A Modern March

One advantage of joining The Classics Club is that there are always exciting events and challenges you can participate, so that you’ll never be out of ideas of what classics you should read next, the club will choose them for you through the events :)

Upcoming on March, Allie (A Literary Odyssey) would host A Modern March, a reading event focusing on Modernist authors. As you might have known, I already created a reading schedule for several months ahead in order to manage my reading. For March I would read these…

Medea - Euripides (for Let’s Read Plays)

Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban (for Hotter Potter)

The Three Musketeers (re-read along with Melisa)

The Flames of Rome - Paul L. Maier (Christian theme reading before Easter)

The Orange Girl – Jostein Gaarder (for 2013 TBR Pile Challenge)

…and so I would love to slip this one for participating in A Modern March:

Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf

And this would be the only Modernist theme reading I will do for the event, as I am not even sure whether I could finish all the books on schedule.. :(

The Portrait of A Lady – Final Review

“You wanted to look at life for yourself—but you were not allowed; you were punished for your wish. You were ground in the very mill of the conventional.”

If the story of The Portrait of A Lady must be packed in few sentences, the above quote suits perfectly to express it. The Portrait of A Lady portrayed the rise and fall of Isabel Archer’s life. Isabel was an American young woman who had been confined in her father’s protection for years. She was a smart woman, thirst of knowledge and experience of the outer world, and her dream was to see other countries and to meet people from different cultures. When her father died, Isabel saw the first hint of her fortune; a woman who introduced herself as her aunt would like to take her to England.

Isabel stayed at her aunt’s house—the Touchetts’—with her uncle, old Mr. Touchett and her cousin Ralph Touchett. Ralph was a cheerful and spirited young man; who unfortunately suffered from pulmonary disease that made him pale and weak, and forced him to resign from his job and to stay idly at home. Ralph fell in love with Isabel from the first time, but kept it to himself, realizing he had no future because of his illness. At the same time, his friend—Lord Warburton—was attracted to Isabel; and a young American businessman called Caspar Goodwood completed the group of Isabel’s suitors. Isabel rejected both their approaches, as she was still fascinated to see the world before being bounded in a marriage.

Before old Mr. Touchett died, Ralph secretly persuaded his father to alter his will, and granted big half of his share to Isabel, because he wanted to fulfill Isabel’s dream. Isabel had suddenly become rich; and this attracted Mrs. Touchett’s friend called Madame Merle. Merle introduced Isabel to Gilbert Osmond—a gentlemen without money or merit but has great ambition to be admired by the society. Osmond’s unique personalities attracted Isabel; ignoring her friend’s advises, Isabel decided to marry Osmond after she returned from the around-the-world journey, and lived in Rome. This decision turned out to be a huge mistake—as Isabel later realized—because Osmond had married her only for her money, with Merle as his ‘partner in crime’. The free spirited Isabel must now live unhappily under her husband’s strict dominancy.

This is the first Henry James I have ever read, and I instantly remarked his genius writing. Not only telling a beautiful tale, James also analyzed psychological aspects of society through his heroine and the satellite characters. But I liked this book especially because of Isabel Archer herself. I found from her first appearance that Isabel was so similar to me. We both are free spirited; we love the freedom to do things ourselves and we like to make our own decision. I share the same thirst of knowledge with Isabel, I had even promised myself—when I was in college—that I won’t marry unless I had stepped my feet in France! 

Because of the similarity, I sympathized with Isabel along her journey of life, I understood her feelings and her decisions. For others, it might be stupid, stubborn or anything, but for us it’s what we must do. Although I’m luckier than Isabel that I was not obliged to accept proposal from many suitors (and thank God I did not have to deal with stubborn suitors like Isabel’s, LOL!), I can understand why Isabel had rejected both Lord Warburton and Caspar Goodwood. Both were good men, but they were often too pushy toward Isabel; they kept circling around her, asking again and again what she wanted; offering their wealth, gentle understanding, etc. In short they were eager to marry her. The subject here was always themselves, never Isabel. You’re wrong guys, Isabel is an independent woman, she likes to be active; the harder you force an idea to her, the more she will reject it. It’s just our characters!

