Thursday, April 27, 2006
beauty is in the eye of the painter
“There is such a shelter in each other.” This is what Carlene tells Kiki in one of their first conversations, and this is also what she includes as a postscript to the note in the painting she leaves her. When we meet Kiki at the beginning of On Beauty, she has already begun to feel she is losing her shelter, Howard, because he has cheated on her. As she questions her marriage, she begins to question herself as well. “Right now I’m trying to understand what my life’s been for- I feel I’m at that point - and what it will be for” (176). While she disagrees with Carlene Kipps on some things (“I don’t ask myself what did I live for... I ask whom did I live for” 176), Kiki finds real shelter in Carlene, someone who she feels actually sees her and who provides genuine friendship.
The turning point in the novel, and Kiki’s life, comes from Mrs. Kipps after she has passed away. When Kiki finds the note in the Maitresse Erzulie painting that Levi had stolen from Monty, she leaves Howard, something we as readers have been waiting for since we found out about his infidelity. “Kiki- please enjoy this painting. It needs to be loved by someone like you. Your friend, Carlene” (430). This note, with the postscript mentioned above, seems to remind Kiki of how Carlene saw her, and she finally leaves Howard.
Howard is an easy character to villainize; he cheats on his wife twice, seems to think only of himself and even the ideas he has that once seemed revolutionary are now “almost automatic” (118). As the publishing date for his book is repeatedly pushed back, and he fails his wife twice, Howard begins to see his life as a fraud. It is the Maitresse Erzulie painting and accompanying note that gives Kiki the final strength to leave Howard, but it is another painting that begins to redeem Howard in the reader’s eyes at the very end.
It’s telling that Smith chooses to end the book at what is supposed to be the most important lecture of Howard’s career. Howard screws up here, yet again, when he leaves his notes in the car. But it is at this moment that Howard realizes what really matters to him (as Carlene would say, “whom” he lived for, not “what”) when he sees Kiki’s face in the crowd. It is through a Rembrandt painting, Hendrickje Bathing, that Howard makes this realization. In the painting, the woman “seemed to be considering whether to wade deeper.” Howard then looks into the audience and sees Kiki- “her face, his life” (442). At the last moment, Howard is redeemed as we realize that he is truly seeing Kiki for what she is once again.
The Haitian Maitresse Erzulie painting provided a backbone for the life-changing friendship with Carlene that Kiki needed, a friendship that continues to impact Kiki even after Carlene’s death, through the painting. The Rembrandt painting, on the other hand, provides an eye-opener for Howard, the least sympathetic character, and thus a last-minute redemption. The colors of the paint also provides a hopeful ending , like the hay in Howard’s End, “the ever present human hint of yellow, intimation of what is to come” (443).
The turning point in the novel, and Kiki’s life, comes from Mrs. Kipps after she has passed away. When Kiki finds the note in the Maitresse Erzulie painting that Levi had stolen from Monty, she leaves Howard, something we as readers have been waiting for since we found out about his infidelity. “Kiki- please enjoy this painting. It needs to be loved by someone like you. Your friend, Carlene” (430). This note, with the postscript mentioned above, seems to remind Kiki of how Carlene saw her, and she finally leaves Howard.
Howard is an easy character to villainize; he cheats on his wife twice, seems to think only of himself and even the ideas he has that once seemed revolutionary are now “almost automatic” (118). As the publishing date for his book is repeatedly pushed back, and he fails his wife twice, Howard begins to see his life as a fraud. It is the Maitresse Erzulie painting and accompanying note that gives Kiki the final strength to leave Howard, but it is another painting that begins to redeem Howard in the reader’s eyes at the very end.
