Sexual Frustration and the Helpless Woman

I just finished the play, 'A View from the Bridge' by Arthur Miller, and it is good enough to post to this literary blog. I'm not sure if it's a 'Classic,' as Penguin might not have publication rights on it, but its themes of sexual frustration and helpless women, though not the main point of the play, dovetail nicely on the characters in Anna Karenina, and I'd like to write about it. Both also explore characters determining their own downfall through unjust actions; these fates are not supposed to be surprising to us, but to force us to live out bad choices to the dirty end.

I originally saw the first act performed by a Carrol Gardens theater groupe at the Brooklyn Museum a few months ago, and just found a copy to read the full play. It didn't run long when it debuted in 1956, but recently it's been revitalized, that time as a mini opera, which I wasn't the hugest fan of.

Brooklyn's Red Hook neighborhood, in this 1940's setting, is a dominantly Italian neighborhood, very working class, and as Miller's narrator says of the main character Eddie Carbone, a home to simple people who work hard, make a paycheck, come home to dinner, and reach little beyond the joys of mere existence. But oh, can their lives be complicated.

Eddie lives with his wife and his wife's niece Katherine, who he overtly covets. He is a grown man who has a thing for his barely-post-pubescent adoptive niece, who he raised like a daughter, and can't handle her going out into the world, getting a job, and meeting boys. We see his wife sense this and become upset; we see Katherine sense this and get confused; and we see Katherine's suitor, the illegal Italian immigrant Rodolpho, who is living in their house.

What pains me is seeing Katherine struggle with her feelings of daughterly love for Eddie, too often choosing be ignorant of his inappropriate feelings and refusing to be the person in the house who takes charge of them. SPOILER: As we approach the final scene, she still hasn't moved out of the imploding household, doesn't try to tell Eddie to stop trying to break her and Rodolpho up. As a privileged, post-modern 21st century woman this is the most frustrating thing in the world to see.

Anna Karenina inspires much of the same feelings for me: Why can't Anna just go be with her man? Why doesn't she dash off into the night with her son, forsaking meaningless things like social status and money in favor of true love? Why do they let asshole men like Eddie and Aleksander Karenin rule their lives?

Well, first, because these stories were written by men to explore how the male characters handle and react to complicated love situations. But secondly, because being a woman really did limit these women's ability to determine their lives, whether within a relationship or monetarily. They didn't have the social mobility to stave off completely on their own, or at least didn't believe that they did. And this makes me sad.

Sorry RaeAnn that it took me so long to post something. Can't wait to read more of everyone's progress.