So, how could Isabel chose Osmond then? It’s because he appeared humble in front of Isabel—false it was in fact.

“I’m absolutely in love with you…. I’ve too little to offer you. What I have—it’s enough for me; but it’s not for you. I’ve neither fortune, nor fame, nor extrinsic advantages of any kind. So, I offer nothing.”

That’s what he told her, and I guess, that—among other things—had intrigued Isabel to like Osmond. It turned out to be a wrong choice, well….who don’t make mistakes anyway? Isabel was so innocent at that time, that she wasn’t wise enough to see motives behind other’s perfectness.

If I could advise Isabel, I would advise her to choose Ralph. For me, Ralph’s love was the purest, for he loved Isabel from his helplessness; he understood her very well; he never forced her to do or say something; and best of all, he sacrificed his part of inheritance for her happiness, without even telling her. And I believe a woman should marry a man with whom she feels most comfortable with, as if she doesn’t have to hide anything from him, for he should understand anyway. And Isabel could find that credits only in Ralph (Isabel was afraid of Goodwood, and with Warburton, she often felt uneasy).

James did not offer a sentimental and emotional ending as Dickens; James’ ending could not be said beautiful, but still made us reflect and think a lot. The Portrait of A Lady is not a tale, it’s a portrait of real life. We made mistakes and struggle, sometimes we can get out of the sorrows and start a new brighter life; but most of all, we cannot run from our decision and what we can do is to stop crying about it, and to apply a new way of thinking to make the best of it. Isabel Archer had taught me to be brave and always hold my principles. People can control me physically, but no one can control my mind!

Four stars for The Portrait of A Lady. You can find my deeper analysis of this book in my stage reading inquiries post.

Quotes:

“I would die if you could live. But I don’t wish you to live; I would die myself, not to lose you.”

Isabel Archer

“You won’t lose me—you’ll keep me. Keep me in your heart; I shall be nearer to you than I’ve never been. Dear Isabel, life is better; for in life there’s love.”

Ralph Touchett

“If you have been hated you’ve also been loved. Ah but, Isabel—adored!”

