Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey

Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey

Works Cited Missing

The passage comes from the work Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey. It's

a fairly modern piece being written in only 1988. The title itself

reflects a notion that the piece centers on two characters, Oscar and

Lucinda. We are acquainted with these characters in the first few

paragraphs. There is a man of middle class standing, Oscar, and a

woman with a glass making business of her own, Lucinda. This passage

comes rather late in the story of Oscar and Lucinda and is the

introduction of Oscar to Lucinda's world.

The first paragraph of the passage tells us that the work is written

in the third person view point but this particular viewpoint focuses

on Oscar. We find that he is attracted to the female character, she

who owns a glass manufacturing business, as he dreams of treating her

to wine or sitting down over tea to talk. He wants to be with her and

treat her as if they are both in a higher class. Of course, she is

from an upper class, higher order than Oscar is from. He feels he has

"opened the door" (Line 6) to her life, or been given a chance to see

how the other side lives. This reflects the idea that Oscar likes the

cleanliness and refinery of her world.

What we see in this passage is the strong juxtaposition of the natural

and that which is man-made. This juxtaposition helps the reader to

contemplate on the idea of beauty.