In Margaret Edson’s W;t, Vivian Bearing, a renowned professor of seventeenth-century poetry, struggles with her diagnosis of stage-four metastatic ovarian cancer. During Vivian’s time in the hospital, two of her main caretakers—Susie, her primary nurse, and Jason, the clinical fellow assigned to her—have vastly different goals for the procedure. The juxtaposition of Jason and Susie, whose values and approaches to life drastically differ, shows the progression of Vivian’s character from one who values knowledge above all else, like Jason, to one who realizes that kindness is the only essential part of life, like Susie. Vivian’s self-importance, lack of empathy, and thirst for knowledge are evident through her work as a professor. She specializes …show more content…
Vivian’s boastfulness at the beginning of the play was an attempt to cover up her social ineptness with people who are neither her students nor her mentors. In a flashback scene, in which her mentor, Professor E.M Ashford, tells her to, “enjoy yourself with your friends” (15) rather than study, Vivian reveals her social awkwardness: “I, ah, walked around past the...There were students on the lawn, talking about nothing, laughing... I just couldn’t... I went back to the library” (15). She returns to the library because she prefers the concrete elements of her life, like facts, grammar, and word definitions, because with them, she has complete control. A later scene, when Susie interrupts one of Vivian’s imaginary lectures to tell her that she needs to do another ultrasound, proves this need for control. Vivian protests, saying “not right now. It’s not supposed to be now” and “it should not be now. I am in the middle of—this. I have this planned for now, not ultrasound” (51). Vivian needs to have power over her own life, and since connecting with others is her weakness, she refrains from doing …show more content…
He uses the same cold, impersonal approach that Vivian uses to teach her students, to take care of Vivian. While supposably caring for her, he forgets to do his clinical various times, and then, when he remembers or is reminded by Kelekian to do it, he shows no real interest in how she’s feeling. In one instance, after doing an impersonal clinical, Kelekian, Jason, and the rest of the fellows “leave [Vivian] with her stomach uncovered” (40), showing their apathy for her feelings. This insensitivity also shows that to Jason and Kelekian, Vivian is merely a tool for research. In a later scene, Jason actually discusses his fascination with cancer with Vivian, saying that “Cancer’s the only thing I ever wanted” followed by “[cancer] is awesome” (56). Cancer is killing Vivian, but he talks about it as though it were a miracle; like Vivian, he does not care about how he treats the people under his control because he truly believes that knowledge trumps
As we near the end of the book, however, we see a change in Vivian. “One day, to everyone’s shock and amazement except Molly’s, Vivian announces that she wants to get a computer” (Kline 263). This quote shows a little about Vivian opening up to the new world and she is no longer isolating herself.
This paragraph shows that Sylvia was trying to think about the meaning why Miss Moore took her students to there even though she knew that no one could buy anything there. Cartwright says, “Nothing could make Miss Moore happier than Sylvia’s commitment ‘to think the day through (Cartwright, 114).’” Miss Moore knew that Sylvia was trying to understand the real theory of this field trip. She did not say anything when she was asked what did she think about this field trip to Miss Moore because she did not understand exactly what the genuine purpose of this field trip at that point. Although Sylvia did not understand, Sugar seemed like she got the lesson of this trip, as she said “ this is not much of a democracy if you ask me. Equal chance to pursue happiness means an equal crack at the dough, don't it? (336)”. Miss Moore expected more answers from Sylvia, since she looked like she was thinking so hard. This is the reason why Miss Moore looked at Sylvia when she asked to her students a same question again, “Anybody else learn anything today? (336)”. She said “anybody”, but she was expecting the answer from Sylvia in this scene because she looked like she was thinking about it harder than the other students as she got a lot of question such as “What kinda work they do and how they live and how come we ain’t in on
As we near the end of the book, however, we see a change in Vivian. “One day, to everyone’s shock and amazement except Molly’s, Vivian announces that she wants to get a computer” (Kline 263). This quote shows a little about how Vivian is opening up to the new world and no longer isolating herself. As we know, Vivian gave up her only biological child and she jokes lightly in the book by saying, “I suppose this is why people have children, isn’t it? So somebody will care about the stuff they leave behind” (Kline 52). However, later on, Vivian gives to Molly one of her prized possessions, the book Anne of Green Gables. This is a very important moment in their relationship because Vivian is passing on a piece of herself to Molly and it shows that Vivian is starting to see Molly as more than a random girl. She may even see her as a pseudo daughter as in the end of the book she lets Molly stay with her instead of going to another foster home. Vivian has opened up greatly throughout the story, but she only did so in reflection to Molly’s
Early in the book, Faulkner Throughout the novel As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, the reader views Jewel as the most aggressive of Addie Bundren’s children. He is constantly arguing with his brothers, sister and father as they make their journey to Jefferson to bury his mother Addie, and he nearly gets in a knife fight when they reach town. Because of his angry responses and bad language it can be hard to recognize the significant impact Jewel has on his family. Jewel is courageous and sacrifices for his family even if the other Bundrens do not acknowledge or honor him for his actions. Jewel may not the most balanced son in the world, but neither are his siblings, and he shows throughout the forty-mile trip to his mother’s hometown of Jefferson that he wants to honor his mother’s wishes. Addie wanted to be buried in Jefferson, and without Jewel this would not have happened. In terms of his actions, Jewel shows that he loved his mother the most out of all her children. Cora argues that Jewel is the worst of the Bundren children though Addie also treated him as her favorite:
I have chosen to write about Virginia Woolf, a British novelist who wrote A Room of One’s Own, To the Lighthouse and Orlando, to name a few of her pieces of work. Virginia Woolf was my first introduction to feminist type books. I chose Woolf because she is a fantastic writer and one of my favorites as well. Her unique style of writing, which came to be known as stream-of-consciousness, was influenced by the symptoms she experienced through her bipolar disorder. Many people have heard the word "bipolar," but do not realize its full implications. People who know someone with this disorder might understand their irregular behavior as a character flaw, not realizing that people with bipolar mental illness do not have control over their moods. Virginia Woolf’s illness was not understood in her lifetime. She committed suicide in 1941.
