#10

If I have no said here of the woman and children ’tis not for want of appreciation: they were the salt of the settlement. There was no nonsense of high principles about them: they have followed their husbands and fathers and brother to this outland spot as a woman will do” (75, Chapter 7)

This novel is different than the other books that we have read. Juliet is forced to go to work after her father dies. She is sexualized by the men she visits when searching for a typewriting job. They look her up and down trying to decide if she will be fit for the job before they even evaluate her abilities. She describes her duties as typing “Like the machine that I was”. There is a tone of humor in the way she reacts to the anarchists. After writing her resignation letter she describes herself as a “Free Woman”. She acts as if she is different from other women, less emotional and more rational and intelligent. I think that this quote is probably the way Grant Allen feels about women, rather than that all women are like Juliet.

What are Allen’s true feelings about women? Is there also an underlying joke in this story? Are we supposed to like Juliet? What is the purpose of the dog? How does Micheala differ from Juliet, other than their economic status (she describes her as childlike)?

In class notes:

• Saint references? Political references? Very intertextual, modern, intellectual
• Ulysses, Romeo and Juliet, Carmen and Michaela, St. George (patron saint of England), and the dragon (she is not the princess)–which role will fit her best?
• She tries out all of these different lifestyles and personas
• gender?
• pg 128