Vernon Lee

Vernon Lee - the pen name of the prolific British author and critic Violet Paget( 14 October 1856 - 13 February 1935). She was a travel writer, critic, musician, novelist etc. Her works on supernatural fiction and aesthetics made her an international fame. She was an outspoken follower of Walter Peter. Walter Horatio Peter was an English essayist, literary and art critic and a writer of fiction. She was one of the first to bring the concept of Einfuhlung, or empathy, into English criticism. "Prince Alberic and tha Snake Lady" (1895) was her first story. Most famous of her  short fiction were collected and published under the title,"Hauntings" in 1890. Themes of haunting and possession are mostly found in her short fiction. Vernon Lee authored numerous number of books and travel writings. Some of her works are listed below:

     

     • Studies of the Eighteenth Century in 

        Italy (1880)

     • The Prince of the Hundred Soups: A 

        Puppet Show in Narrative (1853)

     • Miss Brown (1884)

     • Hauntings - Fantastic Stories (1890) 

     • Art and Life

     • The Spirit of Rome

     • Snake Lady and Other Stories(1954)

     • Supernatural Tales (1955)

Anoinette Cosway

Through "Antoinette", Jean Rhy's creates a prehistory for Bronte's madwoman,"Bertha". Antoinette is the story's principal character. Rhy's traced the development of Antoinette's character from a young girl in Jamaica to the wild lunatic in the attic in Wide Sargasso Sea. From her childhood onwards she lead a life of loneliness. Her mother was always indealt with her brother,Pierre. She was a sensitive girl. Apart from her home, she was an outcast in society, termed'white cockroach'. Antoinette and her family of white Creoles were forced to flee from their estate due to some conflicts with blacks on the Island. Antoinette was pushed to marry an Englishman. She could not  find a peaceful place even after her marriage, as it was a mismatch of culture and customs. The history of her childhood relation with one of her half brothers, Sandy Cosway, turned her husband against her. The newly-wed bride was dipped into a world of madness and 

beyond as her mother was.She was  also called as "Bertha" and "Marionette" by her husband. She was locked in the attic  of an unknown house and was guarded by a servant arranged by Rochester. At this point, Bronte's character is born - a woman of utter madness and violence.

             

Bertha Mason

Bertha Mason - a being of the Creole heritage, is the only daughter of a very rich family in Jamaica. The character comes to the fore of the reader only after the completion of the half of the narrative.  Bronte describes Bertha only through the description of her unhappy husband, Rochester. Rochester claims that he was unaware of the violent insanity ran in her family and his father arranged this marriage only for the vast fortune the marriage would bring him. Bertha's existence is mentioned only at the time of Rochester's marriage with Jane. Loud laughs, utterances are heard at the earlier sections of the narrative. When enquired, Rochester answered that it is made by Grace Pool, the servant. Though,  Bertha was not insane at first she became violent when locked up for ten years. Bertha's physical appearances totally changed by the years of confinement. Eyre while seeing Bertha describes her as "savage". Bertha freed Rochester from the bond of marriage by perishing her life.

Book review

By elaborating the notion , " a woman must have money and a room of her own", Virginia Woolf tried to untie the complications related to ' women and fiction' to an extent. At first, through Mary Beton, ( Woolf's fictional character ) who is at Oxbridge ( fictional university) Woolf describes her point of view. Readers are able to get into the period in which ladies were not even admitted to libraries. It is very interesting to read Mary's Judith Shakespeare, who had every talent that Shakespeare had but none his opportunities and ended up pregnant. The essay figures out several women writers . For example,Aphra Ben is the first woman to make money by writing even in her hardship. Woolf elegantly portrays that women's lack of long tradition and their search to figure out a way to write is like finding clothes that fit your body from a mass. It is surprising that each page of Woolf's essay contains some reference to women in a way or other. A Room of One's Own is a thought provoking essay, a hard look at how to be a woman writer in a man's world. Woolf never attempted to categorise whether men or women are good at writing but she yields that women should be able to write what they wish. Inorder to write they must acquire material things which ensures intellectual freedom. A writer must be neutral in mind (gender) inorder to produce a good work which wins the test of time.

"What a temper for a girl to show !"

Perspective of Hari's Ma :

         "Do you know, what had happened on Ashtami day ?. That crooked daughter of Lalita scandalised everyone even the aged Naani. I remembered Lalita's  words that this girl is born only to plague her life. Anyhow she is always reluctant to obey the norms of the family. Is there anything special to her?. She is also like the other girls in the family. Unlike her sisters, she refused to get tikka on her forehead when Naani called her to do so. How dare the girl to mock at the sound of conch and the sacred bells!. She compared it to an engine's sound and she conveyed that she is an engine,racing around the ledge of the courtyard making noises. Poor Lalita ! She is after all a naughty girl even in her tiresome days. The girl protested against the practise that pretends to respect them and proclaimed that she doesn't  want to be a goddess. Even the pigeons pecking the grains in the courtyard took off  in a flurry hearing the girl's roaring. The girl spoiled the sacred pooja and I'm afraid whether other girls of the family will follow her."