It’s telling that Smith chooses to end the book at what is supposed to be the most important lecture of Howard’s career. Howard screws up here, yet again, when he leaves his notes in the car. But it is at this moment that Howard realizes what really matters to him (as Carlene would say, “whom” he lived for, not “what”) when he sees Kiki’s face in the crowd. It is through a Rembrandt painting, Hendrickje Bathing, that Howard makes this realization. In the painting, the woman “seemed to be considering whether to wade deeper.” Howard then looks into the audience and sees Kiki- “her face, his life” (442). At the last moment, Howard is redeemed as we realize that he is truly seeing Kiki for what she is once again.
The Haitian Maitresse Erzulie painting provided a backbone for the life-changing friendship with Carlene that Kiki needed, a friendship that continues to impact Kiki even after Carlene’s death, through the painting. The Rembrandt painting, on the other hand, provides an eye-opener for Howard, the least sympathetic character, and thus a last-minute redemption. The colors of the paint also provides a hopeful ending , like the hay in Howard’s End, “the ever present human hint of yellow, intimation of what is to come” (443).
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
On Beauty
Feel free to talk about any aspect of the ending of On Beauty that interests you or to compare/contrast Smith's ending with those of our previous novels. The only requirement is that you use quotes and specific details to make your case. If you need a prompt to get started, here are two to choose from.
You might consider our Big Question in class: What is beauty OR who or what is beautiful by the end of the novel? One way of looking at this would be to check out images of the two paintings central to the close of the novel's action, Rembrandt's "Hendrickje bathing" (the painting about which Howard is to give his tenure lecture) and Hippolyte's "Maitresse Erzulie" (the painting Carlene leaves Kiki). You can find images of both these paintings (as well as others mentioned in the novel) here: http://www.authortrek.com/on_beauty_page.html.
We have discussed the parallels between Margaret Schlegel and Kiki Belsey. But those veterans of Middlemarch might want to consider an earlier literary ancestor for Kiki: Dorothea Brooke. Go back and look at Kiki's reflections of her life on p. 424 of the novel, when she thinks "she had not become Malcolm X's private secretary...". Then look at Eliot's final description of Dorothea's life: "Certainly those determining acts of her life were not ideally beautiful. They were the mixed result of young and noble impulse struggling amidst the conditions of an imperfect social state, in which great feelings will often take the aspect of error, and great faith the aspect of illusion" (514). Is Kiki Belsey best understood as a Victorian heroine?
You might consider our Big Question in class: What is beauty OR who or what is beautiful by the end of the novel? One way of looking at this would be to check out images of the two paintings central to the close of the novel's action, Rembrandt's "Hendrickje bathing" (the painting about which Howard is to give his tenure lecture) and Hippolyte's "Maitresse Erzulie" (the painting Carlene leaves Kiki). You can find images of both these paintings (as well as others mentioned in the novel) here: http://www.authortrek.com/on_beauty_page.html.
We have discussed the parallels between Margaret Schlegel and Kiki Belsey. But those veterans of Middlemarch might want to consider an earlier literary ancestor for Kiki: Dorothea Brooke. Go back and look at Kiki's reflections of her life on p. 424 of the novel, when she thinks "she had not become Malcolm X's private secretary...". Then look at Eliot's final description of Dorothea's life: "Certainly those determining acts of her life were not ideally beautiful. They were the mixed result of young and noble impulse struggling amidst the conditions of an imperfect social state, in which great feelings will often take the aspect of error, and great faith the aspect of illusion" (514). Is Kiki Belsey best understood as a Victorian heroine?
Monday, April 03, 2006
Remains of the Day
As they are parting, perhaps for the last time, Stevens tells Mrs. Benn (Miss Kenton) that the latter part of a married couple's life is supposed to be the best part. A few pages later the stranger sitting next to Stevens tells him that the latter part of the day is often considered the best part. Given that this book is titled Remains of the Day, it seems extra important to reflect on the "remains" of this book. Where are we left at the ending of this novel? Is Stevens looking at the "best part" or continuing to struggle with reality? Feel free to talk just about Ishiguro's novel or compare/contrast with an earlier book we've read. And make sure to provide specific quotes from the novel to back up your position.
