Crafting Critique

Hello and welcome. 

This is my blog of many things. It has all my writing projects that I’ve dabbled around with for you to check out. To laugh, cringe or cry to, these works are here mostly for your feedback. I’d like to get into writing after my degree and so here’s where you can tell me what you like and don’t like for me to learn really. I hope you enjoy your look around.

Now that the formalities are out the way, I can tell you a little about myself. I’m a 22 year old (I had to check the date to confirm) Education Studies and English graduate. I chose my degree because school sucks. It makes us robots to conform to whatever the hell the teachers tell you to be. And I don’t want that for the next generation of ragtag rebels who are geniuses- hindered by a report card that told them they are of a certain intelligence. I chose English to be the other half because to me, creativity is the essence to a better world. Only by thinking outside the box can we really do anything innovative. As such, learning to articulate your brilliant ideas was what I thought, the best steps to a brighter future. 

Cliches aside, writing and learning are important to me. And so I want to be able to pass on those gifts to those who will lend and ear from the experiences of someone who has been alive for three decades, experienced ADHD, depression and anxiety. Someone who was “exceptional” in school and learnt the hard way that learning and regurgitating facts is not how life works. And maybe on the off chance...I’ll be able to help someone, somewhere feel like they’re less alone.

Thank you for coming and I hope you enjoy what you come across n_n

“A Speckled Band” by Arthur Conan Doyle is a short story murder mystery written towards of the end of Sherlock Holmes’ career. It incorporates a lot of gothic themes in its narrative and it tells the story of Helen Stoner who is due to be married but is fearful for her life due to her sister’s death supposedly from “pure fear and nervous shock” in the same room she was dwelling in. She approaches Holmes for help. What follows is a linear narrative of the case as narrated by Dr Watson. Predominantly we see Watson as the narrator of the story, clear through the opening sentence where Watson talks "over my notes." Watson is essentially an associate and often an onlooker to the cases of Sherlock Holmes. Arthur Conan Doyle often uses Watson's perspective as this allows the reader to immerse themselves into the world of Sherlock Holmes without stepping into the shoes of the detective. Merely watching with Watson. This is quite evident when Watson notes that he "studied the methods of my friend Sherlock Holmes" which captivates the audience as they try to become the detective but more often than not find themselves incapable due to the narrative not playing out from Sherlock's point of view, leaving them steering "in bewilderment at my companion." In addition to Watson’s narrative towards the beginning we also hear from Helen Stoner’s perspective. Essentially this allows the reader to listen to the tale at the same time as Holmes and begin to piece together their own version of what is happening.

 Doyle’s uses symbolism to great effect. His use of gothic imagery evokes a dark tone. “The building was of grey lichen-blotched stone, with a high central portion, and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, thrown out on each side.” He uses a lot of vague and sinister language to captivate the audience such as “A lady dressed in black and heavily veiled” and “those wretched gipsies in the plantation” which create a thirst for knowledge only reading can quench. The presence of the gypsies is also effective since it makes the reader question whether they have a role to play in the murder and the dark undertone keeps the reader on edge.

