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The Good Life, Complete List of Readings/Film: Madame Bovary x Antigone…

- - - - "She wanted a son; he would be strong and dark; she would call him Georges, and this idea of bearing a male child was like an anticipated revenge for all the powerlessness of her past life. A man, at least, Is free, free to explore all passions and all countries, to surmount obstacles, to Indulge In the most exotic pleasures. But a woman is constantly thwarted. At once passive and compliant, she has to contend with both the weakness of her body and the subjection Imposed by the law. Her will, like the veil attached to her hat flutters with every breeze; always there is desire inviting her on, and always, convention holding her back" (Madame Bovary, 80)
      - "No, you can't because you're not a woman" (Madame Bovary, 206)
        
        In reference to Rodolphe saying he understood what Emma was going through but she knew he never could because he was so much closer to a good life by just being a man
      - Madame Bovary wanted a son so that her child wouldn't be restricted by societal restrictions on women
        
        She wanted to live through her child because she felt so restricted in her own role in society
        
        living a good life to her meant freedom (through gender)
        
        society shapes Madame Bovary's desire to be free as a man because she feels that society has restrained her in her current position
        
        Ismene in Antigone also touches upon gender roles and how women are constrained by law:
        "we must be sensible. Remember we are women, we're not born to contend with men" (Antigone, 70-75)
  - - - The Younger family Is constantly seeking upward mobility (economically, socially, racially)
        
        this Is Influenced by the Idea of the American Dream because they believe money equates more freedom
        
        Beneatha Is seeking higher education- Intellectual upward mobility
        
        Walter wants to gain power so he Is no longer restricted by the limitations of being a black man In America
        
        The Kim family in Parasite Is also seeking upward mobility under the same sentiment of the American Dream
  - - - Colonialism suppresses larger dreams of people Inhabiting "small places"
        
        “In a small place, people cultivate small events. The small event is isolated, blown up, turned over and over, and then absorbed into the everyday, so that at any moment it can and will roll off the inhabitants of the small place’s tongues. For the people in a small place, every event is a domestic event; the people in a small place cannot see themselves in a larger picture, they cannot see that they might be part of a chain of something, anything” (A Small Place, 52).
        
        Small place Inhabitants can not Imagine themselves as part of the large picture because of constant repression by larger countries and their need to colonize other nations
    - - Inhabitants of third world countries are unable to achieve a good life because of a power dynamic between developed nations and developing nations
      - The tourists' vision of Jamaica vs. the true reality of Jamaica shows how one person's good life Is another's suffering
        
        our Ignorance can lead to capitalizing on one person's suffering for another's success
        
        Reality- what Jamaican civilians see
        
        Fantasy- what tourists see
      - Cost of one person's good life affects another person's ability to achieve a good life
- - - - Antigone pursues her individuality by asserting her own beliefs before the consequences of the state and her own family
        
        "I won't insist, no, even if you should have a change of heart, I'd never welcome you in the labor, not with me." (Antigone, 82-84)
        
        Despite her sister telling her not to, Antigone pursues justice for her brother
        
        "If we violate the laws and override the fixed decree of the throne, Its power-- we must be sensible. Remember we are women, we're not born to contend with men"
        (Antigone,71-75)
    - - Family in America is more of an overarching structure that is a starting point for individuals to develop on their own
        
        In contrast to Korea, Americans typically do not see eternal debt to their parents (I.e. Walter never feels that he should do what Mama wants in terms of her dreams but his own)
        
        Each member of the family wants to pursue their own goals with the Insurance money
        
        “she went out and bought [him] a house!” (A Raisin in the Sun, Act II, Scene i)
        
        Mama goes to buy a house against the rest of the family's wills because the rest had their minds set on different goals (Walter specifically wanted to Invest In a liquor store)
        
        “butchered up a dream of [his]- [she]- who always talking ‘bout [her] children’s dreams…” (A Raisin in the Sun, Act II, Scene i)
        
        Mama emphasized her kids pursuing their own dreams when they were growing up
      - Dreams' Influence on an Individual
        
        Each person's goals are Instrumental to their Identity and reveal a lot about their character
- - - - Madame Bovary is constantly searching for places/people to satiate her but she can never find anything to fulfill her desires
        
        she also Is never appreciative of what she has until It Is gone
  - - - Antigone sacrifices her existing family relationships in pursuit of her own beliefs
        
        Antigone and Ismene are alone yet Antigone still sacrifices this one last relationship she may have: "Now look at the two of us, left so alone ..." (Antigone, 70)
        
        Antigone believes she is bringing justice to her family when she actually abandons her younger sister who declares that she will love her sister no matter what
        
        The sentiment of Antigone's sacrifice is similar to that of Mama In A Raisin in the Sun because she believes she Is doing something good to the family when It actually pains other family members. In Mama's case she hurts Walter by taking away the means to his dream. In Antigone's case, she hurts Ismene by acting irrationally.
    - - "Surely the very worst thing Is to lead a useless life, like me. If our suffering were of use to someone, the notion of sacrifice would be a consolation!" (Madame Bovary, 207)
        
        Emma believes that being so devoted to someone that sacrifice were of use would be an Ideal. Right now, she feels as If she Is suffering for no progress
        
        However,,, Changez comes to America to make sacrifices for his family, yet he is still dissatisfied with his inability to connect with people
    - - Changez comes to America and works hard to feed his family but this Is a sacrifice to his social relationships because he feels he can not connect to his peers on a deeper level because they will never understand what It's like to be from Pakistan and understand the Impacts of their work
  - - - Family in Korea
        
        Respecting one's elders is key In South Korean culture: "This act of respect honours the belief that Korean children are in eternal debt to their parents." (https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/south-korean-culture/south-korean-culture-family)
        
        "eternal debt" Is key here as there are traces of this Idea In Parasite with Ki-Woo's actions at the end of the film
        
        Eternal Debt to Elders
        
        after Kim Ki-Taek goes Into hiding in the Park family's household (post murder scene), Kim Ki-Woo Is driven to work hard to buy the house and free his father:
        -- “All [he’ll] need to do is walk up the stairs” (Parasite, 2:05:32)
      - Family in America
  - - - An anarchic utopia can never exist because the future and utopia Is dependent on how we understand the past. Each person's utopia Is different so we can never achieve a good life for all. We can create a so-called legal utopia but this will not function for everyone because there will always be Injustices
        
        ‘You don’t understand what time is,’ he said. ‘You say the past is gone, the future is not real, there is no change, no hope. You think Anarres is a future that cannot be reached, as your past cannot be changed. So there is nothing but the present, this Urras, the rich, real, stable present, the moment now. And you think that is something which can be possessed! You envy it a little. You think it’s something you would like to have. But it is not real, you know. It is not stable, not solid– nothing is. Things change, change. You cannot have anything...And least of all can you have the present, unless you accept it with the past and the future...Because they are real: only their reality makes the present real” (The Dispossessed, 349).
        
        Different Interpretations of Utopia