Roxana’s Search for Identity in Daniel Defoe’s Roxana
In all of Daniel Defoe's major works, his characters always feel a need to narrate their history, specifically through the adventures they had rather than any description of who they were. Some people would suggest that this compulsion to give such an account reveals a burden of guilt the narrator is trying to free him or herself from, and an attempt to feel more secure in terms of identity.
In the article, "Why Roxana Can Never Find Herself," Peter New offers his theory to explain why Defoe's characters, and Roxana in specific, are unable to obtain any real security of identity, even though they employ this method to achieve it. In New's definition, a secure identity can only be achieved through a full acknowledgment and sense of pride in ones history. Roxana does try to define herself in terms of what she has done rather than who she is, which is an acknowledgment of her past. However, she tells her story because she wants to gain a sense of both freedom and security, but the two are mutually exclusive. If Roxana writes as a penitent, she is choosing to be free from her past, or to "disown" it, thereby losing her security of identity. However, if she chooses security and owns up to all that she has been, then she can never be freed from her burden of guilt. Thus she is both trying to "embrace and to reject [her] own history" (318). We see this tendency towards confusion and contradiction in Roxana all throughout the novel. She is constantly rationalizing her actions in the past, but immediately following that with a description of her feelings of guilt and regret. In New's interpretation, it is this tendency which proves that Roxana can never really find herself becaus...
... middle of paper ...
...this theory to show that although Roxana is desperately trying to define herself and discover her true identity, ironically, her selves will never be able to be integrated. His final conclusion about Roxana's character is that She is condemned to search for an identity in the story of her selves and be unable ever to find it, because she both wants and does not want to be legion (329). This article presents an interesting, and valid argument about the character of Roxana in all her complexities. However, I think other arguments could be as plausible, depending on your viewpoint of Roxana. Are we to see her as insecure in her identity and confused as to what she wants? And if so, can we ever really know her true character if she cannot ever know her self?
Work Cited
New, Peter. "Why Roxana Can Never Find Herself." The Modern Language Review 91 (1996): 317-329.
...s a wil leaving all of her possesions and fortune to Aron. During this time, Adam, unkowing of Aron’s whereabouts, questions Cal of his brother’s absence. Cal, annoyed, responds by asking if it is his duty to look after Aron. The Trask’s soon discover Aron’s enlistment, and Adam’s health deterioates. Meanwhile, Abra falls in love with Cal, despite his interna war with good and evil. Adam finally starts to become well again, but news comes stating that Aron had died in battle. This mortifying news causes Adam to have a severe stroke. Lee informs Cal of his father’s news and Cal is instantly filled with remorse and guilt. In reaction, Lee takes Cal to his father’s bedside. Lee tells the barely living Adam of Cal’s jealousy and hurt, and he also asks Adam to give Cal his blessing. Adam responds by whispering the crucial word ‘Timshel’. He then closed his eyes and slept.
Erdich , Louise “The Red Convertible” 1984.Schalfel and Ridl 126 – 133. Schakel, Pete, and Jack Ridl. Eds. Approaching Literature Reading + Thinking + Writing. 3rd Ed. Boston: Bedford/ St Martin, 2011. Sprint.
Komnene, Anna. The Alexiad .Ed. Peter Frankopan. Trans. E.R.A. Sewter. New York: Penguin Classics, 2009. Print.
Poverty and low wages have been a problem ever since money became the only thing that people began to care about. In Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich, she presents the question, “How does anyone live on the wages available to the unskilled?” This question is what started her experiment of living like a low wage worker in America. Ehrenreich ends up going to Key West, Portland, and Minneapolis to see how low wage work was dealt with in different states. With this experiment she developed her main argument which was that people working at low wages can’t live life in comfort because of how little they make monthly and that the economic system is to blame.
Yang, Ping ping. "A Road to Destruction and Self-Destruction: The Same Fate of Emily and Elly." Theory and Practice in Language Studies 3.10 (2013): 1850-4. ProQuest. Web. 3 Apr. 2014.
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, published in 2001 by Barbara Ehrenreich, is a book about an author who goes undercover and examines lives of the working lower class by living and working in similar conditions. Ehrenreich sets out to learn how people survive off of minimum wage. For her experiment, she applies rules including that she cannot use skills acquired from her education or work during her job search. She also must take the highest-paying job offered to her and try her best to keep it. For her search of a home, she has to take the cheapest she can find. For the experiment, Ehrenreich took on low-wage jobs in three cities: in Florida, Maine, and Minnesota.