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James has been open to many interpretations and debate from the date of its publication; be it from a Marxist perspective, a structuralist perspective, or even through the looking glass of queer theory. All questioning James’ intentions and how they covertly effect the perception of the reader and their interpretation of the novella. In this essay, I will be looking at the story through firstly, a narratological perspective. This is to look at the story through its narrative structure- how the story is told instead of its contents and the implications of this. Also, looking at it from a psychoanalytical perspective; this entails using psychoanalysis (which is the study of the link between conscious and unconscious in the mind) and how it effects a piece of literature via inadvertent suggestions of hidden meanings unforeseen in the conscious mind. The Freudian version of psychoanalysis, often makes use of symbols and how they have sexual meanings behind them. This is key to unlocking James’ concealed ideas in the text. It is through these perspectives that I will be addressing how the author creates a layered story formed by three narrators in which the secondary narrator (as opposed to the primary or main)- i.e. Douglas, is also the main narrator in disguise. The essay will follow this idea and explain how the governess’ tale is in fact Douglas’ memories of his first sexual encounter and his ‘unconscious’ coming of age. The tale is recounted in first person. Yet, it is not initially from the perspective of the governess, who’s narrative involvement is a large part of the text, or even the narrator of her tale (Douglas). Instead it is told from the view of an ‘I’ who recalls an event close to Christmas a while before where supernatural stories were voiced to a small assembly for the first time from ‘long ago’. Douglas, who is in fact the narrator of the record is the secondary teller of the story which are the supposed memoires of ‘his sister’s governess’ who was troubled by ghostly entities. Hence forth the main narrator of James’ novel is supposedly ‘the governess.’ However, although originally it is seen that Douglas’ recount is from the governess’ manuscript, he does admit that it is in fact ‘made much later.’ This connotes that although the events that took place may have happened, they have been distorted from the absolute truth through time. It is from this that the basis of the argument being presented is made.  Alterations through time are highly likely. Stories are forgotten memories after all. In James’ novella the alterations are made by Douglas who tells the primary narrator and the gathering of the time that although he had the original record, it was in fact ‘his own.’ From this, it can be interpreted that Douglas is describing his perspective of what happened through the eyes of the governess; where the entities are his subconscious creating an output for his budding sexual feelings.       In addition to this, it can be seen in the text that the focalisation of the text is centred internally. This is to say that the audience is told from the perspective of how the governess is thinking and feeling. Or so it seems. Although the assumption of internal focalising is sound, we must look at who’s perspective it is from. From a basic point of view, to say that the text is by a woman would be sound. However, this is hardly the case. In my reading, it is rather evident that although it is plausible that it is by a woman, this is in fact a ploy by Douglas to hide his erotic fantasies for ‘his sister’s governess’ from when he was a child (coming towards the beginning of puberty) which he subconsciously writes in her viewpoint to throw off anyone listening as he has deemed it unwise to express these feelings so brazenly. In the opening chapter the governess speaks of a ‘faint and far…cry of a child’ which are essentially out of reach. This in fact is the ‘unconscious’ sexual idealisms, manifesting themselves in the young Douglas as he begins development towards sexual maturity. In this we see the true nature of the recollection. It is not a governess and the children in her care in danger from apparitions, instead it is the fixation and hyper sexualisation of a boy becoming a man.    

Delving deeper still, it can be seen that Douglas is in fact embodied within the story as Miles. It is his recollections after all which are voiced by the governess. Initially this is evident via the body language of both characters. The external narrator notes that Douglas had his back to everyone ‘with his hands in his pockets.’ In comparison, the governess notes how Miles ‘had his hands in his little pockets with his back to me.’ Clearly if Douglas is in fact a teenage Miles as an adult, their body language would not differ according to Freud and his idea of puberty being the stage where everything becomes ‘normal’ for a person. As such body language and sexuality become set for Miles (or Douglas) in the period where the governess is narrating, and is why Douglas would have the same habits as young Miles. James’ subtle hinting at this suggests that Douglas’ subconscious is creating memories and scenarios and feeding it through the governess’ recount to reinforce his sexual fixation with her; since he doesn’t know clearly the governess’ feelings he invents a subliminal manifestation of himself in her recount through Miles. Then Douglas talks about how the governess saw in him a ‘glow of freshness’ and ‘positive fragrance of purity’ suggesting her desires towards him; in this way, the mutuality of sexual desire is cemented between the pair.     The climax of the story it is seen that supposedly Miles dies as ‘his little heart, dispossessed, had stopped’ in the arms of his beloved governess, likely from suffocation, as she shields him from the apparition of Peter Quint. Though, if this is interpreted from the point of view that Miles is indeed Douglas, then the apparent situation becomes quite different. Prior to the alleged death an encounter between the governess and Miles had resulted in her ‘moans of joy’ and his hard breathing. James’ uses many innuendoes and in this case, it suggests a sort of mutual sexual stimulation between the two. Moreover, when Miles is expelled it is due to him having done something ‘unspeakable.’ In James’ time the unspeakable would most likely infer to a sexual act; on Miles’ part this is self-gratification whist at boarding school. In the end before Miles’ heart stops, the governess speaks about Miles letting out a ‘cry of a creature hurled from an abyss’ and how she catches him in his supposed ‘fall’ as well as how she held him. The connotations from this suggests that Miles lets out a cry from an orgasm induced by the physical touch of the governess and his fall was a fall from innocence. Douglas therefore ends his account on the death of his own childhood and the birth of his Freudian norm as a postpubescent man.      

