Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Love as Failed Imagination in The Passion and in Sextons Poetry - Literature Essay Samples
The notion of love is something that evades language, yet has been a staple theme in literary works all over the world. Writers have struggled to express this abstract feeling in language and accord it with a definition so that it can finally be understood. However, in Jeanette Wintersonââ¬â¢s The Passion and Anne Sextonââ¬â¢s poems, ââ¬Å"The Interrogation of the Man of Many Heartsâ⬠and ââ¬Å"That Dayâ⬠, it is suggested that trying to capture love may very well be a futile act. The Passion follows the journey of Henri, a soldier in Napoleon Bonaparteââ¬â¢s army. Although he is initially passionately in love with Bonaparte, Henri is later disillusioned by the latterââ¬â¢s cruel acts and deserts the army. He meets and finds passion in Villanelle, a Venetian woman, but his love is ultimately left unfulfilled, as Villanelle does not return his feelings. Sextonââ¬â¢s poems, similarly, play with the idea of unfulfilled desire. In ââ¬Å"The Interrogation of the Man of Many Hearts and ââ¬Å"That Dayâ⬠, the character of the beloved is conspicuously absent, leaving the lover in an attempt to sculpt the beloved into existence using language. Both Wintersonââ¬â¢s novel and Sextonââ¬â¢s work portray the lover as attempting to recreate or remember their beloved from past memory. Love is shown to be something that fails, as the lover has nothing to go by but interpretations and images that do not have any inherent meaning ââ¬â resulting in their failure to arrive at the essence of love, and the creation of a beloved who does not exist. In The Passion, Winterson exposes conventional acts of love to be arbitrary ones with no particular meaning. By juxtaposing the relationships between Villanelle and Henri, as well as Villanelle and her female lover, the Queen of Spades, the arbitrary nature of conventional acts of love is highlighted. When Villanelle is kissing the Queen of Spades, she describes their connected mouths to be ââ¬Å"the focus of loveâ⬠, suggesting that the act of kissing is an act of love (Winterson 67). However, this idea is turned on its head later on in the book, when Henri and Villanelle are trying to avoid detection after Henri kills the cook (135). Whenever they pass by anyone, Villanelle would ââ¬Å"[throw Henri] against the wall and [kiss him] passionately, blocking all sight of [his] bodyâ⬠in order to prevent people from seeing ââ¬Å"the blood on [his] clothesâ⬠(136). Here, the act of kissing takes on a whole new meaning. Instead of connecting two people who are in love with each other as an expression of their love, Villanelle uses it as a means of survival. Similarly, sex means completely different things to Villanelle and Henri, as evidenced by the way she says, ââ¬Å"He gave me pleasure, but when I watched his face I knew it was more than that for him.â⬠(148) To her, making love with him is only a way for her to feel good, but for Henri, it is an act that conveys his love for her. The contrast between the different ways that conventional acts of love can be viewed undermines their credibility as a means of validating love; as they could potentially hold other meanings as well, the lover can no longer use these acts of love to prove the existence of love. Sexton complicates this argument in ââ¬Å"That Dayâ⬠, showing that not only is love impossible to capture in the moment, it is even more elusive after the moment has passed. In the poem, the speaker comments on ââ¬Å"the typewriter that sits before me / where yesterday only your body sat before meâ⬠(Sexton, ââ¬Å"That Dayâ⬠3-4). The typewriter, symbolising language, has taken over the belovedââ¬â¢s spot, implying that after the moment has passed, love can only be revisited through language. Indeed, the speaker proceeds to try to recreate the beloved in the form of language, piecing him together through images of ââ¬Å"[his] red veins and [his] blue veinsâ⬠(15), his ââ¬Å"shut eyesâ⬠, ââ¬Å"mouthâ⬠, ââ¬Å"chest and its drummerâ⬠(35-37). However, even as she attempts to recreate her love, she ends off the poem with the line: ââ¬Å"and love is where yesterday is atâ⬠(47), suggesting the impossibility of actually going back to the t ime when she is ââ¬Å"[drawing] I LOVE YOU on [his] chest and its drummerâ⬠(35-36). According to Jacques Derrida, everything we have access to in this world is a text, as we require language in order to conceptualise it (158). Hence, although objective reality exists, we are unable to access it; all we have is a representation of it brought about by language (158). In line with this train of thought, not only is the speaker unable to return to the actual moment of love, when she uses language to recreate it, she is actually travelling further away from the authentic moment, as all she has now is an arbitrary representation of it. The Passion