Monday, June 20, 2011

Grace King. "La Grande Demoiselle"

Scroll down to read the story "La Grande Demoiselle."

5 comments:

  1. Mademoiselle Idalie is just a typical upper class girl, born into wealth, who cares about nothing but herself and the things that she possesses. What she did, wore, went or said were quoted more than the president, and the outside world was irrelevant to her. I think Mademoiselle Idalie’s lifestyle and personality at the beginning of this story are quite parallel to a lot of women in today’s society and how we perceive them. Everywhere in the media we see nothing but the rich and famous, always well dressed, put on a pedestal, and I would even say idolized. The rich have the power to be more appealing to the eye and carry themselves with a sense of superiority. But what is beauty? What is grace? King writes, “Whether she was beautiful or not, it is hard to say. It is almost impossible to appreciate properly the beauty of the rich, the very rich.” In my opinion, this short story is interesting to read because people like to see movies and read novels that show someone being humbled. Mademoiselle Idalie had it all, but maybe in reality she didn’t. The life she had before seemed glamorous but it also seemed empty and unfulfilled. I love the quote in the film What’s Eating Gilbert Grape when Becky says “I'm not into whole external beauty thing, you know. Cause it doesn't last. It’s what you do that really matters.” I’m not saying that Mademoiselle Idalie was better off in the end or that this story even had a happy ending. It’s up to the reader to make that decision.

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  2. I agree with Megan. Mademoiselle was definitely an upper class "southern belle." However, I could not help but notice that in some cases she seemed to be somewhat of a "tomboy." As a matter of fact, I caught myself wondering if she had any interest in men at all. A couple of times in the work, King notes that "Men did absurd, undignified, preposterous things for her; and she? Love? Marry? The idea never occurred to her. She treated the most exquisite of her pretenders no better than she treated her Paris gowns,... She could not even bring herself to listen to a proposal patiently; whistling to her dogs. Maybe, I'm reaching a little, however, even Mademoiselle did not carry herself like most women of that time. She roughed it with the good ol' boys, she rode the horses, she chose what she wanted to eat, she even chose her education! Its no secret that women in these times rarely got an education; Mademoiselle learned what she wanted and ignored the rest. She was sure enough a rebel. Nevertheless, towards the end of the story, there was a certain air of humbleness that covered her completely. From her now noticeable unattractive(ness) to her dealings with the common-folk...even the negroes. Alluding back to Megan again, it seems that La Grand Demoiselle was knocked from her pedestal into the sea of the meek. It seems that while floating in the sea of the meek...the little lady (mademoiselle) found her equal; a man that also had no interest in the opposite sex. Together they took trips down a railroad of memory, finding each other repulsive.

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  3. To me Mademoiselle Idalie represented “the brilliant little world of New Orleans” (King) both before and after the Civil War. If we look at the history of New Orleans before and after the war it correlates with the events that lead to Idalie’s fate at the end of the story.

    Before the war New Orleans was the biggest city in the southern states at that time. It was known for its production of cotton and “slaves, slaves, slaves everywhere” (King) and its location at the mouth of the Mississippi River allowed it to prosper in all types of trade. Idalie’s success matched that of the city she lived in. Her riches and material possessions are talked about more than her actual appearance. With her riches came her carefree independence; she was a woman who didn’t care about men because she didn’t need them and a woman who barely cared about her clothing because she knew she would never wear them again. She, like the city of New Orleans, shared the same type of arrogance that prosperity can bring.

    During the war the success of New Orleans as a confederate stronghold was short lived as the Union army had control of the city for most of the war. In the case of Idalie the “colored company” that was to stay at her plantation represented the union armies garrison in New Orleans. The fire not only represented the loss of Idalie’s prosperity but also the fall of New Orleans with her death symbolizing the end of an era for the city.

    Idalie’s reappearance as someone almost not recognizable shows the effect that the war had on New Orleans and her marriage as an unwilling unification.

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  4. Personally, I thought she had an extreme transformation. She went from a "local celebrity" to a nobody. You can't get much more dynamic than that. I'm still having a hard time understanding how she got placed with the man at the end of the story. The author had me believe that she was completely content after the war. In fact, that was probably what she was searching for all along. So, why did she marry the man? Not to say that they were unhappy with one another, but it seems like they were both content being alone. The war really changed her character and I think the author was trying to say that the change made her find her place and that she was happy with her new standing. I love reading everyone else's opinions on various short stories because it shows how we can all be reading the same story, but definitely be reading it a different way.

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  5. I really like what Megan said about the Mademoiselle. More specifically, Megan's thought provoking questions "The rich have the power to be more appealing to the eye and carry themselves with a sense of superiority. But what is beauty? What is grace?" led my thoughts in a different direction. At first reading I felt sorry for the Mademoiselle, however, after reading the commentary above, I began to rethink the situation presented in the story. I no longer view the Mademoiselle as a victim, but as someone who had it all and lost--possibly because of her own misdoings. She was a spoiled, ungrateful "girl" in the beginning, and like in life, it caught up with her and forced her to grow up.

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