Gustavo Quintero
English 48B
March 6, 2008
Journal #38 Henry James
Quote:
"It has never occurred to Mr. Winterbourne to offer me any tea,' she said. with her little tormenting manner.
'I have offered you advice,' Winterbourne rejoined.
'I prefer weak tea!' cried Daisy, and she went off with brilliant Giovanelli"(James 420).
Summary:
Winterbourne offers Daisy some advice, only she does not listen and runs off with her "friend" Giovanelli.
Response:
The ultimate question that rises in, "Daisy Miller:A Study", is who is the real Daisy Miller? Is she sweet and innocent or is she secretly manipulating Winterbourne from the beginning? My argument is that she is playing with Winterbourne. The reason I came up to this conclusion is based off of how many times Winterbourne changes his mind about Daisy. The first time they meet he thinks she is a croquette yet throughout the story he goes back and forth between her being innocent and a croquette. It's like the note that I jotted down in my notebook, the player is being played. Daisy is playing with winterbourne's head the whole time they know each other. At one point in the story Daisy acts like she does not know where her family is going. She comments that they are going to some mountain. She comes off as this dumb girl who doesn't even know where she is. This is when Winterbourne becomes enticed. He asks her if it is Italy and eventually he sets up a date between the two. She then agrees to go with Winterbourne but when they reach the Castle Winterbourne is surprised to find Daisy's mother waiting for her. I know that Winterbourne only had one thought in his head and that was to make some sexual advancements on Daisy at the castle. Daisy being as tricky as she is asks her mother to be at the castle when they get their. Not only does she do this but she eventually becomes very "intimate" with an Italian man, Giovanelli. Winterbourne thinks that Daisy would be an easy catch but she proves to be a much tougher task to beat, one that Winterbourne will eventually fail. Daisy further plays Winterbourne by bringing around Giovanelli and claiming that they are just friends. This infuriates Winterbourne who now labels her a croquette. You almost have to give her some credit for being so clever because if the way that she confuses and play's with the head of Winterbourne. He doesn't know what to think about her and just constantly changes his mind about her. At the end of the story she nails him with one last blow by having her mother tell Winterbourne that was not engaged to Giovanelli even though he thought they were.
You have to question why exactly she treated Winterbourne this way. Did she do it out of pleasure or did she do it unknowingly? I would argue that Daisy is very promiscuous and that she played with Winterbourne's head unknowingly. You have to ask yourself what Daisy was doing with a man she had not known very long , at night, at the coliseum. Was she really there to view to stars or to have sex with Giovanelli? I think that they did have sex and that Daisy was not as innocent as she came off. Whats really funny about this is that Winterbourne after getting played travels off to a foreign country only to find himself a woman that he can have an affair with. After going through what Winterbourne went through he still does not see the wrong in what he does.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
The double standard
Gustavo Quintero
English 48B
March 6, 2008
Journal #37 Henry James
Quote:
"Winterbourne mentally accused it-very forgivingly-of a want of finish. He thought it very possible the Master Randolph's sister was a coquette"(James 394-395).
Summary:
After meeting Ms. Daisy Miller for the first time, Mr. Winterbourne, gives the reader his first impression of the young American woman.
Response.
I think it's very funny the double standard that immediately pops up;A woman that is deemed promiscuous is a slut(to put it bluntly) and a man is a player. In the 1800's as long as today I think that this analogy holds up very well. In the 1800's it was socially accepted, although not really talked about, for men to have extramarital affairs with one or multiple woman. To go even further you did not even have to be a married man you could be single and have multiple affairs. While if woman did such thing then a derogatory label was instantly put on them. You did not even have to go as far as having multiple affairs if what people thought you were wearing was risque then you were labeled promiscuous. As I said before this double standard still holds true today. The reason I brought this up is because I want to tie in this double standard to Mr. Winterbourne's first impression of Ms. Daisy Miller. After they have initially met he begins to check out Daisy. He notices her straightening out her ruffles, her "charming complexion", "immodest glance", "pretty eyes" and her perfectly direct and unshrinking glance. From just a few exchange of words and glances Mr. Winterbourne comes to the conclusion that daisy is a croquette. This is quite a bold statement especially considering that he is known to be promiscuous himself. Daisy has in no way thrown herself at him yet this is what he thinks. She even tries to ignore him when he made his first advancements. This kind of brings up the question who really is the slut? If you take this into modern time their is such a phrase as a man whore or man slut. Basically it means a man who gets around with a lot of woman but without the negative connotations. I find it funny how this double standard exists and how men can get away with being promiscuous. My guess would be that woman are still viewed as the virgin beauty that is not to engage in sex until she is married with a man.
