Tuesday, February 21, 2012
The Bunner Sisters (Part 1)---Kori Cramer
The introduction and first part of "The Bunner Sisters" stands as a thrilling story of which I cannot wait to immerse myself within. An interesting aspect I found within this book is the use of an "ascetic" lifestyle, like Dr. Renzi spoke of in class on Monday. Ann Eliza was a woman who learned that feelings should be hidden behind her solemn life inside of her sewing world, and little emotions were conveyed during this time. What astonishes me is the transformation we have to that of today. As we live in such a highly-expressive life, it is quite surprising how one, especially a woman, could keep all these feelings so pent up. Ann Eliza was portrayed as strong, stoic, and a hard-worker. Unfortunately, all these attributes fail to display any aspect of her heart. I find this to be a recurrent theme within many of the books that we have worked through this semester, but one thing that surprises me is how introverted Ann Eliza is toward her sister. Instead of being oppressed by men, Ann Eliza is allowing her sister to oppress her over and over again within her daily life. Does anyone else find this surprising?
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I felt the same thing when Ann Eliza and Evelina began conversing more in the later chapters. I thought it a little strange that it seemed as though many of Ann Eliza's true feelings and thoughts were hidden and that she seemed to withhold from Evalina or disagree with her. Yet, I think a lot of it is just her habit of being protective over her sister and seeing her as a sort of child, and sometimes being surprised to see her acting independently. I agree with you that Ann Eliza does not express herself very much. She seems to merely "accept" things for herself instead of fighting for what she wants, and I am curious to the inner parts of her heart that you speak of.
ReplyDeleteI saw it too, in the beginning. She was sneaking around and talking about how exciting it was to do something without consulting Evelina. It seemed almost like their roles were reversed--Ann Eliza is the older sister, so you'd think she'd be the dominant one. But she just isn't--it's very odd.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the ascetic comment, too. It's interesting to see how hard Ann Eliza tries to hide her emotions, she even says that she's ashamed of them. I think this is probably a common characteristic among women not only in the past, but also today. If a woman shows her feelings, she is labeled as emotional, dramatic, irrational, and hysteric. It's telling that this notion still prevails today.
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