View Single Post
Old 06-07-2021, 03:00 PM   #83
poohbear_nc
Bah! Humbug!
poohbear_nc ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.poohbear_nc ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.poohbear_nc ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.poohbear_nc ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.poohbear_nc ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.poohbear_nc ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.poohbear_nc ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.poohbear_nc ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.poohbear_nc ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.poohbear_nc ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.poohbear_nc ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
poohbear_nc's Avatar
 
Posts: 63,651
Karma: 135239851
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Durham, NC
Device: Every Kindle Ever Made & To Be Made!
Gwendolyn is introduced to the reader as the object of a male gaze - Deronda's gaze - whose introspection sets the immediate tone and perception of Gwendolyn for the reader. And he also immediately associates evil with her beauty. She will remain the object of male gaze throughout the novel, as various men examine and interpret her looks, her words, and her imagined feelings.

When she reappears in the evening at the casino, this association with evil is further reinforced by "...she has got herself up as a sort of serpent now -- all green and silver, and winds her neck about a little more than usual" -- "It is a sort of Lamia beauty she has" -- again the object of male gaze. An interesting choice Lamia - who was cursed with eating her own children and permanent insomnia -- a punishment from Hera after having an affair with her husband Zeus.

Spoiler:
Rather a fascinating foreshadowing of Gwendolyn's punishment later in the novel by Mrs. Glasher - who cunningly tries to prevent Gwendolyn from 'eating' her children's inheritance from Grandcourt by extracting her promise not to marry Grandcourt.
Eliot brilliantly re-invents the Zeus/Hera Lamia myth with the tragic couple of Grandcourt/Glasher - where the wife Gwendolyn is cursed by the mistress Lydia Glasher.

Gwendolyn will have difficulty sleeping throughout the novel.



And the anti-Semite theme is introduced early as well, with her unpleasant interaction at Mr. Wiener's pawnshop - "...these Jew dealers were so unscrupulous in taking advantage of Christians unfortunate at play!"
poohbear_nc is offline   Reply With Quote