlash saying, "You're ill, my girl" (810).  The husband still cares and loves his wife, which can be seen with his use of language.   He showed affection when he said, "my girl".  Her husband also seems to be an alcoholic, which is maybe why he is understanding of her situation.  "and if her husband was not drunk it was only because he did not want to show disrespect for the businessman, and full of solicitude and humility, he left the swaggering to the other fellow" (811).  This implies to me that the husband himself struggles with alcohol abuse.  He might not go to work drunk but when he gets home, he must also drink himself to sleep.  Clearly the alcohol abuse has impacted the way this couple interacts with each other and influences the kind of relationship they have.  If they did not abuse alcohol, they would be happier people.

-Patrick

Reading Notes Week 14B: Lispector

This story is about a struggling alcoholic.

She stays home all day, gets tired and sleeps most of the time.

talks to her self

marriage issues

drunk rages 812-813

The lady wakes up beside her husband in the middle of the night and her mind starts racing. She starts to disrespect herself and her mind races.  She is intoxicated.

Reading Notes Week 14A: Postwar and Postcolonial Literature

Postwar and Post Colonial Literature, 1945-1968

The world after WWII was a mess.  Hundreds of Thousands of people died and countries were destroyed.

The US and Soviet Union were locked in a Cold War. Each country had enough nuclear weapons to to take out the planet.  They each knew though that who ever sent the first missile off would be the one to take the beating.  As a result, both countries were locked and waiting for each other to make a move.

After 1949- Half of the world lived under Communism.

To avoid nuclear attacks, the two different sides fought wars in different territories such as Korea and Vietnam.

Decolonization in Western Europe, often accompanied by conflicts over redrawn borders

The initial stages of post colonial development were frequently marked by internal conflicts, civil wars, and dictatorships

First world, second world and third world emerges

Postwar period in western Europe saw rapid rebuilding and further industrialization. 

Week 13 Project Brainstorm

Not going to lie, I am pretty excited that we are getting close to the end of the semester and that this is the last project!  That being said, I feel that I improved a lot on my second project over my first and I am hoping to make this one even better than the second.  The three topics I have chosen for this project are below.

Choose a reading selection. Explore the relationship between elements of the selection. For example: how does setting influence character development?  

Emily Dickinson often wrote about death.  I believe she was influenced by her way of living.  She stayed in her home and never really ventured out to explore the world.  Instead of exploring the world, she chose to dive deep and explore herself instead.  Her poems about death I think were influenced by her choice to stay inside her house.

 From a piece of fiction (short story, section of novel, or a play) choose a female character on whom to focus, and create a project that discusses some of the following questions: 

• What is the author’s attitude towards her? (how can you tell?)
• What is your attitude towards her? 
• How do (at least 2) other characters view her? 
• How does she view herself? 

This topic seems intriguing to me, but I am not sure which way I would attack it.  The reading that comes to mind right away with this topic is The Song of Ch'un-Hyang.  I would need to re-read this story and do a close analysis of the character to figure out what I would write about with this one.  Of the three, this one is least likely to happen.

Choose a reading selection. Then choose one of the following questions, and write an argument in response to it: 

• How does the work reflect the period in which it was written? 
• What does the work reveal about the cultural behavior contemporary to it? 
• How are class differences presented in the work? Are characters aware or unaware of the economic and social forces that affect their lives? 

This topic is what I am feeling the strongest towards.  Of the questions listed above, the last one about class differences is the one I would be answering too. The reading that comes to mind for this topic is "Hedda Gabler" .  In this story, there is a disagreement with Hedda Tesman and Miss Tesman, over the placement of Miss's hat.

Week 13 Analysis: Anna Akhmatova

Anna Akhmatova's Requiem was a very heartbreaking poem about a mother and her son who was taken away by the secret police in Russia.  The stanza's that make up the Requiem are actually meant to be read together, one after another.  They tell the story of a woman who waiting outside to hear her son's sentence for 17 months while he was in jail.  The stanza that really stuck out to me was "VII".

In stanza "VII", she showed hope that she could live again.  She got word of her sentence, and at first she was crushed. "And the stone word fell On my still-living breast" (571).  The reader can see here her emotion as she got the news that her son was going to be sentenced to death, when she got word of the sentence her heart sank.

