Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice was written by Jane Austen and originally published in 1813. However the first manuscript of the novel was written by Austen more than ten years previously and called First Impressions. The novel focusses on the love of two people, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, and how they manage to build a bridge across the class divide they inevitably face and break down one anothers pride and prejudice. Darcy is a wealthy upper class man whereas Elizabeth is the second eldest of five sisters in a middle class family, both growing up in a rigid Victorian society.

The aspect of courtly love between Darzy and Elizabeth is central to the novel. Courtly love often refers to love that has to overcome many obstacles, and the strictly drawn class divide in Pride and Prejudice is perhaps the biggest interference in love. In this way, Pride and Prejudice is similar to the greatest love story of all time, Romeo and Juliet, because two young lovers have to battle against the odds of family prejudice. Another aspect of courtly love commonly explored is that of love at first sight, and Austen inverts this cliché because Darcy and Elizabeth originally dispise eachother. However, the original name of the novel, First Impressions, demonstrates that Austen had this factor of courtly love in mind when writing her novel.

Pride and Prejudice is a novel "defined by dialogue" and is generally free of elaborate metaphors and description. This is where Austen's novel differs from other literature I have read around my course of Love through the Ages, nost notably Tess of the d'Urbervilles. Whereas Tess was written solely around two lovers, exploring their emotion through the use of detailed and charismatic imagery of nature by Hardy, Pride and Prejudice has the benefit of other characters interpretation of events. For example, the view of Elizabeth's aunt and uncle, Mr and Mrs Gardiner, on Mr Darcy is considered as particularly valuable to Elizabeth and is therefore also treasured by the reader. Also the views of Elizabeth's sister Jane are highly credible and the two eldest Benner daughters often confide in eachother.

I thought that Austen's classic was highly enjoyable and through Elizabeth and Darcy she has created two timeless heroes. The courtly love exemplified by the two lovers is ideal to compare to other forms of less romantic love.

John Donne- Negative Love

I never stoop'd so low, as they
Which on an eye, cheek, lip, can prey ;
Seldom to them which soar no higher
Than virtue, or the mind to admire.
For sense and understanding may
Know what gives fuel to their fire ;
My love, though silly, is more brave ;
For may I miss, whene'er I crave,
If I know yet what I would have.

If that be simply perfectest,
Which can by no way be express'd
But negatives, my love is so.
To all, which all love, I say no.
If any who deciphers best,
What we know not—ourselves—can know,
Let him teach me that nothing. This
As yet my ease and comfort is,
Though I speed not, I cannot miss.

John Donne’s poem, written in the early 17^th century, is a comment on the inferiority of physical love when compared to spiritual, metaphysical love. In the opening of the poem Donne writes that “I never stoop’d so low, as they/which on an eye, cheek, lip, can prey”. Donne is stating that he was never satisfied by the physical attractions in a woman. Plato defined this physical love as Eros and the entire poem is about the pursuit of a more Divine love- appreciating female beauty not because of sexual desire but because it is a close imitation of the Gods.

A popular theory when attempting to define God’s attributes was designed originally by Saint Thomas Aquinas, and called via negativa. Via negativa attempts to define God by saying what he is not, rather than what he is, and I think Donne had this theory in mind when writing ‘Negative Love’. Via negativa is speaking about God using only negative terms to emphasise the difference between God and humanity. For example, God is not finite; he does not have material qualities, and is therefore infinite. Donne says in his poem that if his love is one “which can by no way be express’d/ But negatives, my love is so” and I think this is a direct link to the indescribable God who is beyond human understanding that the via negativa attempts to define because he can be described by no way but negatives.

Donne understood that searching for Divine love was completely different to actually finding it, because no one can ever reach the Divine love and therefore fully understand God. However pursuit of this unreachable love is necessary for intellectual fulfillment because once you know it is there, you cannot want anything else, because it is so extraordinary.  Therefore Donne says that “My love, although silly, is more brave” because compared to Eros love, which is easy to find, it is “silly” to search for something more spiritual, but also more “brave” because you learn so much more on the way.

I think the poem ends of a negative note, because Donne admits that he can never reach the Divine love he shrives so hard for, and therefore will in the end be dissatisfied. Donne says that “If any who deciphers best, /What we know not, ourselves, can know”- in other words if any one understands this negative love- “Let him teach me that nothing; This/ As yet my ease and comfort is,”- then this is at yet his only comfort. The irony is that his only comfort is not a comfort at all because no one, apart from the Divine Himself, will ever “decipher best” the love he is searching her. However, as he says in the last line: “Though I will speed not, I cannot miss” and I interpreted this as him saying he will not slow down or stop his search, because he cannot accept missing the aim of devotion, the Divine love he wants so badly, and the claim “I cannot miss” is a desperate cry. Therefore Donne has been gripped by Divine obsession, and pursuit of the Perfect, which he will forever search for in vain, making the ending very sinister indeed.