English 48B
March 6, 2008
Journal #37 Henry James
Quote:
"Winterbourne mentally accused it-very forgivingly-of a want of finish. He thought it very possible the Master Randolph's sister was a coquette"(James 394-395).
Summary:
After meeting Ms. Daisy Miller for the first time, Mr. Winterbourne, gives the reader his first impression of the young American woman.
Response.
I think it's very funny the double standard that immediately pops up;A woman that is deemed promiscuous is a slut(to put it bluntly) and a man is a player. In the 1800's as long as today I think that this analogy holds up very well. In the 1800's it was socially accepted, although not really talked about, for men to have extramarital affairs with one or multiple woman. To go even further you did not even have to be a married man you could be single and have multiple affairs. While if woman did such thing then a derogatory label was instantly put on them. You did not even have to go as far as having multiple affairs if what people thought you were wearing was risque then you were labeled promiscuous. As I said before this double standard still holds true today. The reason I brought this up is because I want to tie in this double standard to Mr. Winterbourne's first impression of Ms. Daisy Miller. After they have initially met he begins to check out Daisy. He notices her straightening out her ruffles, her "charming complexion", "immodest glance", "pretty eyes" and her perfectly direct and unshrinking glance. From just a few exchange of words and glances Mr. Winterbourne comes to the conclusion that daisy is a croquette. This is quite a bold statement especially considering that he is known to be promiscuous himself. Daisy has in no way thrown herself at him yet this is what he thinks. She even tries to ignore him when he made his first advancements. This kind of brings up the question who really is the slut? If you take this into modern time their is such a phrase as a man whore or man slut. Basically it means a man who gets around with a lot of woman but without the negative connotations. I find it funny how this double standard exists and how men can get away with being promiscuous. My guess would be that woman are still viewed as the virgin beauty that is not to engage in sex until she is married with a man.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Mr. Winterbourne is fake!
Gustavo Quintero
English 48B
March 5, 2008
Journal #36 Henry James
Quote:
"..when his friends spoke of him , they usually said he was at Geneva "studying"(James 392).
Summary:
The narrator is introducing the reader to Mr. Winterbourne.
Response:
The first comment I want to say is just how fake Winterbourne is. He comes off as a very pretentious, self-centered and stuck up man. Of course I do not blame him considering that he has grown up around money and the aristocratic society all his life. I loved the discussion that we had in class today because Scott did such a great job of getting the class to pick up on the subtle hints throughout the book. When I first read the book I knew that Winterbourne came from a wealthy family but I did not pick up on the attitude that James gives Winterbourne. I called Winterbourne fake earlier because he wants everyone to think of him as better than he really is. For example he tells all his friends that he is off "studying" in Geneva when he is actually courting a older woman. The question that I have is why Doesn't he just tell his friends that he is seeing an older woman? Is this not an acceptable social practice that men in the gilded age practice? I first I want to say that he is actually covering up his own lie, the lie being that he is not really seeing an older woman. Isn't it convenient for him to be seeing another woman in a different country and nobody has met or seen her? I just do not see him as a genuine person. I'm jumping ahead but I see the story as him getting played by Daisy. Just as he plays on woman, he likewise gets played. Another way that Winterbourne is fake is how he acts as if he is in Sweden under important business. The reality is that he is only visiting his Aunt so that she will continue to fund his travels. He does not work nor study so he has no real business in Sweden except for checking out the woman in the garden at the hotel. "...looking about him, rather idly, at some of the graceful objects I have mentioned"(James 391). Winterbourne is only at the hotel because he is checking out the woman in the garden. Really important business don't you think? His purpose at the hotel serves only as a self serving one. The best part about all this is that the player gets played.
