22 (i) : Louka has stained Sergius' honour, according to Sergius himself, by making him "party to" Louka's "eavesdropping". Louka has just told Sergius that though she did not see 'The Man' - the enemy soldier who was given refuge by Raina in her room, she had heard his voice. She also "knows" either from the conversation she heard through the door or from noticing how that enemy soldier was treated by Raina and Catherine that if he cam back again "Miss Raina will marry him, whether he likes it or not." Sergius is deeply hurt when he hears of this and tries to blame Louka though she is only the person informing him of the situation.
(ii) : By calling Louka "an abominable clod of common clay" Sergius is trying to hurt Louka as deeply as he can by referring to the background from which she comes - she has a simple peasant's background and Sergius shows his disrespect and disgust at the lower classes of people by calling them "abominable" meaning a group which repulses him - whom he finds offensive; by "clod" he means an unintelligent lump of earth - referring to his prejudiced belief that such people have no thinking ability; he continues to emphasise these sentiments by the words "common clay" referring to the ordinary and mundane quality character of people from Louka's background.
(iii) : Sergius says that Louka has the soul of a servant to emphasise his disgust for her. But using this phrase "soul of a servant" Sergius means to emphasise that Louka does not have the personality, intelligence, class or abilities to rise above her status and her true and only role role in life will be that of a servant.
Louka had told Nicola, earlier in the play - at the commencement of Act 2 that he had the soul of a servant - referring to Nicola's obsequious attitude to the Petkoff's compared to her defiant attitude.
(iv) : Sergius has hurt Louka with his tongue by calling her "an abominable clod of common clay, with the soul of a servant" in thus saying so, Sergius had really hurt Louka where her feelings would be hurt at their very deepest as she has been seen aspiring to raise her status - to relate to the Petkoff's as her equals - and she als aspires to marry Sergius if that could possibly occur. Sergius has snubbed her, it seems.
Sergius had hurt Louka with his hands when he had gripped her above the elbows with both his hands, holding her tightly in spite of her efforts to writhe free and thus hurting her.
(v) : Louka means to tell Sergius that knowing that he is a flirt and dishonest to his lady-love and that Sergius himself has admitted that he is a "humbug", "buffoon", "blackguard" and a "coward", and that he has shown that he cannot respect a lady by physically hurting her - that he does not really belong to a nobler group of people that he seems by family, wealth and social status to have been born into. If Sergius thinks that she is "an abominable clod of common clay", she thinks the same of him.
(vi) : Louka calls Raina a liar and a cheat for claiming that she loves Sergius and pretending to show him the "higher love", when in reality her affections have been transferred to the enemy soldier who had been given refuge in her room.
When Louka says that she is worth six of Raina, Louka expresses her sense of her self worth - from the beginning of the play she has shown a "disdain" to the Petkoff's who put on airs just because they have wealth and status in society. Louka feels that true worth comes from the qualities one has and one's personality and thus she will not let her job as a servant lower her sense of self-worth as a human being. She feels that she is better than Raina who in her eyes is a pampered daughter of two very privileged people.
(ii) : By calling Louka "an abominable clod of common clay" Sergius is trying to hurt Louka as deeply as he can by referring to the background from which she comes - she has a simple peasant's background and Sergius shows his disrespect and disgust at the lower classes of people by calling them "abominable" meaning a group which repulses him - whom he finds offensive; by "clod" he means an unintelligent lump of earth - referring to his prejudiced belief that such people have no thinking ability; he continues to emphasise these sentiments by the words "common clay" referring to the ordinary and mundane quality character of people from Louka's background.
(iii) : Sergius says that Louka has the soul of a servant to emphasise his disgust for her. But using this phrase "soul of a servant" Sergius means to emphasise that Louka does not have the personality, intelligence, class or abilities to rise above her status and her true and only role role in life will be that of a servant.
Louka had told Nicola, earlier in the play - at the commencement of Act 2 that he had the soul of a servant - referring to Nicola's obsequious attitude to the Petkoff's compared to her defiant attitude.
(iv) : Sergius has hurt Louka with his tongue by calling her "an abominable clod of common clay, with the soul of a servant" in thus saying so, Sergius had really hurt Louka where her feelings would be hurt at their very deepest as she has been seen aspiring to raise her status - to relate to the Petkoff's as her equals - and she als aspires to marry Sergius if that could possibly occur. Sergius has snubbed her, it seems.
Sergius had hurt Louka with his hands when he had gripped her above the elbows with both his hands, holding her tightly in spite of her efforts to writhe free and thus hurting her.
(v) : Louka means to tell Sergius that knowing that he is a flirt and dishonest to his lady-love and that Sergius himself has admitted that he is a "humbug", "buffoon", "blackguard" and a "coward", and that he has shown that he cannot respect a lady by physically hurting her - that he does not really belong to a nobler group of people that he seems by family, wealth and social status to have been born into. If Sergius thinks that she is "an abominable clod of common clay", she thinks the same of him.
(vi) : Louka calls Raina a liar and a cheat for claiming that she loves Sergius and pretending to show him the "higher love", when in reality her affections have been transferred to the enemy soldier who had been given refuge in her room.
When Louka says that she is worth six of Raina, Louka expresses her sense of her self worth - from the beginning of the play she has shown a "disdain" to the Petkoff's who put on airs just because they have wealth and status in society. Louka feels that true worth comes from the qualities one has and one's personality and thus she will not let her job as a servant lower her sense of self-worth as a human being. She feels that she is better than Raina who in her eyes is a pampered daughter of two very privileged people.
No comments:
Post a Comment