Written by Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre is a partly autobiographical account of her youth at Lowood, an all girls school based on Cowan Bridge, where the four eldest Bronte sisters attended beginning the year 1824. But, before we enter Lowood, let us begin at Gateshead, the estate home belonging to the widowed Mrs. Reed. Jane is the downtrodden niece to the Lady of the Lowood Estate, who has taken Jane in because her husband willed before his demise that Jane should become a full member of the Reed family, and brought up by Mrs. Reed as one of her own. The Lady adheres to her husband's will, but not his sentiment in the least. Jane is diminutive and maintains a consistently watchful countenance. She is held captive by the family's sensibility of distaste toward her in everything she does and stands at grand odds to her cousins, including; Georgiana, with her golden curls and large blue eyes, epitomizing the standards of Victorian beauty. Then there is Eliza, who is of no unique mien, but is "headstrong and selfish," as well as John who, "no one thwarted, much less punished; though he twisted the necks of pigeons, killed the little pea-chicks, set the dogs at the sheep [and] called his mother 'old girl.' " Miss Eyre is the daughter of a clergyman who married a wealthy Reed daughter much to the aghastment of her mother's friends and family. Both her parents died of typhus while she was about a year old, and she had lived with her aunt ever since. Now, at the age of ten, Jane can read but has had little formal schooling. Her favorite world is that of The Arabian Nights and Gulliver's Travels, as she is told she can join the vicinity of the Reed's lives as a child to Mrs. Reed and a playmate to her children, once she accrues a more, "sociable and childlike disposition, a more attractive and sprightly manner." It is a cold and rainy November evening when Jane has found a temporary repast upon a window seat, with a thick curtain drawn before her and the howling tempest of fall season weather to her back, upon the window pains. She has her world of Bewick's History of British Birds and is greatly enjoying the pictures, as her imagination fills in the crevices of unspoken wonderings, "the two ships becalmed on a torpid sea I believed to be marine phantoms." Her respite is sharply cracked open by John, who searches out his cousin to bully her, saying to Eliza and Georgiana, " 'tell mamma she is run out into the rain-bad animal!' " But Jane was not in the rain, and asked, " 'What do you want?' " of the grand Master Reed. John tells her, " 'You have no business to take our books; you are a dependent, mamma says; you have no money; your father left you none; you ought to beg, and not live here with gentleman's children like us, and eat the same meals we do, and wear clothes at our mamma's expense. Now, I'll teach you to rummage my book shelves: for they are mine; all the house belongs to me, or will do in a few years. Go and stand by the door, out of the way of the mirror and the windows." John, who is 14 years of age, positions his already brow beaten cousin to throw the book at her. He does not seem to read the books but utilizes them for physical ammunition. She hits her head against the door, from the strike of the volume, causing a cut that begins to bleed. He assails her further until she fights back and when she does, he cries out, " 'Rat! Rat!' " The servants and Mrs. Reed come to the Master's protection, and Miss Eyre then hears, " 'Dear! Dear! What a fury to fly at Master John! 'Did ever anybody see such a picture of passion!' " coming from the servants. She is locked away in the red-room, where the elder Master Reed breathed his last. There, she is told by Miss Abbot, " 'Say your prayers, Miss Eyre, when you are by yourself; for if you don't repent, something bad might be permitted to come down the chimney and fetch you away.' " Jane, is left with a bleeding head, alone in a large chamber, with thoughts of the boogeyman to comfort her. She becomes hysterical and quite ill from the combination of physical and psychological abuse. An apothecary, Mr. Lloyd is called and begins to ask questions of how Jane's nerves ended up in such a frightful state in the first place. Bessie, her favorite servant, does not seem to know exactly how old Jane is, and under guesses by a couple of years, in stating the girl's age. Mr. Lloyd gazes at Jane, and after Bessie is excused for dinner, he sarcastically asks her why she possibly minds living in such a grand abode as the Reed's mansion. When she explains her treatment, he asks her if she would rather live with a poor family. Her answer to this, is an adamant, "no." Mr. Lloyd asks her then if she should rather like school. Her answer is, " 'I should indeed like to go to school." And so, on the 