English 48B
March 5, 2008
Journal #36 Henry James
Quote:
"..when his friends spoke of him , they usually said he was at Geneva "studying"(James 392).
Summary:
The narrator is introducing the reader to Mr. Winterbourne.
Response:
The first comment I want to say is just how fake Winterbourne is. He comes off as a very pretentious, self-centered and stuck up man. Of course I do not blame him considering that he has grown up around money and the aristocratic society all his life. I loved the discussion that we had in class today because Scott did such a great job of getting the class to pick up on the subtle hints throughout the book. When I first read the book I knew that Winterbourne came from a wealthy family but I did not pick up on the attitude that James gives Winterbourne. I called Winterbourne fake earlier because he wants everyone to think of him as better than he really is. For example he tells all his friends that he is off "studying" in Geneva when he is actually courting a older woman. The question that I have is why Doesn't he just tell his friends that he is seeing an older woman? Is this not an acceptable social practice that men in the gilded age practice? I first I want to say that he is actually covering up his own lie, the lie being that he is not really seeing an older woman. Isn't it convenient for him to be seeing another woman in a different country and nobody has met or seen her? I just do not see him as a genuine person. I'm jumping ahead but I see the story as him getting played by Daisy. Just as he plays on woman, he likewise gets played. Another way that Winterbourne is fake is how he acts as if he is in Sweden under important business. The reality is that he is only visiting his Aunt so that she will continue to fund his travels. He does not work nor study so he has no real business in Sweden except for checking out the woman in the garden at the hotel. "...looking about him, rather idly, at some of the graceful objects I have mentioned"(James 391). Winterbourne is only at the hotel because he is checking out the woman in the garden. Really important business don't you think? His purpose at the hotel serves only as a self serving one. The best part about all this is that the player gets played.
Monday, March 3, 2008
No one will listen
Gustavo Quintero
English 48B
March 3, 2008
Journal #35 Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Quote:
"Better in body perhaps-'I began and stopped short, for he sat up straight and looked at me with such a stern, reproachful look that I could not say another word"(Gilman 814).
Summary:
The woman is trying to reach out to her husband to make him aware that her mental condition is dangerously getting worse.
Response:
As her condition grows worse the woman from the story tries to reach out to her husband. Her husband being the well schooled and well respected doctor, does not want to talk to her her about her depression. She is trying to reach out to her husband to let him know that she is getting worse but he does not believe anything that she says. This is when he needs to stop being a husband and become a doctor. He needs to sit down and listen to her and consider what she is saying as a valid medical worry. As her mental state grows worse she stares at the wallpaper for more hours and begins to see a woman behind the design, moving that wallpaper about. Her condition is getting to the point that she is seriously in danger of her life. The most disturbing part about all of this is that she is now far worse than when she first started her "treatment". The treatment that was supposed to bring back her sanity is driving her evermore closer to the point of no return. She is teetering on the cusp of a mental breakdown and no one wants to listen to her. After reading the introduction by the Norton Anthology, the story and the woman in the story closely resemble the author,Charlotte Perkins Gilman. She also suffered from depression. When I was reading the short story the narrator actually sounded like Charlotte Perkins Gilman. She is the woman that I was imagining when I read the short story. Charlotte Perkins Gilman does commit suicide which is the road that the narrator in the story is on route to. As i have said before it is really unfortunate that no one wants to listen to the woman in the story.
English 48B
March 3, 2008
Journal #35 Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Quote:
"Better in body perhaps-'I began and stopped short, for he sat up straight and looked at me with such a stern, reproachful look that I could not say another word"(Gilman 814).
Summary:
The woman is trying to reach out to her husband to make him aware that her mental condition is dangerously getting worse.
