David+Taus+&+Katie+Henke

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.

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David Taus's Responses

- How is the personality of Juliet conveyed? We are able to get to know Juliet both through the personal letter format and through the story the letter tells. As a letter the passage is more personal. Juliet says she will “eat like a pig,” and that she does not mind appearing as a “cold-hearted bitch.” In being a letter to someone who is obviously an old friend we are able to learn more about who she is. The letter gives us a more natural view at who Juliet really is. She is someone who is willing to curse rather nonchalantly in a time when curse words are far more taboo than they are today. This tells us that she embraces her freedoms in addition to being free spirit, who will not be tied down by social norms. The story the letter tells also gives us insight into Juliet’s personality. She wouldn’t “mind looking a fool,” but cares about Rob enough to not make him “sound like” a fool. In this we learn that Juliet is a woman with high self-esteem who does not care how others feel about her. We also learn that Juliet cares more about others than herself as she is willing to look worse to the public in order to help Rob save some face. The story gives us further insight into Juliet by showing she “cleared out half of [her] drawers,” and that in her fight with Rob he calls her a “bluestocking.” We have learned that Juliet is an intelligent woman who expected to share equally in her marriage. In cleaning out only half her drawers she expected to be an equal; a line crossed by Rob when he cleaned out all of the bookcases. We know she is intelligent not only because she has such a love for books, but also because Rob calls her a “bluestocking” meaning an intelligent and educated woman. The letter is a personal message, and because of this we are able to get to know Juliet on a more personal level than could be conveyed in a conversation.  -How does the story told in the letter reveal the character of Rob? The story introduces the character of Rob by explaining to a friend of Juliet’s who Rob was. What we know about Rob is what we can glean from Juliet’s explanation of what happened between them. What we know about Rob is limited by Juliet’s views. For example, when Rob asks Juliet “[d]on’t they look wonderful?” Here we a presented with Rob asking his fiancee how she likes what he has done, but are only aware of how Juliet feels about the situation. Rob could very easily have thought he would be allowed to use the shelves, but he may also have been willing to stick his trophies in the basement. We as the reader are only presented with Juliet’s reaction to this which is that Rob has just destroyed something very precious to her and replaced it with meaningless drivel. Juliet’s only response to Rob moving her books is to scream “How dare you!” In this we are able to understand that to Juliet her books are almost sacred. This ignorance on the part of Rob shows that in the entire time he has known Juliet he did not realize how important her books are to her. Juliet was partly infuriated by the very act of moving her books, but also by the fact Rob was unaware of the significance of the books. In the entire letter we are never given Rob’s perspective on the fiasco, and so in looking at Rob through Juliet’s impression and with her biases we as the readers become biased. It is impossible to gain an accurate impression of Rob because all the description of who he is is through Juliet’s version of the events.  -Comment on the use of the listing of details in this passage. In the letter details are repeated in order to emphasize a point. One spot where the listing of details is very obvious is when Juliet is describing how she cleaned out “half of my drawers,” “half my cupboard,” “half my bathroom,” and the list of things continues. Here the listing emphasizes the extent to which Juliet cleared out her house in order to prepare for her husband to move in. By repeating “half” and “my,” the author shows that Juliet is expecting to share the house, but that the house belongs to her. Possibly the most obvious example of detail listing is when Juliet describes the “athletic trophies” that Rob put on “every single shelf.” This description powerfully emphasizes the sheer number of trophies that Rob has. Listing every type of award makes us imagine each trophy as it is mentioned rather than thinking of several trophies all at once. Additionally the detail of every shelf and the number of trophies emphasizes that Rob has taken all the shelves instead of the half that Juliet may have allowed. This is showing that Rob has overstepped what Juliet thinks is fair. The repetition of details enforces the point they describe.   -In what ways does the fact that this passage is a letter affect its style?  personal one-sided conversation story from her side The fact that this is a letter affects the style of the passage by making it less formal. In a normal passage from a book or a short story the work has to be a certain level of formality and so is edited for its content, but a letter is not. In a book Juliet could never call someone a “feckless cold-hearted bitch,” but in the letter she calls herself one nonchalantly. In this the use of a curse word shows how raw the letter actually is because these words are still controversial by today’s standards. Also because the writing is unimpeded by formality Juliet is able to write what she truly feels. As well because this is a letter we are told the story from her perspective we are forced to empathize with her. When Rob put his trophies on “every single shelf” we feel that he was out of line. We feel he is so out of line, because we know what Juliet thinks of the books and how she prepared for Rob. Were the story told from Rob’s perspective we may learn that he had mistakenly replaced the books or had thought she intended him to use the bookcase for his trophies.

-Note anything else in the passage that you find distinctive. In this what sticks out to me is what is missing from the letter. The letter ends rather abruptly with “I’d still have them, everyone” this would be a very sudden end to a letter and makes me wonder what is missing. I wonder if more has been removed from the letter that could explain what happened with “S&S about Gilly and the teapot.” The letter starts with several things mentioned and then goes into detail solely about Rob. While the other incidents may be related this method of explanation for the events is very narrow. The explanation mentions other incidents and implies they may have a relation to the story of Rob, but does not explain their relation, which in a letter to someone who does not know who Rob is would never happen. The letter assumes Sidney can understand the sequence of events after Juliet and Rob broke up, because it goes no further than that.