emphasises this point with Henriââ¬â¢s diary. When he first starts to keep a diary in order to preserve his memories, Domino, his friend, tells him that ââ¬Å"every moment [he steals] from the present is a moment [he has] lost forever. Thereââ¬â¢s only nowâ⬠(Winterson 29). Indeed, when Henri tries to recount the first night he makes love with Villanelle, he ââ¬Å"lose[s] sense of [his] work, writing this story, trying to convey to [the reader] what really happened. Trying not to make up too muchâ⬠(103). He implies that in every attempt to recreate a scenario, one cannot avoid the embellishment of facts; all he can do is try ââ¬Å"not to make up too muchâ⬠(103). This highlights the subjective nature of language, and suggests that any attempt to think about a moment of love can only fail, as the subjective medium of language prevents one from returning to the unadulterated moment. As Jean-Luc Marion says, ââ¬Å"We can give love only an interpreta tion, or rather a non-interpretation, that is purely subjective, indeed sentimental.â⬠(71) By thinking about love through the medium of languages, one is already attempting to participate in the act of interpretation; love thus fails as no one person can reach a pure, unmediated state of love. Sextonââ¬â¢s ââ¬Å"The Interrogation of the Man of Many Heartsâ⬠goes further to suggest that it is not just the act of love that exists as an arbitrary interpretation; the beloved only exists as the loverââ¬â¢s interpretation as well. In the poem, the speaker enagages in a conversation with another unknown speaker, trying to describe what kind of person the beloved is in many different ways: Sheââ¬â¢s my real witch, my fork, my mare, my mother of tears, my skirtful of hell, the stamp of my sorrows, the stamp of my bruises and also the children she might bear and also a private place, a body of bones (Sexton, ââ¬Å"The Interrogation of the Man of Many Heartsâ⬠24-28) Interestingly, the beloved is given many identifiers, but all of them are given to her by the speaker. Although she is physically present as ââ¬Å"that one in [his] armsâ⬠(Sexton, ââ¬Å"The Interrogation of the Man of Many Heartsâ⬠2), she does not have a voice throughout the whole poem; the speaker is the one who speaks for her. This indicates that whatever identity she is given in the poem is merely the speakerââ¬â¢s intepretation of who she is. Here, the beloved literally only exists as the loverââ¬â¢s creation, an imagined existence conjured from the speakerââ¬â¢s mind. The speaker acknowledges this when he says: I called her the woman in red. I called her the girl in pink. but she was ten colours and ten women. I could hardly name her. (85-89) He admits that although he calls her many things, he can still ââ¬Å"hardly name herâ⬠(Sexton, ââ¬Å"The Interrogation of the Man of Many Heartsâ⬠89), implying that all the identities he accords to her are simply his own interpretations of her, and inaccurate ones at that. The speakerââ¬â¢s repeated attempts to name the beloved convey a sense of anxiety at not being able to pinpoint her identity, and also a sense of futility in trying to do so. He considers that ââ¬Å"maybe I shouldnââ¬â¢t have put it in wordsâ⬠(92), suggesting that as long as he is using language, he will never be able to describe the beloved as she truly is. However, as Derrida mentioned, language is the only thing one has to make sense of the world (158). The speaker can never truly reach the beloved while using language, yet language is the only tool that he has. From this, it can be inferred that the lover, being imprisoned by language, will always only be able to access an interpretat ed version of the beloved that he conjures up himself. The real person behind the beloved is forever unattainable, thus leading love to fail. This is further emphasised in ââ¬Å"That Dayâ⬠, as the speaker literally attempts to piece together her beloved in a series of fragmented images. She recalls his ââ¬Å"tongue that came from [his] lipsâ⬠(Sexton, ââ¬Å"That Dayâ⬠11), ââ¬Å"the doorway of [his] heartâ⬠(13), and his ââ¬Å"red veins and [his] blue veinsâ⬠(15). The poem focuses on various parts of the belovedââ¬â¢s anatomy, but never features a full image of him. This reflects the impossibility for the lover to create a complete, or true image of the belovedââ¬â¢s person. Just like in ââ¬Å"The Interrogation of the Man of Many Heartsâ⬠, the beloved here is an object of construction, a fictional character created by the lover. Marion expands on the idea that the beloved is a fictional construct created by the lover. According to him, the lover sees ââ¬Å"not [the beloved] but the sum of lived experiences, for which she is only the accidental cause and of which [the loverââ¬â¢s] consciousness is the real measureâ⬠(77). It is not the beloved who matters, but the lived experiences that the lover associates with the beloved. In The Passion, Henri states that he was willing to die for