19th of January, Jane begins her journey to Lowood. But not before she informs Mrs. Reed, how she will tell of her treatment by them to others. She holds Mrs. Reed's fear of death above the woman's head. While at Lowood, Jane becomes acquainted with near starvation, freezing cold and the psychotic Mr. Brocklehurst, who treats any girl who is not rich as a sinner, and even a wanton slave. The food is ill prepared and served in portions too small for growing girls. At Lowood Jane meets Helen Burns, who loves to read and is patiently objective toward her new found friend's curiosity, and who is also the one person Jane truly seems to love. They meet when Jane interrupts Helen's reading of Rasselas to ask her questions about Lowood and the people there. Her friend has a hollow cough and is uniquely removed of all circumstances that surround herself. The girls troop through cold, as we have received in D.C. this past winter, but without indoor heating and limited time at fireplaces, as only hebdomadally on Sundays could they spend time at a lit hearth. There were also no boots, so snow would get in the girls' shoes, and no gloves. Sleeping two to a bed is probably what aided them in surviving the night, in a large dormitory room, where temperatures would fall below freezing. The smaller girls would suffer the most harshly, as the elder ones, who were usually larger, coerced the less sizable youngsters out of a place at the fireside as well as confiscated their already limited food rations. Helen was a lover of books and of fine intellect though, was consistently humiliated for slatternly behavior, much of which was either invented by her bully of a school teacher, Miss. Scatcherd, or not her fault. For instance, her nails were unclean, but only because the water basins had frozen completely the night before. No one had a wash at all, that day. Helen, based on Charlotte's elder sister Maria was among the many deaths to come in the spring. The mainstay of illnesses was of one wasting disease or another, including typhus and tuberculosis. There is no mention of a full bath for the girls, so when spring came, the girls already weakened by the winter became particularly susceptible to typhus. Helen passes away, wasted, and looking forward to a heavenly reward of some sort. Jane withholds anger in her heart over the treatment of her only friend. (The name Helen Burns, could be symbolic of a burning torch for the author.) After the deaths of many of the Lowood students, a public scandal ensues and as a result, conditions improve dramatically to create a reasonable, even acclaimed institution. Jane remains at Lowood, as a student then teacher, until she is 18 years of age. Then, she hires out as a governess, seeking a newer form of servitude. She is hired by Mrs. Fairfax, the head housekeeper of the mysterious Mr. Rochester's estate, to teach his ward, Adele. The conversations between Jane and Mr. Rochester are one note short of a trashy romance novel for the beach: " 'Who talks of cadeaux?' said he gruffly, 'did you expect a present, Miss Eyre? Are you fond of presents?' and he searched my face with eyes that were dark, irate, and piercing." In the event that we, dear reader, with yellowed vacant eyes and drooling lips, have yet to break the bone of the most cliched storyline in all of English literature, by which to suck its very marrow, then we have done so now with Jane Eyre. That storyline being one of a governess and how she manages to marry well. Mr. Rochester is spoiled, sarcastic, cynical and a withholder of unusual as well as dark family secrets. Eventually, after a few misadventures, Jane marries Mr. Rochester. But not until she comes upon her own wealth of 20,000 pounds via inheritance, that she shares with a couple of new-found cousins, to give her a reasonable fortune of 5,000 pounds. Jane is still haunted by Helen Burns to the end, "Her grave is in Brocklebridge churchyard and for fifteen years after her death it was only covered by a grassy mound; but now a grey marble tablet marks the spot, inscribed with her name, and the word, 'Resurgam.' " The novel really is not a tale about a governess who falls in love as the Rochester character is far too cliched and outlandish, if not highly written of course. It truly is a story of a school girl, who wants her sister back. By Sarah Bahl The Lion in Winter, is of King Henry II’s marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine and the feuding powers among him and his sons. It begins with King Henry in power and his wife locked away in a castle, to be let out for the Christmas holiday. But it is Eleanor’s shadow of influence and power that holds the reigns to the film. Henry locked away his wife after she and their sons tried to overthrow him. And she is to be let out for reasons of politic as