Duras Day 3

When Chauvin is speaking about the woman who died he said, "When he called her she came back. And when he told her to go, she left. To obey him like that was her way of hoping. And even when she reached the threshold she waited for him to tell her to come in." Later on,  he says to Anne, "I'd like you to leave....Anne Desbaresdes got up from her chair and stood motionless in the middle of the room." (Chapter 6)
     I think this quote shows the parallel between the couple and Chauvin and Anne. The woman who died did everything her husband told her to, just as Anne does with Chauvin. It also shows a shift in their relationship. In previous chapters Chauvin is constantly asking Anne to stay longer, to drink more wine. Now he is telling her to leave. It seems like she made him uncomfortable when she touched her neck. His desires overtook him but then reminds himself that she is married. This is my reading of it. His comment telling her to leave is so abrupt that I am not sure how to take it. I do think this shows the shift in their relationship. He wants her to leave after asking her so many times to stay longer. 




“Anne Desbaresdes did not go in, but paused at the door of the cafe. Chauvin came over to her. When he reached her she turned towards the Boulevard da la Mer...."
"Chauvin raised his head towards the dark blue sky, which was still faintly lighted, and moved closer. She did not move back.” (Chapter 6)
   I think this quote shows that their relationship is coming to an end. She has never really paused before she entered the Cafe. There are a few instances in this chapter where she mentions that she needs to get home, that she has to go to a party. Chauvin repeatedly attempts to get closer to her and she doesn't reciprocate his actions. While I think their relationship is coming to an end, I don't think she wants to leave him. She keeps saying its getting late and they shouldn't drink so much wine, yet she continues to drink and stays to talk with him. 




"Tonight one of them does not share the others' appetite. She comes from the other end of town, from beyond the breakwaters and oil depots at the other end of the Boulevard de la Mer, from beyond the limits imposed upon her ten years before, where a man had offered her more wine than she could handle." (Chapter 7)
     During this chapter, they are at a dinner party. During this scene, food seems to be symbolic of the rules of society. By refusing the duck at the table it is as if she is refusing to behave how she is 'supposed to'. The others at the dinner party gossip about it. She no longer cares what people think of her. 

Duras Day 2

"He watched it for a time, till it landed in a tree in the garden next door, then continued on his way till he was beneath a certain window behind a beech tree. He looked up. Every day at this time there was a smile for him at this window. The smile was there. 'Come on,' shouted Anne Desbaresdes, 'let's go for a walk." (page 92)
    This quotes shows the routine of their everyday life. Each day she waits for him at the same window where he meets her. Each day they go on a walk. The event in the cafe disrupted their everyday, mundane life. This is one of the reasons why Anne is so interested in it. While the event was tragic, it was interesting. Anne returns to the cafe multiple times to talk about it and try to find out more information.

"I'm not used to going so far away from home," she explained. "But it's not because I'm afraid. I think it's more surprise, or something like it" (page 102)
    This quote also shows her routine. She doesn't travel or go out on her own. She doesn't stray from what she is used to or knows. Even the fact that she is drinking wine in this cafe is out of the ordinary for her. "It was obvious that she was not used to drinking wine, and that this hour of the day she was generally doing something quite different." (page 85) The murder of the woman in the cafe has made her do things she wouldn't have normally done before.

"It's difficult for a woman to find an excuse to go into a cafe, but I told myself that I could surely think of something, like wanting a glass of wine, being thirsty..." (page 94)
   I think this quote is significant because it shows that Anne is well aware of how she is being perceived and the pressures society puts on her. The others at the bar look at her disapprovingly. Even when she orders wine a few times, the bartender gives her a weird look. She knows that what she is doing is out of the ordinary for a woman but her curiosity gets the best of her.

Duras

The piano lesson is very stressed. The child doesn't seem to want to be taking piano lessons. He refuses to tell the teacher what moderato cantabile means. He refuses to play the song. The teacher seems irritated that he won't play. His mother repeatedly comments on his stubborness. The lesson seems to almost paralell the woman's scream and then the loudness of the crowd. At first the child won't play. By the time the crowd's noise has peaked he is playing the song perfectly (although the screaming is drowning out the song). The way Duras writes adds drama to the scene. She infuses the actions going on outside into the piano lesson. "A motorboat was framed in the open window. The child, facing his score, hardly moved- only his mother noticed it- as the motor boat passed through his blood." The motorboat outside is tied into the lesson. Then Duras goes back to the the lesson. "Are you sure for the last time now, are you sure you don't know what it means?" I think the murder happens while the piano is being played because it adds drama to the scene. Think about when someone dies in a television show or in a movie- sad, dramatic music is usually played in the background. The boy playing the piano adds drama to the scene.

