Seraglio: An analysis

Seraglio An analysisSeraglio centers on a fundamental mystery the complexities of a husband and wifes relationship. The roadblock that they experience between them is further emphasized with being from twain different cultures, which is portrayed as almost being from two different worlds, close besides not touching, like two continents, each with its own customs and history, between which there is no bridge. It is evident that Swift sets this barrier from the start as his interesting choice of title refers to a room where the women ar kept secluded from the men.The narration is in commencement exercise person homophile(a) and is enhanced by the main protagonist the husband. The exotic setting which the functions ar indulged in, contrasts deeply with the dark events that have the taken place in their lives the husbands affair, his wifes miscarriage, the misfortune of not being able to have children in the future and the ways in which they try to ment wholey escape from thes e woes. Cosmic irony is common in Swifts micturate as his characters are hardly ever happy, and when they are, the feeling is almost alien to them.Seraglio find oneselfms to defy the common story structure as there is no solution to the predicaments the characters face. The husband as a flat character means he has no function other than to provide us with the narrative, which is useful to us as readers when interpreting the essentials of the story.Swifts preservation of names and detail of the characters lives evokes further curiosity in the reader, proposing a desire for us to learn to a greater extent close the characters. In comparison, if we look at swift himself, the Telegraph states No contemporary author is such a closed book, indicating that his characters whitethorn be mirroring himself. In contrast to the deficiency in detail of the characters, Swift is quite descriptive when illustrating the city, possibly to indulge the readers attention further into the story.When i t comes to the husbands personal life such as his current marriage, he makes more use of narrative passages, leaving the reader to dig in further for clues some the suspender. It is as if Swift uses these narrative passages as a wrench for the author to piece certain things together, including the sensitivity of the couples relationship and the feelings associated.In A Family Man, Pritchett narrates in third person whilst introducing to us the main protagonist Berenice, a cleaning lady who is snarled in a piquant affair with William Cork. We sense that it is on the verge of being discovered when Florence (Mrs. Cork) enters the story, a large ponderous woman who at once grips the readers attention due to this presentation of her. Initi all in ally, the reader is drawn to her size, but later it is who she really is that keeps us drawn to her further. Pritchett overly injects curiosity into the story when describing how one character is towards the other, in this case, Berenice w ith Florence as the reader is stepping into her shoes and experiencing what she feels and how she reacts. The author uses her as a tool to aid us in interpreting this, as we are displace plainly in her shoes. Pritchett makes this easier for us as we read of Berenices character from a third person limited extremum of view.The tension is soon created when Florence reveals herself to be Mrs. Cork, the wife of William Cork, and continues to mount throughout the story as we ob sue how the two characters react with each other. Pritchett presents to us the two women meeting for the first time, at first petty(a) towards each other but eventually confrontational, Is that what he has been stuffing you up with? I know what you and he are up to.Florence is indefinite about the affair, even so the reader knows completely well that it occurred, indicating elements of dramatic irony within the story. However, we are in any case left in the dark as much as Florence is when it comes to acute the precise details of the affair (for example when it started), creating further suspense and mystery.Berenice is a energetic character, in that she lies to Florence and wobbles her story to get around the difficult situation she finds herself in. We see another side to her, especially as Pritchett states in the beginning, She had been brought up by Quakers and thought it wrong to tell or act a lie. This affirmation completely contradicts what she does later, creating a complex in her character. She encounters conflict and transforms as a result of it.On the other mint, Florence serves as a flat character as there are no multidimensional traits in her personality. Also, she is readily recognized as the adulterers wife, making her a stock character. Evidently, Prichett may have placed her there to function out the multidimensional traits in Benerice.The other flat character in the story is Mrs. Brewster, whos thing in the novel is minimal, but her importance is great. It is th rough her words that we view (for the first time) another outlook on Benerice.After thinking Benerice would have learnt her lesson in regard to nearly getting caught by Mrs. Cork, Benerice visits another couple and we see elements of a flirty nature through Mrs. Brewsters view of her, She ought to get marriedI wish she wouldnt swoosh her hair around like that. Through this dry ending, Pritchett is almost alluding to a possible recurrence of another affair with a married man (Mrs. Brewsters husband?), which presents the reader with a whole new serial publication of events to look forward to.The Prophets Hair portrays a family from the valley of Kashmir who are broken by a strand of the Muslim prophet Mohammeds hair. This story is full of overtones, regarding the personal effects of religion on others, and the way in which corruption is associated with money. Ultimately, Rushdie highlights two