Ian McEwan’s novel ‘On Chesil Beach’ set in July 1962 is a story of a few crucial hours in the lives of a newly-wed couple on their wedding night that horribly goes out of kilter. It is a story of a day in the life of a young couple- Edward Mayhew and Florence Ponting, who have just been married and are spending their honeymoon in a small hotel on the Dorset seashore at Chesil Beach on English Channel. There is a significant difference in the couple’s family status, with Edward- the son of a schoolmaster and Florence- the musically gifted daughter of a wealthy industrialist and an Oxford philosophy lecturer. However, both are smart, well-read young people with promising futures. The story unfolds the course of events of a fateful evening where both cogitate throughout the evening upon their anxieties over getting their leg over for the first time. McEwan keeps loosening and tightening the focus on the present day events with interludes about the couple’s upbringing and the prospect of their futures. Interspersed with incidents of the present-day, in which the author swops in and out of the consciousness of the main characters, are flashbacks to last year when the couple met, fell in love and got married. Both are very much in love with each other and anticipate about the future while getting anxious about their approaching wedding night. The author sets the readers’ eyes rolling with eagerness from the opening lines itself, ‘They were young, educated, and both virgins on this, their wedding night, and they lived in a time when a conversation about sexual difficulties was plainly impossible. But it is never easy.’ [1] The story is set in a period prior to sexual revolution where sex was still unacceptable outside the strict precinc... ... middle of paper ... ... historical context of the novel. Both the protagonists experience considerable personal affliction and put up with their failure to accomplish a satisfying relationship essentially owing to the predispositions of their time and their consequent personal insufficiencies. The era is of great consequence in portraying a picture of the culturally as well as socially repressive attitudes towards sex and sexuality, existence of harsh laws on birth control and abortion, and finally, social and economic status. McEwan adeptly depicts the direct and indirect impact of culture and society on people's lives and how, inevitably, people suffer the consequences. Even though he explores the impact of cultural issues, he does not deny the person's own decisions when he says, “The entire course of a life can be changed by doing nothing”. [166] And Edward is guilty of doing nothing.
Through the use of symbolism, and characterization that involves an instance of imagery, the author advocates this notion through the newlywed’s decision of neglecting her personal feminine taste to make her husband’s preferences her own, and embracing her title of submissive partner by kissing the hand. Also, the choice of words to describe each partner differs tremendously, as the author seems to give more importance to the man by making him appear handsome, and particularly strong. On the contrary, the young woman appears to be weak and minor, which supports this idea of submissive women in a couple through the perception of the woman being way behind her husband. This story demonstrates a great symbolic significance when it comes to the hand, which can lead to other important ideas surrounding the message the author is trying to
The Perverse Implantation is an article written by Michel Foucault in his 1990 book The History of Sexuality. The book was published by New York: Vintage Books, and was translated from French to English by Robert Hurley. In this essay Michel Foucault looks at the laws that surrounded sexuality in the 18th and 19th century, and how that relates to different sexual perversions.
Unsurprisingly, the novel is a classic coming of age story which centers on a young man who is confused about himself and his sexual identity in his early twenties. This confusion about himself and his sexual identity is the driving force of his interactions with his friends and lovers. Moreover, this confusion about himself and his sexual identity also facilitates the conflict and unforeseen consequences which occur during the novel.
The sexual lifestyle of women during the medieval time period was quite different among married and single women. Medieval women were not accurately informed of their sexual organs due to bad medical research. They thought they must perform sexual acts on a regular basis to preserve themselves. The third-century writer Galen was looked upon as an authority for medical information on sexual activities. Galen stated that, “a woman’s womb was ‘cold’ and needed constant warming by ‘hot’ sperm” (Time Traveler’s 55). One would assume that hu...
Furneaux, Holly. "Victorian Sexualities." Literature Compass. Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 12 Oct. 2011. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.
...ked “the court, the church, the aristocracy, the academies, the salons, and the monarchy itself” through the lens of sexual sensationalism (Hunt, pg. 91). Sex in society was recognized as a political satire; however views that sex was to be shared privately between man and woman still lingered, for the actions of Marie Antoinette were scandalous for she was breaking the common view of proper sexual conduct.
The world McEwan sets up his characters in has several circumstances, created by expectations of feminism and masculinity, which ultimately creates Briony’s ability to make the decisions she does. The first of these being Robbie’s presence in the Tallis home. Jack Tallis “did not have it in him to turn out a young women and her child,” which goes back to the trait in masculinity of being superior and the provider identified earlier (82). Had he not seen the situation as a woman being unable to provide for her son, simply because of an absent male figure, Robbie would never have been taken under Jack’s wing and never would have had the opportunity to fall in love with Cecilia. Not only that, but by sequence of events, Briony would never have had the chance to accuse him, had Jack Tallis’s masculine nature not surfaced and shaped the events by bringing Robbie into their
Why did Ray Bradbury choose the poem “Dover Beach” by Matthew Arnold? Ray Bradbury chose the poem “Dover Beach” by Matthew Arnold, because at the time when Guy Montag reads it, he is questioning his faith similarly to Matthew Arnold. Also, the poem “Dover Beach” expresses Fahrenheit 451 Guy Montag’s sadness and unhappiness with the world. Lastly, this poem represents the loss of love, and hopelessness that Montag feels.
