TJ+Moor,+Kaushik+Ramesh+&+David+Clark

From Juliet to Sidney 28th January 1946

Dear Sidney, Yes, dinner with pleasure, I'll wear my new dress and eat like a pig.

I am so glad I didn't embarrass S&S about Gilly and the teapot ~ I was worried. Susan suggested I make a 'dignified statement' to the press too, about Rob Dartry and why we didn't marry, I couldn't possibly do that, 1 honestly don't think I'd mind looking a fool, if it didn't make Rob look a worse one. But it would ~ and of course, he wasn't a fool at all. But he'd sound like it. I'd much prefer to say nothing and look like a feckless, flighty, cold-hearted bitch.

But I'd like you to know why - I'd have told you before, but you were in the Navy in 1942, and you never met Rob. Even Sophie never met him - she was up at Bedford that autumn and 1 swore her to secrecy afterwards. The longer I put off saying anything, the less important it became for you to know, especially in the light of how it made me look - witless and foolish for getting engaged in the first place.

I thought I was in love (that's the pathetic part - my idea of being in love). In preparation for sharing my home with a husband, \ made room for him so he wouldn't feel like a visiting aunt. 1 cleared out half my drawers, half my cupboard, half my bathroom cabinet, half my desk. I gave away my padded hangers and brought in those heavy wooden ones. I took my teddy bear off the bed and put her in the attic. Now my flat was meant for two, instead of one.

On the afternoon before our wedding, Rob was moving in the last of his clothes and belongings while I delivered my Izzy article to the Spectator, Then I tore home, flew up the stairs and threw open the door to find Rob sitting on the low stool in front, of my bookcase, surrounded by cardboard boxes, He was sealing the last one up with tape and string. There were eight boxes - eight boxes of my books bound up and ready for the basement!

He looked up and said 'Hello, darling. Don't mind the mess, the caretaker said he'd help me carry these down to the basement" He nodded towards my bookshelves and said, 'Don't they look wonderful?'

Well, there were no words! I was too appalled to speak, Sidney, every single shelf- where my books had stood - was filled with athletic trophies: silver cups, gold cups, blue rosettes, red ribbons. There were awards for every game that could possibly be played with a wooden object: cricket bats, squash racquets, tennis racquets, oars, golf clubs, ping-pong bats. bows and arrows, snooker cues, lacrosse sticks, hockey sticks and polo mallets. There were Statues for everything a man could jump over, either by himself or on a horse. Next came the framed certificates - for shooting the most birds on such and such a date, for First Place in running races, for Last Man Standing in some filthy tug of war against Scotland.

All I could do was scream, 'How dare you! What have you DONE?! Put my books back!'

Well, that's how it started. Eventually, I said something to the effect that I could never marry a man whose idea of bliss was to strike out at little balls and little birds, Rob countered with remarks about damned bluestockings and shrews. And it all degenerated from there – the only thought we probably had in common was. What the hell have we talked about for the last four months? What, indeed? He huffed and puffed and snorted - and left. And 1 unpacked my books,

Remember the night last year when you met my train to tell me my home had been bombed flat? You thought I was laughing in hysteria? I wasn't - it was in irony - if I'd let Rob store all my books in the basement, I'd still have them, every one.

1. How is the personality of Juliet conveyed? 2. How does the story told in the letter reveal the character of Rob? 3. Comment on the use of the listing of details in this passage. 4. In what ways does the fact that this passage is a letter affect its style? 5. Note anything else in the passage that you find distinctive.

T.J.'s Responses

1. Juliet is writing a letter to a close friend, Sidney. Juliet first shares her thoughts on her failed engagement, identifying how “witless and foolish” it was to believe in love and marriage. When she describes the conflict over the trophies, she is angry and astounded that Rob could replace her books with his trophies. In doing so, he erased the essence of who she is, a reader and a writer. He tried to diminish her independence, which Juliet clearly values, in both her personal and professional endeavors. In addition to being an independent, spirited young woman, other aspects of Juliet’s personality are revealed. She is precise and organized; she was dividing the closet and cupboard space exactly in half, pending Rob’s arrival. Juliet is also responsible and hardworking, making sure she dropped off her magazine article the afternoon before her wedding. Finally, she is a planner, with a spicy sense of humor. In regard to her upcoming dinner date, she playfully pronounces, ”I’ll wear my new dress and eat like a pig.”

2. Rob is quite an athlete; his assortment of trophies demonstrates athletic prowess in many areas. However he is self-centered and oblivious to his fiancée’s feelings. Communication is not his strong suit. He did not consult with Juliet about removing her books and did not consider a compromise of half books/half trophies on the shelves. He can also be very insulting, when he makes derogatory remarks about “blue stockings and shrews.” Clearly, he was being critical of Juliet’s interest in literature and her angry response to the carton episode.

