"Come here, come here, me mother dear, and read to me my dream!"

[jiasachan]

Mama and Papa visited. We went to dinner and then saw Little Miss Sunshine with Ruthie. Applebees = a bad, bad place to be a vegetarian. Fail. Little Miss Sunshine, however, is awesome. I finished all my absentee ballot stuff, so now I can call myself a responsible citizen and such. And I randomly ran into Blair and Mark -- that happens a lot.

Comments

[jiasachan]

It's hard to tell. My Brit Lit professor gives completely incomprehensible, disorganized lectures full of filler and "ums," though, so it's always difficult to make out what he thinks -- his ideas are usually pretty close to the standard classroom interpretation when they can be sorted out, though. It's possibly hardy is trying to tell people to break free from convention, but I find it really odd that his idea of a "pure woman," which is what he calls Tess, is one who honestly believes her misfortunes are her own fault and is willing to kill herself to win her husband's approval. He also seems to say that Angel, who is mostly unconventional and not too tied up in societal norms, has the right ideas -- but then he freaks out over finding out Tess isn't as virginal as he thought. His father, on the other hand, who is very conservative and severe in his views, is in practice a lot gentler and apparently less judgmental.

I think some of the trouble I'm having with Tess is that I can't seem to convince myself to take it in historical context. The sexism in it makes me burn, so I can't deal with it even though I know logically that it's a reflection of the time period. Tess being such a silly wilting flower doesn't help, either -- it seems like she doesn't get to be a person, just a tragic symbol. She supposedly gets a little more spine as the book goes on, though, so we'll see.

This is the only Hardy I've ever read, so it's possible I'd get a little more perspective if I read some of his other books.