The Gothic genre has always been viewed through the lenses of psychological thriller or horror. The strange and uncanny of it all causes the unease that we as readers have come to love. But what is it that causes such unease and why do the writers of such a genre become so entranced by it? The stories of The Castle of Otranto, Carmilla, Rebecca and Twilight are excellent in their own right. Yet the path of most fruition in understanding these stories is through the lens of feminism. Through it one can begin to unravel the role of women throughout history and it’s ever changing presence. As such this essay will establish what each of the stories define as the roles of women beginning with The Castle of Otranto and how Hippolatia is depicted as Walpole’s ideal women as opposed to Isabella or Matilda who are naïve and do not understand their role in society. Next, the essay will look at Carmilla and how Le Fanu’s vampire is the embodiment of the threat of feminism in the era and the freedom to womanhood that Carmilla represents by removing the male from sexual relations. The story of Rebecca will look at the twentieth century woman and the breakdown of norms and Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight will look at how this breakdown has shaped the modern role of women.

 The Castle of Otranto (Walpole, 2001) written in 1764, follows the story of Manfred, the lord of the Castle and his family. Walpole’s novel indicates the dominant, infallibility of men as opposed to their “damsel in distress” (Siddiqui, 2016) counterparts. In the nineteenth century, women had no rights and were considered second class citizens, and received “unworthy inheritance, such as bible, books and household goods” (Gilbert and Gubar, 2006). Hippolita, Manfred’s wife, is a prime example of this since she is so willing to accept divorce from her spouse simply because he said so. Walpole (2001) explains in the novel that “a bad husband is better than no husband” and without pleading or begging, Hippolita accepted the fate her husband wrote for her. In fact, she has no place to argue- she has submitted herself to her husband “physically, economically, psychologically and mentally” (Siddiqui, 2016). Due to this, Hippolita is the exemplary form of womanhood in The Castle of Otranto. She accepts her divorce and, in the novel, explains that she will “withdraw into the neighbouring monastery and the remainder of life in prayers and tears for my child and –the Prince’’ (p.90-91). She does not fight for her rights and gives herself to God because that is what is expected of her, something she tries to pass on to Matilda and Isabella when she explains, ‘’It is not ours to make election for ourselves; heaven, our father and husband must decide for us’’ (Walpole, 2001). This further highlights Hippolita’s ideology that the men of the family and in the lives of the women have priority in life, being dependent and subservient on these men is what is expected of women and hence the role of women should be of servitude to their husbands and fathers.

 Matilda and Isabella are younger than Hippolita and have less of an understanding of how they should be dependent. Although Hippolita tries to explain to them, Matilda only understands through her own experiences. As a female child of Manfred, she is introduced as “a most beautiful virgin, aged eighteen” (Walpole, 2001) as if to say those are her only qualities- she is good looking and at the age to marry. However, she is still a woman and therefore “equally dismissed since under the prevailing system of primogeniture only males could be heirs” (Ellis, 2010). She is neglected by her father and even when she tries to comfort him after Conrad’s death she is met with “cruel emotional attitude” (Putri, 2012). Walpole (2001, p.21) writes:

“She was however just going to beg admittance when Manfred suddenly opened his door; and it was now twilight, concurring with the disorder of his mind, he did not distinguish the person, but asked angrily, who it was? Matilda replied trembling, “my dearest father, it is I, your daughter”. Manfred stepping back hastily, cried “Begone, I do not want a daughter”, and flinging back abrupty, clapped the door against the terrified Matilda”

 Due to this, Matilda must accept that due to her gender she is expected to be treated in such a manner and her father will not give her any affection. Putri (2012) writes that for Manfred- “it would be better that Matilda be neither seen nor heard.” (p.7). Isabella who is Conrad’s fiancée is forced by her father to marry Manfred after Conrad’s death. She too is a victim of the patriarchal society in which she lives. She must marry Manfred even if there is no love there and only after Matilda’s death does Theodore accept her, and she becomes Lady of the castle. Even after this, the assumption would be that she becomes subservient to Theodore as opposed to her father. Therefore, the role of women in The Castle of Otranto is subservience to the men in their lives and this is their calling.