Tess of the d'Urbervilles

Tess of the d’Urbervilles  is a tragic novel written by Thomas Hardy and published in the late nineteenth century. The majority of the novel takes place in the West Country, where Hardy grew up, and the protagonist Tess is a virtuous milkmaid from a simple family. The novel starts with Tess' father, John Durbeyfield, discovering he is decsendent from a long line of wealthy landowners named the d'Urbervilles (notice the similarity between the two surnames) who were believed to have died out long ago. The story is about the drama and tradegy that follow this discovery.

The character of Tess Durbeyfield is highly amiable, and throughout the novel she is portrayed as a good person who suffers from bad luck, highlighting one of the themes of the novel; fate. Many of the rural characters in the novel dismiss mishappenings as events of fate, and Tess is the same until she is influenced to consider her beliefs by her love Angel Clare. Tess' change in view may also have been a result of the pain she suffers as a result of preventable misfortune.

Angel Clare is from a privaleged family; his father is a devoted theologian and he is the youngest of two brothers, both of whom attend Cambridge. However Clare decides to abandon the opportunities a wealthy family gives him and instead pursues a life alongside nature as a farmer. In doing so Clare goes against the social norm and consequently meets Tess. Perhaps Hardy is criticising traditional Victorian values- which were highly patriarchal, prejudice and rigid.  

One of the things I found most interesing in a novel which intrigued me to the very end was Hardy's use of small, incidental characters and the role they played in foreshadowing the plot structure. For example, immediately following the marriage of Clare and Tess, when they are leaving the dairy where their courtship took place, a crow is heard. Upon this Hardy writes that "two men were standing by the yard gate, holding it open. 'That's bad.' one murmered to the other, not thinking that the words could be heard by the group at the door-wicket." Hearing a crow upon matrimony is an old superstition meaning bad luck, and the two men appear briefly to inform the reader of this.

The language of the novel is undoubtably beautiful, meaningful and deepy philosophical. The most powerful language is used when describing the feeling of divine love between the two young lovers: "Her affection for him was now the breath and life of Tess’s being; it enveloped her as a photosphere, irradiated her into forgetfulness of her past sorrows, keeping back the gloomy spectres that would persist in their attempts to touch her- doubt, fear, moodiness, care, shame." Furthermore Tess is described early on as the "merest stray phenomenon to Angel Clare as yet- a rosy warm apparition which had only just acquired the attribute of persistence in his consciousness." Once grasped, the dialogue and description created by Hardy are highly rewarding, and enrich a novel which makes a great contribution to my course Love through the Ages.

Modernism and postmodernism

My college has provided me with an anthology of Love through the Ages, including a reading list, glossary of poetic terms and extracts we may find useful. There are also articles that attempt to define modernism and postmodernism. Modernism is described as an earthquake which brought down many of the traditional structures of literature, art, architecture and music in the late 19th early 20th century. Following the metaphor of the earthquake, many of the structures it toppled have never been rebuilt.

In modernism, literature no longer relied on chronological plots with onniscient narrators. Instead there was a rise in the popularity of fragmented plot lines with interesting narratives; a movement away from traditional realism into the world of the experimental. Similarly, fundamental elements of painting such as realism and perspective were replaced by abstract and conceptual works of art. The movement represented a distintive shift in culture and society, whereas postmodernism is harder to define.

Postmodernism is seen as a phiosophical movement which replaces the objective with the subjective. It postulates that many, if not all, apparent realities are only social constructs and are therefore subject to change. Whereas modernism was seen as having an enlightening influence on culture, postmodernism seems to be more skeptic; it looks back at the past with irony and satire, focussing on novels that debate their own ends and thereby 'de-naturalise' their content. Although I have been introduced to the meaning of these movements I am still unsure of their precise description. This is something I would like to study further in order to coherently write about their influence on Love through the Ages.

New course!

Hello, welcome back avid readers! My new course which I shall be reading widely about is Love Through the Ages. I will keep my blog posted with the lasted texts I have read, with my initial thoughts on how form, structure and language shape meaning, as well as comparing it to other texts. This course includes poetry, prose and drama, ranging from the bible to Thomas Hardy, so be prepared!


