The Looking Glass - Disillusionment (Post 1)
Nellie, the main character in this short story, is a young,
beautiful woman with what seems to be surface-leveled hopes for her life. The author writes that she dreamt day and
night of being married. Even in today’s
society, women who do not wish to get married are viewed as unconventional,
although there are fewer women who place the “significance of life” on their marital
status. Nonetheless, it is a prevalent
desire among women. Anton Chekhov takes
this common idea among women and portrays a theme of disillusionment through Nellie’s
alteration in attitude from beginning and end of the story. He starts out by simply stating that it is “NEW
YEAR’S EVE.” This fact is never touched
upon again, which leads the reader to believe it is mentioned solely to
indicate that it is a time of reflection.
This is important as it supports the idea that there may be a shift in
mindset later to come. Chekhov then goes
on to describe Nellie gazing into a looking glass. She begins to see her fictitious husband with
the intense description that “the destined one was for
Nellie everything, the significance of life, personal happiness, career, fate.” This line alone summarizes Nellie’s initial
view of marriage as it places the entirety of her self-worth on a husband. Immediately after the outline of his figure
appears, Nellie is thrown into a vision.
As the story goes on, the reader sees that Nellie is in wild pursuit of
medical assistance for her ill husband.
When she finally drags the doctor to her house, he also is too sick to
be of any help. She realizes her efforts
have been for naught and begins to worry about her financial standing, the death
of her kids, the burden of burying her husband etc., etc. The last line of the story is then “’I must
have fallen asleep,’ she thought with a sigh of relief,” as Nellie finally
emerges from the dream. This line encapsulates
her final attitude toward her initial desire.
The phrase “sigh of relief” denotes a feeling of disappointment
resulting from the discovery that something is not as good as first believed to
be, effectively conveying the theme of disillusionment.
I completely agree how Anton Chekhov setting the story on New Year's Eve is a sign for the readers to foreshadow a change! I don't think that Nellie is disappointed from her illusion when you consider the part of the text where she says "[a]nd all the previous life with her husband seemed to her a stupid prelude to this", like her married life was a waste of time.
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ReplyDeleteI completely agree that there is a distinct shift in attitude in the Nellie from the beginning of the short story to the end. However, I interpreted Nellie's state of mind differently. I found that the Nellie from the beginning of the text was perhaps depressed and at the very least discontent with her current life. As you said, she is a young, pretty girl with her whole life in front of her. Yet, instead of going out and living it, she chooses to sit alone in her room dreaming of her future. Even in her fantasy future, Nellie doesn’t allow herself to be truly happy. Instead, she dreams up a future full of sickness, money problems, and helplessness. This shows her unconscious fears and anxiety. The Nellie from the end of the short story has an entirely different attitude. Specifically, this section shows the first time Nellie really sees herself, “she looked into the looking-glass and saw a pale, tear-stained face”. It takes Nellie’s dream of her husband and the doctor to finally break the spell and make her see past “the grey” and find her true self. I don’t think she was disillusioned at all, I believe she was enlightened.
I agree much with Emily's comment. I also believe she was more enlightened than disillusioned. She breathes a sigh of relief and suddenly the gray tones of the story are gone. I believe that she suddenly realized, after this horrible dream, that maybe this ideal life she has dreamed up with a husband and perfect family will cause her unimaginable pain at some point. She is so focused at the beginning on how incredible this man is as their lives meet and become one. Maybe at the end, as she desires something new and different, she breaks free from the gender norms and begins to want to live a life for herself instead of one so focused on a man taking care of her.
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