Bonaparte because he loved him, and ââ¬Å"when [they] go to war [they] feel [they] are not a lukewarm people anymoreâ⬠(Winterson 108). This can be linked to the beginning of the story, when Henri is still living with his mother. He describes himself and his fellowmen as ââ¬Å"a lukewarm peopleâ⬠who ââ¬Å"long to be touchedâ⬠(7). He also tries to go to confession at church but dislikes the lack of ââ¬Å"fervourâ⬠there, thinking that one should ââ¬Å"do it from the heart or not at allâ⬠(7 ). Here, Henri displays a want for something more passionate and grand than what his current life is. He later suggests that romance is ââ¬Å"an explosion of dreams and desires that can find no outlet in everyday lifeâ⬠(13), implying that the reason he loves Bonaparte is because of his own lived experiences, which he associates with the latter. He does not want to lead a lukewarm existence, and thus pins his hopes and dreams onto Bonaparte, believing that going to war with him would save himself from continuing to be part of ââ¬Å"a lukewarm peopleâ⬠(7). Indeed, later on, when his monarchist mother starts to look up to soon-to-be King Bonaparte, he notes: ââ¬Å"I understood her hopes. We all had something to pin on Bonaparte.â⬠(32) He acknowledges that he is essentially projecting his desires onto Bonaparte, loving what he stands for ââ¬â passion and grandeur ââ¬â rather than Bonaparte himself as a man. However, this also means that Henriââ¬â¢s love for Bonaparte is destined to fail, as the object of his love does not really exist. While Henri envisions Bonaparte as a great man who cares for his troops, waking ââ¬Å"before [them] and [sleeping] long after [them]â⬠, as well as ââ¬Å"rallying [them] personallyâ⬠(Winterson 19), the truth is not so. As Henri later realises, Bonaparte is a cruel man who does not mind sacrificing recruits; after killing 2,000 of them in a senseless move, ââ¬Å"2,000 new recruits marched into Boulogneâ⬠the very next morning (25). He also thinks that losing 20,000 of his soldiers are ââ¬Å"good oddsâ⬠because he is ââ¬Å"used to losing that number in battleâ⬠(20). To Bonaparte, the soldiers are nothing more than easily replaceable cattle. This discrepancy between Henriââ¬â¢s envisioning of Bonaparte and what the latter is really like dooms Henriââ¬â¢s love to failure right from the start. It is a love that cannot be , as Henriââ¬â¢s beloved is not Bonaparte, but a self-made vision that he imagines to be Bonaparte. While Henriââ¬â¢s creation of a non-existent beloved makes his love doomed to fail, ââ¬Å"The Interrogation of the Man of Many Heartsâ⬠argues that it is possible for the lover to recognise this condition. The speaker talks about how he has ââ¬Å"tied [the beloved] down with a knotâ⬠(Sexton, ââ¬Å"The Interrogation of the Man of Many Heartsâ⬠42). This knot is associated with things like ââ¬Å"[his] motherââ¬â¢s apronâ⬠, and his ââ¬Å"daughterââ¬â¢s / pink corduroysâ⬠(48-51), things that are a part of his daily life and lived experiences. This suggests that the ââ¬Å"knotâ⬠stands for the images that he projects onto the beloved because of what he has experienced in life. However, the speaker comes to realise what he is doing, as he admits, ââ¬Å"I sang her out. I caught her down. / I stamped her out with a songâ⬠(55-56). He is aware that by conjuring up his own image of the beloved, he is wiping away the existence of her person. Hence, the poem implies a hope for the lover to break out of the tendency to ignore the belovedââ¬â¢s humanity as he projects his desires onto her, making it possible to create an authentic love that will not fail. However, The Passion suggests that there is no way for one to prevent the failure of love, as Henri repeats his mistake with Villanelle, despite thinking that he knows better. At the end of the book, Henri states that he has learnt about the difference between ââ¬Å"inventing a lover and falling in loveâ⬠during his encounters with Bonaparte and Villanelle, saying that ââ¬Å"the one is about you, the other about someone elseâ⬠(Winterson 158). Just like the speaker in ââ¬Å"The Interrogation of the Man of Many Heartsâ⬠, he appears to be enlightened about his act of projecting his desires onto Bonaparte, and claims to be ââ¬Å"in love with [Villanelle]; not a fantasy or a myth or a creature of [his] own makingâ⬠(157). Despite so, he is shown to simply be repeating his mistakes all over again. He ââ¬Å"[falls] in love with herâ⬠when she tells him that snowflakes are ââ¬Å"all differentâ⬠(87-88). The reason that he falls in love with Villanelle see ms shallow and almost unbelievable, but the reader will remember when Henri first mentions the snowflakes. Back when he goes to the church with Patrick at Boulogne, he thinks about the deaths that he has witnessed, and how Domino tells him to ââ¬Å"forget itâ⬠(42). Then, he suddenly shifts to wondering about the snowflakes: ââ¬Å"They say every snowflake is different. If that were true, how could the world go on? How could we ever get up off our knees? How could we ever recover from the wonder of it?