Adam Rodgers Johns

Twitter @don_darm

The Cherry Orchard- Anton Chekhov

“Cherry orchards were not the main thing on the minds of most Russians in 1904, when Anton Chekhov’s play was premiered. Since the turn of the century there had been a growing feeling in Russia that things could not go on as they were doing.”

Anton Chekhov was a Russian novelist and playwright. Chekhov was not considered a political writer, but his play ‘The Cherry Orchard,’ written a year before his death at the hands of tuberculosis, was a significant political play. Chekhov was famous for the use of trees in his work, and ‘The Cherry Orchard’ by title is no exception. Russia was a backwards country at the turn of the 20^th century, mainly because it had failed to industrialise at the rate of other European powers. Therefore it was not surprising that the century old regime of the Romanov Dynasty, or Tsardom, was coming to an end.

Chekhov’s play is about a wealthy family of landowners. At the head of this family is Ranyavskaya, played in the rendition I went to see at The National Theatre by Zoe Wanamaker. Although this family was once extremely wealthy, and had many serfs (slaves) working on their land, the Emancipation Of The Serfs by Tsar Alexander II in 1961 led to great economic decline for once prosperous landowners. Therefore it is not surprising that a new social class of merchants, essentially Capitalists, became wealthy. The capitalist in this play is called Lopakhin and although he has tremendous affection towards the family for which his ancestors once worked, he manages to buy the land they own and ruthlessly cuts down the symbolic cherry orchard.

The play is about an entire landowning class in early 20^th century Russia. These people had to make a decision of whether to accept the way things were going and attempt to modernise, or to sit back and pretend nothing was happening, closing their eyes to the inevitable future. In this sense I think the cherry orchard is a metaphor for the wealth of a dying social class, they attempt to hold on to what they have because of its nostalgic value but in the end it is brutally taken away from them.

An interesting character for me is an intellectual called Petya Trofimov, who prefers to continuously study and travel rather than settle down, and whose monologues represent the communist mentality which saw Tsardom overthrown in 1917. Trofimov exclaims adamantly that the only way Russia can advance is through “extraordinary, unremitting labour,” and that it is the workers of Russia who own the land because it is the land they work on. The idealism expressed by Trofimov is similar to that of the Bolshevik party, who under the guidance of Lenin (and more notably Stalin) transformed Russia into a great economic power in less than half a century.

People adapting to great social change is a theme evident throughout modern literature. For example Tennessee William's plays, 'The Glass Menagerie' and 'A Streetcar Named Desire', both have characters who struggle to become accustomed to the post-WWII rising industrial class. Blanche is a dillusional character in 'A Streetcar Named Desire' whose loss of her family estate in Belle-Reve has forced her to abandon her Southern comforts and join her sister in New Orlean's. Blanche's clash with the powerful Polish immigrant Stanley is a representation of the struggle between old Southern ideals and the modern industrial reality. In conclusion 'The Cherry Orchard' shows a great change in social climate which is a recurrent theme in modern literature.

W.H.Auden- Refugee Blues

W.H. Auden is an Anglo-American poet, regarded by many as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. His 1939 poem entited 'Refugee Blues' is an imaginative depiction of the life-threatening plight of German Jews escaping from Nazi Germany, many of whom saw what was to come after Adolf Hitler and the Nazis seized power in 1930. The political message of Refugee Blues is typical of Auden's poetry which often revloves around politics, citizenship, religion and morals.

Refugee Blues is split into 12 stanzas, each with 3 lines. The poem is written from the first person narrative of a Jewish refugee describing the trouble they are having trying to find a new home having fled Nazi Germany. The narrator often says "my dear" as if he is speaking to someone else: "We cannot go there now, my dear, we cannot go there now." Auden does this because it personalises the inhumanity of what happened to the Jews in Nazi Germany. People often look at figures for the amount of German Jews killed by the Nazis and fail to understand the inhumanity of it all. Auden's peom helps us do this.

The peom's structure is simple; a rhyming couplet and a single line in each stanza. The simplicity of the poem makes it more effective at making a serious political statement: the traditional structure emphasises the powerful imagery. For example, in the 9th stanza it says "went down to the harbour and stood upon the quay, saw the fish swimming as if they were free." The fish are free and untroubled, unlike the poems characters who are homeless and endangered. Auden's symbolism of nature in Refugee Blues emphasises the distinction between the Nazis inhumane political system and the beauty of nature which is often taken for granted. Freedom and human rights are something that the majority of us, including Auden, who grew up as an upper class Englishmen, take for granted: Refugee Blues' message is that this shouldn't be taken for granted because others are not so fortunate.