strong forces within our society money and religion, and how they conflict with each other . In the end, the hair itself raises this vertex through the way it affects each character the materialistic Hashim family and Sheikh Sin the thief who craves jewels, who all perish eventually.The opening of the story is filled with overtones of religion and money, which are emphasized from the start as we learn that Hashim is a money-lender and not a godly man. From the beginning we are informed that Hashim sees value in nothing else but money. Also, on discovering the religious trinket, Hashim immediately thinks of American millionaires who buy stolen paintings and hide them away, which may suggest one of his thought processes of wanting to sell the ampule in future.Hashim is a dynamic character and Rushdie demonstrates extreme contrasts and complexities in his character the protagonist starts off as an atheist then transforms into (what he thinks) a deeply religious individualistic (even though he continues to beat others and has sinned to his wife), imposing strict religious acts onto his family. His character also becomes dislikeable to the audience after the effects of the Prophets hair. On discovering the find, he does not do the honorable thing of returning it to the shine. The reader expects this as we learnt in the beginning that he set great store by living honorably in the world, however, his actions were not honorable and resemble that of a thief.In contrast to Hashim, Atta is a flat character in that he does not undergo any change throughout the course of the story. Rushdie may have used him as a device to enhance the plot as he is at one point involved in removing the religious trinket from the home, and also represents the familys wealth in the opening scene. He also wakes up Hashim in the end, causing a serial publication of unfortunate events to unfold.Huma is one of the main protagonists alongside her father, who also enhances the plot (perhaps more than Atta) as she introduces Sheikh Sin to the situation. She evokes pathos in the reader , and we can empathize with her more than Atta, as she is victimized by her father for no reason, whereas in the beginning Atta lands himself in trouble when looking for a thief, which the reader may interpret as foolish behavior.Other round characters include Sheikh Sin and his wife. She is a round character as she evokes interest in the reader in regards to how she got her trance back when her husband was killed.Rushdies use of symbolism is extensive throughout the story. I believe the religious trinket may interpret the two elements of corruption involved in our society, folded into one. The phial has a monetary value whilst the hair contains great spiritual value. To attain the prophets hair is selfish and wrong, but the monetary value of the phial is greatly desired by all, possibly symbolizing that these two elements are not compatible with each other. Fiona Richards from the University of Leeds also states, It illustrates the extent to which the icons meaning is determined by the context in which it is placed, and its ability to subvert and destabilize the limits placed upon its meaning by such a framing.Rushdie also prepares the reader with the series of events that are to occur, the vitreous contentment of that house hold, of that life of porcelain delicacy and alabaster sensibilities, was to be shattered beyond all hope of repair, indulging the readers interest further.Rushdie also induces cultural references through his use of words from the Kashmiri language, such as kukri knives and shikara. This gives the reader an insight into the culture by revealing to us different Kashmiri words. He is around expanding our knowledge of the Kashmiri culture here.The Prophets Hair ends ironically, as the religious trinket aids poor Sheikh Sins wife and disabled children but destroys the wealthy Hashim and his family. In the end, it only worked for those who truly needed it.Weldons Weekend presents the habitual and normality of a standard middle class family , and the pressures that the main protagonist Martha faces. Weldon, who is a feminist also challenges conventional feminism here.The story is illustrated from an omniscient point of view, as Martha and at measure Martins thoughts are revealed to the reader. The author portrays Martha as a staring(a), loyal and hard-working wife, but her efforts are unappreciated by her dominating husband Martin, who she tries hard to please but (sometimes) gets stern looks from him. As the story follows, it is evident that Marthas daily struggle of being the perfect mother to her kids, keeping life organized and maintaining Martins satisfaction has had an effect on her mind state, to an extent that her thoughts have been tormented by fear and paranoia, You dont want his monument providing a passion you neglected to develop. Do you? The presence of Katie (Collins new wife after Janet) may also trigger Marthas paranoia as she represents what Martin could have after Martha. In her desperation to ple ase Martin, Martha also changes her thoughts and ways to match that of Martins, No such thing as an accident. Accidents are Freudian slips they are wilful, bad tempered things. Although it appears as Martha is speaking, this is actually something Martin may have conditioned her to think. Her own thoughts have transformed to reflect Martins.The story contains heavy themes of gender stereotype and gender inequality. Weldon alludes to this when talking about the cars Martin has a posh sports car whilst Martha drives an old estate car. Also, the reader can notice that Martin tends to do the manly jobs such as driving and lighting the fire, whereas Martha cooks and cleans. Predominately, Martin is the preponderating force in the story and Martha is the secondary force, who is threatened.Martha is also associated