Barbara Ehrenreich's intent in the book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America exhibited how minimum wage isn't enough for Americans to get by on and that there's no hope for the lower class. Her main objective was achieved by living out the life of the "working poor". During the three cases studies she worked many jobs that are worked by many that are simply striving to live day to day. The jobs she had didn't generate sufficient income to avoid or help her rise out of poverty, in fact the six to seven dollar jobs made survival considerably difficult. Enitially, she believe the jobs didn't require any skill but while on her journey she started to realize they were stressful and drained a lot of energy. In addition to that she saw it was almost impossible to get out of the rut of low paying professions once you're in. Barbra Ehrenreich moved throughout three locations attempting to prove her argument. In those states she obtained a job as a waitress, hotel maid, a cleaning woman, a nursing home aide, and a Wal-Mart sales clerk. Not only did she learn about the low wages but also the treatment that was shown to the workers.
Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Enrenreich, is a novel written about her experiences while living and working among the common poor folk of America. Her adventures bring her from a restaurant in Ohio to the coasts of Maine to a Wal-Mart in Minnesota. Although her living and working locations change, one thing stays constant about Barbara her humorous and witty remarks. These remarks keep the reader entertained. Although her wisecracks are clever, they seem to at many times go too far, and have a tendency to be offensive, but this does not take away from the fact that these remarks greatly increase the validity of her arguments.
Nasal feeding is enforced to inmates on hunger strike that refuses to eat. Nasal feeding is a long process that can take up to two hours and is painful and unsanitary. According to Guantána...
The daughter alludes to an idea that her mother was also judged harshly and made to feel ashamed. By the daughters ability to see through her mothers flaws and recognize that she was as wounded as the child was, there is sense of freedom for both when the daughter find her true self. Line such as “your nightmare of weakness,” and I learned from you to define myself through your denials,” present the idea that the mother was never able to defeat those that held her captive or she denied her chance to break free. The daughter moments of personal epiphany is a victory with the mother because it breaks a chain of self-loathing or hatred. There is pride and love for the women they truly were and is to be celebrated for mother and daughter.
Not only is walking a simple way to exercise, but it also has a lot of benefits, “The cardiovascular benefits of walking are biologically plausible; like other forms of regular moderate exercise, walking improves cardiac risk factors such as cholesterol, blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, vascular stiffness and inflammation, and mental stress” (Harvard Health.). Despite not breaking the biggest sweat during and after walking, given the benefits, it is obvious that walking is an effective way to exercise. Although walking is minimal and often overlooked as a way to exercise, it can decrease cardiac risk factors and improves mental health due to endorphins released while exercising. Walking is a way to increase heart rate and exercise the heart to make it pump blood more efficiently, which leads to a reduction in heart problems. By fighting obesity, walking also has the ability to create a higher quality of life, more body confidence, and decrease knee and heart problems for overweight people. Walking leisurely for even half an hour for 5 days a week, the recommended 150 minutes, can decrease common health issues and risk factors. Walking has the ability to modify a relatively out of shape person with various health issues into a thriving and well-energized person. Moreover, walking is a nonstrenuous way to exercise to create a healthier and happier
Claridge, Laura. "Tess: A Less Than Pure Woman Ambivalently Presented." Texas Studies in Literature and Language 28 (1986): 324-38.
All too often, women in literature remain linguistically dormant unless called upon, however, studies conducted in the reality outside the covers of a book have shown that women will interrupt a conversation to contradict a previous speaker, and do so vehemently (Coates, 193). A nice answer for any man calling himself a catholic to give to his priest, (Joyce, 273) states Dante as her first response.
Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America. New York, NY: Metropolitan Books, 2001.
A common theme often portrayed in literature is the individual vs. society. In the beginning of Robinson Crusoe , the narrator deals with, not society, but his family's views on how he was bound to fail in life if his parents' expectations of him taking the family business were not met. However, Defoe's novel was somewhat autobiographical. "What Defoe wrote was intimately connected with the sort of life he led, with the friends and enemies he made, and with the interests of natural to a merchant and a Dissenter" (Sutherland 2). These similarities are seen throughout the novel. "My father...gave me serious and excellent counsel against what he foresaw was my design," says Crusoe (Defoe 8-9) . Like Crusoe, Defoe also rebelled against his parents. Unlike Crusoe, however, Defoe printed many essays and papers that rebelled against the government and society, just as Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World, did in England by depicting society languishing in social malaise (Marowski 231). It were these writings that eventually got Defoe charged with libel and imprisoned (DIScovering Authors). In Defoe's life it was the ministry that his father wanted him to pursue (Sutherland 2), but, instead, Defoe chose to become a tradesman (DIScovering Biography). The depth of the relationship between Crusoe and his parents in the book was specifically not elaborated upon because his parent's become symbolic not only of all parents, but of society. In keeping this ambiguous relationship, Defoe is able to make Crusoe's abrupt exodus much more believable and, thus, more humane.