Margaret Atwood- The Handmaid's Tale

The Handmaid's Tale is a dystopian novel which was published in 1985 and written by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. Among other things Atwood's novel addresses the inequality faced by women. Similarly to other dystopian novels, The Handmaid's Tale takes a very real issue in the modern day, such as sexual inequality, and enhances it to show the reader the possible outcome of not addressing that particular issue.

The novel is written from the narrative of the character Offred who has been forced into the regime of Gilead and is being used a child bearer. The women being used as child bearers are deemed "Handmaid's" and their sole purpose as part of the regime is to reproduce. The house in which Offred lives is completely run by women who do the cleaning, cooking and teaching. Through this Atwood is making the point that during the time the novel was written people didn't assume women could do much else apart from look after a household.

Although Offred doesn't seem to realise the importance of feminism until it is too late, other characters in the novel such as her mother and best friend Moira are far more active. For example, Moira is also forced into the role of a 'handmaid' but unlike Offred she rebels from the beginning by breaking out of the house. Moira also has the belief that living solely with women would solve the problems women were currently facing. Furthermore Offred's mother from a time before used to be actively involved in marching on abortion rights and pornography (two of the issue's raised in second wave feminism in the 1970's.) Offred's mother used to argue with Offred's boyfriend Luke over the rights of women and lecture her daughter about being complacent about rights. These actions used to embarrass Offred however the regime of Gilead provokes feminist spirit inside Offred. Through this Atwood makes the reader see a lack of rights can completely change ones perspective.

Tennessee Williams- A Streetcar Named Desire

'A Streetcar Named Desire' is an American play written by Tennessee William's in 1947, the same playwrite who wrote 'The Glass Menagerie'  which was the subject of an earlier post. William's sister suffered with mental health issues and had to undergo a lobotomy, perhaps an insight into the deteriating mental state of Blanche Dubois, the 'beautiful southern relic' who clashes with Stanley Kowalski, a member of the rising industrial working class in American cities.

The play was written at a time of increasing civil rights for immigrants in America. For example an important detail of the play is Blanche's loss of Belle Reve, an ancestoral southern plantation that would have once employed many slaves but had began to struggle. Blache's assessment of Stanley as a "different species" and "sub-human" may also be a clue of underlying racial discrimination.

The role of women is important in 'A Streetcar Named Desire' because it is Blanche's failure to conform to the status-quo which eventually leads to her downfall. For example Blanche's sister Stella is happy to settle down and prepare to have Stanley's child whereas Blanche is a less steriotypical women. Blanche constantly battles with Stanley and his masculinity, eventually leading him to subdue her in the only way he knows; force. Blanche is eventually labelled as insane by Stanley and Stella and sent off to a mental institute.

Offred, the fictional character of Margaret Atwood's novel 'The Handmaid's Tale' is similar to Blanche in her struggle against the 'social norm' and eventual labelling as a tragic heroine. Offred is stuck in a dystopian society where women are used merely for child bearing and rebellion causes Offred's downfall at the hands of the Gileadian regime.

In a 2009 review of 'A Streetcar Named Desire' they talk about William's explicit stage directions: "you are instantly struck by the evocation of New Orleans, with its spiral staircases and ornamented balconies extending right around the theatre." Detailed stage directions are a key feature of William's work; from Stanley's description as a "richly feathered male bird" to the music: "tinny piano being played with infatuated fluency."

William's play is typical of the struggle for identity because it exposes the unofficial laws of society; the status quo. This status quo is revolved around the portrayal of the different genders and races, such as the juxtapositon between the two sisters, Blanche and Stella, and Stanley's racial difference. The context of economic, social and policital issues also helps make Tennessee William's play typical of the struggle for identity in modern literature.

Sylvia Plath- Ariel

Sylvia Plath is one of the most famous female poets and authors ever. Following a long battle with depression and marital issues she committed suicide in 1963, aged 30. Plath's anthology entitled 'Ariel' was published in 1965, 2 years after her death, and includes the self titled poem I have studied. Ariel was the name of the horse Plath enjoyed riding during the time she spent in the countryside with her Poet Laureate husband Ted Hughes.

