|
|
Post by connorswauger on Jul 22, 2024 3:10:47 GMT
As Im reading Play it as it Lays, Maria’s character reminds me of Guinevere from Barbary Shore. They both have the same sort of situation where they kind of live at the whim of others. Maria experiences her pregnancy and Guinevere has Monina. Maybe the children are a symbol of innocence & autonomy?… Also i feel like they both experience this dread over their trauma and life’s uncertainty.
Thoughts?
|
|
|
|
Post by Dr. Nemmers on Jul 22, 2024 4:31:51 GMT
I was just about to do a post along these lines, Connor-- so I'll just glom onto this one instead  I was thinking of comparing Maria more to Lannie (Lennie?), as both seem to be drifting through life and have questionable mental health. But Guinevere makes sense as well, given their sexual promiscuity and that they both have daughters of a similar age and, as you note, are surrounded by more powerful men. And the other character I was thinking of is Kate-- not the Kate from this novel, but the Kate from The Moviegoer, who apparently has mental illness and takes lots of pills but doesn't commit suicide. She's redeemed through marriage.... Maria not so much. Just in general, we could throw almost all of the youngish female characters into this bucket-- that really says something about the inherent sexism of American existentialist lit. Except for moms and aunts and grandes.... they're a different category altogether. |
|
|
|
Post by dianarmartinez on Jul 24, 2024 20:16:06 GMT
I like how multiple connections exist between characters throughout different novels. However, I see a pattern of how women feel or are conditioned by society and the environment to act, particularly around the same time frame. A couple of years difference, but the time frame is very close. The point of view of all three characters, which is compared between the first and initial posts, also speaks on the lack of mental health awareness. I'm not saying that they are crazy, but maybe attending a psychologist was definitely not as accepting as it is now.
|
|
|
|
Post by Dr. Nemmers on Jul 24, 2024 23:15:47 GMT
Well, and on the topic of "mental health awareness," we can see how at mid-century (and perhaps even now), mental illness or mental health is seen as a women's disease. Of all the men we've read from, out of all the crazy ideas and actions they've had, we've never heard of them taking pills or seeing a psychologist or being institutionalized.
But characters like Lannie and Kate and Maria are regarded as unstable and even suicidal..... very interesting!
|
|
