I found that I really enjoyed reading The Shrouded Woman. The first few pages really set up the general gist of the narrative, which was a very interesting concept in my opinion. I thought that Bombal did a great job of engaging readers (or me at least; and sometimes I find it difficult to enjoy certain novels of this genre). I have only read one novel prior to this one that was focused on the perspective of a dead person looking in on their life, which I thoroughly enjoyed in The Shrouded Woman. Occasionally, I found myself a bit confused when following the progression of the novel, specifically with regards to flashbacks and her current point of view; although, I usually found my way back to the main progression. The use of flashbacks integrated with the unique perspective of the dead Ana Maria allowed for the ability to delve into certain topics with different perspectives. I constantly was thinking of the topic of femininity within the novel, especially with Ana Maria in mind (mainly because she’s the main character in the novel). The first example I can think of is when she’s describing the flashback of Ricardo, her love for him, and how she was feeling when he sort of abandoned him; it’s almost as she completely gave up on things, and became extremely depressed. This made me question how reliant she was on a man who I don’t think truly loved and cared for her at that point (maybe before, but not anymore). Is that what Ana Maria thought her life should be equated to? Recall the quote from the book, “I felt weak, with no desires, my body and my spirit indifferent as though they were filled with passion and sorrow.” I felt as if she was very obsessed with this man, and it almost changed her perspective on life. Furthermore, I believe that her relationship with men greatly affected her femininity when she was married to Antonio (at least in the flashbacks). Her gradual resentment made it seem as if she was so unhappy with her life, that even it is stated in the novel, “the destiny of women is to remove the pain of love in an orderly house, before an unfinished tapestry.” I got the impression that she could not be independent among herself, specifically in relation to men and romantic partners in her life. However, I don’t want to only talk upon the femininity aspect of the novel, but I’d like to delve into what this novel provoked me to think about death, and the perspective of what happens beyond this earth. Ana Maria’s perspective post-mortem illustrated that she had many revelations, which I thought was an interesting part of the book. The aspect of reflection of her life seemed very good and almost in a sense philosophical, because she considered her feelings and thoughts in a new light. For example, when she sees Antonio crying, instead of being filled with hate, she almost feels great pity for him; “she feels her hate withdraw and disappear”. That was a very interesting moment of character development. Now, a final question I have for readers of this blog post is this; how do you think the novel would have differed if female independence had been a more prominent theme within the novel? What I mean by this is how do you think the novel would be different if Ana Maria found peace with not being with a lover? Would that even be possible, given the fact that this novel was written in the 30’s? I know I said I didn’t want to completely talk about the feminine aspect of this novel, but I don’t often get the chance to analyze and criticize novels with such interesting female protagonists (if you can even call Ana Maria a protagonist or narrator?). I would want to read this book again and find more evidence to support claims once I discuss this with other classmates!
Monthly Archives: January 2022
So, I have just finished reading Proust’s Combray. In my opinion, I would say that this is a compelling novel that is relatively complicated and dense at times. It was not one of my favourite books. Nevertheless, there were many different aspects to the novel in which I found interesting, thought-provoking, and allowed me to pose different questions and takes on the book.
One of the most salient events that grabbed my attention (partially thanks to the lecture that helped clarify this) was the in-depth section in which the narrator longs for his mothers kiss. Assuming you’ve read Combray, but this description goes on for quite a while, and in very descriptive detail. For example, the narrative recalls how when M. Swann would come over in the evenings and for dinner, mamma would not kiss him goodnight, instilling great sadness within him (Proust, 1928/1992). Some time after this account, the narrator want’s to send his mother a letter so that she can come and see to him before sleep. During this moment, especially when M. Swann is dining with the narrator’s parents, I think that the decision to communicate with his mother is a rather risky one. Alongside the narrator’s obsession with his mother, I found that another common theme within the novel was the thought put into the way that people present themselves. During the narrators decision to send a note or not to his mother, he considers what M. Swann will think of him if he interrupts his visit (Proust, 1928/1992). Furthermore, the narrator’s family does not think of speaking about certain aspects of Swann’s personal life in front of him, but do so with ease once he is gone. If the narrator’s family were to be critical of Swann’s actions and life in front of him, that could prove to be a very disrespectful and inappropriate character. Something that I thought of when considering the importance characters place on the presentation of character was ‘is this theme consistent with the cultural norms of people during the time in which Combray was written?’
