Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice, on being an accomplished woman: "Oh! certainly," cried his faithful assistant, "no woman can be really esteemed accomplished who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with. A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half-deserved." (Caroline Bingley) [...] "I am no longer surprised at your knowing only six accomplished women. I rather wonder now at your knowing any." (Elizabeth Bennett) Maybe my thoughts were directed here during my reading of Pope's The Rape of the Lock due to the fact I am currently rereading Pride & Prejudice for the umpteenth time. Nevertheless, I see so much of Belinda in Caroline Bingley's vision of a woman it makes me giddy (nerdy banter; please forgive and bear with). When Elizabeth responds to Caroline and Mr. Darcy's expectations of an accomplished woman, Caroline is appalled in similar, though more realistic, fashion to Belinda's. When Caroline was insulted by Elizabeth's response, her honor was disparaged, but this is only because Caroline was brought up in a higher society that convinced her such honor was to be had. If you could look on the inside of Caroline Bingley, the measure of the woman is small and fully dependent on her abilities instead of her heart condition. And while Elizabeth is no saint, she at least recognizes what the true measure should be, and so, has a sense of self-evaulation that Rachel discusses in her blog. There must be more to you than what you can sell to people. "Nothing is more deceitful," said Darcy, "that the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast." In the same way, when you take into account lines 15-18 of Canto II concerning the "graceful ease, and sweetness void of pride" of fair Belinda...Pope seems utterly and completely sarcastic. You can sense the pride, and almost Apollonian force of containment of Belinda's true self. It begs the question of if she really has an identity anymore underneath her facade of beauty and grace. By Contrast, Elizabeth Bennett has no trouble being who she is on the outside. Thus, in Caroline Bingley's eyes, Lizzy is savage and without form (Dionysian). So, which is correct? COMMENTED ON RACHEL'S |
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Insert Witty Title Here
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I love how you tied in Pride and Prejudice to The Rape of the Lock! It's sad but true that the measure of a woman is based on outward appearance and abilities rather than her heart condition... even still today! Why is outward beauty appreciated and applauded so much more than inward? The Apollonian way of conforming to the culture is the norm; whereas, the Dionysian way of staying true to yourself is looked down upon. However, in being true to yourself you are able to exhibit your heart condition instead of consuming your time with pointless frivolities. So, I think the Dionysian way is better... in the way Sam stated it; however, too much wildness is not a good thing, hence the need for balance. I definitely agree that in that time period of Pride and Prejudice and in Rape of the Lock Apollonian was taken to the extreme, which constricted women to the point where all they cared about was outward appearanced regardless of their heart condition. But how many women are still like that today? (e.g. Hollywood) just a thought :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Amanda, I think the Dionysian way is better and more correct, but like you said, there has to be balance. I think it goes back to the verse in the Bible that says "the world looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." Because of the Fall, the way we naturally act is the Apollonian way of looking a judging everyone from the outward appearance. I think the reason it is so hard for us to act in the Dionysian way is because that is how God is. That means that that is how we are to strive to act, but it doesn't come naturally, it takes work.
ReplyDeleteI'm kinda intimidated to comment here cause there's been so many deep thoughts. But I completely agree with what you 3 have said. Mankind just naturally conforms to the Apollinian way of thinking and judging each other and ourselves and even God. Because we want structure in our lives and we think the closer we get to Him, the more structure we get, but it's completely opposite. As christians, we can sometimes even have an idea of how God wants the world to see us and that's we try to become, but He wants us to change our hearts to be more like Him. That's just what I think it means to be more "accomplished".
ReplyDelete