She offers hope though that she will be okay and will be able to push through this suffering.  She said, "never mind, I was ready.  I will manage somehow" (571).  She believes she can continue on with life and leave it behind her.  However, for her to do this, she must change herself.  The first thing she mentions she must do is, "i must kill memory once and for all,".  She believes that in order for her to continue on with life, she must forget everything about her son.  Next she said, "I must turn my soul to sone, I must learn to live again" (571).  This is in reference to her heart.  She is pretty much saying that she must turn her heart to stone, so she will not feel any emotion so she can live on her life. 

This was my favorite stanza from this Poem because the lady showed a sign of hope.  Up until this point, the poem was very sad and heartbreaking for her.  The situation was out of her control and there was nothing she could do but sit back and watch with agony.

Anna Akhmatova, Requiem, Pages 568-575

Reading Notes Week 13A: Requiem

This poem tells the story of a mother who had her son taken away to a prison.

It is very depressing and sad, she stands by the gates for 17 months while she awaits to see her son.  Another lady in line asked her to write a poem about her experiences, so this was the result.

The poem is told in first person, there are many "I" references

In the poem, she is standing outside in shivering siberia.  She talks of death and also addresses her madness, "now madness half shadows my soul with its wing" 572

themes-
war, death, dedication, motherhood

Reading Notes Week 13A: Yeats Easter 1916

Easter 1916 by William Butler Yeats, Pages 522-524

"On Easter Sunday 1916, Irish Nationalists began an unsuccessful rebellion against British rule, which lasted throughout the week and ended in the surrender and execution of its leaders" (522).

This story poem was written during the beginning of WW1.  I would assume the setting of the story is somewhere in Ireland.

In the first stanza, it seems like a happy, joyous stroll down the street.  "i have passed with a nod of the head or polite meaningless words, or have lingered awhile and said polite meaningless words"

In the second stanza, the poem talks about the passing of the some people.  The first is a woman, "that woman's days were spent in ignorant good-will, her nights in argument until her voice grew shrill" (523). The death of two men (Patrick and Thomas) "was coming into his force; He might have won fame in the end, So sensitive his nature seemed, so daring and sweet his thought" (523)

The third stanza, he is describing heaven. "the horse that comes down the road, the rider, the birds that range from cloud to tumbling cloud" (523)

The fourth stanza, he questions whether the British execution of the Irish leaders was necessary or even justified. "was it a needless death after all?" (524).

Week 12 Analysis: Close Reading of In Defense of "Memoirs Of A Declining Ryukyuan Woman"

Kushi Fusako received some backlash and hatred towards "Memoirs of a Declining Ryukyuan Woman" after it was published in Fujin koron, a monthly woman's magazine.  She was called out by a few men who did not agree with her usage of names she gave people and how she associated them with other classes or races in the story.  The phrase that upset the men was, "the Okinawan people" because it put the Korean people and Aniu people in the same category, thus degrading the Okinawan people. After reading, "Memoirs Of A Declining Ryukyuan Woman" I agree with Kushi Fusako, in her use of "Okinawan people".  Her intent on using the phrase wasn't to degrade the Okinawan people.  She was not being racist or prejudice against the group of people, but in fact the men who are upset are the racist ones because they believe the Okinwan people are more superior.  Kushi Fusako wrote on page 407, "we are all Asians and equal as human beings".  She believes there are no superior races in Japan and never wrote her story with the intent of putting another race down.

After reading her story for myself, I did not think she was being racist or degrading towards the Okinawan people.  Sadly, I feel that this is something we deal with in our current culture.  People have become so sensitive to race and gender names.  I understand that there are negative and derogatory words out there, but that is not what I am talking about.  There seems to be an issue that pops up every few weeks now where something was said by someone or an advertisement did something that was prejudice, when in fact, if you understand the context or what happened, it wasn't prejudice at all.  The people who are upset are usually being the prejudice party.

