Emmy+Kuperschmid,+Un-Ji+Sung+&+Jonathan+Pohl

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? Group thoughts: Likes books a lot Non-traditional

2. How does the story told in the letter reveal the character of Rob? Group thoughts: Sportsy Typical manly man Active Controlling

3. Comment on the use of the listing of details in this passage. Group thoughts: All of the trophies show how focused she is on her books

4. In what ways does the fact that this passage is a letter affect its style? Group thoughts: Personal/intimate feeling

5. Note anything else in the passage that you find distinctive. Group thoughts:

Emmy's responses: [|Emmy's response]

Jonathan's Responses:

1. How is the personality of Juliet conveyed? The personality of Juliet is conveyed to be very nit-picky. When describing how she prepared for Rob moving in, she mentioned that she divided the apartment into perfect halves, and that therefore the home was now made for two. This means that she did not just move all of her things to one side and let that be it, but she cleared out precisely half of her "drawers...cupboard...bathroom cabinet... desk" (l.17) She made sure that everything was ready for two people. I think this is the reason why she was so shocked when Rob put all his trophies in the book case. He deliberately took control of the whole of something, not just his half.

2. How does the story told in the letter reveal the character of Rob? The story told in the letter reveals that Rob made somewhat of a selfish mistake in packing up all his fiancee's books ad replacing them with his trophies. Obviously Juliet was not happy with it, but had she let him go through with it "[she'd] still have [the books], every one" (l.45) because of the bombing. Juliet does not blame Bob for their break-up though, she believe "he wasn't a fool at all" (l. 8), but rather that she was a "feckless, flighty cold-hearted bitch." (l.9) Rob should probably have asked Juliet before packing all of her books in boxes, but Juliet even believes that she over-reacted. Rob was clearly an athletic man, and very proud of all of his trophies, but perhaps too proud. It can be said that he acted naively in this situation, because he did not consider the consequences, or Juliet's possible reactions to his trophies. Maybe he even thought that she would enjoy the trophies, or be impressed by them, however this assumption was wrong.

3. Comment on the use of the listing of details in this passage. Listing of details occur in one part of the passage in particular: that where Juliet describes Rob's many trophies in the book case, such as, of his "cricket bats, squash rackets" (l. 31) and so on. I think that her depth of detail and the sheer number of things mentioned signify that this was a sight that shocked Juliet and became so ingrained in her mind that she was able to recall it all. The detail might also tell the reader that Juliet thinks about the moment frequently. That she is haunted by the sight and that she can see it in her mind's eye whenever she wants to, since she is able to recall the memory so clearly, as if it had happened the day before. This must also have been shocking to Juliet, as she had split the apartment perfectly in two, and yet here Rob took over the **entire** book case.

4. In what ways does the fact that this passage is a letter affect its style? The fact that the passage is a letter affects the style, because the author can make it much more personal, and make references to personal friends and memories: "I am so glad I didn't embarrass S&S about Gilly and the teapot" (l.5) Even though the reader does not understand what she is talking about, the writer and intended receiver of the letter: Sidney do. The writer is also able to use a much more casual register, and slang phrases such as "eat like a pig" (l. 4)

5. Note anything else in the passage that you find distinctive. I thought the mention of irony was very distinctive.Juliet says that "If I'd let Rob store all my books in the basement, I'd still have them, every one" (l.44-45) So had she dealt with Rob taking over the book case for his trophies, her books would have been saved, and his trophies would have been ruined in the bombing. Although she was pleased to have her life, and her bookcase back, this too came with the price that she would lose it all during the war.

Un-ji's Responses:

1. She seems academic and educated person having shelves filled up with books and the way she writes a letter. Also she's an exact and fair person since she divides everything in halves, " I cleared aout half my drawers, half my cupboard, half my bathroom cabinet, half my desk". She also seems to be a famous person when she writes "Susan suggested I make a dignified statement to the press" since nobody would be interested in someones break up unless it's a break up of a famous people. In addition, her hot temperament makes the reader question her love towards Rob along with fairly quick marriage after going out with him for only 4 months. Maybe she regrets being "engaged in the first place" which makes more sense out of her un-understandable break up. However, her feelings adds further irony to the passage since she stills seems to have good feelings towards him, since she doesn't want to "make Rob look a worse one", although she broke up with him for such a small deal. It's also quiet clear that she sees the irony of the small incident and her feelings since she writes " if I'd let Rob store my books in the basement, I'd still have them, every one".

2. As it can be seen from all the trophies that Juliet described, Rob is very athletic and man-like person.Also, according to Juliet's portrait of Rob and the language that he uses " damned bluestockings and shrews", he seems to be a person who lacks repect and a selfish person. However, it's hard to judge his characteristic only by Juliet's comments and description about him. Maybe he could be dissapointed by how Juliet wasn't ready to share everything with him.

3. The first lising of deatails is about Juliet did for Rob to come and live in her house, " I cleared out half my drauwer, half my cupboard, jalf my bathroom cabinet, half my desk. I have away my padded hangers and brought in those heavy wooden ones. I took my teddy bear off the bed and put ther in the attic. Now my flat was meant for tow, instead of one". All the details of the listing shows and emphasizes how much Juliet sacraficed for Rob. The second listing is about Robs trophies, " silver cups, gold cups, blue rosettes, red riboons", and the equitment that Rob used which represents the sports that he participated in, " cricket bats, squash racquets, tennis racquets, oars, golf clubs, ping-pong bats, bows and arrows, snooker cues, lacrosse sticks, hockey sticks and plo mallets". This list, contrast to the first list, shows how self centered Rob is, to fill Juliet's shelves with all those trophies, and at the same time shows Juliet's wit.

4. Since the passage is a letter, it's higly personal where she writes about things that she would never say in public for example, "I'll wear my new dress and eat like a pig" and " "I'd much prefer to say nothing and look like a feckless, flighty, cold-hearted bitch". She also writes straigtforward with no metaphors, informally, using lots of dashes, italics, bold, incorrect grammar, rhectorical questions, strong languages and humour such as, "wooden object", "everything a man could jump over", " filthy tug of war", which all makes Juliet a more three dimensional character. However, because it's a letter the readers do not know who Susan and Susie are, whether Sidney is a male or a female and etc. Also, it's highly biased so the readers do not know about Rob's point of view on their break up. Back to the First Collaborative Commentary Description page