Mrs. Stellem wanted her party to be perfect. She dressed for it; she planned for it. Then a stranger - a woman - came to the party, and Mrs. Stellem became obsessed with who this woman was, who invited her, why she was here. The stranger was costumed beautifully and smiled constantly.
As the party wore on, it became ruined by the stranger. No one laughed while she was around; conversations ended in her presence. The party was dying much too soon, so Mrs. Stellem approached the stranger to ask her to leave.
When she looked into the eyes of the stranger, Mrs. Stellem could see that the strange woman could see right through her. She could see that her home, clothes, friends and marriage were a joke and not powerful or successful at all.
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Faithfulness
This story has a couple of parts. In the first part, Aline is visited by Alban, a man she met at a party. He notes that her eyes are "tragically discontented," that she makes concessions to her husband (e.g. there are Economic Magazines lying around), and that she is "mentally unaccompanied." He predicts that she is going to have a lonely life of domesticity and that she is already so unhappy. The cure, he says, is friends.
After he left she reflected on what he said. It was true that she spent most days talking to herself. She began to look at her husband differently. She noted that he wore heavy suits and talked little and did things systematically.
In the second part of the story, Aline and her husband go to a party at Mr. Bellows' home; her husband gets tired, and they go home early. Bellows comes to Aline's home when her husband is away and plays musical portraits that he feels resembles various people. For Aline's husband, the music is scholarly and precise. He plays a portrait of Aline and her husband together - a "fantastic strain. In the middle of it he stopped with a violent dissonance." Bellows tells Aline that he could tell she doesn't love her husband.
When her husband comes home, she expresses anger that someone insists she doesn't love him, that she bravely hides her unhappiness. Her husband responds, "You dear, faithful, honest, little wife." How ironic.
After he left she reflected on what he said. It was true that she spent most days talking to herself. She began to look at her husband differently. She noted that he wore heavy suits and talked little and did things systematically.
In the second part of the story, Aline and her husband go to a party at Mr. Bellows' home; her husband gets tired, and they go home early. Bellows comes to Aline's home when her husband is away and plays musical portraits that he feels resembles various people. For Aline's husband, the music is scholarly and precise. He plays a portrait of Aline and her husband together - a "fantastic strain. In the middle of it he stopped with a violent dissonance." Bellows tells Aline that he could tell she doesn't love her husband.
When her husband comes home, she expresses anger that someone insists she doesn't love him, that she bravely hides her unhappiness. Her husband responds, "You dear, faithful, honest, little wife." How ironic.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)