the couple needs to be seen together for Henry to maintain his control over England, Wales, Western France and Northern Ireland. The history of the time is dizzying and information varies. Henry and Eleanor, 11 years his senior, had several children together. The Lion in Winter is focused on Eleanor, the aging Henry and his increasing loss of control over his own crown, as his sons; Geoffrey, the aggressive manipulator, John, the simple idiot, Richard, a nobleman of spokes and wheels, and Philip, the highest reigning son are all competing for the crown and all enthroned rights that go with it. Eleanor played by Katharine Hepburn is marvelous. And Peter O’Toole as Henry really meet each other as partners in a mixed up world. At one time Henry and Eleanor were very much in love. But infidelity and complications of powers caused them to turn on each other. It is Eleanor’s second marriage, as her prior arrangement to the King of France was annulled. “How dear of you to let me out of jail,” Eleanor says to Henry as she steps down from her vessel. “It’s only for the Holidays,” he replies. It is as if the couple was purely in love at some time somewhere and now the two are bent on destroying whatever was beautiful between each other, as much as possible. One planet somehow broke into two and now two universes swirl about each other and somewhere in the center between them is a black hole. Henry loves Eleanor more than he could love any other woman ever, which is exactly why he hates her so much. That and she did try to dethrone him with aid of his own sons. “What family doesn’t have its ups and downs?” Eleanor states as the plots ensue as to whether or not to kill Henry for the throne and if so, which of the sons should achieve it? While the family gathers round for Christmas Henry picks up a wrapped gift, he comments on it being heavy, then says, “It’s my tombstone. Eleanor! You spoil me.” “I never could deny you anything,” Eleanor replies. The constant torment between them continues, and Eleanor ponders, “How, from where we started, did we ever reach this Christmas?” “Step, by step,” Henry states as if they are discussing the building of bricks to a house, rather than their own destructive tendencies toward each other. The script hints on the fear of death and how it motivates people to seek power in unnecessary corners. As Eleanor leaves on her boat to return back to her castle Henry shouts to her; “You know, I hope we never die!” “So do I,” his wife replies. “You think there's any chance of it?” They both laugh together at the idea of eternity, as her boat glides away. And so, the lion has his winter. By Sarah Bahl The Long Walk Home, is a favorite of films regarding the 1950s American South. The storyline brings two women together to both play a part in the Civil Rights Movement. One of the women is Miriam Thompson, who is a white, upper middle class housewife with two daughters; the youngest, Mary Catherine, is seven years old. Her sister, Sarah, is in college. The scenes begin with a Montgomery Alabama bus (1955) pulling up for three black women (all are domestic workers) to board. They walk with backs straight, put their money into the bus meter, then walk out and along the side of the bus to enter at the back. One of the maids, Odessa Carter, works for Mrs. Norman Thompson. Mary Catherine's voice-over describes Odessa, "I called her Dessy. As best as anyone knows, she was the first woman to rock me to sleep. There wasn't anything extraordinary about her. But, I guess there's always something extraordinary about someone who changes and then changes those around her." Odessa arrives to the Thompson's family enclave, seasoned with its 1950s space age furniture, to meet her usual morning scene. Sarah is looking for her tennis racket so she can meet her boyfriend at the club, Norman asks Miriam to have his golf clubs repaired, as he is heading out to work, and Miriam asks Odessa to take Mary Catherine to the park, as there is to be a cocktail party thrown later that night. Miriam drives Mary Catherine, Odessa and two of Mary Catherine's friends to Oak Park. Odessa sits in one of the back seats. Miriam drops off Odessa and the girls, telling Odessa to meet her at the same spot at 3p.m., as she should be back from the beauty parlor by then. The girls run and play, while Odessa puts lunch together. Then, a Montgomery Alabama police officer comes along. He is very tall and big, and as the children look on, he loudly informs Odessa the park is for whites only. Odessa and the children have to leave. Miriam is incensed at the story of the children and maid's experience in Oak Park and she calls the police office to complain of the incident. It appears her husband (or father) carries a reasonable amount of weight in town as the officer comes to apologize, that