The poem consists of 10 stanzas with 3 lines each.The first stanza starts with the image of "Stasis in darkness" and the second stanza with "God's lioness." Plath may have used sibilance and the 's' sound in her poem because it provokes an ominous feeling; the hissing sound is accosiated with snakes which are often viewed as scary creatures. The image of "Stasis in darkness" reflects this scary feeling because it portrays Plath confused mental state; she is in the dark and unsure of where to go.

After being diagnosed with mental health disorder Plath was treated with electroshock therapy and this strongly influenced her work. For example in her autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar, Plath gives a description of the treatment: "Whee-ee-ee-ee-ee, it shrilled, through an air crackling with blue light." The symbolism of colour and light is a prominent theme in Plath's poetry. An example of this would be in the last line of 'Ariel' where Plath talks about going "Into the red eye, the cauldron of morning." The metaphor of the "red eye" as the sun is one of many examples of Plath using natural imagery, such as the description of "God's lioness" that I touched on earlier.

I think the abstract image of the "cauldron of morning " could be related to the poems similarity to a witches spell. Plath's work often has mythical themes and the poem often lists possible ingredients, such as the 4th stanza which says "Nigger-eye/ Berries cast dark/ Hooks-" Other mythical references in the poem include that of "Godiva" in stanza 7 who, according to legend, rode through the streets of Coventry naked to protest against taxes.

Plath's work is often very surreal and uses a lot of imagery and symbolism to reflect her personal mental state; the identity of a poet who suffers with a mental health disorder and is able to represent this through her writing. The aspect of femininity and the struggle to be accepted as a female writer is also important.

Benjamin Zephaniah - The Men from Jamaica Are Settling Down

Benjamin Zephaniah is an insprational black poet. Born to a Jamaican nurse and postman from Barbados Zephaniah became famous for his live performance of Dub poetry. Perhaps Zephaniah's most memorable and scandalous accolade was his decision to turn down an OBE in 2003. Zephaniah's poem 'The Men from Jamaica Are Settling Down' was published in his 2001 collection entitled 'Too Black, Too Strong'. The poem is about the men from Jamaica who came to England post-WW2 and the hostility they encountered from many British people.

Many of the men who came from Jamiaca had fought for the Motherland in WW2 and considered themselves Great British citizens. They believed that the streets of England were "paved with gold" and as Zephaniah said they came "wid countless dreams." The description of the Jamiacan men as "pioneers" is repeated in the 2nd and last stanza. Zephaniah uses this word because he believes the men from Jamiaca were adventurers, looking for a new place to build a community for future generations. This description of the men as "pioneers" is also related to the fact that came over to Britain via boat, most famously the Empire Windrush. The idea of the Jamaican men being explorers is related to Arthur Miller's play 'Death of a Salesman', where the main character Willy Loman's brother talks about "going into the jungle and coming out rich." The similarity being the idea of being adventurous and searching for a better way of life.

In 1948 the SS Windrush carried 500 Carribean immigrants to Britain. Zephaniah references this in the final stanza of his poem: "Black pioneers came on de empire Windrush." However the men who came as pioneers were not given the respect they expected in the country they had fought for. As immigration increased gangs of 'nigger hunting' racists dissaproved of the Jamaican men leading to violence. For example the Notting Hill Race Riots in 1958 consisting of 6 days of violence and the arrest of 140 people, mainly white youths. However Zephaniah takes an interesting view of these incidents when he says in the poem "De newspapers said it was dreadful and shameful/ But the men from Jamaica were settling down." Zephaniah talks about the violence as a way of helping the Jamaican men establish their British identity:"A new generation rose up from these fighters" by getting "radical" and creating "blue dances and carnival."

In the final stanza Zephaniah uses an interesting metaphor when describing the Jamaican men who came over to Britain. He says "There souls were titanic" and I think this has many connotations. For example it could be in reference to the enormity and passion of the Carribean souls. However it could also be related to how the RMS titanic set out from Southampton to New York in 1912 with such high hopes, only for those hopes to literally sink in the Atlantic ocean. Similarly the Jamaican souls were so optimistic, only to be steadily crushed by British racism.

Benjamin Zephaniah's poetry is extremely fluent, poetic and emotive. It is often comical when making a powerful political statement and I think he is successful in outlining the struggle of the Carribean culture attempting to settle in Great Britain.

Jay-Z- Decoded

Jay-Z, highly regarded as one of the best rappers of all time, has written an autobiography about his life on the streets and how he became a global success in the music industry. However his book 'Decoded' is not a typical celebrity autobiography about lifestyle and fame but more about literally decoding some of his most powerful lyrics. Jay-Z said one of the reasons why he wrote this book was to show that rap is a form of poetry. He also said that he wanted the book to tell the story of the struggle of his generation.

