What do you do when you know you're reading something wrong? I've had many years of training in how to think and how to read Literature, but sometimes, like with John Galsworthy's Forsythe Saga**, I find myself much more sympathetic to the 'villain' of the piece. The 'heroine' of the story is seemingly trapped in a loveless marriage with a husband that cannot hope to understand her or make her happy. I know that I'm supposed to feel sorry for her, with her artistic nature that is seemingly incompatible with her duty and reality bound husband. But, I don't really. She hasn't appeared to make any efforts to have a congenial relationship in a marriage that she willingly agreed to, while he would do and does anything that he thinks might make her happy or bring her pleasure.
As the series progresses, he is becoming more villainized, which compounds my frustration. While I see that the things he is doing are bad, I simply see them as results of neglect and frustration from his wife. While I'm not studying this for class or intending to write about it (yet), I am reluctant to enter into an academic discussion about such a text when I know that my opinions would be/are so contrary to mainstream academic ideology. Sadly, academia is just the place that such a discussion of character and art should be made and I wonder if my thoughts really would be rejected, or if I'm merely too cowardly to stand in an unpopular position in my department. Would that change if I were in a tenure track position rather than a graduate student still dependent on advisers and committees? I hope so, but is that being environment savvy or just weakly inconsistent?
*I'm not quite as terrible poster as it seems. I drafted this a couple of weeks ago and forgot to post it in the craziness of the past few weeks of road trips, vacations, family reunions, house sitting, and job interviews.
**I'm watching the 2002 mini-series, which I'm assured is a very literal translation of the novels, though I recognize that differences may exist. I've read quite a bit about the author and the books and feel fairly certain that I would have a similar reaction to the page as I do to the screen.
2 comments:
Roomie, I have to say that I am heartened to hear you discuss a topic as important as this. It is amazing the power that movies, books, etc. have to paint pictured of "villians" and "heroes". Even though our own morals may disagree with what the media is presenting us with, it is often hard to recognize that we are being sucked in as well. I know that I will often get caught up with this situation specifically, and you can start to forget your own moral bearings. I end up cheering on the female to leave the guy holding her back (her husband) and go with the guy who will help her reach her full potential (also known as the adulterer). So, I guess all this to say, thank you for the reminder to keep our moral wits about us as we consume the media.
-Mr. Commish
Roomie -
I have read the book and seen the movie (just to warn you it does not cover the entire book) and I understand what you are talking about. I think if you do feel strongly than you ought to say something...you don't have to push the issue, just make the observation.
- Roomie :)
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