with further negative connotations, such as complaining too much, being paranoid and dull, and at times slow. This could represent the modern attitudes of housewives as they don t work but stay at home all day. This idea is further emphasized when we see elements of quoted dialogue from Martin. He mainly speaks in imperatives to her, You shouldnt have bought it so ripe, Martha Be honest nowThis creates tension in the reader as one may get jade of hearing demand after demand. This also enables us to experience the restlessness Martha may feel.Martha contrasts to Katie, who is childlike in stature and also in manner, as Martha cannot charge her in the kitchen. She can also be viewed as being more independent than Katie, as Katie is in her mid thirties with nothing at all to her name, neither husband, nor children, nor property. However, in the story it is almost as if Martha feels threatened by Katie because Martin states that she is exciting and wonderful and has restored Collins youth.Weldon cleverly reveals to the reader Collin and Janets past relationship to symbolize what could occur if Martin was not satisfied with Martha he could find someone like Ka tie who is more extrovert and relaxed, and who could bring out the youth in him. We learn that Janet was also dull and quieter than her husband just as Martha is.The ending can be viewed as either being pessimistic or optimistic. Is it that Jenny has motherhood, marriage and friendly relationship to look forward to? Or are these the things that she will find hard to embrace? In the end, Weldon leaves the reader to assume their own opinions.The story of Philomela is told in first person narrative, and it is Philomelas sister Procne who narrates the story. This contradicts the readers expectations as the title is Philomela, so initially, we expect the story to be from from her point of view.Procne narrates in a cold and firm tone throughout the story, which creates more pathos without any extra detail being needed to create this mood.The reader cannot help but notice comparisons with Ovids tale of Philomela as it is a much more detailed version, providing an elaborate account of Philo melas suffering. On the other hand Tennant has cleverly condensed her version of the story, leaving the reader to conjure up thoughts about what might have happened themselves.On killing her son, the reader can still empathise with Procne when she states, Years and years will pass, and these minutes will still be longer than them all. Every hour will be made up out of them. Although she keeps an unemotional tone during this scene, Tennant still informs the reader that this tragedy will neer escape her mind, engaging our sympathies with her.Tennants use of symbolism is reflected through the birds in the story, I moped, like the birds my children bring back when they go out for a walk. Procne associates herself with these birds, and this association may allude to the women of that era who werent allowed to speak out, who didnt have a voice.The absence of Philomela has led the grief-stricken Procne to isolate herself, and it is the sound of birds that is the only thing which keeps her content, It was summer, and birds were singing in the coppice of olives. This could perhaps forshadow the events that are to occur, as the birds are the only thing which give her hope and also represent the voiceless women, particularly Philomela who will give her the forefinger to avenge later.Procne turns from a grief-stricken sister to a murderer and an avenger. These complexities in her character cause her to be a dynamic one. Philomela is also a dynamic character as she encounters conflict and is changed by it. She also introduces and enhances the plot. She evokes the anger and hostility needed towards her husband in order to carry out the revenge, She reached my side and took my hand so I could rise with new strength.On the other hand, Tereus is a flat character because he has no other function other than to serve as a villain in the story, who offers to take Philomela to Thrace but then rapes her.Isyth is a flat character as he has no major involvement in the story apart f rom being served on a plate to his father and used as part of revenge.Procne constantly describes Philomelas physical features, I watched her all the time- for signs of happiness, or discontent, or simply to see what her eyes would say to me. Her eyes which speak their own language provide the reader with an insight into how she feels, as this is the only way we can understand her.ReferencesBooksBradbury, Malcom (1988), The Penguin Book of Modern British Short Stories, Penguin BooksInternet SourcesMalcom, David (2003), Understanding Graham Swift Online University of South Carolina http//books.google.co.uk/books?id=EttQoAGfCcsCpg=RA1-PA72lpg=RA1-PA72dq=criticism+on+hareem+by+graham+swiftsource=blots=s3rfxl9fbvsig=3LdeVZlPHVfNg2 02fSIWzw2dHchl=enei=lWWJS4P2H4n60wSF0p3UCwsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=4ved=0CA4Q6AEwAwv=onepageq=f=falseAccessed 25/02/10KCS,(2007) Analysis Rushdies The Prophets Hair Online http//www.associatedcontent.com/article/226858/analysis_rushdies_the_prophets_h air.htmlAccessed 10/01/10Richards, Fiona The Desecrated Shrine Movable Icons and Literary Irreverence in Salman Rushdies The Prophets Hair Online University of Leeds http//www.soas.ac.uk/soaslit/issue2/RICHARDS.PDFAccessed 25/02/10Marks, Tracey (2000), Philomela in Ovids Metamorphoses Online Ancient Sites Communityonline discussions on Greek and Roman mythologyhttp//www.webwinds.com/thalassa/philomela.htmAccessed 25/02/10Gradua Networks (1995-2009) A Family Man by V.S. Pritchett How the writer makes the story interesting and entertain Onlinehttp//www.cheathouse.com/essay/essay_view.php?p_essay_id=103107ixzz0gmm2K9D7http//www.cheathouse.com/essay/essay_view.php?p_essay_id=103107Accessed 18/12/09