Reading Notes Week 12B: Memoirs of a Declining Ryukyuan Woman

Main characters mother is dying-

"it was hard for me to imagine my mother surviving this winter with her failing health" (402)

Tattoos seem to have some mystical power or force that prevents mothers from living long-

"tattoos have caused suffering in almost every Ryukyuan family. Even if a woman can save enough money to send several sons to higher school, she is destined to be left behind in her hometown until she dies, thanks to those tattoos on the back of her hands" (402)

Based on her defense of the memoirs, she seemed to have offended people by using the term "Okinawan people".  She grouped a few different races together and the people who called her out were in fact being the racist ones. The other never used that term in racial context. (407)

Reading Week 12A: Modernity and Modernism 1900-1945

Modernity and Modernism: 1900-1945 Page 3-13

Modernization Era

• Modernization Era
• New Means of Transportation
• Steamship, Railroad, Automobile, airplane
• Telegraph and Telephone
• Allowed communication instantly
• World population more than tripled
• Infant Mortality Declined
• Weapons became more powerful
• Bloodiest Century- 200 million people died in wars, revolutions and genocides
• Radioactivity, X-Rays, Quantum Theory
• Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity 
• World War I: 1914-1918
• 15 Million Deaths
• Treaty of Versailles (1919)finalized the end of the war
• Found League of Nations
• Great Depression: 1929
• Started with stock market crash
• New Deal- Public Works spending, social security
• World War II: 1939-1945
• Nazi's exterminated 6 million Jews
• U.S. Dropped atomic bombs on Japan starting the nuclear age
• Modernism
• Linked political crises with a crisis of representation
• broke away from standard plots, verse forms, narrative techniques and genre boundaries
• inclusion of taboo subjects, social roles 

Analysis Week 11: Hedda Gabler

Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen Pages 781-738

I found this play to be very entertaining and I did not expect it to end the way it did with Hedda taking her own life.  Hedda's character was a major impact in how the play went and without her character traits the story would not have been as entertaining.  

I think Hedda's character comes off as snooty and also selfish.  Hedda comes from an upper-middle class family, whereas her husband George comes from a lower-middle class family.  This difference in social class causes some tension between Hedda and George.  For example, on page 789 Hedda is upset that George's Aunt left her hat on a chair.  Hedda states, "But where did she get her manners, flinging her hat around any way she likes here in the drawing room.  People just don't act that way" (789).  George, from the lower-middle class, set his aunt's hat there and he thought it was appropriate.  Being that these two are from different classes, they each have different expectations and rules around the house.  

Another example of the difference in social class backgrounds can be seen when George asks Hedda to address the Aunt as "Aunt Julie".  George tells Hedda, "If you just bring yourself to call her Aunt Julie, for my sake Hedda, hm?" (789).  Hedda being from the upper middle class did not feel that she should have to address her that way.  She responded with, "Tesman, for God's sake, don't ask me to do that" (789).  

Hedda was not willing to lower her standards even though she married into a lower-middle class family.  She still wanted to hold her standards higher and also wanted to live the lavish life she had with her father.  George bought a large house just to please Hedda, even though it meant stretching past his financial means.

Reading Notes Week 11B:Ibsen

Hedda Gabler, Act I (781-800)

Hedda and George Tesman are from different social classes.  Hedda is from the upper-middle class and George is from the lower middle class.  (780)

Hedda's character seems very selfish and uptight.  She wakes up and then makes many requests around the house and complaints about the aunts hat being on the chair.  This tells me that she is very particular and not forgiving.

George is the opposite, he seems very respectful and understanding.

Hedda and George do seem like a mismatch

Reading Week 11A: The Death of Ivan Ilyich

The Death of Ivan Ilyich

The first chapter of the story, I get a sense of greed from the judges and also Ivan's wife.  They all seem to be sort of excited for his death as it will result in promotions.  When Peter goes to the house for the funeral, he has a sit down conversation with Ivan's wife about how she can make the most of the pension from the gov't. Lots of greediness and selfishness by others.

The secon chapter about his life portrays him like an everyday man.  It flashes back with a description of his life. Ivan was very serious about his job and did not let his personal life get in the way of his work.

Ivan coems down with an illness but different doctors give him different answers as to what the illness is. Ivan knew he was dying and he became fearful of death.