I want to go back to the narrators obsession with his mother and her kiss, because it was something that stood out to me so consistently. In relation to that, there was reference to how the narrator’s father strongly opposed such actions like receiving a goodnight kiss from mamma. Through this event in the novel, the theme of family and its role and influence on the narrator. The narrators family is a very salient part of the novel, especially due to the fact that the first part of Combray is a flash back to when the narrator was young, so the adults were a part of his upbringing quite a lot. Although it was a minor reference, I recall reading a line that had to do with the narrator claiming his father had a superior mind in comparison to his father (page 12 of the copy of Combray in which I read). Furthermore, there were certain references to the anxiety that his encounters with his family members (especially his father) gave him. I wonder how exactly the subject of anxiety was dealt with and perceived by the first or original audiences of Combray; how does the presence of fragility, confusion, and sometimes sadness sit with readers, if there is a certain expectation for men?
Lastly, I found that the narrator’s perspective and accounts were a bit unreliable. I think this because there were certain parts of the novel in which the point of view switched from first person to third person omniscient. Furthermore, the novel switched from present to flashback every once in a while, which I found a bit confusing to follow (although I tried!!). My final question I want to leave blog readers is this: Did Proust intentionally or unintentionally write the narrator as unreliable? Or is the presence of an unreliable narrator a product of creating literature? Ah, the thoughts that riddle my mind after reading this novel.
Until next time,
Abi Franceschetti
I hope you enjoy the meme that sort of relates to Combray lol.
Reference:
Proust, M. (1992) In Search Of Lost Time Volume 1 Swann’s Way. Translated by C. K Scott Moncrieff, T. Kilmartin. New York: Random House, Inc.
Thoughts on Proust’s Combray
And now we begin… (my introduction)
Hello everyone! My name is Abi Franceschetti and I am one of the many students in Rmst202. I think it is sort of cool that the course is structured like this where we write blog posts in a setting like this compared to canvas and all, so that will be exciting! Im a first year who doesn’t know what she wants to major in, so maybe this course will be a source of inspiration as to what i’d like to dedicate my degree to (or not; but I’m optimistic that I will very much enjoy this class). Some of my interests include music, tv shows and movies, and watching sports such as hockey. Over this years winter break, I got a bit sick which led me to doing nothing but sudoku’s and puzzles, so I suppose that they’re also interests of mine lol. I enjoy travelling, although I haven’t been doing any really due to the current state of the world (#pandemiclife). It’s always been on my bucket list to go to Australia and New Zealand, so maybe I will be able to travel there someday. Guess I can’t travel to the romance world though (ha ha. That was a reference to the introductory lecture, just in case that made no sense to you, the reader. Apologies for this tangent… truly.)
Now, back to discussion about the course. I have never taken a literature course, or a romance studies course for that matter. All of this is very new territory for me, and sometimes that can be a little daunting. I started a bit late in the course, so I was slightly confused as I navigated my way around the website and what I needed to do in order to check things off my to-do list for this course. However, I feel like that will be a temporary sentiment and I’d like to try and get into ‘the groove of things’ soon. I expect that this course will be slightly demanding, but for good reason. Aside from learning lots about these novels and engaging course content, I hope to learn more about organizing myself to thrive within a literature course. I want to become more in tune with what it means to be an effective analyzer of literary works, especially within this class’ context. I am looking forward to engaging with my classmates’ blog contributions in order to help my learning and help theirs as well! Now, I cheers to a wonderful start to this course, and to the semester as a whole. Best wishes and I look forward to embarking on a wonderful literary journey with you all.