In the movie the director made this part very dramatic, it made medicine fellow Jason seem cold and uninterested, and made Vivian look vulnerable as opposed to the written play were this conversation between then seem as if they were getting to know each other. The choice of the director to add more emotion to this scene in the film, gives the story a littler tone. Vivian isn't harsh and too strict anymore, she is wishing she had done things differently, she wishes Jason would show her the sympathy and humanity she did not even bother to show her students like she claims in the following quote “the senior scholar ruthlessly denied her simpering students the touch of human kindness she now seeks.” This quote is everything about Vivian’s redemption, the end of her life is near, she sees life itself differently, she believes in a different approach more subtle and kind. The end between the book and the movie
The play “Wit” by Margaret Edson, deals with the painful struggle that Dr. Vivian Bearing has to endure during her final stage of ovarian cancer. “Wit” inspires the audience and/or reader to immerse themselves into a deeper perspective on life and what is most valuable in our lives. I feel that the play tries to strongly represent how much we take life for granted, all the moments of possibility that we have to accomplish, and the goals it is offering us. The professional mindset that Dr. Bearing had was the same as the doctors who were treating her, they were all so engrossed in their
The third decade of the twentieth century brought on more explicit writers than ever before, but none were as expressive as Anne Sexton. Her style of writing, her works, the image that she created, and the crazy life that she led are all prime examples of this. Known as one of the most “confessional” poets of her time, Anne Sexton was also one of the most criticized. She was known to use images of incest, adultery, and madness to reveal the depths of her deeply troubled life, which often brought on much controversy. Despite this, Anne went on to win many awards and go down as one of the best poets of all time.
Elizabeth Hands was an Eighteenth Century low-class poet. While her life is not well know, she is the discovered author of ‘Death of Amnon’, a famous poem of the time. Many criticized Hands for her social class, and many believed that she could not write anything worth reading. In response to their negativity, Hands wrote ‘A Poem, On the Supposition of an Advertisement appearing in a Morning Paper, of the Publication of a Volume of Poems, by a Servant-Main’ (Supposition I) and ‘A Poem, On the Supposition of the Book having been Published and Read’ (Supposition II). The two poems are about the varying responses pertaining Hands’ ‘Death of Amnon’ poem. The poems reflect Hands’ belief that social class has no place in dictating writing.
From flashbacks in the play, it is easy to depict that Vivian lived the life characterized by an inhuman lack of empathy. As the play opens, flashbacks of Vivian interactions with students show her having a serious problem. She lashes at a student for his failure to give feedbacks to her questions and she also denies giving another student an extension for the assignment. After the student explains that her grandmother died, this is what she says to her “do what you will but the paper is due when it is due” (63). This lack of empathy and arrogance apparently is unsocial, but she adopts it while pretending/believing to be advocating for excellence from her students and would not take fabricated excuses. This portrays her as a cynical person, and one who only cares about the success of what she does, therefore, does not make necessary compromises for healthy relationships. She thus suffers a high level of rudeness and arrogance that makes it extremely d...
As a female university student, I feel deeply related to Marjorie since her personality is quietly similar to mine. Analogously, I could feel Bernice’s “vague pain” (Fitzgerald, 3) and realize her sensitivity as the things have happened to me when I was younger. In order to comprehend author’s main idea, I did numerous researches about the jazz age. Thus it can be seen, reader’s background is also crucial when responding to this literary texts. The writer’s main target audiences are women, who have different desires and needs than men. The meaning of the text often competes when we have a better understanding of our self-identities. We interpret the text based on our own psyches, experiences, and judgments. Literature, are like music, without interaction with its audiences, no profound meaning would be
In her collection of short stories, Good Bones (O. W. Toad, 1992), Margaret Atwood (1939 - ) has included Gertrude Talks Back, a piece that rewrites the famous closet scene in Shakespeare´s Hamlet. The character of Hamlet´s mother has posed problems of interpretation to readers, critics and performers, past and present, and has been variously or simultaneosly appraised as a symbol of female wantonness, the object of Hamlet´s Oedipus complex, and an example of female submissiveness to the male principle (Hamlet´s as much as Claudius´s). Like other revisionist rewritings produced by women writers in the last few decades, Margaret Atwood´s short story challenges received concepts of the female, and particularly the "Frailty, thy name is woman" notion that has marked so much canonical literature.
George Bernard Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession is a feminist play that emphasizes the injustice and inequality towards women in society on a professional and informal aspect. Mrs. Warren’s Profession highlights the concept of iconoclasm while mocking the typical plot of a play from nineteenth century London. In doing so Shaw exposes the reader to a diverse and unprecedented point-of-view that focuses on the rocky relationship between a sentimental mother and her practical daughter.
She has a clear understanding of the information that needs to be dispersed to the trainees. She knows the facts and has done research on the skills that she is teaching. At the same time, she has displayed an inability to implement some of the very skills that she is teaching such as good communication and networking, which would indicate a lack of procedural knowledge. Heather’s inability to answer questions and be a resource to her class would also support this deficiency.
Case, Alison : Gender and Narration in Aurora Leigh, Victorian Poetry, Vol.29, no.1, Spring 1991 West Virginia University Press