Individual and Society - Portrait of a Lady (1 Viewer)

[Angelina88]

Is Portrait of a Lady a text that you're currently studying/ have previously studied at your school? If so, any thoughts/comments...type down here

 

[Jamo-S]

I'm studying it, but i'm not going to use it. If they actually ask us to use three prescribed texts, i'll alude to it. It's a pretty long novel and not many people in my extension class actually bothered to read it. I did and not much of it seeped in. It didn't cover all the paradigms as well as i thought it would.

Economic: Was mentioned throughout which was a great help such as Osmond trying to marry off Pansy not merely to a landed gentleman, but to a member of royalty. And the fact that Osmond married Isabel purely for economic reasons.

Philosophical: I suppose you could talk about the ways of thinking. Again Carl Jung is a invaluable treasure with his philosophy that an individual forms a mask behind which he lives in society. This can be seen in Gilbert Osmond.

Religious: You could perhaps mention Pansy being shipped off to a convent. Again you can tie it in nicely with Friedrich Nietzsche with his philosophy that Christianity was an impediment on society which prevented people from discovering and expressing their views. It served to control and mould an individual to society's norms and customs. Pansy is unquestionably obedient courtesy of the convent.

Scientific: Unmentioned, but you can bring in the scientific discoveries made during that period. Charles Darwin for instance and his theory of evolution and natural selection. Changed the accepted ways of thinking in the scientific community. Reform. Times of change.

 

[*emi*]

i just started reading portrait of a lady....
its a MIGHTY long book
its going to be a fun holidays hahaha

 

[black_raven777]

I actually think this is a good book for the course - you complain about its length but if you can get through it that's a positive - its means you have over 600 pages to find a relevant quote. As for paradigms, I'm doing the following:

Economic - Satire of class
Social - Marriage of Osmond and Isabel

Which is all you need

Oh, and one piece of advice - mark anything, absolutely anything notable the first time you read it because it is a long book and having to read it a second time just to find that quote you can only vaguely remember is not worth the time IMHO.

Good luck all

 

[zangetsu.xo]

just bought the book a few days ago.
got through about 10 pages and moved on to "north and south".
yep emi, im with you.
its miiiiiiiiighty long.
kinda freaked out when i saw it at first.
haaaaaaa.

 

[madelyn]

"If they actually ask us to use three prescribed texts, i'll alude to it."

You mean they can ask us for three prescribed texts? I thought you only ever had to do two! That's what my teacher said...