blog#4 – a Dead Woman existing in the 4D Life is a crueler fate than Death. That’s the thought that rattled in my head for the entire reading of Bombal’s ‘The Shrouded Woman’. Though many other attributes of the story become abundantly clear, the atmosphere of Death and Envy was subtle, yet, overwhelming. The addition […]
Posted in Blogs, Bombal | Tagged with admiration, adolscent, cruelty, Envy, fate, funeral, hindsight, humiliation, mother/daughter
I have not gotten lost in a book for a long time and this novel gave me just that feeling…
Posted in Blogs, Bombal | Tagged with Shrouded Woman
After reading Bombal’s “the shrouded woman” I am left with many thoughts about life and the many intersecting joys and miseries one experiences in it. This is likely an intended thought process, as the peculiar method of narration, where a disembodied voice describes protagonist Anna-Maria’s post-mortem journey through memory, subsequently switching to her first person […]
Posted in Blogs, Bombal | Tagged with circumstance, context, emotion, passion
I’m not sure that I “enjoyed” The Shrouded Woman, as I found it to be quite sad; however, it certainly struck me as unique, and it made me consider gender and society from a perspective that I wouldn’t normally entertain: the perspective of a woman who has not only “lost,” but died. When I describe Ana Maria […]
Posted in Blogs, Bombal | Tagged with gender, modernism
The Shrouded Woman was one of the more enjoyable texts I have read so far in this course. I loved the concept of Ana María being dead and describing her connections to those surrounding her. I thought the point of view of a woman’s contemplations of her experiences was a unique perspective that I have never come across but was pleased with how it was carried out. Us readers got to take a trip with Ana María as she reflected on life through her different relationships and the way she lived her life. It was refreshing to see a novella depict women in a positive light with their individuality intact. Still, they revolve their lives around a man’s and were always comparing themselves with the other women.
It was hard to see the protagonist’s relationships fail over and over. Ana María never got over her first love Ricardo and we saw the ways it affected her life from that point forward. All the men in her life were a cause of pain. In each relationship she had, she was forced to change a bit about herself to fit better with men, no matter what negative effect it had in her life. “Are all those born to love compelled to drift toward self-destruction, to smother minute after minute within themselves all that is most vital in their own wellbeing? Because of you I suffer from a wound continually reopening” (pg 227). I found this part to be really impactful as it remains a true experience for many women. Also on this page, she mentions having to behave a certain way around the men she loved and suppress her affection towards them if she wanted to continue to receive the “restricted love of others.” Throughout her life, Ana María had to change pieces of herself to gain the love of men but was never fully satisfied from that affection which led her to be stuck in a cycle of unhappiness. In terms of this passage, my question to the class is: Can one ever be happy in a relationship where they have to change who they are to receive love? Or will it end in misery every time?
Overall I thought the novella was an interesting read. I loved how we were able to see Ana María’s after-life reflections on her life and how it was affected by the men she loved.
Posted in Blogs, Bombal | Tagged with
The Shrouded Woman was one of the more enjoyable texts I have read so far in this course. I loved the concept of Ana María being dead and describing her connections to those surrounding her. I thought the point of view of a woman’s contemplations of her experiences was a unique perspective that I have never come across but was pleased with how it was carried out. Us readers got to take a trip with Ana María as she reflected on life through her different relationships and the way she lived her life. It was refreshing to see a novella depict women in a positive light with their individuality intact. Still, they revolve their lives around a man’s and were always comparing themselves with the other women.
It was hard to see the protagonist’s relationships fail over and over. Ana María never got over her first love Ricardo and we saw the ways it affected her life from that point forward. All the men in her life were a cause of pain. In each relationship she had, she was forced to change a bit about herself to fit better with men, no matter what negative effect it had in her life. “Are all those born to love compelled to drift toward self-destruction, to smother minute after minute within themselves all that is most vital in their own wellbeing? Because of you I suffer from a wound continually reopening” (pg 227). I found this part to be really impactful as it remains a true experience for many women. Also on this page, she mentions having to behave a certain way around the men she loved and suppress her affection towards them if she wanted to continue to receive the “restricted love of others.” Throughout her life, Ana María had to change pieces of herself to gain the love of men but was never fully satisfied from that affection which led her to be stuck in a cycle of unhappiness. In terms of this passage, my question to the class is: Can one ever be happy in a relationship where they have to change who they are to receive love? Or will it end in misery every time?
Overall I thought the novella was an interesting read. I loved how we were able to see Ana María’s after-life reflections on her life and how it was affected by the men she loved.
Posted in Blogs, Bombal | Tagged with
This reading was a little challenging for me initially but as I continued and referenced other classmates blog posts for anyone having similar experiences or challenges as me. It was a breath of fresh air to realize I was not the only one that was having these challenges. I enjoyed how the story revolved around memories of the town Combray. The Marcel character was very interesting to me and I like how he is a younger version of the Narrator reading us the story. It seems that he can route his main wants and interests to becoming a writer back to his time in Combray.
Posted in Blogs, Proust | Tagged with
This reading was a little challenging for me initially but as I continued and referenced other classmates blog posts for anyone having similar experiences or challenges as me. It was a breath of fresh air to realize I was not the only one that was having these challenges. I enjoyed how the story revolved around memories of the town Combray. The Marcel character was very interesting to me and I like how he is a younger version of the Narrator reading us the story. It seems that he can route his main wants and interests to becoming a writer back to his time in Combray.
Posted in Blogs, Proust | Tagged with
