--This is a Victorian "spirit photograph"--ostensibly evidence of the existence of the spirit realm, but now held up as examples of the way the photographic medium can be manipulated. Anyway, it touches upon mid-nineteenth century attitudes toward the spirit realm.--In Zenobia's story "The Silvery Veil," she offers up a story of the spirit realm which is more properly an allegory of male-female relations. What does the story have to say about those relations? To what extent are the issues presented in the story still relevant of male-female relations today?
--Zenobia's speech at "Eliot's Pulpit" also deals with women's issues. What are her concerns and how are they dealt with by the male characters? What do you think Hawthorne is saying about women's rights here?
--During this section, many of the characters leave Blithedale for the city. How is the city represented and how do the characters act differently (or not)? What do you think Hawthorne is saying about the city here?
The city is represented as more loud than the country. This is good for Coverdale as the noise distracts him from questions about his friends for a time. In the country, the silence made his mind wander. In the city, the noise makes him think of other things. Watching the people of the city without gaining any deep inquisitions about their lives is a relief. The Blithedale Romance goes along with what we have been discussing about the city and the country all semester - the country is spiritual but intimate in relations while the city provides complete anonymity. Whether or not the anonymity is good is left up to the character, but in the case of Coverdale it is good.
ReplyDeleteThe city is also portrayed as more extravagant than the country. When Coverdale finds Zenobia, she is dressed more extravagantly than he has ever seen her in the country. Seeing Zenobia in the city exposes herself as a lie in the country, causing Coverdale to wonder if she was ever really a part of their group. Here the city seems to represent truth and the country a lie.
The Silvery Veil portrayed women as completely dependent on the will of men. Women can try to persuade men to make the choice that would be best for the woman, but only a little bit. Once the woman calls to the man under circumstances predetermined to signify eternity, she really is stuck forever. The magician told her exactly what was going on and exactly what she needed to do about it, without giving her any say in the issue.
ReplyDeleteThe woman in this example is acting based on custom. She is obedient to the men around her, questioning their authority a little, but not enough that they consider her opinion relevant. Not all women were like this. Some women would have made their thoughts more clear, and not settled for others' opinions determining the rest of their lives.
Today, that is still very true. Some women act according to the custom by letting the men in their lives make their decisions and lead them through life, but others stand up for themselves and are independent of men.
Eliot's Pulpit
ReplyDeleteZenobia shows „nothing short of anger“ because of the injustice that is done to women and when she says that she wants to lift up her voice to make aware of it she sees Coverdale smile which makes her even more mad. She thinks that he smiled because she does not disagree when really he smiled because in his opinion women will only ever speak up when they are pressured by exceptional misfortune. SO far, no women has ever done so and no women has ever spoken her heart and mind.
However, Coverdale wishes that women had more rights and he would gladly grant them all they wish for and more.
Even though Zenobia replies that this will only be true for young and beautiful women, he sees women in general as more spiritual and sensitive. He envies the Catholics for Mary, because she is a medium between a male God and the believers and thus, his love can be much better expressed through Mary.
Even though Coverdale does not seem to have the same understanding of women’s rights as Zenobia, he seem to be more understanding than Hollingsworth, who represents a rather typical traditional attitude toward women’s issues. To him, women are the most admirable handiwork of God in their “true place” – “Her place is at man's side. Her office, that of the sympathizer; the unreserved, unquestioning believer; the recognition, withheld in every other manner, but given, in pity, through woman's heart, lest man should utterly lose faith in himself; the echo of God's own voice” While Coverdale does not agree and thinks of it as male egotism, Zenobia, surprisingly does not – or at least she answers ironically that women would assume this role if men would be more “manly and Godly”
This makes Coverdale think more about the nature of women to behave and to subdue to men or if it is because of the gender roles dictated by society for centuries. Even though he cannot finish his thoughts, the reader gets the strong idea that Hawthorne does not agree with the traditional perception of women even though he still believes in female qualities such as piety and sensitivity, beauty and sympathy.
Zenobia's story of the silvery veil, especially of the man that must choose between kissing the veiled lady or seeing her unveiled that would result in a horrible fate. This is particularly intriguing, because I feel that most men would choose the kiss despite the veil, at least in modern society. But this allegory basically says that men have the choice to either accept the disguise of the object of his desires, or know the truth about the same object and become disillusioned. So I would have to say that there has been a shift in the female-male relationships from the time Hawthorne was writing. The male, at least when idealized as he is in Zenobia's allegory, is supposed to want to know everything about the person the object of his desire is. The other choice is physical satisfaction but the acceptance of never being one with the other lover. In today's society, males are conditioned to choose the veiled kiss. Women are conditioned to never lift the veil.
ReplyDeleteI think the city is represented in the Blithedale Romance in much the same way it has been represented in the vast majority of pieces we've read about the city so far. The city is large, it is crowded, and in this way it provides anonymity to it's inhabitants. There is a sense of serenity or peacefulness that seems to be associated with nature within the book. Maybe a better term would be organic, nature provides it's inhabitants with a connection to one's surroundings that instill feelings of closeness within the individual. The city, by contrast is loud and flamboyant, despite the close proximity created by the city, individuals almost become isolated or anonymous within the confines of city limits. Distracted perhaps. These characteristics of the city cause characters to become removed from nature and distracted by extravagances. The way Zenobia dresses, for instance, can be seen as proof of this. The agrarian lifestyle does not particularly lend itself to such extravagances. There's a similarity between the city and the country in this book, in that both locations lend themselves to voyeurism. You can always be observed, whether from a tree or through a hotel window. This is simply a by product of participating in society, which Hawthorne seems to argue that you can never truly escape from.