Her only crime was being a woman

With his third film The Circle (Dayereh , 2000) , Jafar Panahi , the Iranian film maker, earned the international stature as one of the world's most courageous artists. The 90 min visual treat in Farsi language dealt with the attrocities  faced by Iranian women. Fantasy or artificial environment have nothing to do with the 

movie. Yet, it is taken to the heart of the spectators because of his real nature.

Kambozia Partovi wrote the screenplay for the movie.

 

We cannot point out a single plot or a single protagonist in the movie. The film is all about  different women whose causes are different but the sufferings alike. So , when it was asked to write a film review which exhibits a feminine issue, the title The Circle popped in my mind, as it deals with all feminine phases and its issues.

Circle-it is a closed loop , likewise Panahi's The Circle also begins and ends with the same image . A woman talking to someone through an opening of a closed door. It's a girl - is the first words spoken in this film. Rather being celebratory the mood of the scene is mournful. Here, begins the issues as one more life sprouted but a baby girl. The scene took place in  a maternity ward where an elderly lady is informed that her daughter gave birth to a baby girl whereas the ultrasound scanning resulted in a boy. The grandmother fears that her daughter being abandoned by her son in laws. The biological fact that the sex of a baby is determined by the male germ cell is totally rejected and considered as a weapon against the female. The grandmother asks one of her daughters to inform her uncles. It's evident from their facial expressions that they don't want another one to be suffered like them being a girl. Here , at this point the narative diverts . The first is left open and without any solution. To be frank this portrays real life. We are driven into situations one by one in our life whether it's happy or sad. Our life cycle doesn't wait for the completion of one event to start the other.

The narration turns to three women, Arezou, Nargess and Pari. They appears as they are from jail and they want to be free from the authoritarian patriarchal norms. They wander along the street without any particular aim and away from the cob and they too lack proper identity.Arezou and Nargess is trying to get bus fare inorder to get into Nargess's home village. Arezou managed to put Nargess on the bus and they two get separated. As the law was against women travelling alone without a male relative, Nargess left the bus in search of Pari , another fugitive . She was also afraid of being arrested again. Then , the second narrative thread picks up the story of Pari and abandons Nargess. As her husband was executed Pari wants to get away from her pregnancy. Because it will be severe than death for a fatherless child to live in such a society.  Pari eagerly met Elhalm, another prisoner now a nurse seeking help, 

Unfortunately the nurse denied Pari's request . We cannot blame Elhalm because she reluctantly denied the request screaming that her background will be known to her spouse ,a doctor. At the street , Pari met a mother who left her daughter in front of a hotel due to economic instability. The words of the mother is really provoking. She says, " this is the third time I've tried to leave her". What will be the conditions lead the mother to do so? Where is her husband? All these are questions which are left without any answers in the film . The mother hopes her daughter being with some respectful family. Then another woman who was arrested as a prostitute is taken to prison. But the problem lies where the cob leaves the man freely. Only the woman is arrested. Prostitution is definitely an act deserving severe punishment but both men and women are equally prone to punishment. Hereby the camera focus on the cell concluding that all the women  characters from the earlier three narrative threads are at the prison. They failed in their efforts to be free. The closing shot resembles the opening shot ,(a guard calling out Solmaz Gholami, the woman with the baby in the first scene), completing the story circle.

   The end circle is formed even the narrative threads are incomplete in themselves. Several questions still prevail : what were the crimes done by the escapees? Who are the real culprits? Was it only because of being a woman?. The dark look of the film with occassional splash of colours ( the Van Gogh and the little girl's dress which signifies hope) and the dialogue make the movie readable and communicated the theme very well. The Iranian movie provides much information on the plight of women in Iran who have done nothing wrong except to be female. But I heard Iran is much liberal than Afghanistan under the Taliban rule. Khaleid hosseini, the prolific writer pays tribute to the plight of Afghan women. Let's speak for the world peace and Whoever crucify my holy religion with their deeds and poison it with their words must be brought in front of the world and punished without hesitation.

 

Online booking

 

         Sam was in his voyage to the cosmos with his favourite Angel in order to explore the unrevealed mysteries. He was taken aback witnessing electric fences in the moon. He catechized the Angel about the fences.

 Angel answered:" these are here for years. Don't you know about them?"

S: "No,for what they are?"

A:" These are placed here in order to separate the plots" 

S:" plots? Whose plots?"

A : "Plots of affluents of Earth !"

S:" Men of earth!!!!"

A:" Yeh! Everything is online. agencies are

    there who does this online booking      and fences are their offer to their clients in order to prevent invasions."

S:" what is the use?"

A: "in order to store the excess pesos they possess. Because here no tariffs or taxes are demanded.

        Sam contacted one of the online agencies and got struck by the answer.

" BOOKING CLOSED!

  No more plots to book."