- Colette's piece of writing made me feel kind of weak as a woman. It also made me feel bad for her and the situation she was in, as if she really did not want to be married. The bed or in other words the setting, guided me towards the theme of the story. This made me think of the whole idea of marriage and my ideal age of getting married.
- Colette reveals the whole idea of marriage through the use of the hand. At the beginning of the story the hand is presented to the reader as a soft, warm touch between the couple but as the story unravels the newly wed bride becomes disgusted by the hand. She gets disgusted by the hand as she ponders about her marriage and the new life she will for take. She seems to be disgusted by marriage all together.
- I could also see Colette showing the reader the stereotypes of the woman and their role in a marriage through the symbol of the hand. I especially see this towards the end of the reading when the woman despite her disgusted thoughts she reaches and kisses the hand of her husband. What do you guys think? Would you agree? If so, why and if not, what do you think?
Sunday, February 5, 2012
SSRJ #2: Colette
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towards Essay #1, I was thinking it would be helpful to consider the literary element and theme. By "the use of the hand," did you mean symbolism? I think you did a good job focusing your theme outside the characters in the story and applying it to society as a whole. However, I wasn't quite sure what you meant by "the whole idea of marriage." I think that marriage is the subject, and that the "theme" should be what the author was saying about the subject. I liked how you said, "She seems to be disgusted by marriage all together. I could also see Colette showing the reader the stereotypes of the woman and their role in a marriage through the symbol of the hand." Those two idea were more specific than the whole idea of marriage, and I think they would be good themes. I think the kissing of the hand symbolized her committing to him despite her fear, and the subservient role of the women in marriage. Great job!
ReplyDeleteAgain, I feel like she's reluctantly accepting the fact that she will have to submit to a male domineering marriage, perhaps because she's afraid of the consequences of societal comments/pressures if she divorces and remarries. I think the story also shows how people rush into marriages.
ReplyDeleteI think she kisses his hand like that because she doesn't know what else she can do. She rushed into this marriage and there's not much she can do about it now, and she doesn't want to let on that she feels that way because she barely knows her husband or how he'll react. She has to play the role of happy, newlywed wife.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is sad that she made the rash choice to marry him because now she lives in fear. She thinks she knows what he is and she may be right. Marriage can be an amazing journey, it should be; she was deprived of this joy due to her rash/naive decision. She kisses the hand as a symbol of submission out of fear when it should be submission in love.
ReplyDeleteI believe that when she kissed the hand I thnk it was something that she needed to do fo herself. The hand really freaked her out, and she is at a point where she realizes that she got herself in a situation that she didn't really put thought to. So when the hand started jerking she needed to ask herself if she was willing. She came to the conclusion that she will put everything aside and take on htis journey of being married to someone she really doesnt know. So by kissing the hand is her way of answering her own question to herself.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I also feel Colette is making a statement about outside appearances, specifically in marital relationships. The symbols of nail polish and good looks point me more in the direction of the outer masking the inner secrets. The kissing of the hand also can be interpreted in the same manner; she is masking her inner fears by showing outward affection. Maybe it’s just my interpretation. What does anyone else have to say?
ReplyDeletei do not know how she could make out a story like this with the hand being the main object to be observed. it is dramatic but realistic. dramatic because we can not base a person's personality and physical appearance by looking at someones hand. realistic because feelings can be transmitted by any contact, so in this case the hand made disgusting feelings to her.
ReplyDeleteThat is true that Colette describes the young woman as the traditional, meek, submissive wife. I kinda wonder if she would have wrote the story today, how would she describe the young woman now. Women today have a different tradtional way of being.
ReplyDeleteI agree how it makes people rethink marriage, she hardly knew this man and they were married in a house together. The possibilities of his hand being scary is only raised by the mysterious of her new life partner.
ReplyDeleteI thought in the end she was more accepting his hand, their marriage as a whole other than feeling disgusted. Perhaps she took her time to be observant to her husbands physical features and discovered qualities she hadn't observed before. She was so fixed on to his hand that the more she observed it's behavior, the more she related the "beast" to her husband.
ReplyDeleteI agree it makes people understand that marriage is not a joke and you should just marry anybody. especially someone that is a stranger to you, it makes no sense.
ReplyDeletei do agree. because what you said. " despite her disgusted thoughts she reaches and kisses the hand of her husband."
ReplyDelete