Response:
As her condition grows worse the woman from the story tries to reach out to her husband. Her husband being the well schooled and well respected doctor, does not want to talk to her her about her depression. She is trying to reach out to her husband to let him know that she is getting worse but he does not believe anything that she says. This is when he needs to stop being a husband and become a doctor. He needs to sit down and listen to her and consider what she is saying as a valid medical worry. As her mental state grows worse she stares at the wallpaper for more hours and begins to see a woman behind the design, moving that wallpaper about. Her condition is getting to the point that she is seriously in danger of her life. The most disturbing part about all of this is that she is now far worse than when she first started her "treatment". The treatment that was supposed to bring back her sanity is driving her evermore closer to the point of no return. She is teetering on the cusp of a mental breakdown and no one wants to listen to her. After reading the introduction by the Norton Anthology, the story and the woman in the story closely resemble the author,Charlotte Perkins Gilman. She also suffered from depression. When I was reading the short story the narrator actually sounded like Charlotte Perkins Gilman. She is the woman that I was imagining when I read the short story. Charlotte Perkins Gilman does commit suicide which is the road that the narrator in the story is on route to. As i have said before it is really unfortunate that no one wants to listen to the woman in the story.
The figure in the wallpaper
Gustavo Quintero
English 48B
March 3, 2008
Journal #34 Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Quote:
"But in places where it isn't faded and where the sun is just so- I can see a strange, provoking, formless sort of figure, that seems to skulk about being that silly and conspicuous front design"( Gilman 812).
Summary:
After several weeks in the upstairs room the narrator of the story is beginning to see a woman in the wallpaper. It seems that her treatment is having the opposite effects on her.
Response:
The woman in the story is prescribed a treatment known as "rest cure". This is a treatment that was prescribed to her by one of the leading physicians in this field, Silas Weir Mitchell. She is prescribed this treatment because she has been suffering from depression and one of the only known treatments is the "rest cure". The idea behind this treatment is to lay completely in bed for weeks at a time with no more than two hours of intellectual contact a day. The treatment also requires that the patient does not read or write. This sounds like such a primitive and backwards to treat depression. I think that the reason someone becomes depressed is because they are lonely and have no friends. So now the treatment that she is undergoing requires her to have less human contact than she had before. This does not sound like it could in any way be conducive to her health. As the story progresses we see her illness grow and her mental health deteriorate quickly. I can only begin to imagine to tremendous negative effects that this treatment would have on a clinically depresses person. You would think that her treatment would consist of more human contact and more mental exercises such as reading and writing. In the above quote we see the start of her mental deterioration. She begins to see a figure in amongst the design on the yellow wallpaper. I have to say that I feel tremendously bad for her because she is isolated at a time that she needs to be around people. Aside from seeing the figure in the wallpaper she spends hours staring at the lines and designs that are on the wallpaper. As I was reading this short story I was picturing a young woman rocking back and forth staring aimlessly at the walls around her. It almost sounds like she is in an asylum. As she spends more time in the room upstairs, unknowing to her husband, her condition goes from bad to worse.
English 48B
March 3, 2008
Journal #34 Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Quote:
"But in places where it isn't faded and where the sun is just so- I can see a strange, provoking, formless sort of figure, that seems to skulk about being that silly and conspicuous front design"( Gilman 812).
Summary:
After several weeks in the upstairs room the narrator of the story is beginning to see a woman in the wallpaper. It seems that her treatment is having the opposite effects on her.
