Comments on: “The Bliss Of Solitude”: In Search of Fulfilled Single Characters in Seventeenth through Twentieth Century Anglophone and Francophone Literature /2021/04/10/annabelle-vosmeier/ Wed, 02 Jun 2021 20:09:53 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Annabelle Vosmeier /2021/04/10/annabelle-vosmeier/#comment-27158 Sat, 17 Apr 2021 01:24:26 +0000 https://news.wooster.edu/?p=7829#comment-27158 In reply to Erin Robichaud.

Thank you, Erin! These are really thoughtful questions and they make complete sense. I think it depends on the author, honestly, and what it is that they’re criticizing. Balzac, for instance, is criticizing older women because they’re “ugly” and “useless” and have “wasted their potential” by not having children. The younger women I studied, on the other hand, are seen as still having that potential, so in Great Expectations, Pip (and I suspect Dickens/society as a whole) can’t even comprehend that Estella might want to stay unmarried. I couldn’t find many young single women who completely identified with their singleness and weren’t presented as maybe-getting-married-soon. I also found a really interesting source that talked about how older women were able to be fulfilled once they saw themselves as single and didn’t have to deal with that shadow of marriage anymore. So I don’t have a clear answer for you, but I hope that helps!

]]> By: Annabelle Vosmeier /2021/04/10/annabelle-vosmeier/#comment-15092 Sat, 17 Apr 2021 01:24:26 +0000 https://news.wooster.edu/?p=7829#comment-15092 In reply to Erin Robichaud.

Thank you, Erin! These are really thoughtful questions and they make complete sense. I think it depends on the author, honestly, and what it is that they’re criticizing. Balzac, for instance, is criticizing older women because they’re “ugly” and “useless” and have “wasted their potential” by not having children. The younger women I studied, on the other hand, are seen as still having that potential, so in Great Expectations, Pip (and I suspect Dickens/society as a whole) can’t even comprehend that Estella might want to stay unmarried. I couldn’t find many young single women who completely identified with their singleness and weren’t presented as maybe-getting-married-soon. I also found a really interesting source that talked about how older women were able to be fulfilled once they saw themselves as single and didn’t have to deal with that shadow of marriage anymore. So I don’t have a clear answer for you, but I hope that helps!

]]> By: Erin Robichaud /2021/04/10/annabelle-vosmeier/#comment-15091 Fri, 16 Apr 2021 23:45:15 +0000 https://news.wooster.edu/?p=7829#comment-15091 Congratulations, Annabelle!! I’ve only heard bits and pieces of your I.S., so it’s been wonderful to see the whole thing together! You’re analyses are important for understanding where our modern conceptions of amatonormativity comes from and how/why it is so engrained in our culture.
As you were presenting, I couldn’t help but notice in your presentation that it seemed like authors more so presented younger women as “unfulfilled” with their single lives while authors generally allowed older women to be fulfilled . (Is this a fair statement, or is it the result that only a portion of your argument is presented here?)
Do you think this is intentional or a coincidence? Is it because a young woman, who is conventionally more attractive and therefore more suitable for marriage according to societal standards, still has the potential to become married that influences authors to view single women as unfulfilled when unmarried? Whereas with older women, who are less likely to be desirable matches for marriage, marriage is no longer an option on the table? (Do this make sense what I’m trying to say?)

]]> By: Erin Robichaud /2021/04/10/annabelle-vosmeier/#comment-27157 Fri, 16 Apr 2021 23:45:15 +0000 https://news.wooster.edu/?p=7829#comment-27157 Congratulations, Annabelle!! I’ve only heard bits and pieces of your I.S., so it’s been wonderful to see the whole thing together! You’re analyses are important for understanding where our modern conceptions of amatonormativity comes from and how/why it is so engrained in our culture.
As you were presenting, I couldn’t help but notice in your presentation that it seemed like authors more so presented younger women as “unfulfilled” with their single lives while authors generally allowed older women to be fulfilled . (Is this a fair statement, or is it the result that only a portion of your argument is presented here?)
Do you think this is intentional or a coincidence? Is it because a young woman, who is conventionally more attractive and therefore more suitable for marriage according to societal standards, still has the potential to become married that influences authors to view single women as unfulfilled when unmarried? Whereas with older women, who are less likely to be desirable matches for marriage, marriage is no longer an option on the table? (Do this make sense what I’m trying to say?)

]]> By: Annabelle Vosmeier /2021/04/10/annabelle-vosmeier/#comment-27156 Fri, 16 Apr 2021 22:57:39 +0000 https://news.wooster.edu/?p=7829#comment-27156 In reply to Kath Scott.

Thank you, Kath! I’m so glad you liked it! I actually haven’t read The Moonstone, but it’s certainly on my list because I liked The Woman in White so much, so it’s good to know that you recommend it.

]]> By: Annabelle Vosmeier /2021/04/10/annabelle-vosmeier/#comment-15090 Fri, 16 Apr 2021 22:57:39 +0000 https://news.wooster.edu/?p=7829#comment-15090 In reply to Kath Scott.

Thank you, Kath! I’m so glad you liked it! I actually haven’t read The Moonstone, but it’s certainly on my list because I liked The Woman in White so much, so it’s good to know that you recommend it.

]]> By: Annabelle Vosmeier /2021/04/10/annabelle-vosmeier/#comment-27155 Fri, 16 Apr 2021 22:55:05 +0000 https://news.wooster.edu/?p=7829#comment-27155 In reply to Kate Beutner.

Thank you, Professor Beutner! I hope you’re doing well and I’m so happy you’re here for symposium! I adored both The Woman in White and Gaudy Night (and ended up reading a number of Sayers’s other books even though they didn’t make it into the study). It’s been a really enjoyable project, and reading all these wonderful books can only do good things for my own writing, now that I might actually have time for it. Thank you so much for your support!

]]> By: Annabelle Vosmeier /2021/04/10/annabelle-vosmeier/#comment-15089 Fri, 16 Apr 2021 22:55:05 +0000 https://news.wooster.edu/?p=7829#comment-15089 In reply to Kate Beutner.

Thank you, Professor Beutner! I hope you’re doing well and I’m so happy you’re here for symposium! I adored both The Woman in White and Gaudy Night (and ended up reading a number of Sayers’s other books even though they didn’t make it into the study). It’s been a really enjoyable project, and reading all these wonderful books can only do good things for my own writing, now that I might actually have time for it. Thank you so much for your support!

]]> By: Annabelle Vosmeier /2021/04/10/annabelle-vosmeier/#comment-27154 Fri, 16 Apr 2021 22:46:58 +0000 https://news.wooster.edu/?p=7829#comment-27154 In reply to Betty Wilkin.

Thank you so much! I’m glad you stopped by.

]]> By: Annabelle Vosmeier /2021/04/10/annabelle-vosmeier/#comment-15088 Fri, 16 Apr 2021 22:46:58 +0000 https://news.wooster.edu/?p=7829#comment-15088 In reply to Betty Wilkin.

Thank you so much! I’m glad you stopped by.

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