Ralph Touchett

~~~~~

*I read 1999 Wordsworth Classics edition paperback*

*This book is counted as*

2^nd book for Turn of The Century Salon

 3^rd book for 2013 TBR Pile Challenge

2^nd book for Bucket List Reading Challenge

1^st book for New Authors Reading Challenge2013

30^th book for The Classics Club Project

50^th book for 1001 Books You Must Read BeforeYou Die

Ralph Touchett in The Portrait of A Lady

Ralph might not be a perfect partner for most women. Although he was wealthy enough to live comfortably without working, Ralph has been suffering from acute pulmonary disease. But apart from that, Ralph could have been favorite suitor for young women. He was kind, intelligent, energetic (before the disease took over him), with good sense of humor and good taste of art. He was a perfect English gentleman, though he was born from an American father. Ralph has worked diligently before he was forced to stay at home by his illness.

From his first introduction to Isabel Archer—his cousin—Ralph had fallen in love with her. But, fully realized that he won’t be a perfect husband for Isabel and could hardly won the pretty young lady’s heart, Ralph retreated from her suitors group, and only treated Isabel as her cousin. From the beginning I saw that Ralph was the only man who could really understand Isabel’s unique characters. Ralph knew her passion, what she wanted in life.

When her other suitors were busy shoving their wealth and advantages to the young woman—you’re going to be a lady; we’ll stay in a big house; not enough? You’re free to go around the world if that’s what you want, etc—Ralph already knew that Isabel loved the freedom to live her life in her own way. Without much talking, he secretly arranged with his dying father to alter the will by transferring a huge part of Ralph’s inheritance to Isabel. Ralph had done this knowing that he won’t get even a ‘thank you’ from Isabel, let alone her love.

Ralph on his dying bed

Later on when Isabel had married Osmond and having an unhappy marriage but kept it closely from her friends and relatives, Ralph knew it and never forced Isabel to ‘open her mask’. But what amazed me was that Ralph could survive longer than he was supposed to, because he loved Isabel and he wanted to see how she will do in her future. How love brings life!

If I must choose between male characters in Isabel’s life: Lord Warburton, Caspar Goodwood, Gilbert Osmond, and Ralph Touchett…I’ll choose Ralph, simply because his love was true.

French February

Actually I have made a reading schedule for February, which contains:

Little Dorrit (Dickens)

The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Dickens)

Richard III (Shakespeare)

Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets—reread

Mrs. Dalloway (Woolf)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Smith)

I have been determined to finish them all, although I doubt I can do it.

And today…I suddenly received an invitation from Goodreads from o (Delaisse). She is hosting an event to read as much as classics from French authors: French February. Well, ‘French’ has always been my weakness (and I love o’s Eiffel button…!!), so I think I can’t prevent myself from joining anyway. But…wait… If I can’t be sure to finish those 6 books in my schedule, how can I add one more? Oh, by the way, I’m going to take Voltaire’s Candide—it’s a novella, and I’ve been wanting to read it for sometime.

That means I must scrap one of those 6 books and move it to next month(s) to make room for Candide. The question is, which one?.... Considering that I planned to read 2 books for WEM Self Project (Richard III and Mrs. Dalloway) which would slow my readings a lot, I finally I decided that Mrs. Dalloway must step out of her previous group to enter March group :)

So, here I am….ready to visit France! I wish I could be there right now…:(

The Portrait of A Lady – The Stage Reading Inquiries

These are my works on stage reading inquiries for my Well-Educated Mind Self Project. As I still have much more to talk about this book, I decided to write separate post as my final review. I hope you haven’t been bored yet to read more about this book; it’s a good story anyway! :)

Eugene de Blaas (1843-1931)

Grammar-Stage Inquiry

Who is the central character in this book?

Isabel Archer, an American young woman, daughter of a wealthy man. She was a self-possessed intelligent woman with a free and independent mind.

What is the book’s most important event? At which point in the book does the character change?

I think there are two most important points in Isabel’s life. First is her decision to marry Gilbert Osmond, an American man who lived in Italy, who has a noble manner and a conventional mind and taste. Isabel, with her obsession to anything different and new, saw Osmond as a charming man who stood aside from others. She married him, and slowly realized that she had made a terrible mistake, as Osmond was a very dominant husband. After the marriage, the free and high spirited Isabel became passive, indifferent, and seemed to always be under a mask.

The second point is at the last chapter after Ralph’s death, when Isabel finally decided that she would return to her dominant husband, but this time she would be herself. Isabel has learned all the truth, she knew now what has made her suffered, and that there was no place in the world where women could be completely free. Thus all she could do was to freely choose her destiny and live with it bravely, and I guess she won’t be as submissive to Osmond as before.

Logic-Stage Inquiry

What does Isabel Archer want? What is standing in her way? What strategy does she pursue in order to overcome this block?

Isabel Archer always wanted to be free, even before she inherited that huge amount of fortune. However, the society where she lived could not accept women to be free on their own. In this story, Isabel was trapped under her husband (Osmond)’s dominancy right after their marriage. At first Isabel firmly rejected her friends’ advises to leave Osmond, she did not want to run away from her own decision. Till the end of the story, James did not clearly mention Isabel’s plan, but I believe she has quite changed after Ralph’s dead and Goodwood’s passionate proposal. Isabel knew at last that she could not change something beyond her control: culture and society, but at least she could change her own mind, her way of thinking. Men can control her physically, but they could not frighten her, Isabel decided to return home with a new spirit. That’s only the beginning to get your freedom, to realize that no one could frighten you.

Who is telling you the story?

The story is told from both the third person limited and the omniscient point of views. James picked Isabel Archer as his central character; the story was told by a narrator using her point of view. However, there were times when the narrator also took us to analyze Isabel’s decision, her state of mind, and her feelings. So I think James wanted us to judge for ourselves whether his heroine had done the right things, considering what she had experienced, what she could not control, and the culture and society at that time.

Rhetoric-Stage Inquiry

Is this book an accurate portrayal of life? Is it true?

From what I had read in Victorian books and histories, Isabel’s situation—the lack of freedom for women—was accurate. Even until now, I believe there are still women who experience domination from men everywhere; either physically or mentally; either at home, at work place, or at society.

Do you sympathize with the characters? Which ones, and why?

From the moment Isabel entered the story, I have felt that she had much similarity to me, that made me sympathize with her more. I could understand her feeling, as I often feel it too; we both long to express ourselves in a way we want it, we like to live our own lives and make decision by ourselves. What Isabel always need was the freedom to look at things from her point of view, to be given chance to express it, and being appreciated. Isabel suffered a lot under her husband domination but she refused to surrender.

What exactly is the writer telling you?

Through his heroine, I think James wanted us to give more respect to women. When a man marries a woman, he ought not just to consider whether she would be a beautiful ornament to his household or not. Women are human being, just as men; they were created equally to support each other in a marriage life. Men must give their wives more room to express themselves, to be their husband’s partners. Men must give more respect to their wives—or women in general.

James talked a lot about the difference of Americans and Europeans. Americans were portrayed to be more open-minded and aggressive—look at Henrietta Stackpole and Caspar Goodwood; while Europeans were more conservative. I think James wanted to tell us how human beings were shaped by culture and society where they had been grown up. You could not bend their characters to be like yours; and that in marriages between two cultures, you could each compromise to each other—compromising, not total submission.

