Month: January 2023
Quote:
“Let your eyes be blind to all external attractions, your ears deaf to all the fascinations of flattery and light discourses. – These are nothing – and worse than nothing – snares and wiles of the temper, to lure the thoughtless to their own destruction. Principle is the first thing, after all; and next to that good sense, respectability, and moderate wealth. If you should marry the handsomest, and most accomplished and superficially agreeable man in the world, you little know the misery that would overwhelm you, if, after all, you should find him to be a worthless reprobate, or even an impractical fool”(112).
Comment:
This quote gave me a strong feeling of foreshadowing the events of Helen’s future marriage, which seems to prove true. Yet, moving out of the confines of the plot, I saw an opening into what women considered when talk of marriage arose. Helen’s aunt is her mother figure for her, and because Helen’s age of 18 is mentioned, we can deduce that it is about that age when society felt women should start thinking of marrying. Remembering the laws surrounding marriage from the Bodichon reading, what her aunt is relaying might feel quite cautionary and too serious from Helen’s perspective; knowing how much of a woman’s autonomy is given up after marriage in the eyes of the law it makes perfect sense for mothers or women authority figures to engrain such a cautionary mindset in young women.
Question:
This quote also made me think of a part in Barbra Leigh Smith’s remarks section where she says, “It is always said, even by those who support the existing law, that it is in fact never acted upon by men of good feeling. That is true; but the very admission condemns the law, and it is not right that the good feeling of men should be all that a woman can look to for simple justice. This is the usual argument to support all bad laws” (9). I wondered how we might extend the work Brontë is laying out for us here, that women must be cautious and consider men when marrying not for looks, accomplishments, or even love but as this type of cover against the law. If women have no legal recognition after marriage, they must ensure their husbands will not give them a reason to need legal protection. This very case, I feel, is what Helen is struggling with – she does not realize how defenseless her position becomes when attaching herself to a man like Huntington and why there is such an aversion to her feelings toward him from her aunt, who has learned the constraints of a woman’s power. Also, I might ask how this novel paints a “man of good feeling” that differs from those who would put women in a negative place within the law.
Journal Entry #1
Two important points and most significant takeaways from this chapter stemmed from the overarching idea that good communication is essential to any professional sphere within the focus of writing. The first lies in the ability to have control and understanding of grammar and the techniques of writing. The biggest misunderstanding the text explains from this idea is that our education system has made grammar secondary to the expression of ideas and creativity within students. The correction of this idea, I feel, is incredibly essential – not only is creativity enhanced by the ability to freely experiment with thoughts and ideas clearly and effectively made possible by those “persnickety” rules of writing, but creativity also goes to waste when an individual cannot express themselves because their own writing hinders it.
Another point from this section of the book expresses that being accountable for writing well is impacting more individuals than before, as technology has enabled one person to do the job of many in previous years. This brings in the importance of feeling confident in skillfully writing for an audience, presenting not only yourself but your place of employment and sometimes even a representative of an entire profession in the highest light. Connecting back to the most prominent theme when exploring professional and technical writing, good communication, the text stated, “Regardless of what profession you ultimately choose, you will almost certainly be using these skills every single day, both on the job and off”(20).
Journal Entry #2
As discussed in the chapter on plain language, one of the big points focused on deciphering the style and intent of academic versus business writing. From this, the discussion on specialized writing tended to align with written works in academic fields where knowledge of specific jargon, background knowledge, and format tends to be structured based on particular disciplines. Whereas business writing gears toward generalist strategies where “This audience calls for a less specialized vocabulary and less complex set of concepts”(27). Additionally, professional writing can feel more stylized in visual matters like images, lists, and graphics to make the information easier to present (26).
Leading from this, the second essential point is the concept of plain language or plain English. Unlike the lesser-known jargon in fields like law, plain language emphasizes “concrete and specific examples rather than abstractions to be as clear as possible” (27). Again, the idea of creating effective and efficient communication based on serving a wide range of prospective audiences comes back to learning, sometimes relearning, the formats, tools, and techniques to offer clarity. In that same line, it is helpful to maintain the perspective of business and career writing where revenue and spending are taken into account; the easier it is to convey the purpose of written works, the success often follows when misunderstandings, complaints, and costs are reduced due to plain English writing.
QCQ #1
Quote: “A man and woman are one person in law; the wife loses all her rights as a single woman, and her existence is entirely absorbed in that of her husband. He is civilly responsible for her acts; she lives under his protection or cover, and her condition is called coverture. A woman’s body belongs to her husband; she is in his custody, and he can enforce his right by a writ of habeas corpus (4).
Comment: These two laws concerning women seem to encapsulate the themes in many of the more specific laws covered by these pages. When first stated that a man and woman become one when we think of this today; it reads as a nice sentiment and often has religious implications of unity and harmony in a spiritual. Yet, after looking at the rest of the laws and the context of how little agency women had in marriage, it really reads that it isn’t one person shared by two governing bodies but just the absorption of the woman. Also, considering the image we looked at as a class of the life and age of women, it holds true in the law that women are at their most powerful when single. Although I find it interesting that, socially and culturally, it was the norm for women to be in charge of the household and children, the laws that reflect the role of women regarding children hold all the responsibilities to the husband.
Question: I wonder when socially, the sentiments turned toward women being the most likely to take custody of their children and, most often, the decision maker regarding their upbringing. I also noticed in Brontë’s novel that in the scene where Gilbert and his family address Mrs. Markim’s ability to raise her son, the level of outspokenness seems so progressive, and I wonder about the reception of this part in particular from critics and the public. I remember Brontë mentioning in her preface the critiques of her novel, but with the laws surrounding marriage during this period, I would imagine that her ideas would seem entirely atypical, whereas today, it seems perfectly acceptable.
