Characters
Characters: Leonce and Robert (foils)
Leonce: 40 years old, knows he's better, more secure, thinks of Edna as property, indifferent about Edna's relationship on the island with Robert
note: back then, men in their 20s were encouraged to find themselves, travel, get educated, set up a business, at 30 they were then eligible for marriage
Robert Lebrun: son of Mrs. Lebrun, when his father dies, their finances go down so her friends pay her to live on Grand Isle for the summer so she can maintain their wealthy lifestyle, Edna doesn't see him as a love interest until later, slightly annoying and bothersome due to being egotistic, somewhat of a player which is normal for age, 26 years old
Characters: Edna and Adele
Edna: reserved, shy, no motherly feel
Adele: outgoing, speaks her mind, child-bearing look, mother-woman, Creole-chastity
Mother-woman: (expectation of Creole society) motherhood defines them: their child are or become their identity
character: Mariequita
Mariequita: Robert saved her the past summer from his brother Victor, who was about to rape her; no right, no status, could only be Robert's mistress, flirt, hangs out with Victor, works for Mrs. Lebrun
Characters: Adele and Mademoiselle Reisz (foils)
Adele: cares about appearances, rarely leaves house, has a large house with light and children, doesn't want to deal with real life
Mademoiselle Reisz: alone, all about individual expression, lives in an apartment which is dusty, dark and not for entertaining, forces Edna to talk about hard things, wears the same clothes, doesn't really dress up
Characters (men): Leonce, Robert, Edna's father, Alcee Arobin
Leonce: sees Edna as property (Edna temporarily accepts this position)
Robert: lover, Edna loves him
Edna's father: Edna and him aren't close but get along, very oppressive of women
Alcee Arobin: Edna doesn't like him, sexually attracted to him, shallow, does not intrigue Edna, she does not love him, fling, "fake love"
Characters (Damage Control): father, Adele, Madame Lebrun, Leonce, Doctor Mandelet
Father: tells Leonce to "reign her in"
Adele: tells her to get away from Alcee Arobin, doesn't like Edna living alone, worried about Edna's safety and security
Madame Lebrun: sent Robert away to Mexico and made it look like his choice
Leonce: buys her diamonds, plans a summer trip and puts it in the paper, renovations to the big house
Doctor Mandelet: not understand and most sympathetic of Edna, suspects Edna is "stepping out" on Leonce
Characters (not interested in Damage Control): Alcee Arobin, Mademoiselle Reisz
Alcee: benefiting from it
Mademoiselle Reisz: tells Edna to have strong wings, have to stand up to societal judgment
Characters (women and types of women): Adele, Mademoiselle Reisz, Mrs. Highcamp, Madame Lebrun, Mariequita, the lovers, the lady in black, the quadroon
Adele: mother-woman
Mademoiselle Reisz: independent, social outcast but accepted, not a wife, artist
Mrs. Highcamp: married, flirty, independent, still dependent on Creole society
Madame Lebrun: widow, gives her a little more freedom
Mariequita: Mexican, lower class, can flirt and have relationships, be a mistress to Robert or Victor
the Lovers: young, excused for being passionate
the Lady in black: widow, mourns, pious, religious
the Quadroon: nannie, black, unmarried
All of these women contrast with Edna and their situations do not work for Edna. She could not accept being in their place.
Motifs
the Ocean: individuality and solitude, self-awareness, never ending, connection to childhood, enlightenment, freedom, death and fear, learning to swim=recognition of individuality, assertion of self, escape,
the Birds (owl, parrot, mockingbird): Edna and her feelings about her situation, caged (the pigeon house), inability to speak her mind, ability of women to communicate, flight=awakening and individuality
Sleep: escape (but not ultimate-she has to wake up) from reality or the prison of her life, provides refuge and revitalization, repairs tattered emotions, peace, alludes Edna sometimes, she feigns sleep-first desire for Robert (night like a dream in the hammock), allow her to awaken
Clothing: civilizing and restrictive force of society, Edna removes it-naked in front of ocean, her growing awakening and assertion of self, white=chastity, virginity, purity, ect, also the color of summer, some women such as the lady in black do not change appearances
Art: connection to freedom, music, sketching and drawing, Robert sings a song and Edna sings it later in the book, self-expression and assertion, must have strong wings and the courageous and brave soul to be an artist, failure
the Moon: turning points, sleep (ocean, owl, sleep), revealing, sexual awakening, "white light", "strips of moonlight", romance and desire, "the first-felt throbbings of desire",
"new moon" means a new cycle and life, when the moon is absent Edna realizes that she can't have what she wants, sexual and romantic love
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Red Riding Hood Movie Review
I can't help but like Amanda Seyfridge. I saw Dear John, Letters to Juliet, and Mamma Mia; She was in all of those. She was also in Red Riding Hood, the new movie. I paid 10: 50 to see it. Talk about ridiculous. This movie was not worth 10:50, which is enough to say that few movies are worth that much to see, and there are none currently.