In his song 'Public Service Annoucement' Jay-Z ends with the words "No matter where you go/ you are what you are player/ And you can try to change but that's just the top layer/ Man, you was who you was 'fore you got here/ Only God can judge me, so I'm gone/ Either love me, or leave me alone." With these words Jay-Z is making the point that no matter who you are or what you do with your life, your identity will always be shaped by where you come from. Therefore, although Jay-Z goes from selling drugs on the streets to becoming so successful, he is still defined by his life as a hustler. Jay-Z says at another point in the book that for him; "Hustling is the ultimate metaphor for the basic human struggle: the struggle to survive and resist, the struggle to win and to make sense of it all."

Although Jay-Z believes a person's background inevitably shapes who they are, he does not believe that their identity cannot be reshaped. For example, if you make a sculpture out of clay, this sculpture can be remoulded using the same material. He says that "identity isn't a prison you can never escape from, but the way to redeem your past is not to run from it, but to try to understand it, and use it as a foundation to grow." In other words, referring back to the lyrics of 'Public Service Announcement', a person cannot run away from their past and hope to change because they would only be changing the top layer. However it is possible to embrace your past,and use it as a foundation to grow.

I haven't read very much of the book but it's very interesting and I'm going to continue reading it, foccussing on analysing specific lyrics and being able to refer to them as poetry in the exam on the struggle for identity.

Tennessee Williams- The Glass Menagerie

The Glass Menagerie is a dramatic reinactment of Tennessee William's life. The play is set in William's childhood home of St Louis, where the house he and his family occupy is in stark contrast to the upper class lifestyle they are used to. William's lives with his mother and sister, and these 3 people are the only characters for the majority of the play. In the second half a new character enters, and we are told by Tennessee in his monologue at the beginning that this character is the only realistic identity in the play, and the others are merely fantasies based on reality.

The play, although dramatised, is autobiographical and we are introduced into the troubled life William's lived as a child. His sister suffers from schizophrenia and keeps a 'glass menagerie', a set of glass animals that is extremely precious to her. His mother is often a humerous character who clearly wants the best for her children, however she persistently annoys Tom (Tennessee) with her constant claims that he 'shouldn't smoke so much' and that 'he doesn't eat properly.' In the second half the audience is introduced to Tom's friend Jim who is from the factory where they work. Jim is a honest, confident boy who has been brought home for supper in the hope he will fulfil their mothers dream of falling in love with her daughter, Laura.

The Glass Menagerie uses a lot of symbolism in the form of light and sound. For example red lighting to signify anger or jealousy and aggresive or passive music to show Tom's inner emotions. However the most interesting dramatic symbol for me was that of the glass menagerie. Whilst Jim is getting to know Laura he is shown her most precious glass menagerie and accidently drops and breaks her favourite object in the collection; a unicorn. The horn is broken off the unicorn but Laura claims it is okay because now he will be normal and able to fit in with the other horses. This shift from abnormality or normality in the form of the glass animal shows Laura's new found confidence in who she is despite her disability. However the audience then find out Jim is engaged and cannot be with Laura after all, and with his exit he takes the broken animal as a token of friendship and memory, and with this he is taking the only normal part of Laura she ever had.

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner

"The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" is a short story written by Alan Sillitoe and published in 1959 as part of a collection of short stories under the same title. It's about a boy called Colin from a working class background in Nottingham who is sent to a Borstal (Young offenders institute) due to his partisipance in petty crimes.

Whilst in the Borstal Colin takes up running as a method of escape from both the emotional and physical state of his situation. The situation Colin finds himself in this story is similar to that of Offred in 'The  Handmaid's Tale.' Both characters are constantly having to hide their true feelings because otherwise they would be punished by the people above them. In Colin's case this is the Governer of the Borstal who is relying on Colin to win the Long Distance running competition in order to make himself look good.

Towards the beginning of the story Colin tells himself about the people who are running the Borstal: "They can spy on us all day to see if we're pulling our puddings and if we're working hard or doing our 'athletics' but they can't make an X-ray of our guts to see what we're telling ourselves." Although the Governer of the Borstal is confident Colin will win the race, he decides to finish as runner-up on purpose. This is an example of a feeling Colin has which is kept private because of the consequences. Similarly Offred uses thoughts to keep herself sane when she is reduced to just the role of a handmaid.