"It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness. A handsome woman talks nonsense, you listen and hear not nonsense but cleverness. She says and does horrid things, and you see only charm. And if a handsome woman does not say stupid or horrid things, you at once persuade yourself that she is wonderfully clever and moral." (p.100)
En voor de rest was de novelle niet om te lachen.
zondag 16 maart 2008
THE KREUTZER SONATE / LEO TOLSTOY
"During a train ride, Pozdnyshev overhears a conversation concerning marriage, divorce and love. When a woman argues that marriage should not be arranged but based on true love, he asks "what is love?" and points out that, if understood as an exclusive preference for one person, it often passes quickly. Convention dictates that two married people stay together, and initial love can quickly turn into hatred. He then relates how he used to visit prostitutes when he was young, and complains that women's dresses are designed to arouse men's desires. He further states that women will never enjoy equal rights to men as long as men view them as objects of desire, but yet describes their situation as a form of power over men, mentioning how much of society is geared towards their pleasure and well-being and how much sway they have over men’s actions.
After meeting and marrying his wife, periods of passionate love and vicious fights alternate. His wife takes a liking to a violinist, and the two perform Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata together. Pozdnyshev complains that some music is powerful enough to change one's internal state to a foreign one. He hides his raging jealousy and goes on a trip, returns early, finds the two together and kills his wife with a dagger. The violinist escapes: "I wanted to run after him, but remembered that it is ridiculous to run after one's wife's lover in one's socks; and I did not wish to be ridiculous but terrible."
Later acquitted of murder in light of his wife's apparent adultery, Pozdnyshev rides the trains seeking forgiveness from fellow passengers."
After meeting and marrying his wife, periods of passionate love and vicious fights alternate. His wife takes a liking to a violinist, and the two perform Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata together. Pozdnyshev complains that some music is powerful enough to change one's internal state to a foreign one. He hides his raging jealousy and goes on a trip, returns early, finds the two together and kills his wife with a dagger. The violinist escapes: "I wanted to run after him, but remembered that it is ridiculous to run after one's wife's lover in one's socks; and I did not wish to be ridiculous but terrible."
Later acquitted of murder in light of his wife's apparent adultery, Pozdnyshev rides the trains seeking forgiveness from fellow passengers."
Genadeloos als een scalpel.
zaterdag 1 maart 2008
FAMILY HAPPINESS : CITATEN
Family happiness (slik):
"I was convinced that I knew just what he would say and do, and how he would look; and if anything he did suprised me, I concluded that he had a mistake. I expected nothing from him. In a word, he was my husband - and that was all."
p.66
"I was convinced that I knew just what he would say and do, and how he would look; and if anything he did suprised me, I concluded that he had a mistake. I expected nothing from him. In a word, he was my husband - and that was all."
p.66
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