A Class Blog exploring American literature and the American experience.
Friday, November 9, 2012
In our most recent reading, Wharton raises the question: What makes Archer so different from Lefferts? What evidence can you find from the reading that helps answer this question?
I think that we know that Lefferts is different from Archer since the beginning of the book, when he is described as a person that spends his life between gossips and affairs without his wife's knowledge. He embodies the kind of person that Archer doesn't want to be and Archer uses his marriage as an exemplification of sad marriages in NY societies from whom he wants to run away. In the recent reading we can see again that Lefferts gossips about May's archery skills but also we come up with the fact that he could have had an affair with Madame Olenska "(Archer)-Lefferts, who made love to her[Olenska] and got snubbed for it-"(#197).
I think that Archer is different from Lefferts in the way they "choose" their women; Lefferts is a womanizer who is with women just to be with women, but Archer is quite the opposite. Archer's sentiments towards Ellen are far from merely physical, seeing as he forgot the sound of her voice after not having seen her for some time. For him, their relationship is based far more on intellect and passion instead of physicality and the materialistic views of what a stereotypical affair would consist of. I think that Lefferts and Archer have different intentions and different reasoning being their doings (however, that doesn't excuse the deeds themselves), and that is what sets them apart.
I think Archer is different from Lefferts because Archer is not as much of a womenizer as Lefferts. Lefferts is constantly the center of gossip and scandal and doesn't really seem to care. On the other hand this is the first time Archer has been the center of a scandal. Archer is really bothered and paranoid about the situation. I think Archer is different from Lefferts but not as different as Archer thinks he is. Archer tries to convince himself that he is doing something completely different than Lefferts but he is still doing the same thing. He tries to convince himself of this to justify what he is doing.
I think that we know that Lefferts is different from Archer since the beginning of the book, when he is described as a person that spends his life between gossips and affairs without his wife's knowledge. He embodies the kind of person that Archer doesn't want to be and Archer uses his marriage as an exemplification of sad marriages in NY societies from whom he wants to run away. In the recent reading we can see again that Lefferts gossips about May's archery skills but also we come up with the fact that he could have had an affair with Madame Olenska "(Archer)-Lefferts, who made love to her[Olenska] and got snubbed for it-"(#197).
ReplyDeleteI think that Archer is different from Lefferts in the way they "choose" their women; Lefferts is a womanizer who is with women just to be with women, but Archer is quite the opposite. Archer's sentiments towards Ellen are far from merely physical, seeing as he forgot the sound of her voice after not having seen her for some time. For him, their relationship is based far more on intellect and passion instead of physicality and the materialistic views of what a stereotypical affair would consist of. I think that Lefferts and Archer have different intentions and different reasoning being their doings (however, that doesn't excuse the deeds themselves), and that is what sets them apart.
ReplyDeleteI think Archer is different from Lefferts because Archer is not as much of a womenizer as Lefferts. Lefferts is constantly the center of gossip and scandal and doesn't really seem to care. On the other hand this is the first time Archer has been the center of a scandal. Archer is really bothered and paranoid about the situation. I think Archer is different from Lefferts but not as different as Archer thinks he is. Archer tries to convince himself that he is doing something completely different than Lefferts but he is still doing the same thing. He tries to convince himself of this to justify what he is doing.
ReplyDelete