Ordinariness Vs Exceptionality Flashcards
(7 cards)
General idea
Girl in the cage has ordinary life but wants an exceptional one
Bella is an exceptional human but ultimately wants an ordinary life
Henry James, In the Cage, 1898
“That made it an emotion the more lively… to see anyone come in whom she knew outside, as she called it, anyone who could add anything to the poor identity of her function”
Poor Things, Alasdair Gray, 1992
Speaking about Godwin, “He’s too ordinary to have fun with in that kind of way. He’s as ordinary as I am.”
McCandless replies: “Nonsense, Miss Baxter! You and your guardian are the most extraordinary couple I have ever -“
Bella: “Shut up Candle, you are too impressed by appearances”
Barthes, Death of the Author, 1968
“The text is tissue of quotations drawn from the innumerable centres of culture”
In the Cage 2
“That was what it had come to: his having sat with her there… making her know what he would have said if permitted; his having returned to her afterwards, repeatedly, with supplications eyes and a fever in his blood”
Erving Goffman on EL, 1959
“When an individual plays a part he implicitly requests his observers to take seriously the impression that is fostered before them. They are asked to believe that the character they see actually possesses the attributes he appears to possess… and that, in general, matters are what they appear to be”
Poor Things 2
“Reader, she married me and I have little more to tell. Our family prospers happily. Our public work is useful and noticed as such… Dr Bella McCandless… has been invited to speak on platforms in nearly all the European capitals”