ReplyDeleteThe modest country conceals Zenobia and the way she presents herself as compared to when she is in the city. In the city she adapts the her surroundings and her apparel as well changed to become more extravagant. The aloofness and coldness of the city neglects lengthy conversations, unlike the quiet country. The city is in constant motion, creating many distractions for Coverdale. Coverdale seems to enjoy observing people and his surroundings. The city allows for the characters to behave in a different manner then in the country. I think Hawthorne is saying the city allows an individual to behave and act differently then in the country and its liberating. The city allows for a freedom the country cant provide for the characters.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Daniel in that the depiction of the city and country has been similar in many of the pieces we have read. The city represents renovation and new ideas. The city is fast paced and filled with many faces. The country is pastoral, with old ideas and filled with solitude. In The Blithedale Romances the two opposing sceneries alter the characters and their attitudes.
-Jatelle
The city represented in the Blithedale Romance is represented a lot like it has been n all the other 'city' texts we've read so far. It's big, it's loud, it's full of people and a sense of dizzying chaos. But even though it's full of life and full of people out and about all the time, it still holds an air of anonymity simply because the individual can get lost in it. I agree with Daniel's point above mine; it's interesting to not that there is a sense of voyeurism and observation in not only the city where it's expected, but in the country too. A good example of this is when Coverdale is in the tree eavesdropping.
ReplyDeleteIt's also interesting to note how nicely Zenobia is dressed when Coverdale sees her in the city. It can be mentioned that he notices she certainly did not dress this way in the country, and he wonders whether she was really a sincere member of their group in the country. Usually, the country would seem like the more "real" place, the one more pure and with truth to it, but this time the city seems to be square one from where everything is based off of. I wonder what Thoreau would think of this.
I agree with Anna in that with Zenobia’s story “The Silvery Veil”, women were shown as completely dominated and dependent on the male species. I feel bad for her because all she really wants is to make a voice for herself, and the magician tells her what she needs to do, but basically she cannot do anything because of the position she is in, aka, being a woman.
ReplyDeleteI think Hawthorne was surfacing issues about how women were handled and how they were not really taken seriously. When Zenobia shows anger because of the “treatment” of women, she wants to vocalize her frustration, but women are not supposed to speak up and say what is really weighing on their heart.
When Coverdale giggles at her, she becomes enraged, and I think that kind of sets into the stereotype that women are always going to be these emotional, irrational creatures of Earth. Even Coverdate sees women as sensitive creatures, which again plays into women being an emotional wreck at times. Coverdale is, however, more realistic than Hollingsworth who seems to think a woman is only as good as she is to her home and husband.
I think that Hawthorne’s female issues still stand even in today’s society. Many women are expected to make a home for their man, and prepare for a family (Hollingsworth’s view). That being said, today women are still thought of as maternal beings that are sensitive to every human act, which goes back to Coverdale’s outlook on women.
I also agree with Anna's post that "The Silvery Veil" depicts women as being dependent upon men. The woman under the veil is jailed and unable to make her own decisions. She must rely on a man to free her. On page 112, the veiled woman states, "thou canst lift this mysterious veil, beneath which I am a sad and lonely prisoner, in a bondage which is worse to me than death". Being controlled by the magician's power (men) is worse to the veiled woman than death itself.
ReplyDeleteThe veiled woman is afraid to go against orders. She is obedient. As Anna stated above, I do not believe that all women were like this. But, I do think Zenobia's story emphasizes this point, in order to make a distinction that this was apart of many womens lives in the 19th century, as well as today to some extent.
Today, I feel like these topics are still relevant however, I do not think them to be as prominent as they were in the 19th century. In modern times, women are still seen as following customs handed down to them from generation to generation. For example, although many women can be seen in the workforce, there is still a large amount that stay home to take care of the children, the house, etc. while the men are working and providing the financial aspect. In a sense, to follow custom, some women constantly put their husbands first before themselves.
This is Astrid's post (I forgot my google account password :/)
ReplyDeleteRight from the beginning, Zenobia is introduced as a woman with special traits. Not only is she beautiful and intelligent, Coverdale also mentions that her "hand (...) was larger than most women would like to have - or than they could afford to have" (15). Thus, her hands separate her from the ordinary women and underline the male strength Zenobia possesses which seems to show itself in her mental concept of how the society should be run. Zenobia sees women as intellectually superior to men. However "thus far, no woman in the world has ever once spoken out her whole heart and her whole mind" because society doesn't offer women the means to express themselves (->"the pen is not for women"). It is society that domesticates women and labels them as the softer sex. Zenobia doesn't support the separation based on gender and is positive that one day women "will go afield, and leave the weaker brethren to take our places in the kitchen!" Nevertheless, her speech about women's rights seems to be half-hearted and Coversale wonders if "those words of passion and agony, which Zenobia had uttered in [his] hearing, [were] a mere stage-declamation". This observation is supported by her outcry "if I live another year, I will lift up my own voice, in behalf of woman's wider liberty" which sounds to me as if she is not quite ready yet to share her emancipated view with the world. Surrounded by her friends she is in a safe environment and is able to portray herself the way she would like to be.
Hollingworth doesn't share Zenobia's views. According to him a woman's "place is at man's side", without a man a woman is nothing more than a monster. In order to elevate women to the next step, they need to support each other and find a bigger lobby. Priscilla is a prime example of how difficult it is to put this into practice. "She is the type of womanhood, such as man has spent centuries in making". Thus, she is seeking for confirmation in Hollingsworth and doesn't want the gender roles to change. However, even though Zenobia criticizes this behavior and calls Priscilla a poor child, Coverdale sees both of them "brought to [Hollingsworth's] feet." Both women chose him instead of Coverdale who supported the emancipated idea of a society which not only shows that Zenobia is not supporting her own ideas, but also the woman's deadlocked situation.