I was a big fan of this story. I mean, after all of the stories we have read about men killing each other over a beautiful woman, it was nice to not see any bloodshed. Why haven't the knights in other stories decided to fix their problems this way? And why haven't more of the beautiful maidens had the moxie to say no? (I know the answers to these, of course. But It's still important to consider!).
In Caitlyn's last post, she said something about a story being predictable--about the inevitability of marriage in Jane Austen's stories. This story reminded me of Jane Austen as well--but for a different reason. I couldn't help but to think of how satisfying it is to hear a woman say no to a marriage proposal in Austen's writing. This story's marriage denial had the same affect on me.
Imagine this picture, but with the guy being significantly older than the woman. And also, imagine them looking alike since it is the father who is proposing (just in case you forgot how creepy that is to people reading this today).
I know a lot of people will be blogging/talking about their feelings toward the Emare' in this story. I think it's great that we a female protagonist. I have a really good feeling that people will be disappointment with her character because she eventually married (this is something which has come up in other classes, so I'm just assuming). In which case, I will have to agree. And if nobody holds this claim, I will hypothetically agree with an imaginary classmate.
I think it's fantastic that Emare chooses to marry someone she loves. Pining for the person she loves when she is away, does not make her weak. The woman has sailed across the ocean twice, people! Without food! Or water!
I'm glad she has found someone to share a life with, even it they were parted for seven years. I think she deserves a happy life more than most!
Someone from my group didn't post (at least I think not? idk) so I'm commenting here instead. So, hey.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it was nice to get a break from the bloodshed. I enjoy violence as much as the next person who went to see Die Hard 4 in theaters because Zack made him, but it gets old having people joust, get knocked to the ground, then swordfight for like 11 years and eventually get in a lucky shot. I'm not sure I like that we traded violence for incest in this story, but you can't win em all, I guess.
And I'll be your imaginary classmate, I totally agree that Emare is disappointing for getting married. Not that being married makes you a disappointment, but for a female lead in a story (which I guess is progressive enough for its time) she doesn't do much but get pushed around. At least she stands up for herself against her weird dad, I guess, though. It's just hard to believe a female protagonist is strong independent person when she ends up being wooed by the first guy to tell her how beautiful she is that's not her dad.
Some people from my group didn't post (again), so here I am.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that Emare deserves all the breaks in the world. From creepy dad to bitchy mother-in-law, she gets the short end of the stick and still stays a gentle person. Kudos to her, honestly, but I cannot fathom not fighting back. I think her passive strength makes her a good protagonist, but I also wonder how much of her passivity is because she lives in such a heavily patriarchal culture, where women were supposed to be gentle and meek. Is she beating the system by playing it at its own game? I'm not really sure.