Physicality Close Reading

Chekhov engages with the text through body parts imagery, emphasizing the physicality of the body as a form of expressing emotions and feelings. This physicality reflects Chekhov’s background as a physician. Nellie must grapple with stress and obstacles, resulting in the deterioration of her body mentally and physically. The author describes her experience as “suffering in body and soul,” which depicts the extent of Nellie’s pain and anguish. Chekhov describes the circumstances surrounding Nellie and her husband: “He could not sleep, she could not sleep, and both racked their brains till their heads ached, thinking how to avoid being visited by the clerk of the Court.” The imagery of “their heads ached” and “racked their brains” conveys a sense of urgency and desperation. Nellie and her husband must face their problems; however, they struggle with how to approach them. While set in nineteenth century Russia, this short story describes issues, such as money problems, faced by adults today. Therefore, literature transcends time and geography. Nellie’s focus on money problems indicates a shift down from her position as a general and landowner’s daughter. The dark, negative imagery of “a cutting cold wind” and “lumps of frozen earth” exemplifies Nellie’s helplessness and need to find closure to her issues. The story ends with Nellie staring into the glass: “She looked into the looking-glass and saw a pale, tear-stained face. There was no grey background now.” The imagery of “a pale, tear-stained face” conveys the breadth of Nellie’s plight with illness, an uncooperative doctor, and financial issues. The author uses the looking glass as a tool to reflect reality, and Nellie’s face expresses the darkness and exhaustion caused by her nightmare. This state contrasts with her hopeful outlook on the future. The author plays with the binary opposition of black and white to emphasize the disparity between appearance and reality and how life brings about unexpected changes. Through binary opposition, body imagery, and a dark, bleak undertone, the author describes Nellie and her surroundings, which lead to her realization that she simply fell asleep.

Comments

  1. UnknownAugust 31, 2017 at 2:12 PM

    I thought that the language relating to physical aliments were projections of Ellie possibly getting typhus, but definitely agree that the imagery of the characters suffering creates so much urgency. And like you said creates so much contrast to her end state of being being relief, a positive emotion reached after all the negative stress in her nightmare.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lexi SchaeferSeptember 1, 2017 at 10:33 AM

    I like your point about the money struggle and how literature transcends time and geography. Your emphasis on the transition of Nellie from the daughter of a land owner, to having issues with money really flows with the point you made about the grey background. However, I felt that the detail to describe body language, while it does add to the story, was focusing on Nellie having typhus (like Susmitha mentioned). I think it is important for us to question when authors provide detailed descriptions to find if they are simply doing it for the purpose of illustration and figurative language, or if they are trying to hint at a greater picture.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownSeptember 4, 2017 at 11:09 AM

    I like the portion of your post where you addressed that the issues Nellie faces in this story such as financial struggle, concern for her children, sickness, and uneasiness towards marriage were problems that were prevalent in Russian society in the nineteenth century as well as today. No matter how much time passes, a married couple is bound to encounter the same struggles and problems regardless of time and age. I think that's what's so enamoring about literature is that even if it's written 250 years ago we can always find ways to relate to the characters.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Allison RossSeptember 4, 2017 at 12:42 PM

    I love your interpretation of the physical and body parts imagery! It was something I didn’t pick up on when I initially read the narrative. I definitely agree that there is imagery used to depict her as suffering in body and soul. You see her running through the barren and cold landscape, depicting suffering physically and the whole dream can be interpreted as her suffering in soul too. She is so desperate to hold onto her husband and the perfect life she has envisioned, she tortures herself in both of these areas. I think its interesting that the author chose to have her suffer physically too because that’s something that can so easily be overlooked.

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownSeptember 4, 2017 at 12:43 PM

    I really appreciate the amount that you focused on the physicality in the imagery, because that was something that really stuck out to me in the first couple of reads as well. I always look for ways to connect imagery of any level to the deeper meaning of the text as a whole. As contradicting as it may initially seem to relate the descriptions of her sickness to a greater level of imagery instead of the typhus, there is typically a reason why the authors may choose to portray things certain ways, through their diction and imagery.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Leah EricksonSeptember 6, 2017 at 6:00 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Leah EricksonSeptember 7, 2017 at 11:26 AM

    I am glad that you touched on not only Nellie's physical health declining but her mental health as well. It seems important to mention that mental illnesses can truly have a raging effect on the body, which is clearly displayed by the author. I thought that since the physical symptoms were so severe and her delusion seemed out of touch with reality, this could be the author's way of discussing mental illnesses during that time period. Yet, I do agree with many fellow "bloggers" ahead of me in saying that a lot of her physical symptoms could have also just been a reflection of her having typhus. Nonetheless, I agree with your perspective and appreciate your attention to detail!

    ReplyDelete
  8. UnknownSeptember 7, 2017 at 2:02 PM

    I personally thought this was a very interesting take on the story and gives us more insight from the authors perspective. The focus on illness in the story, and the reality of the character of the doctor most likely stems from the background that Checkov has in medicine. Checkov does describe Nellie’s body In the beginning as pale, and exhausted which allows you to picture her much more accurately due to the physical words the author uses. I also feel that the word choice and the way authors phrase things are very overlooked but it is interesting because this story was originally written in Russian. I wonder if this translation pays due respect to the word choice Checkov actually used.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What We Hunger For: Deep Thoughts

"Just because you survive something does not mean you are strong." To be completely honest, this story was one that I could almost watch in my head. Perhaps part of that was because it was written vividly with strong imagery and diction; perhaps because I could see a reflection of myself in Gay's story. This year has been a transformative one for me, as I have learned to become more self-aware and acknowledging that there is immense power in naming our struggles. I am consistently told by my friends how "strong, courageous, and unfuckwithable" I am... which, I think, genuinely stems from my inability to be comfortable. I've survived too much. I've been exposed to and made it through too much... and apparently, the fact that I managed to make it "out" of those immediate situations is seen as strong. However, I am very thankful that Gay made the comment above. To me, I've always seen strength as how people cope with the long-term effects o...
Read more

A word is a word is a word

In "Bad Feminist: Take One," Gay opens up about her inner quarrels regarding her identification as a feminist. This is something I, too struggled with. At the time, the term was gaining a less than popular connotation, with a minority of the movement taking it upon themselves to spread their isolated belief that women rise above the equilibrium of society; they are superior to men and all men are inherently awful. It is easy to understand, then, why a young girl that does not share these extreme views and stereotypes may not want to be a placed beneath a spot light during such a tense situation, and would subsequently ditch the term. Ditching the term, for me at least, did not mean that I lost my way and would slowly evolve into the submissive, modest, and good woman deemed to be the ideal. Although, ditching the term is controversial and some may see it as a betrayal to the movement executed by a ‘ bad ’ woman. If the individuals remains true to their beliefs and conti...
Read more

Fifty Shades of Fantasy

I've never been too intrigued by all the 50 Shades of Grey concept. As a social work major, reading the first book in the series and watching the first movie with my aunt (yes- my AUNT...), all I could think of when I was exposed to that plot was the lack of focus on Christian's real need and outcry for help. The novel flips the 'usual' narrative of the woman being the victim and her inability to retain a healthy relationship, and shows us a man who seeks domination and control, which- some argue- is what women *really* want. I will not be the first to argue that point. In "The Trouble With Prince Charming," Gay references 50 Shades and how the author uses a disgusting sense of erotica that we can't help but be turned on by, to romanticise the idea of pure abuse, submission, and toxicity in the text. I will commend the story on one thing: Christian is adamant about consent. Mostly because it could result in a MAJOR lawsuit against him if ever interprete...
Read more