A peice of music that was supposed to be played moderatly and harmoniously, like in this case, should have been calming. Instead we get the exact opposite feel from this lesson. The characters are stressed and angry with the child. He won't answer the teacher as to what moderato cantible means even though he should know this. He won't play the song for her. At the same time a woman was murdered at a cafe and the screams can be heard within the lesson room. The novel begins with quite a stressful and sad scene.

Under the Sand

I think that the traumatic event in the film is when Jean goes missing. Since she has no proof (until the end) that he has drowned she is in limbo. She doesn't want to admit that he is dead and can't get closure because she doesn't know for sure. She doesn't want to admit that he is no longer alive. I think her coping mechanism is her imagining that he is still there with her. She speaks about him as if he were still there and nothing ever happened. Her friends show concern when she does this. Concern that she is not mourning correctly. But I think it is because there is no physical body. She can't believe its true when she has no proof. Other theories cross her mind- did he leave her? Was he depressed and committed suicide? The prolonged mystery of his dissaperance messes with her.The mind does crazy things when a traumatic event takes place in someone's life. She finds comfort in (I forget his name) the new man in her life but I think it is only as a temporary filler for Jean. Having someone there makes her feel better at the time but she distanced herself from him.

When she went to the morgue and saw her husband's body, his clothing, and his watch I thought that she would finally face the truth. When she breaks down on the beach and begins to cry it makes you think she has finally come to terms with reality. I think the man she is running to is her husband. She is still seeing him which I think suggests that she really hasn't come to terms with his death. She is still holding onto him even after she was given tangible proof.

Freud Day 2

After Freud interpret's Dora's dream about the jewel case, she tells him that when she woke up from the dream, she smelled smoke. Freud interprets this as a connection to himself. The three dominant men in her life, Freud, her father, and Herr K all smoke. Freud thought that the smell of smoke represented Dora's wanting to kiss a man (which would smell like smoke if the man was a smoker). He concludes that she thought of kissing Freud during one of their sessions. "I came to the conclusion that the idea had probably occured to her one day during a sitting that she would liek to have a kiss from me. This would have been the exciting cause which led her to repeat the warning dream and to form her resolution of stopping the treatment. Everything fits together very satisfactorily upon this view; but owing to the characteristics of 'transference' its validity is not susceptible of definite proof." (pg 66)The definition of transference is "a phenomenon in psychoanalysis characterized by unconscious redirection of feelings from one person to another." He thought that she was redirecting feelings for someone else onto Freud (unconciously). This all seems to make sense but I feel like Freud put the peices together so that it would fit his own theory. He interpreted this which is great but what was Dora's view on it? She wouldn't give him any information on the subject so he filled in the blanks.

Through dream anaylsis, Freud let the patient tell the dream and then associate it to whatever came to mind. It seemed like sometimes Freud only cared about his interpretation of the dreams. Even if Dora refused to agree with his interpretation Freud would run with it.

Freud Day 1

Merriam Webster Dictionary defines literature as "the body of writings on a particular subject". Freud's analysis of Dora is exactly that, the writings about a subject. The analysis is clear and well organized. It presents a story- Dora's psychoanalysis. I think what also makes it literature is that it can be studied. We can learn a lot from Freud's work. Another definition from the Merriam Webster Dictionary is, "writings in prose or verse; especially : writings having excellence of form or expression and expressing ideas of permanent or universal interest ". I see Freud's analysis as literature because it is the story of a woman's internal struggle. Not only can we learn from it but it is an interesting subject. It is first and foremost important literature in the field of psychology. (I am reminded of the novel "Sybil"- the story of a girl


In the introduction to the study, Freud notes that he didn't take notes during their sessions so that he didn't disturb the patient. He would record the conversations immediatly after. This gives rise to a question, when recording something you listened to is it not easy to transfer your own thoughts and biases into it? Do you remember everything that happened objecively and clearly? This raised a flag when I was reading. Also, he didn't speak with the mother. He spoke to the rest of the family. I think that speaking with the mother would have been beneficial because (normally, but not in this case) girls look up to their mothers. Even if they don't look up to them, the mother has a significant impact on her daughters life and actions. If the mother suffered from "housewife's psychosis" wouldn't it have been beneficial to meet with her in person? Freud notes that part of Dora's problem could have been heretitary. If he believed this why didn't he bring the mother in? This seems like a major blind spot.

Freud was far from being pro-women. "According to Freud, penis envy occurs when a girl realizes that she has no penis. Girls hold their mother responsible for their lack of a penis and do not forgive her for their being thus put at a disadvantage," Freud suggested (1933). Many view Freud's work with the Odeipul concept condescending. He wasn't a supporter of the women's emancipation movement and thought that women ""Women oppose change, receive passively, and add nothing of their own."