In contrast, Le Fanu’s Carmilla (2005) originally written in 1897 is the story of Laura and Carmilla, two young women who do not obey such a patriarchy and are in a lesbian relationship. Before Carmilla, vampires were predominantly male such as Lord Ruthven from John William Polidori's The Vampyre (2017). Signorotti (1996) argues that Le Fanu’s choice of creating a powerful female vampire was because it “marks the growing concern about the power of female relationships in the nineteenth century” since this was the time “feminists began to petition for additional rights for women. Concerned with women's power and influence, writers . . . often responded by creating powerful women characters, the vampire being one of the most powerful negative images” (Senf, 1988). It is for this reason that Carmilla is depicted in such a frightening and sensual way by Laura. She represents the allure of women as sexual beings with fangs dangerous enough to topple the patriarchy that the women in Walpole’s novel held to such esteem. Laura recounts one night that:

“I saw a solemn, but very pretty face looking at me from the side of the bed. It was that of a young lady who was kneeling, with her hands under the coverlet. I looked at her with a kind of pleased wonder and ceased whimpering. She caressed me with her hands, and lay down beside me on the bed, and drew me towards her, smiling; I felt immediately delightfully soothed, and fell asleep again. I was wakened by a sensation as if two needles ran into my breast very deep at the same moment, and I cried loudly. The lady started back, with her eyes fixed on me, and then slipped down upon the floor, and, as I thought, hid herself.” (Le Fanu, 2005)

Carmilla is liberating her fellow woman from the grip of a male dominated life and the needles of freedom cause her pain from the familiarity she initially grew up with into an unknown but free world where their union without a male partner gives them liberation from male authority.

 The exclusion of the man is further shown by General Spielsdorf’s recount of when he tried to catch the vampire that was causing his niece, Bertha, to become ill. He watches from the door as he saw “a large black object, very ill-defined, crawl, as it seemed to me, over the foot of the bed, and swiftly spread itself up to the poor girl's throat.” (Le Fanu, 2005). Carmilla takes away the male inclusion and leaves him a voyeur to a union that is beyond the heterosexual norm. This is a freedom from the patriarchal society that has ruled over women for centuries into a freedom over their own lives both physically and psychologically. Signorotti (1996) explains that “Le Fanu allows Laura and Carmilla to usurp male authority and to be stow themselves on whom they please, completely excluding male participation in the exchange of women.” (p.607). This exchange symbolises the change in normality. Not only are women becoming independent from males for their living needs, they are also becoming free in their sexual needs. Where The Castle of Otranto focused on the ideal women being subservient and dependent on the male in one’s life, Carmilla focuses on the threat of women to oppose Walpole’s standard of servitude to the patriarch that controlled their lives and of their bodies as factories for new male heirs. Carmilla is the free women that Walpole’s characters never dreamed of.

 Rebecca (Du Maurier, 2007) was written in in the twentieth century (1938) and is the story of the narrator’s marriage to Maxim de Winter and the subsequent flashbacks to her time in Manderley where she learnt about her husband’s first wife Rebecca and her lingering presence even after her death. Nigro (2000) argues that although the common assumption about Rebecca is that she is manipulative and convinced everyone she is flawless, she was justifiably murdered according to the second Mrs. de Winter. “What if, however, Maxim is the one who is lying, and Rebecca was as good as reputation held her, if his jealousy was the true motive for her murder?” (p. 144). Furthermore, Wisker (1999) points out that Du Maurier is known to have unreliable narrators. Therefore, finding the truth behind Rebecca’s character, flawed or perfect, becomes difficult. This difficulty blurs the lines between gender roles and conformity. The superiority of men is shown by Mrs. Danvers’ comparison of Rebecca as a man, “"She had all the courage and spirit of a boy, had my Mrs. de Winter. She ought to have been a boy, I often told her that. I had the care of her as a child. You knew that, did you?" (Du Maurier, 2007) showing the importance of being a “man” at the time and how they were seen to be superior. When the audience finds out about Rebecca’s imperfect character, one of her detrimental features is that she is promiscuous and why Maxim killed her. Maxim’s murder could therefore be because he was constrained by what people would think if his wife was expose to be a “harlot” and murdered her to uphold the principles that Walpole emphasised- something he cannot go against in his social circle, whilst Rebecca herself was trying to be as free as Carmilla and trying her best to live a happy life unconstrained by social norms and patriarchal glances. The role of gender and women becomes blurred in Rebecca as these roles begin to breakdown and become synonymous to both genders.

