Another Thought
Posted by Cassia on November 16, 1997 at 16:18:14:
In response to RE: Silence (something strange just happened to the computer), written by Cassia on November 15, 1997 at 14:25:19
] ]
] ] ] I am horrified by that image of silence. Maybe it is that we are encouraged to articulate our pain, that all our theories of human life tell us that we have to say the words, to admit the dark secrets of our lives. But it seems to me that Ellen's whole life became an effort to live comfortably with that silence, which is almost a presence.
] ] I think this is a modern idea which is at times very wise but at others not. I'm not convinced that speaking would have made Ellen feel differently about her life with Ash. Is there ever any answer to that probelm, to love a man deeply yet not to want sex? They could have gone over it again and again, it would become a despute and what of their love then?
] ] ] In the following chapter Roland says aloud "listen to the silence"... and wonders if he has really spoken. Ellen seems always to be listening to the silence, and her diary is an effort to dispel it with words intended to cover its existence.
] I think of the silence as Ellen's creation. Ash and Christabel had their poetry, Blanche, her painting, Ellen's sisters, their children; Ellen created the silence which enabled her to stay with Ash in a peaceful and mostly happy union.
] ]
Ellen is as much a web-spinner as Christabel. An Arachne but more of a Penelope, for like that queen of old she unravels as much as she weaves.
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