So before I talk about the reading, I just want to mention that I was going to name this blog "Jealous Much? Part Two" since I already had a blog with the same name for The Proud Man. However, I wasn't sure if that would have made me looked lazy or original so I thought it best for me to tweak it a little bit (and by that I mean change two words). With that being said, today's reading on The Return of the Soldier left me a little confused with the way that Jenny describes the relationship that she and Kitty have with Chris ever since he came back home. Before today's reading, I saw Jenny as someone who was more in control of a given situation. After hearing the news of her cousin's memory loss and learning about his tremendous interest in Margaret, Jenny seemed to react more rationally than Kitty, who was offended and angry with Chris for the lack of interest towards his own wife. While I can understand the difficult position that Kitty is in, I can't help but see Chris as a mere victim of an unfortunate accident. It is not his fault that he can only remember the love that he had for Margaret rather than the one that he had with Kitty and Jenny seems to be aware of that, which is why she treats Chris more sympathetically than Kitty. However, now that Chris and Margaret had had the chance to get together and interact with one another, Jenny confesses her jealousy towards their relationship. She says in chapter five that she is not jealous of their love but "the thought of the things their eyes had rested upon together". I am not quite sure what she means by this but it seems important to know in order to have an accurate portrayal of Jenny as a person and as a narrator. Even though I do trust the things that she says and expresses due to her direct approach towards them, that could possibly change after having a better understanding as to what her jealousy could mean.
Without further ado, these are my questions and thoughts for class:
1.) What do you make of Jenny's jealousy? Is she jealous over the fact that Chris and Margaret have something precious together while she does not or is there more to it, like an issue between social classes?
2.) Do you think Jenny's jealousy has any effect towards her perception towards Chris that is perhaps misguided?
3.) What does Jenny mean when she states in chapter five that by losing his memory and rejecting her and Kitty, Chris was able to gain "something saner than sanity"?
Adrian, you pose a question about Jenny's jealousy that I understand as her realization of her inadequacies. She and Kitty have created aesthetically pleasing haven for Chris; they have all the luxury and beauty one can afford, but it is not what Chris wants. Seeing how happy Margaret makes Chris, without need for a prime and proper appearance, strikes Jenny with an envy that she cannot overcome. It leaves her feeling inferior to an impoverished woman,which she thought a complete impossibility until now. This jealousy also awakens Jenny to the sorrowful reality that the happiness she thought she and Kitty provided for Chris was feigned and that his true happiness lies with Margaret. So, there is definitely an issue with social classes because Jenny feels she has been subordinated by a ragged lady, but even more, she feels that her life of beauty has only appeared that way.
ReplyDeleteDiana
This kind of plagued my reading of this text as well. I get the vibe that Jenny is more in love with Chris than she was supposed to be, they're cousins after all, but she is a little afraid to admit that feeling to herself. By saying that she's jealous of the things that they've seen and not by their relationship she is still allowed to be jealous of Margaret without being incestuous.
ReplyDeleteThis is strange though because she is a spinster. She must have made the decision to never marry, which means that she's put herself into this world where she is jealous of another's love. I kind of wonder why Kitty is alright, but Margaret instantly makes her jealous. Weird.