â⬠(42-43) The quick shift from thoughts about death to snowflakes suggest that they are Henriââ¬â¢s form of defense mechanism. Only by thinking about the beauty in the world, can he forget the horrors that he has seen in war. This theory is reinforced by the second appearance of Henriââ¬â¢s thoughts about snowflakes. It comes right after he sees the Russian village people who are ââ¬Å"singing songsâ⬠as they sit ââ¬Å"by the frozen riversâ⬠, driven out of their homes to die because the Russians are destroying their villages in order to stop the French Army from looting them (Winterson 81). Once again, Henri thinks about how these villagers are dying because of them: ââ¬Å"We had killed them all without firing a shotâ⬠(81). Immediately after, he thinks, ââ¬Å"Is every snowflake different? No one knows.â⬠He turns to the snowflakes as a defense mechanism, bringing his mind to a place of safety, where he does not have to contemplate the many deaths that he has witnessed. The idea that snowflakes symbolise the beauty and peace in a war-wrecked world for Henri, sheds new light onto his reasons for falling in love with Villanelle. She tells him to ââ¬Å"think of [snowflakes]â⬠, he does so and immediately falls in love with her (Winterson 88). At this point of time, he does not even know her name; all he knows is that she is a ââ¬Å"vivandiereâ⬠, one of the girls kept at the camp in order to satisfy the sexual needs of the officers (87). There is no reason for him to fall in love with her, which suggests that he only does so by associating his lived experiences with her, connecting her with the comfort and peace that the snowflakes bring him. Similarly, on the night when they first make love, Henri thinks of how Villanelle lets her hair ââ¬Å"fall all over [him]â⬠, and how it makes him feel like he is ââ¬Å"lying in the long grass, safeâ⬠(103). By comparing her hair to the long grass, he associates her with his memories of ââ¬Å "the fields that ripen at harvestâ⬠back in his hometown (27), which causes him to feel safe. As such, I argue that Henriââ¬â¢s love for Villanelle is not truly different from what he felt for Bonaparte, even if he believes it to be. He is still projecting his desires and wants onto her without even really getting to know her. What he loves is the safety and comfort that he thinks Villanelle stands for, and not her person ââ¬â Henri once again creates a figure of the beloved that does not exist, dooming his love to failure. The Passion suggests that even when one is aware of the ideal form of love, the one that is ââ¬Å"about someone elseâ⬠and not yourself (Winterson 158), the lover ultimately cannot refrain from projecting his desires onto the beloved. Thus, love will always fail in the end, as the non-existent beloved that the lover creates is not capable of returning his feelings. Winterson and Sextonââ¬â¢s works largely focus on the relationship between the lover and the beloved, as well as love and language. Through the portrayal of conventional acts of love and language as arbitrary systems, the credibility of these sign systems as an indicator of love is challenged. Without any form of medium to confirm the existence of love, it is then impossible for any lover to arrive at the pure essence of love, resulting in it being a futile act. Furthermore, love is revealed to be an extremely subjective act in both the poems and the novel. Not only do no two people view love the same way, it is portrayed as inevitable that the lover attempts to project his desires onto the beloved. The person that is the beloved is completely wiped out, and instead, replaced with the illusion that the lover creates for himself. This brings up the problem of alterity ââ¬â can one truly love another person, or does one merely project bits of themselves to create a whole new non -person? While Sextonââ¬â¢s work expresses the potential for humankind to learn to relate to the other as they are one day, The Passion paints a much more pessimistic outlook. The novel suggests that the failure of love may be something that is inevitable and unstoppable, for as humans, even being aware of the ideal way to love, we ultimately fall short in practice. Works Cited Derrida, Jacques. Of Grammatology. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1976. Marion, Jean-Luc. Prolegomena to Charity. New York, Fordham University Press, 2002, Google Books, books.google.com.sg/books?id=wqo56sja2quclpg=pp1pg=pr3#v=onepageqf=false. Sexton, Anne. ââ¬Å"The Interrogation of The Man of Many Hearts.â⬠Anne Sexton: The Complete Poems, Mariner Books, Boston, 1999, pp. 176ââ¬â180. . ââ¬Å"That Day.â⬠Anne Sexton: The Complete Poems, Mariner Books, Boston, 1999, pp. 180ââ¬â181. Winterson, Jeanette. The Passion. London, Vintage, 2014.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)