3. There were times when I found the listing of details in this passage to be cumbersome and hard to read, yet I think the author utilized detail as a literary device to further describe the characters. There is much attention given to how Juliet divides the household space, as Juliet is a very defined person. The number and type of cartons for the books was also over-emphasized to accent the injustice of what Rob was doing. The description of the vast variety of trophies highlights Rob’s arrogance, in needing to include every trophy and certificate he was ever awarded. These details help to make the characters more real to the reader.

4. The letter format made the story feel more personal for me. When one receives a letter, the assumption is that the text is being written expressly for him or her. The writer has permission to explore an idea in depth and to include great detail, revealing personal thoughts and emotions. Since this letter was being written to a close friend, I was allowed to view the “true version” of the engagement debacle. This level of intimacy is affirmed by Juliet when she underscores to Sidney that even though Juliet had not publicly explained the situation, she wanted Sidney to know the reality. A letter of this kind allows one’s true feelings, perceptions, and biases to be shared. This format made the story very authentic and interesting to me.

5. What I found distinctive about this passage was how much I could learn about Juliet in just one page. Juliet’s sense of humor makes a somewhat sad story seem quite funny. In her self-deprecating nature, she mocks how little knowledge she had about love or about her partner. The author of this passage cleverly demonstrates Juliet’s ability to write: Juliet certainly saves the “best for last.” when she divulges that irony that Rob’s inconsiderate gesture might have saved her books! This passage was unusual and clever in that I could learn so much about two people in such a small amount of space.

David's Responses

1. Through the letter sent by Juliet, she is conveyed as a very reserved person. She kept her mouth shut about all the changes that her fiancé made until the books. She seems very smart because she never made a public response on the reason why she didn't marry Rob. She also seems sincere because she would not make any comments about Rob. This shows that she has higher level of maturity.

2. The story told by Juliet in the letter makes Rob look a little bit clueless or thoughtless. Throughout all of the changes to the house is was apparent that he never asked Juliet about them or even considered how she would feel. As his physical character goes, he is a very sporty or athletic person. This is shown when he tries to replace Juliet's books with his many trophies and ribbons. He seems as if he was very rich or spoiled because of all these special opportunities he had.

3. The amount of detail in this passage is overwhelming sometimes. In paragraph 6 when Juliet is describing the trophies and ribbons is when the most detail comes out. She tells you about almost every if not every sport that Rob played and got a trophy for. It's almost as if she wants to keep going on about the details rather then get the story moving again. This kind of throws off the story at some points.

4. This passage is written in letter form. By being in such a formal form of writing it adds sincerity to the words that are there. It shows that Juliet isn't making anything up, but she is speaking honestly. This really gives you a depth into the thoughts of Juliet rather then what might just be on the outside. Just by being in this letter form, I take what Juliet is saying more seriously rather than just blowing it off.

5. One thing that I noticed in the passage is that Juliet's writing seems to rub off on her everyday messages. She is a writer in the story and she writes this letter as if it is one of her pieces of writing. It has perfect grammatical sentences and follows a storyline pattern. This is odd for an everyday type of letter.

Kaushik's Responses

1.Juliet according to this letter seems to be quite an open minded person. She writes down everything that happens between Rob and herself pretty openly. She is a fair person but expects others to be so towards her as well. This can be seen when Juliet splits everything that she had in 2 so that Rob wouldn't feel alienated and when Rob takes her books down she gets very angry and yells at him as she had expected him to be like her and use the half that she had given him. Juliet seems to a very considerate person in the sense that she was ready to look like a fool rather than Rob. She is also quite humorous and witty. This is shown when she responds to the invite by saying ill wear my new dress and eat like a pig.

2. Rob is shown to be the polar opposite of Juliet. He is inconsiderate and does things which suit himself without a second thought about the other person. Without any second though he removes all of Juliet's favorite books. He is either a sports person who plays a number of games and is good in all of them (which i must say is quite unlikely) or he is a fan of a number of games and collects make shift trophies.

3.Details have been very clearly and completely mentioned. The part where she splits all her belongings in two has been shown with a lot of description rather than just saying that she split her stuff in two. Also she explains in heavy detail as to what the trophies were and what they were for.Even the number of cartons have been specified The use of such heavy details throw us of track of the story.

4.the fact that this passage is letter makes it more personal. She writes this letter to her friend telling him/her about her feelings without hiding any of it. Secondly this being a letter has the views of only 1 person. namely Juliet and is thus highly biased. We only know what Juliet thinks and feels during the entire event. Neither do not know the reasons for which Rob did what he did nor do we know his feelings on how the event turned out.

5. One thing that i noticed is that both Juliet and Rob seem to be quite well known. As no one has a press conference for a normal person who broke up. It is hinted in a number of places that Juliet is writer as not only does she have a number of books which she holds very high the letter is also an impressive piece of writing presenting things as they are and yet making it quite interesting to read with a very easily noticeable sequence.

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