~~~~

The Old Man and The Sea

I don’t know why it takes me so long to read one of Ernest Hemingway’s masterpieces: The Old Man and The Sea. Maybe it’s because of my first encounter with Hemingway years ago; back then I read the translation of To Have and Have Not. I don’t know whether it’s because of the bad translation or because I haven’t been familiar with classics works, but I didn’t enjoyed it at all—although I got a sense that it should be a good book if I could better praise it. I remember I have sensed Hemingway’s deep details of fishermen’s life and how beautiful he described about sea and fish. Anyway, it’s not until this month—thanks to Adam’s TBR Pile Challenge—that I am determined to finally read another Hemingway. And…I can say now that I enjoyed the story very much, and that I am planning to read more from Hemingway!

Like To Have and Have Not, the story of The Old man and The Sea is very simple. Santiago is an old poor fisherman in Havana, and lately his luck—if he ever had it—had evaporated. He lost his faithful assistant and friend, a boy who loved him, and for the last 84 days he hadn’t succeeded in catching fish. On the 85^th day, Santiago sailed alone as usual, and suddenly his bait attracted a very big fish—his biggest catch—and from then on the old man had struggled in an equal fight with the big fish, which exhausted both creatures, went on for several days, and only stopped when one of them would win from the other. Could the old man return home safely this time?

Really, I have never imagined before, that catching fish could become a dangerous activity. Both the old man and the fish were fighting in a live-or-die battle against enemy whose minds was different from each other, and they must challenge each patience, used their instinct when to make a move and when to wait other to take action.

Hemingway’s experience in fishing helped him wrote detailed life of fishermen, the way they unite with the nature, the fishing tools, the fishing process, the beauty and richness of the sea and the creatures live under water. Hemingway also succeeded in catching the humanity aspect in a fisherman’s job. Reading this book is like going on board with Santiago, watching him skillfully preparing his ‘weapons’, feeling the same nervousness as Santiago’s when he met and must fight sharks, and share the same compassion towards the Fish—as a companion in the journey of competition to survive at the sea.

