LECTURE 4 ELLEN T H E A G E O F I N N O C E N C E O h
DIVIDED LOYALTIES NEW PARIS YORK W h arto n 2
F O T E C E n J R e l B Em O U N A L S A Y L H A T A P M Y S &
M I s T a R n a n d e l C l E O I T V C E D O C L I A I C V O S E H N T A M F O O W W E N E H T S A
D e ficiencie s of T H E NEW YORK T H E AT R E a n d t h e Socia l C od e
T he OUTSIDER ` D I F F E R E N C E & E XC LU S I O N ‘A STIR IN THE BOX’ 2 FROM HER VERY ENTRANCE
E m p res s JOSEPHINE � V i vf le F r anc e ! Em le n i s descri bfd as ‘FRENCH’ ‘EUROPEAN’ ‘STRANGE FOREIGN’
Ellen’s Debut She sat gracefully in her corner of the box, her eyes fixed on the stage, and revealing, as she leaned forward, a little more shoulder and bosom than New York was accustomed to seeing (12).
It was usual for ladies who received in the evenings to wear what were called ‘ simple dinner dresses’… But Madame Olenska, heedless of tradition, was attired in a long robe of red velvet about the chin and down the front with glossy black fur .
Archer remembered, on his last visit to Paris, seeing a portrait by the new painter, Carolus Duran … in which the lady wore one of these bold sheath-like robes with… fur . There was something perverse and provocative in the notion of fur worn in the evening in a heated drawing-room (85).
GRACE AND CONFIDENCE? BLACK FUR? TYPICALLY PARISIAN PALE GLOVES LONG ELABORATE ROBES? OH MY THIS IS SO SALACIOUS
� T he C O U N T E S S OLENSKA O R M A D A M E Her name and title constantly remind us of Ellen’s Europeanness and disgraced past .
� S etu in g BOHEMIAN Q U A R T E R ‘DES QUARTIERS EXCENTRIQUE’ (60) FRENCH AUTHORS BO U RGET, HU YSMAN S, G ON COU RT
� Strang e FOREIGN w oma n An outcast trapped within the New York citadel
M U L T I P L E P E R S P E C T I V E S A D D T O A CHORUS O F D I S A P P R O V A L T H A T C O N D E M N S E L L E N 3
Voice of Old NY It was generally agreed in New York that the Countess Olenska had ‘lost her looks’ . She had appeared there first, in Newland Archer's boyhood, as a brilliantly pretty little girl of nine or ten… (Ch 8, 48)
U S E O F D I R E C T D I S C O U R S E I N T H E GOSSIP CHAPTERS MY EURO- POOR THERE ARE ELLEN! RUMOURS! GOD! PEAN! Mr s Mr s A r che r L e ffert s W e llan d Jackso n
R E P R O A C H F U L T O N E ‘It was... in better taste not to go to the ball.’ M R S A R C H E R A N D M R S W E L L A N D ‘Ellen's ideas are not at all like ours.’ ‘No wonder she is completely Europeanised’ A B S O L U T E W O R D S
A H Y P O C R I T I C A L L Y V I C I O U S T O N E ‘Madame Olenska is a great favourite with the gentlemen,’ said Miss Sophy, with her air of wishing to put forth something conciliatory when she knew that she was planting a dart (214).
� Gossip C ha p ter s INTOLERANCE T O WA R D S E L L E N ’ S B E HAV I O U R U N A L T E R A B L E SOCIAL CODE
Dictio n outcast RECKLESS DEVIANCE culprit OR NON-CONFORMITY flippant unseemly heedless 3
Independence It was not the custom in New York drawing- rooms for a lady to get up and walk away from one gentleman in order to seek the company of another . Etiquette required that she should wait , immovable as an idol , while the men who wished to converse… (52)
� Em le n ’ s Direc t S p eec h REBELLIOUS? UNINHIBITED? UNDIPLOMATIC? OPEN AND FRANK? ‘after a moment she added candidly : “I think he's the dullest man I ever met.”’ ‘few… would have dared to call the stately home of the van der Luydens gloomy ’ (59)
T H E O U T S I D E R H E L P S U S S E E T H E WA L L S O F � T he N e w Yor k CIT ADEL a n d it s TRADITIONS a n d MORAL CODE E L L E N ’ S D I V O R C E S U I T A N D A F FA I R S h AV E A F U N C T I O N 4
Such verbal generosities were in fact only a humbugging disguise of the inexorable conventions that tied things together and bound people down to the old pattern. But here he was pledged to defend… conduct that… would justify him in calling down on her all the thunders of Church and State. (35)
� Dictio n WRATHFUL ‘ T H U N D E R S’ RUTHLESSLY INFLEXIBLE ‘ I N E XO RA B L E ’ + ‘A LWAY S’ PRISON Moti f ‘ T I E D T H I N G S T O G E T H E R ’ ‘ B O U N D P E O P L E D O W N ’
Tribal Council There were certain things that had to be done , and… done handsomely and thoroughly; and one of these, in the old New York code , was the tribal rally around a kinswoman about to be eliminated from the tribe . (276)
