Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Martha knows
Today in class, we talked about knowledge as understanding and whether or not Martha knew about her feelings for Karen. I think that even though she may have only loved her in a sisterly or friendly way, she definitely felt differently about their relationship than Karen did. In Act One on pg. 15 , after Mary faints, Karen and MArtha have a conversation about their trip to the lake. Martha's stage direction indicate that she is upset about Karen's choice to marry Joe and to have him come on the trip. She pauses and is nervous by her actions and her speech seems to be dancing around something. The same thing happens later in the act on pg. 22 when Martha is talking to Joe and he says that their marriage won't change anything. Martha reacts very strangely and almost violently to Joe: pushing away from him, covering her face, not finishing her sentences, and crying. It's just all very strange to me that she wouldn't know.
1 comment:
I agree that there is something strange happening with Martha. However, the end of the play changed my focus from her to Karen. We discussed in class how Karen told Martha that she did not really "know" what she was saying. Is perhaps Karen the one who the author is alluding to whether or not she is a lesbian? For example, in the end Karen does send Joe away. I was very confused by this. They could have moved away together and started a new life. However she declined his offer and chose to live an unhappy life with Martha. She also had been postponing the marriage for a great deal of time. Finally, did she tell Martha she did not know what she was saying because she herself knew the feelings and understood that if Martha had them she would have known for a long time. Perhaps the idea is a reversal of the obvious.
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