In today’s world where greediness is almost unbearable, it’s soothing to read how the old man regarded the Fish not as lower creature he must conquer; but as an equal partner at the sea. That he must kill the Fish, it’s because he needed to survive. Santiago only took what he needed, instead of robbing the sea for his own wealth. At some points, Santiago even questioned himself whether it’s wise to hunt the Fish. After the Fish has died and its blood attracted sharks to eat its flesh, Santiago fought bravely with the sharks, not only to protect his catch, but also to protect his ‘friend’ from being torn violently by the sharks. It’s an amazing harmony between man and nature; just as what God had created them for, to take and give, and to create a balanced life on earth.

The Old Man and The Sea also teach us to have patience in hard times. Santiago had never lost hope although he hadn’t caught fish for 84 days; he kept counting on the next days; that if not today, maybe the morrow would be another day when he would be lucky to catch some fishes. And isn’t it remarkable to see how Santiago patiently hunted the fish; how he waited till the perfect moment came, when the Fish lost hope and began to rise from the deep of the sea to the surface, where Santiago would be able to attack it?

It’s also remarkable how Santiago used his sharp intuition and long time relationship with the sea, that he could understand the Fish’ character, as if he was battling with human being instead of animal. And in that way Santiago treated and respected the Fish as if it’s a human being too. Isn’t it lovely when human could respect equally all God’s creature, so that we could all live in harmony?

To the world, Santiago was perhaps just a poor old man who was fading from life, from the world. But for the boy, he was a perfect example of how man should live his life. Success is not counted from how big or how many fish a fisherman could catch; it is how the fisherman keeps doing his job from day to day in the same manner and with the same hope that God would grant him everything he needs; it is how he is always prepared for everything, the good or the bad, when it comes his way; it is how he keeps doing his best and pushes to the limit, accepts what he receives, and lives with it—day by day, never loses hope. In that, I think, only the boy could praise the old man’s achievement. He looked at the boat, the fish’ remains, and the old man’s bleeding hands, and he understood, then cried. The old man might not get anything from his adventure that time, but he has done all his best, he has given all his strength and ability to do his job; and surely, some other day he’ll get the reward. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?

Five stars for The Old Man and The Sea, and I understand now how this short and simple story was granted a Pulitzer Prize; it’s really well deserved!

*I read the translation in Bahasa Indonesia—translated and published by Serambi on 2008*

~~~~~

*This book is counted as*

1^st book for Turn of The Century Salon

1^st book for 2013 TBR Pile Challenge

1^st book for Back To The Classics 2013

1^st book for Bucket List Reading Challenge

29^th book for The Classics Club

49^th book for 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

January theme: Pulitzer Winner Books for BBI (Blogger Buku Indonesia) Read Along

Weekend Quote 15: The Portrait of A Lady

Still from The Portrait of A Lady, this time I borrowed something Ralph Touchett—a dying young man who loved the heroine, Isabel Archer, but knowing that he won’t be a good husband for her, he could only love from afar—had said to Isabel. If only Ralph didn’t have love in his heart, he must have died months before, but his love for Isabel had made him much stronger. He chose to live because he worried about Isabel’s unhappiness. This was what he said to Isabel when Ralph was about to go home to London, to die in peace…

“It was for you that I wanted—that I wanted to live.”

It is short, simple, distinct and really-deeply touching!

Why oh why, women tend to love long-flowery sentences (or even poems??)—that might keep a lot of contradictions if you are thorough enough to examine them—while there is a very simple way to express one’s love.

When a man expressed that he had forced himself to live—while he could have rested in peace—just because he loves you, well…what more do you expect, ladies?

This Weekend Quote is hosted by Half-Filled Attic. Feel free to join. You can:

• Give the context of the quote
• Give your opinion whether you agree or disagree with it
• Share your experience related to the quote
• Share similar quotes you remember
• Or anything else. Just have fun with the quote.