Ms. Amanda plays the role of Valerie (a name unsuited for her looks, in my opinion). She is in love with her best friend, Peter who is a woodcutter, but she is also engaged by her parents to Henry, a blacksmith. Henry and Peter are both "sigh-from-how-cute-they-are-guys" Valerie, Peter, and Henry are everywhere, being attractive, in this movie.
There are bigger problems, however, than Valerie's love life. The wolf that has threatened the village for two generations, eating their livestock, has killed a human. Valerie's older sister, Lucy. Lucy had loved Henry, but she couldn't marry him because Henry was in love with Valerie. He thought it was just a crush, and was in love with Valerie. The men decide to go slay the wolf, in which Henry's father is killed. The wolf they found is not their wolf. Their wolf is worse than just a wolf-- it is a werewolf.
Enter sir Solomon, a man who is worse than the wolf. The deal with the wolf is that "A man bitten is a man cursed." Werewolf blood is also passed by the generations. There are suspicions as to who the wolf is, since it is a man who lives among them. The blood moon comes, and the wolf enters the village. It kills those in its' path, until it find Valerie and her friend and corners them. It talks to Valerie, and she understands it. The wolf has dark brown eyes, like many in the village.
The friend tells sir Solomon that Valerie is a witch; Valerie does not deny the claims. Henry and Peter break her chains. Sir Solomon is bitten and "a man bitten is a man cursed". For those who are bitten, death comes before they can change with the moon.
Valerie's grandmother is the one who gives her the red cloak. She is also a cook and often makes stew. This is where the original fairy tale ties in.
And well, the ending is pretty great. But you know me, readers, that I am a sucker for endings.
I am not going to say whether you should or should not watch this movie. But I do know that it is not worth paying 10:50 for as amazing as Ms. Amanda and her guys are. So maybe wait for it come out on DVD and rent it. I also know that now that I have seen the movie I want to read the book.
Ms. Amanda plays the role of Valerie (a name unsuited for her looks, in my opinion). She is in love with her best friend, Peter who is a woodcutter, but she is also engaged by her parents to Henry, a blacksmith. Henry and Peter are both "sigh-from-how-cute-they-are-guys" Valerie, Peter, and Henry are everywhere, being attractive, in this movie.
There are bigger problems, however, than Valerie's love life. The wolf that has threatened the village for two generations, eating their livestock, has killed a human. Valerie's older sister, Lucy. Lucy had loved Henry, but she couldn't marry him because Henry was in love with Valerie. He thought it was just a crush, and was in love with Valerie. The men decide to go slay the wolf, in which Henry's father is killed. The wolf they found is not their wolf. Their wolf is worse than just a wolf-- it is a werewolf.
Enter sir Solomon, a man who is worse than the wolf. The deal with the wolf is that "A man bitten is a man cursed." Werewolf blood is also passed by the generations. There are suspicions as to who the wolf is, since it is a man who lives among them. The blood moon comes, and the wolf enters the village. It kills those in its' path, until it find Valerie and her friend and corners them. It talks to Valerie, and she understands it. The wolf has dark brown eyes, like many in the village.
The friend tells sir Solomon that Valerie is a witch; Valerie does not deny the claims. Henry and Peter break her chains. Sir Solomon is bitten and "a man bitten is a man cursed". For those who are bitten, death comes before they can change with the moon.
Valerie's grandmother is the one who gives her the red cloak. She is also a cook and often makes stew. This is where the original fairy tale ties in.
And well, the ending is pretty great. But you know me, readers, that I am a sucker for endings.
I am not going to say whether you should or should not watch this movie. But I do know that it is not worth paying 10:50 for as amazing as Ms. Amanda and her guys are. So maybe wait for it come out on DVD and rent it. I also know that now that I have seen the movie I want to read the book.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Tangled Movie Review
When I walk into the theater to an animated movie filled with kids and their parents, I know it's going to be a good movie.
