Sunday, March 10, 2019

Neither nowhere nor anywhere …

… B-Sides: Randall Jarrell’s “Pictures from an Institution” | Public Books. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

If you believe Northrop Frye (striking how many people still do, at least on this point), calling something a comedy virtually guarantees a happy outcome characterized by heteronormative, wedded bliss: trouble, action, resolution, triumphant coupling. Jarrell’s anti-novel, though, defines comedy as something else altogether. In Pictures, marriages—which are what the girls at Benton are manifestly being trained for, in that creepy Eisenhower-era way—are the deadly outcomes of life beyond Benton.
I somehow suspect that the author's knowledge of the Eisenhower Era comes by way of hearsay.
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1 comment:

  1. Lee9:31 AM

    I remember the Eisenhower era, and a lot of the stuff regarding women was in fact awfully creepy: I reckon you never had to wear a girdle, Frank. Google the adverts of the time for enlightenment.

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