Journal #6

The Bride seems to be a character that appears to be miserable. She shows a very negative attitude towards her wedding and even women in general. While talking to the maid, the bride talks about how "we women all waste away" (39). To me, the bride seems to dislike the proper image or role of women. When she says stuff like "And see no other eyes but yours. And have you hold me so tight that even if my dead mother called to me I couldn't pull myself away from you" (55), I get the feeling she just says it because that is what society expects from her. The standards of society stop her from getting what she truly wants, which I am not too sure what it is she wants. Maybe it could be someone who she truly loves, seeing that she runs away with Leonardo. She does not want to be seen as controversial though. When it comes to the wedding, she disapproves of the maid talking about it. When the maid says "You are so lucky! You're going to hold a man in your arms. You're going to kiss him. You're going to feel his weight" (40), she responds with an angry "Be quiet!" (40). As the maid continues to talk about the wedding and refuses to stay quiet, the bride just gets angrier and angrier. Talk about the wedding infuriates her. This conversation reminded me of the conversation early in the book between the bridegroom and his mother, when the mother would keep talking about the dangers of a knife despite her son's demand to stop.