 Maxim’s attitude towards his new wife is almost paternalistic, treating her like an immature girl referring to her as “my child” and “my poor lamb” (Du Maurier, 2007). Where Mrs de Winter wants to become more mature, Maxim tries to keep her away calling it "not the right sort of knowledge" (p. 223) and telling her “it’s a pity you have to grow up” to block her from gaining the maturity that she craves. As a result, Mrs de Winter becomes trapped in a purgatory between maturity and upper-class standards and immaturity and the life she has come from. This entrapment is what the patriarchal norms establish, the damsel that must be guided by a firm male hand because of her ignorance as opposed to the woman being on equal footing to the man and someone who can take care of themselves. It is this standard that the narrator is held to and is also the standard Maxim held Rebecca to and subsequently murdered her because of. The shame from having a free woman as a wife is what led him to his crime. It is for this reason that the ultimate villain of Rebecca is in fact the patriarchal system in which the characters are confined. Wisker (2003) argues that the aristocratic setting of Rebecca “was to represent an unease at the configurations of power and gendered relations of the time.” Pons (2013) furthers this argument and explains that “the ultimate gothic villain is the haunting presence of an old-fashioned, strict patriarchal system, represented by Maxims mansion, Manderley, and understood as a hierarchical system.” This configuration of patriarchy established in the eighteenth century by Walpole is that of servitude for women and dominance for men. However, in an era where women have more power and have freedom as expressed in Carmilla suggests that these roles are becoming unfulfillable and it is because of this system that the characters are led to “hypocrisy, hysteria and crime.” (Pons, 2013). Thus, the role of women as a strict social etiquette breaks down and although they are treated still as subjects, the shift in power to give women their freedom is evident.

 Twilight (Meyer, 2012) written in 2005, follows the story of Bella Swan who falls in love with a vampire and the subsequent life they have together. However, it is subject to great controversy especially because of Bella herself. She seems to conform to female roles that are more akin to Hippolita than Carmilla. Rocha (2011) argues that “Bella illustrates female submission in a male dominated world; disempowering herself and symbolically disempowering women.” She sees herself in a negative light that is incapable of doing anything herself and is totally submissive in nature becoming a pawn in the life of the men of her life. Mann (2009) argues “When Bella falls in love, then, a girl in love is all she is. By page 139 she has concluded that her mundane life is a small price to pay for the gift of being with Edward, and by the second book she’s willing to trade her soul for that privilege” (p.133) and hence has a Hippolitaian quality of sacrifice for the pleasure of men and hence develops nothing about herself. Mann (2009) continues to say that “Other than her penchant for self-sacrifice and the capacity to attract the attention of boys, Bella isn’t really anyone special. She has no identifiable interests or talents; she is incompetent in the face of almost every challenge...When she needs something done, especially mechanical, she finds a boy to do it and watches him. (p.133) This leaves Bella as a “damsel-in-distress” (Rocha, 2011) where Edward becomes her saviour. Thus, the role of women in Twilight seems to be that of a possession to enhance the male being.

 It could however be argued that Twilight contains a relationship that female readers can relate to in its ability to show the “women’s powerlessness and their desire for revenge and appropriation.” (Jarvis, 2014) and how the heroine proves to the hero ‘‘their infinite preciousness’’ (Modleski, 1982) bringing the hero to contemplate, worry and obsess over the heroine in a way that the female reader can share “the heroines’ powerlessness and accompanying frustration.” (Jarvis, 2013). This leads to what Nicol (2011) explains is the ‘‘complexities of female sexuality for women in the twenty-first century’’ in so far as it provides a ‘‘socially sanctioned space in which to explore their sexual desires.” These desires are evident in Bella and Edward’s first kiss, that Bella describes:

 “His cold, marble lips pressed very softly against mine. Blood boiled under my skin, burned in my lips. My breath came in a wild gasp. My fingers knotted in his hair, clutching him to me. My lips parted as I breathed in his heady scent.” (Meyer, 2005, p. 282)

 This sexual tension is introduced earlier in the book where Bella is told that ‘‘Apparently none of the girls here are good-looking enough for him’’ (Meyer, 2005 p. 19). Jarvis (2014) explains that because of this any “female who secures the inaccessible Edward will rise in the esteem of her community” and since she is claiming him, someone who thinks of herself as “ordinary” (p. 210) the excitement for both Bella and the reader who is caught in this sexual act- almost participating in it- is why the sexual nature of the book is so enticing. Therefore, although Bella can be seen as holding the values of Hippolita, the Twilight saga speaks volumes in its showing of the complexities of the social code that twenty-first century women must abide by. They are expected to be as obedient as Hippolita whilst being as sexual desirable as Carmilla or Rebecca. Bella’s metamorphosis from the ordinary human to the alluring vampire symbolises this. Women’s roles therefore have changed to give them more freedom, but they are still expected to behave like Hippolita when the “freedom” they have been given.