PRIMITIVE AND CRUEL CUSTOMS THE SOCIAL OUTSIDER NON SURVIVOR OLENSKA THE VICTIM OF THE TRIBE There were certain things that had to be done , and… in the old New York code , was the tribal rally around a kinswoman about to be eliminated from the tribe . (276)
D E V I L DA R L I N G C haracte r FOILS May and Ellen are cast as opposites in order to - underscore social conformity and exclusion - construct Archer’s romantic and social dilemma 5
M A Y A S S O C I A L DARLING I S P O R T R A Y E D I N W O R D S O F A C C E P TA N C E A N D A D O R A T I O N B U T I N A R C H E R ’ S E Y E S C O N F O R M I T Y A N D C O N D I T I O N I N G
� Ma y LILIES O F - T H E - V A L L E Y P U R I T Y A N D I N N O C E N C E
I N T E N S E V I B R A N C Y Y E L L O W ROSES � Em le n A R R E S T I N G A N D OV E R P OW E R I N G
� Ma y ICE M O T I F D U L L N E S S A N D F R I G I D I T Y
� Eg fect s of FIRE M O T I F YES, WE KNOW IT’s HOT HOT HOT BUT…
The Fire Motif What are its e ff ects and significance? Look at specific evidence and consider how: - Ellen is constantly portrayed in ‘red’ to evoke her… - The writer links Ellen to ‘fire’ and ‘sparks’ to present … - The use of ‘shimmered’ and ‘glimmered’ suggest … - The ‘fire’ motif seems to foreshadow … Ignite a discussion in pairs. Extinguish it in one minute. Illuminate the whole LT.
Our Answers Passion and romance - Ellen both titillates Archer and represents emotion, love. Enlightenment - Ellen’s presence ‘glimmers’ and ‘shimmers’ on Archer’s outlook. Danger and disruption - Ellen symbolically sends a ‘shower of sparks’ through Old New York’s social circle — she is a disruptive force, a social ‘threat’. - More significantly, Ellen unse � les the equilibrium of Archer’s future, endangering his position and ‘perfect’ life.
A R C H E R C A T C H I N G F I R E � P r esente d v i a PHYSICAL SIGNS his heart was laughed glad beating insubordinately blushed reddened 6
� Em le n i s a s ymbo l of PASSION electric shock undeniably exciting the blood in his veins closer than his bones While May represents a ‘ buried life ’, Ellen offers Archer a new lease of life filled with ‘ romantic sentiments ’ and ‘ adventure ’.
Archer’s Desire There had been days and nights when the memory of their kiss had burned and burned on his lips… the thought of her had run through him like fire ; but now that she was beside him, they were drifting forth into this unknown world (195).
The words gave him an electric shock , for few were the rebellious spirits who would have dared to call the stately home of the van der Luydens gloomy. Those privileged to enter it shivered there, and spoke of it as ‘handsome.’ But suddenly he was glad that she had given voice to the general shiver (59).
� T he NEW WOMAN F R E E D O M A N D I M A G I N A T I O N 6
NEW N E A H T M ? E O D O C L N A S E I W C E O W S S E T H E T E F B O R T D R H G A G G E U R O A S I D C S R I ? M Y P R N O F D T S L N O I A G N A I N O I L L E E B D E O R C L N A I C O O S E H T I O T T E C I N E D I D E B A O E R T 19 A L T M E R H th O T F N L I A I C O S W O L CENTURY L O F
Women's lives at the end of the nineteenth century were changing dramatically on various fronts, most visibly so for daughters of middle and upper classes. Female education was expanding... Acquiring higher education signified that a woman was busy with worldly and not just domestic occupations.
Progressive intellectual Randolph Bourne describes new women as “decidedly emancipated and advanced, and so thoroughly zestful ... They shock you constantly... They are all self-supporting and independent , and they enjoy the adventure of life: the full, audacious way in which they go about makes you wonder...”
� Mysteriou s AUTHORITY F U L L O F A C O N S C I O U S P O W E R ‘ P O W E R ’ A N D ‘AU T H O R I T Y ’ E L L E N A S A SUBJECT N O T A N O B J E C T
Em le n BOLDNESS ‘O U T L A N D I S H ’ A N D ‘ S U R E N E S S’ INDEPENDENCE ‘ M A K E O N E ’ S O W N FA S H I O N S’
� Em le n w il l fl y pas t NETS O F TRADITION O F CONVENTION A N D O F NATIONALITY
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