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another attempt to get us motivated and discussing our reading......
Followers
Are you a thinker or a doer?
"Something's nibbling..."
Good (and not so) books I've read recently
- Brooks, Geraldine - Year of Wonders
- Brooks, Terry - Children of Armageddon
- Brooks, Terry - Elves of Cintra
- Cameron, Matt - Ruby Moon (playscript)
- Downham, Jennifer - Before I Die
- Drewe, Robert - The Shark Net
- Ellis, Deborah - Parvana
- French, Jackie - Hitler's Daughter
- Gaiman, Neil - M is for Magic
- Gaiman, Neil - Stardust
- Gaita, Raymond - Romulus, my father
- Gleitzman, Morris - Once
- Gleitzman, Morris - Then
- Harris, Joanne - Five Quarters of the Orange
- Hosseini, Khaled - A Thousand Splendid Suns
- McCaffrey, Kate - Destroying Avalon
- McLeod, Alistair - No Great Mischief
- Meyer, Stephenie - Host
- Meyer, Stephenie - The Twilight Series (all of them!)
- Niffenegger, Audrey - The Time Traveler's Wife
- Nix, Garth - Sabriel
- Rowling, J.K - The Deathly Hallows
- Sachar, Louis - Holes
- Westerfold, Scott - Peeps
- Westerfold, Scott - Pretties
- Westerfold, Scott - So Yesterday
- Westerfold, Scott - Uglies
2 comments:
personally, i do believe that Austen was a bit of a feminist, seeing as the heroines in her novels were free thinking women who did not agree with the ideals society had in place in that era. in pride and prejudice, elizabeth is the heroine and is portrayed as a woman who is very strong minded, independant, intelligent and not easily swayed by people's opinions, especially male opinions. in sense and sensibility, elinor is portrayed as the heroine, and she too is intelligent and is sais in the book to have " a strength of understanding and coolness of judgement." marianne, the sister, while holding some characteristics Austen thought she herself held, was the complete opposite of elinor. while elinor is cool and calm, marianne is passionate and shows her affections very blatantly. elinor does feel very deeply, but has trouble expressing her feelings, while marianne has so little trouble expressing herself, she often comes across as very rude to those she does not necessarily care for. while they could both be considered heroines, it is elinor who is the centre of the novel. Austen also writes very crudely of the sorts of people she does not like, for example Fanny and Mrs. Ferrars. Fanny is a money hungry, rude woman whose only concern is her status in society. Mrs. ferrars is portrayed as a small, sour woman who was painted with an incessant look of pride. Austen also deals with the issues of primogeniture, and clearly expresses her disapproval of the fact that not only do the men inherit the family's money when the father passes, but also the money of the women they marry. Austen writes very fondly of the women she likens herself to, and writes sarcastically and very discourteously of those she dislikes. she also did not agree with the way people would "court" in those days, and would mock this inconspicuously. she made marianne less likeable that elinor, meaning she thought women who fell for men easily and stupidly were not favourable, and there were probably many women like that during her time. She reveres women who think independatly and individually. Austen does not say that either sense( commons sense) and sensibility( emotional feelings) are the proper ways to go about your life, but implies that a balance is probably best.
i dont rly know if i've answered the question, i'm on a mixture of flu medication and strong painkillers for my back so the screen is kinda swimming in front of me, but i tried.
I've been thinking about this for ages, and I really don't know how to answer that question.
Austen may be called a feminist for giving Elinor enough common sense and intelligence to keep a suitable public appearance. But she also used feminist features in her opposite, Marianne, by giving her the strength and passion to act against the typical social codes and stand up for her right to express herself. However, the feminist view is contradicted as Marianne is the less favourable sister in the novel.
Austen does favour Elinor in the novel because of her sense, and she is protrayed as a strong and independent character, but she too breaks down over a man. Although her actions aren't motivated by her feelings towards Edward, her thoughts are... and she suffered because of it, her mother thinks that "in Elinor she might have a daughter SUFFERING almost as much" as Marianne, who displayed her pain openly. Elinor seemed like a powerful character until it was revealed that her thoughts were intruded by Edward.
Although both sisters showed their anguish over love differently, they still felt it. Both sisters were slaves to their feelings...and men were the cause of it.
To some extent, Austen was a feminist, but she seems to have missed some parts of this stance. She obviously favoured Elinor because of her sense, and another favourite (Colonel Brandon) displayed the same features, but this means that Marianne and Willoughby are ridiculed for expressing their feelings for one another to clearly. Austen's preference is for the characters that obey social rules and disguise their feelings...which doesn't seem very liberating for women that were continually suppressed by society.
I have no idea if that made any sense, Austen confused me with this one, as she had a feminist view of some thing and not others....hmmm...will think on this more...I may be back.
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