Response:
The woman in the story is prescribed a treatment known as "rest cure". This is a treatment that was prescribed to her by one of the leading physicians in this field, Silas Weir Mitchell. She is prescribed this treatment because she has been suffering from depression and one of the only known treatments is the "rest cure". The idea behind this treatment is to lay completely in bed for weeks at a time with no more than two hours of intellectual contact a day. The treatment also requires that the patient does not read or write. This sounds like such a primitive and backwards to treat depression. I think that the reason someone becomes depressed is because they are lonely and have no friends. So now the treatment that she is undergoing requires her to have less human contact than she had before. This does not sound like it could in any way be conducive to her health. As the story progresses we see her illness grow and her mental health deteriorate quickly. I can only begin to imagine to tremendous negative effects that this treatment would have on a clinically depresses person. You would think that her treatment would consist of more human contact and more mental exercises such as reading and writing. In the above quote we see the start of her mental deterioration. She begins to see a figure in amongst the design on the yellow wallpaper. I have to say that I feel tremendously bad for her because she is isolated at a time that she needs to be around people. Aside from seeing the figure in the wallpaper she spends hours staring at the lines and designs that are on the wallpaper. As I was reading this short story I was picturing a young woman rocking back and forth staring aimlessly at the walls around her. It almost sounds like she is in an asylum. As she spends more time in the room upstairs, unknowing to her husband, her condition goes from bad to worse.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Gustavo Quintero
English 48B
February 27, 2008
Journal #33 Kate Chopin
Quote:
"How Mademoiselle Reisz would have laughed, perhaps sneered, if she knew!'And and call yourself an artist! What pretensions..."(Chopin 625).
Summary:
As Edna is about to die she has a multitude of thoughts going through her head. She thinks about her husband and children but most importantly she thinks about how Mademoiselle Reisz was right; she is the wounded bird.
Response:
Mademoiselle puts Edna in check by telling her that their is o use to her being pretentious. As I argued before I felt that Edna was trying to hard at reversing her gender role. Mademoiselle Reisz puts it perfectly by telling Edna earlier in the novel that she should not claim have qualities that she does not have. For example she begins to draw even though she is not a great artist. As I said before she is doing to many things at once. Few people see the hazard of what Edna is doing as does Mademoiselle Reisz. What I found strange about this novel is that it is not your typical romance novel. It does not have a happy ending where Edna and Robert form a loving relationship that lasts forever. Rather it ends with Robert telling Edna that they cannot be together and Edna committing suicide. This form of realism really helps give the novel a lot more depth and character. This novel acts as a textbook definition of what realism is, it exposes the harsh realities of the real world and it does not end with a cookie cutter happy ending. The ending is very dark and dismal. Although you could also argue that the ending serves as an ultimate expression of freedom. Edna's suicide frees her form all the problems and dilemmas that plague people in the real world. This novel serves as a tale of what can happen when a person falls in love with someone that is out of their reach. Ultimately Edna' affair is what kills her. I do want to point out how all of this may not fall completely on the shoulders of Edna. What if her husband had actually cared for her and not had went to the club every night. What if he would have actually shown his beautiful wife some affection. Would she still have strayed from her marriage or would she have lived happily ever after? Of course if she had lived happily ever after this would not have made for such a deep and great novel.
English 48B
February 27, 2008
Journal #33 Kate Chopin
Quote:
"How Mademoiselle Reisz would have laughed, perhaps sneered, if she knew!'And and call yourself an artist! What pretensions..."(Chopin 625).
Summary:
As Edna is about to die she has a multitude of thoughts going through her head. She thinks about her husband and children but most importantly she thinks about how Mademoiselle Reisz was right; she is the wounded bird.
Response:
Mademoiselle puts Edna in check by telling her that their is o use to her being pretentious. As I argued before I felt that Edna was trying to hard at reversing her gender role. Mademoiselle Reisz puts it perfectly by telling Edna earlier in the novel that she should not claim have qualities that she does not have. For example she begins to draw even though she is not a great artist. As I said before she is doing to many things at once. Few people see the hazard of what Edna is doing as does Mademoiselle Reisz. What I found strange about this novel is that it is not your typical romance novel. It does not have a happy ending where Edna and Robert form a loving relationship that lasts forever. Rather it ends with Robert telling Edna that they cannot be together and Edna committing suicide. This form of realism really helps give the novel a lot more depth and character. This novel acts as a textbook definition of what realism is, it exposes the harsh realities of the real world and it does not end with a cookie cutter happy ending. The ending is very dark and dismal. Although you could also argue that the ending serves as an ultimate expression of freedom. Edna's suicide frees her form all the problems and dilemmas that plague people in the real world. This novel serves as a tale of what can happen when a person falls in love with someone that is out of their reach. Ultimately Edna' affair is what kills her. I do want to point out how all of this may not fall completely on the shoulders of Edna. What if her husband had actually cared for her and not had went to the club every night. What if he would have actually shown his beautiful wife some affection. Would she still have strayed from her marriage or would she have lived happily ever after? Of course if she had lived happily ever after this would not have made for such a deep and great novel.
