After a long time of reading, I finished reading The Blithedale Romance. This book is a more complicated than I thought; all of the English readings I read were in modern English. Besides, not only the usage of words and structure of sentences look new to me, the way which Nathaniel describes each scene detailedly requires a huge mapping of the story itself and a great sense of imagination in brain while reading…
I was surprised that the two important women roles (Zenobia and Priscilla) in the book had similar thoughts on women. Pricilla, as an image of weaker women in the society, doesn’t have an idea on what will be next, and she’s very obedient to Zenobia and Hollingsworth: “I never have any free-will” (171). Zenobia as a strong woman leader role, also says: “Women possess no rights” (141). It makes me question whether the Utopia they create would be a true Utopia where everyone has equal right and live happily. Linking to a further thought, the gender is not the only problem that stops people from Utopia. At the end, due too many reasons, the word Utopia still seems far way.
2 comments:
Hey Si! I didn't read The Blithedale Romance for my primary text, but after reading what you and the others wrote about the book, I see some common themes between that book and Sweet Cicely. The most obvious one is feminism. In both novels, the female characters had to struggle with their placement in society--namely, below men. Sweet Cicely, though, touches more upon women's right to vote. Well, see you in class and we'll definitely talk more about it!
I'm so happy to see a comment about Sweet Cicely! I agree with Khang in that I think gender roles play a huge part in both Blithedale Romance and Sweet Cicely. Both have their preconceived notions of how a women should behave in society. I would like to know what Si perceives as a "weaker women." Is it the woman's actions or does it depend on what principles she lives by. These are some of the issues that arise in Sweet Cicely.
Post a Comment