Skip to main content

American Tragedy 85%

Clyde's trial.  His defense team decides to present him as a moral and physical coward.  He won't do the right thing by Roberta--at least not at first.  He saves himself when she falls in the water, fearful  she might pull him down.

Dreiser very cynical regarding the trial.  Clyde is rehearsed thoroughly and lies fairly convincingly. He says, for example, that he didn't plan for what happened.  Technically correct.  It all happened in a  different way than he had planned, but he did plan on killing her.  The prosecutor wants to make a political name for himself.  Sondra's family heads way out of the area.  Sondra becomes Miss X so that her name is not besmirched in the press. Clyde's uncle pays for the lawyers, but he stays completely away as well.

So many problems with Clyde's story:  Two hats (one floating in the water; one for his escape . . . leaving her luggage and bringing his own . . . lying about owning a camera . . . going to an ugly part of the lake, but secluded . . . hiding the tripod . . . false names, etc.)  He will certainly be convicted.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Tess of the D'Urbervilles, continued 2/3rds

"To all humankind, Tess was only a passing thought. Even to friends, she was only a frequently passing thought." Angel Clare is a good character. He's "enlightened," in so many ways, but when Tess's confesses her "crime," he reverts to ancestral form . . . Tess's "confession" comes earlier than I expected, right after Angel reveals that he has had a bad moment with a woman. Tess points out the similarity in their transgressions, though his is the only true transgression, expecting forgiveness. She doesn't get it. She returns to her mother . . . realizes she can't stay with her. Thoughts to suicide. Unhappiness that divorce is not possible. Departs. Tragic in that the two, if Angel could just see clearly, would indeed be a great couple, each adding to the other.  Nature as a definite force involved in the tragedy.  It's not neutral--when things go bad, the very skies mock Tess. Tess as unaware of the power of her bea...

Napoleon 14 Amiens

"Ambassadors are essentially spies with titles."  Napoleon President of Italy . . . Peace treaty with England (Amiens) in March 1802, with Turkey in June 1802 . . . flawed peace treaty with England because there was no opening up of France for trade with England, infuriating the English who thought peace would mean trade. . . tourism, though--Brits come to Paris and admire Napoleon . . . British liberals enamored . . . Napoleon "consul for life" . . . lots of unsettled territories, Switzerland being the largest . . . Industrialization much greater in England than France . . . France in 1802 is about the same as England in 1780 as a manufacturing center . . . Napoleon is basically Anglophobic, complaining of any art work that celebrates English victories being shown in Louvre . . . peace unraveling . . . by 1803 . . .  War May 18, 1803! . . . Louisiana Territory sold, advantageous to both parties.  France gets money; USA gets land.  France avoids possible war with ...