Tangled is a more modern version of the story Rapunzel. In the storybook version, Rapunzel is born to poor parents and taken away to a tower. A prince finds her and falls in love, but the witch finds out and tries to stop them from escape. Rapunzel's hair is cut off and they go away, find Rapunzel's real parents, and all go to the prince's kingdom where they live happily ever after.
Well, Tangled, is different from the storybook version. It begins with a magical orange flower that was born out of a drop of pure sunlight. An old witch finds it and keeps it hidden to use its power to keep her young. Then the pregnant queen of the realm gets sick. The soldiers go out looking for the flower to heal her. They find it and the queen is healed. A beautiful girl with blond hair is born. The queen and king, who both have brown hair, send up a lantern to the sky on the day she is born. The witch steals the princess that night and takes her to a hidden tower, that the soldiers, despite their search, do not find.
Rapunzel's hair has the same power of the magic flower and as long as it remains uncut it will always be magically. To unleash her power they sing a song, where the hair glows as they brush it. The queen and king and people of the kingdom always send up lanterns to the sky on her birthday in hopes that the lost princess will return. She doesn't know what they mean; she doesn't know that she is the princess. At eighteen, Rapunzel wants to go see the floating lanterns in the kingdom. As safe as the tower is, Rapunzel is willing to risk the dangers of the outside world to see them. The witch has always kept Rapunzel's dreams of leaving by scaring her with stories. But this dream the witch can't scare off.
Flynn Rider and two other really bad guys steal the crown that has been waiting for it's princess all those years. The soldiers go after them, and only Flynn escapes with the crown. The noble horse Max chases after him. He stumbles upon a cave that leads to Rapunzel's tower. He climbs it and she hits in with her frying pan and ties him up with her hair. Rapunzel and Flynn strike a deal that she will release him from the tower and give him back the crown he stole if he takes her into the kingdom to see the floating lanthers. He agrees and when the witch is gone, they escape.
The witch comes after them after seeing the horse Max and returning to the tower to see Rapunzel gone, and finding the satchel with the crown and a wanted poster of Flynn in it. She makes a deal with the two bad guys who want revenge on Flynn for betraying them. Her plan is to manipulate Rapunzel's thinking into making her return to the tower with her.
Meanwhile, Flynn and Rapunzel, after a stop to sing at an inn and running from a breaking dam and sword fighting a horse, they make it to the kingdom with some help from the reluctant Max. Some little girls braid her hair up for her and put flowers in it. Rapunzel and the townspeople dance together. She sees a painting of the queen and king holding her as a baby. Flynn gives her a piece of cloth with a sun on it. He takes her out on a boat to see them. I'm not going to spoil it what happens, but let's just say it's pretty cool. Rapunzel gets her dream.
She is prepared to give him back the crown (which the witch gave her and told her that Flynn would run once he had it) Flynn tries to give them back the crown, but they beat him up and send him to jail. The witch beats up the bad guys who try to kidnap Rapunzel and they return to the tower; Rapunzel feeling sad over Flynn, whom she has fallen in love with; he is also in love with her. Max gets the inn people to break Flynn out of jail, since he suspects foul play. Flynn rides with Max to the tower and climbs it.
And I am not going to spoil the ending either, but know that it is perfect ending, and a little surprising. Readers will just have to go watch this one for themselves. The only thing that I think might have possibly made it better is if it had not been animated. (But I don't know how that would have worked.) On a final note, I'll say that this is a movie to get tangled in.
Tangled is a more modern version of the story Rapunzel. In the storybook version, Rapunzel is born to poor parents and taken away to a tower. A prince finds her and falls in love, but the witch finds out and tries to stop them from escape. Rapunzel's hair is cut off and they go away, find Rapunzel's real parents, and all go to the prince's kingdom where they live happily ever after.
Well, Tangled, is different from the storybook version. It begins with a magical orange flower that was born out of a drop of pure sunlight. An old witch finds it and keeps it hidden to use its power to keep her young. Then the pregnant queen of the realm gets sick. The soldiers go out looking for the flower to heal her. They find it and the queen is healed. A beautiful girl with blond hair is born. The queen and king, who both have brown hair, send up a lantern to the sky on the day she is born. The witch steals the princess that night and takes her to a hidden tower, that the soldiers, despite their search, do not find.