Overestimating her strength
Gustavo Quintero
English 48B
February 27, 2008
Journal# 32 Kate Chopin
Quote:
"...overestimating her strength. She wanted to swim far out where no woman had swam before"(Chopin 556).
Summary:
Edna after taking many swimming lessons from everybody has finally overcome her fear of swimming and is swimming by herself. For the first time she is swimming without the aid of anybody.
Response:
I have to say that I have mixed feelings about Edna in, "The Awakening". I first I am glad that she is able to awaken to these new feelings and expressions as she has never been able to before but at the same time I feel she is trying to hard. What I mean by this is that she seems to be trying to get everybody's attention just a bit to hard. During the Victorian times that Edna lived in she is very much oppressed and expected to maintain her role in society. Her role is that of a mother. She is not expected to sway at all from this role. Throughout this novel we are confronted with gender roles, in particular female roles, that are set in stone. For example the woman are expected to stay faithful to their husbands and take care of their children and household. the men on the other hand are almost encouraged to have sex outside of the marriage. I personally do not fell this is right but I did grow up in a much different time than that of Chopin's novel. Edna begins to flirt with just about every young male character in the novel, while her husband continues to visit the "clubs". This newly found sexual freedom that Edna has found helps her open up in other parts of her life. She begins to take on painting, gambling and rebels against her husband. While all this is great for freeing Edna from her oppression it seems like she is trying to do way to much all at once. All of these awakenings follow up one after another. All leading to her eventual suicide. I am not saying that she should have accepted her role in society rather Edna should not have had her "hands in so many cookie jars". The one thing I do have to respect Edna for is her ability to see what her gender role was and to completely change it. She reminds me of Sylvia as the Geranium. At the beginning of the novel she is wilted and dying, by the end she has come full circle and has blossomed(although in this case the Geranium perishes).
English 48B
February 27, 2008
Journal# 32 Kate Chopin
Quote:
"...overestimating her strength. She wanted to swim far out where no woman had swam before"(Chopin 556).
Summary:
Edna after taking many swimming lessons from everybody has finally overcome her fear of swimming and is swimming by herself. For the first time she is swimming without the aid of anybody.
Response:
I have to say that I have mixed feelings about Edna in, "The Awakening". I first I am glad that she is able to awaken to these new feelings and expressions as she has never been able to before but at the same time I feel she is trying to hard. What I mean by this is that she seems to be trying to get everybody's attention just a bit to hard. During the Victorian times that Edna lived in she is very much oppressed and expected to maintain her role in society. Her role is that of a mother. She is not expected to sway at all from this role. Throughout this novel we are confronted with gender roles, in particular female roles, that are set in stone. For example the woman are expected to stay faithful to their husbands and take care of their children and household. the men on the other hand are almost encouraged to have sex outside of the marriage. I personally do not fell this is right but I did grow up in a much different time than that of Chopin's novel. Edna begins to flirt with just about every young male character in the novel, while her husband continues to visit the "clubs". This newly found sexual freedom that Edna has found helps her open up in other parts of her life. She begins to take on painting, gambling and rebels against her husband. While all this is great for freeing Edna from her oppression it seems like she is trying to do way to much all at once. All of these awakenings follow up one after another. All leading to her eventual suicide. I am not saying that she should have accepted her role in society rather Edna should not have had her "hands in so many cookie jars". The one thing I do have to respect Edna for is her ability to see what her gender role was and to completely change it. She reminds me of Sylvia as the Geranium. At the beginning of the novel she is wilted and dying, by the end she has come full circle and has blossomed(although in this case the Geranium perishes).
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