The short stories “Souls Belated” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” have in common ‘Marriage’ as main theme. However, the marriage is treated quite differently in both short stories. In "Souls Belated", Lydia chooses to take control of her destiny, to deviate from conventions and to choose what is good for her. She is the strongest character of the couple. Whereas, in "The Yellow Wallpaper", the name of the main character who is also the narrator of the story is not known. She is identified as being John’s wife. This woman, contrary to Lydia in "Souls Belated" is completely locked up in her marriage. This essay will first describe and compare the characters of Lydia and John's wife in the context of marriage, and then it will look at how marriage is described, treated and experienced by couples in these two short stories.
“The Story of an Hour,” by Kate Chopin tells the fictional account of a woman who learns of her husband dying in a train crash and the ensuing hour after she is given that news. Within that hour, the protagonist Mrs. Mallard grieves over the loss of her husband, but also realizes a newfound freedom that she didn’t have being married. Chopin focuses on the theme of freedom, especially in terms of a woman’s role in marriage at the time the story was published (December 1894). In the short story “The Story of an Hour,” author Kate Chopin uses elements of the plot to evoke empathy and demonstrate how marriage affected a woman’s freedom in the late nineteenth century.
“The Story of an Hour” is the story of Mrs. Louise Mallard who suffers of a weak heart. This being the first we know of Mr. Mallard, she is carefully being told that her husband had just passed away in a train accident. As every good wife should, Mrs. Mallard breaks out in grief. At first, the story goes, as it should. Then Mrs. Mallard goes into her room where she begins thinking, and her first thought is that she is free. Mrs. Mallard after years of being in an unhappy marriage is finally free to do what she wants, with no one to hold her back. Yet everything is against her, when she finally accepts that her life will begin now, her husband enters his home, unscathed and well, not having known that everyone thought him dead, a...
Mrs. Mallard’s repressed married life is a secret that she keeps to herself. She is not open and honest with her sister Josephine who has shown nothing but concern. This is clearly evident in the great care that her sister and husband’s friend Richard show to break the news of her husband’s tragic death as gently as they can. They think that she is so much in love with him that hearing the news of his death would aggravate her poor heart condition and lead to death. Little do they know that she did not love him dearly at all and in fact took the news in a very positive way, opening her arms to welcome a new life without her husband. This can be seen in the fact that when she storms into her room and her focus shifts drastically from that of her husband’s death to nature that is symbolic of new life and possibilities awaiting her. Her senses came to life; they come alive to the beauty in the nature. Her eyes could reach the vastness of the sky; she could smell the delicious breath of rain in the air; and ears became attentive to a song f...
McNair’s childhood when she sleepwalks to the pond as a kid. This is where Mrs.McNair always went to get away from things. This plays a big part when the little boy shows up in a dream like state. She is escaping to him, to the baby boy she connected with in the hospital. She is confused because the baby boy she connected with at the hospital wasn’t hers, yet she still dreams about him, about how he is doing. Mrs.McNair lost her own child and through a mistake in the hospital connected with someone else’s, who then had to be taken away from her. While she is dealing with that hardship her husband is never home during the week and is cheating on her. Yet society says she still needs to keep her prim and proper ways other wise she may cause uproar in society. On the other hand Mr.McNair was applauded for his actions, for sticking around with Mrs. McNair while having a mistress. He stayed the good guy throughout the story. While Mrs. McNair and other females during this time, were limited in almost everything that they did. Her actions reflected on her husband. The women of society had a duty to maintain this standard of perfection no matter what they were going through in their
My belief on marriage is a sacred vow taken by two people which joins them in union. Most people carry the belief that marriage should occur only when two people are in love; although this belief is common it is not always the case and people marry for a variety of reasons. In the short story "The Story of an Hour" Kate Chopin suggests that in the case of Mrs. Mallard and Mr. Mallard, love was not a deciding factor for their reason to get married. Though the response of three readers, one being myself, we will explore the character of Mrs. Mallard and the idea of love in her marriage. Kate Chopin has given little detail about the Mallards and therefore left much to the imagination of the reader. Although there are similarities in details between readers such as: point of view, setting, and character, each reader brings new perspective and ideas. This type of analysis of the text allows a richer and more knowledgeable outlook; not only by enhancing ones own ideas by introducing new ones.
...th of the commodity of virginity was held in such high regard that talk of sex was relegated to that which took place for a price by a whore .