Rapunzel's hair has the same power of the magic flower and as long as it remains uncut it will always be magically. To unleash her power they sing a song, where the hair glows as they brush it. The queen and king and people of the kingdom always send up lanterns to the sky on her birthday in hopes that the lost princess will return. She doesn't know what they mean; she doesn't know that she is the princess. At eighteen, Rapunzel wants to go see the floating lanterns in the kingdom. As safe as the tower is, Rapunzel is willing to risk the dangers of the outside world to see them. The witch has always kept Rapunzel's dreams of leaving by scaring her with stories. But this dream the witch can't scare off.
Flynn Rider and two other really bad guys steal the crown that has been waiting for it's princess all those years. The soldiers go after them, and only Flynn escapes with the crown. The noble horse Max chases after him. He stumbles upon a cave that leads to Rapunzel's tower. He climbs it and she hits in with her frying pan and ties him up with her hair. Rapunzel and Flynn strike a deal that she will release him from the tower and give him back the crown he stole if he takes her into the kingdom to see the floating lanthers. He agrees and when the witch is gone, they escape.
The witch comes after them after seeing the horse Max and returning to the tower to see Rapunzel gone, and finding the satchel with the crown and a wanted poster of Flynn in it. She makes a deal with the two bad guys who want revenge on Flynn for betraying them. Her plan is to manipulate Rapunzel's thinking into making her return to the tower with her.
Meanwhile, Flynn and Rapunzel, after a stop to sing at an inn and running from a breaking dam and sword fighting a horse, they make it to the kingdom with some help from the reluctant Max. Some little girls braid her hair up for her and put flowers in it. Rapunzel and the townspeople dance together. She sees a painting of the queen and king holding her as a baby. Flynn gives her a piece of cloth with a sun on it. He takes her out on a boat to see them. I'm not going to spoil it what happens, but let's just say it's pretty cool. Rapunzel gets her dream.
She is prepared to give him back the crown (which the witch gave her and told her that Flynn would run once he had it) Flynn tries to give them back the crown, but they beat him up and send him to jail. The witch beats up the bad guys who try to kidnap Rapunzel and they return to the tower; Rapunzel feeling sad over Flynn, whom she has fallen in love with; he is also in love with her. Max gets the inn people to break Flynn out of jail, since he suspects foul play. Flynn rides with Max to the tower and climbs it.
And I am not going to spoil the ending either, but know that it is perfect ending, and a little surprising. Readers will just have to go watch this one for themselves. The only thing that I think might have possibly made it better is if it had not been animated. (But I don't know how that would have worked.) On a final note, I'll say that this is a movie to get tangled in.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Shiver Review
A few weeks ago I read Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (Steve-otter, Maggie is a nice name) It has a fantastic cover, which I totally love. The two main characters are Grace and Sam. They live in Mercy Falls, Minnesota (a fictional place based off the real town Ely, MN)
Sam is a werewolf. In the winter, when its cold enough for him to change to a wolf, he does and he changes back in the spring. The longer a human has been a wolf, the more heat he needs to change back again and then to stay human, and he changes later than a newer wolf. So a new wolf changes in March or April and an older wolf (one who been changing longer) changes in August or September. Then, after about 15-20 years they stop changing and are just wolves.
Sam is a yellow-eyed wolf and Grace has been watching him from her tire swing and back porch for six years. From between the end of summer and the last closing days of fall, Sam and Grace meet, fall in love, and struggle. Sam must struggle to stay human and Grace has to fight to keep him.
Here's the quote on the back cover: (Sam) " And then I opened my eyes and it was just Grace and me-nothing anywhere but Grace and me-she pressing her lips together as though she were keeping my kiss inside her, and me holding this moment that was as fragile as a bird in my hands."
Shiver switches from Grace and Sam's perspectives. Despite their newfound love, trouble lurks in Mercy Falls. A new wolf, marked "dead" to the human world is out there, haunting humans; his name is Jack Culpeper. His sister Isabel is determined to find the truth about his death and Grace's photographer Olivia gets caught up with him trying to help and get the photos. Also Shelby, the white wolf, wants power in the pack, to be the alpha female and Grace now stands in her way. Determined to save Jack, Sam, and Olivia, Grace and Isabel team up to find a cure.
Personally, I loved Shiver. This was one of the best books I've read and I just loved the imagery and symbolism and I just kept coming back to some parts. Shiver: highly recommended.
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