very afternoon, to both the maid and the children. Later that evening, at the cocktail party, Norman's brother, Tucker, hears about how his sister-in-law had the officer come out and apologize for what he did to Odessa and the girls in the park. Tucker tells Miriam, that for a white officer to have to express regret or demureness, to a black maid is, "juus plein ol' wrrong." Miriam becomes irate Tucker should judge her on any given moral synopsis, and responds to his stated perspective by telling him, she knows what is right and knows what is wrong, and she is not to be second guessed by a "wet behind the ears patrolman," nor by Tucker. She then walks off and Tucker can think of no better reply in turn other than to tell his brother he always thought Miriam was a, "hellcat." Some time went by before an event occurred that really brought Odessa and Miriam together as people: the arrest of Rosa Parks and the boycott of the Montgomery Alabama buses by the African American populace. Parks was the second African American woman arrested for refusing to give up her seat for a white person. And so, the boycott begins. Some black people had cars, but most did not. And this meant two things: 1. A lot more walking 2. Carpools The morning after the boycott is announced, the buses roll by Odessa's family home, "That bus is as empty as my grave," Odessa remarks of one going by. Odessa has three children of her own, one girl and two boys. The youngest of the boys asks, "Mom, if we can't ride the bus, do we have to go to school?" Odessa responds with, "Boy, you ain't never took the bus in your life..." With the boycott comes friction at work for Odessa sometimes arrives late and moves slow as she is tired from the lessened hours of sleep and all the walking. She even has bloodstains on her socks from poor walking shoes. Odessa cannot take the bus, even if she would like to, as a black person taking the bus by themselves is liable to attract a dangerous amount of attention in a small city where white police cannot be relied upon to protect the black community. The boycott causes increased debates among both the black and white populaces. After walking miles and cleaning house all day, Odessa attends weekday night Church meetings, where the voice of Martin Luther King is heard over the loud speaker saying, "the only weapon we have in our hands this evening is the weapon of protest. That's all..." Odessa, despite her innately strong work ethic begins to drag around Christmas time. Miriam feels bad and both out of empathy and as a business measure, she agrees to give Odessa a ride from Curb Market, twice a week in the mornings. Mary Catherine is a witness to the carpool agreement between the two women. Miriam informs her daughter, the matter is a secret between them, so there is no need to tell Daddy. Christmas comes and Odessa, has in her pocket a little gift for Mary Catherine, the same size as the gifts Odessa gave her own children. Though, when Mary Catherine runs up to Odessa to show off her fancy new doll, Odessa puts the little gift back in her pocket. Mary Catherine will never know Odessa bought her a gift for that Christmas day. Odessa walks home after serving the Thompson's their Christmas, and she walks because it means giving her children a better place in the world. Miriam decides to aid the boycott and carpools even further, perhaps to give her own children a sweeter future, and for herself. Miriam has a good, loving husband, but as time goes by their distance grows over their perspectives of Odessa's place in their family. Miriam becomes part of the underground carpool movement: white women giving rides to African American, mostly domestic workers, in an organized pick up and drop off venue. The carpool is crashed by white southern male fundamentalists, one of whom is Miriam's husband, and Miriam is caught in the act of aiding the Civil Rights Movement. Her car is vandalized while Mary Catherine looks on in tears and Miriam's own husband stands by, hopeless to make it stop. Tucker, who is at the scene, tells Miriam that she has lost this one. Miriam turns right around and in true spitfire fashion, tells Tucker,"Go to hell, you ignorant sonofa-," and she gets slapped across the face for it. But she stays. Her husband finally comes to Miriam's physical protection but it is obvious, she and Norman are on two different sides of one line. The women of the carpool, mainly African Americans, begin to sing in response to the white men's chants of "walk n-r walk, walk n-r walk." The women stand their ground and they sing a hymn. By Sarah Bahl The Help, (2009) by Kathryn Stockett is a portrayal of life in early 1960s Jackson, Mississippi. The focus is on the relations between white women and those "of color." The novel is written from three perspectives. The first voice is Abileen, a black maid working for the Leefolts, a white family, that is undergoing financial strain. Abileen is calm, intelligent and caring. She has worked for white families, nurturing and raising their children for much of her life. She is in her 60s and has cared for white child after white child, most of whom grow up to be as racist as their fathers and mothers. The second perspective is Minny, a maid as well, with an alcoholic husband who beats her the same as her father used to during her childhood. Minny is vivacious, portly, and has trouble keeping a job in Jackson because of her tendency to respond frankly to her white bosses. She has children, a husband, and she spends all day cleaning other people's houses. There are woman in Jackson Mississippi, who are ready for change, such as a perfectly made bonfire, just waiting for a match. Skeeter (third) is 23 and as an ambitious writer, she craves freedom away from 1960s plantation life and her mother, who thinks she can make up for her own petty life by overly controlling her daughter, with comments and suggestions to improve her looks, so as to find a husband, in a manner meant to be "helpful." Skeeter smokes, and applies for writing/editorial jobs, not in Mississippi. She hears back via mail from an Elaine Stein, Senior Editor at Harper and Row Publishers. And so the change begins. Skeeter compiles a narrative of stories based on the lives of maids in Jackson. As a result, she becomes outcasted from every white person in the small city, with the exception of her family. Her mother is direly ill and her father runs the plantation, as a shell of a person, unable to believe his wife is dying. Skeeter is able to move to New York and begin her career with the help of a trust fund, once the book is published. The book's capital income is divided 13 ways because of the number of people whose stories Skeeter used. The Help reveals the maids of 1960s suburban Southern life are not ghosts meant to care for white people; but that they are people themselves, with thoughts, feelings and faults of their own. Some of the novel I was uncertain of in terms of racial representation because the author, Stockett, wrote the black characters according to phonetic diction while the white characters' southern accents are written in Standard American English. Also, with the African American narration, there are differences in wording while all white dialect is written in SAE. Rosa Parks (born 1913), a black Alabama seamstress, spoke in SAE. Is Stockett credited to know what African American speech would have been like at that time and place in history? The "white trash" character, Celia Foote, from The Help speaks in SAE rather than Southern American English. So, if Celia is speaking in SAE, why are the working class African American characters speaking in what seems a version of African American Vernacular English, (using double negatives and keeping intransitive verbs without converting them to third person singular) rather than SAE? The whole book should be written according to dialect for both black and white characters, or else all in SAE. By Sarah Bahl "Ballet's Greatest Hits–YAGP Gala" played at AFI Silver Theater last Sunday, is remarkable for bringing to life what people love most about ballet. The still shots of dancers perfectly embodied in mid-air remind one of how perfectly graceful these athletes are. Their grace brings an ethereal sense of power to a long standing dance profession which will hopefully never die out. The Nutcracker was delved into as one of the most popular ballets of all time, due to its storyline and the playful, elegant qualities of Pyotr Tchaikovsky's score that brings a person to another world, that is filled with sugar, light, and its own magical dangers. The cross cultural affinities of ballet were addressed with discussions of Flames of Paris, a Soviet ballet of the French Revolution. Though, the dancers' movements were basic, (at least based on the clips shown) the intrinsic cultural values were of utmost precedence for the piece. The historical accounts of Giselle were interesting as the first dancer to play Giselle, Isabelle Ciaravola, is still so well known today. The lead dancer for the Willis was interviewed, and the otherworldly elements of the piece and the psychological meanings behind them are commented on by the dancer(s). Overall, the film is fun, interesting, and of great cultural and historic value. That is, once one recovers from the horror of watching ballet via film and not live. The still shots of the dancers in air, helped balance the ballet on film aspect. Seeing is not believing, as one may see, blink, and still not quite find to be true, the wonderful love for life and beauty that is ballet. |
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