Manet

I found that I actually became very attached to Suzanne Manet reading this story, more so than I was with the charter in the previous Van Gogh based story. I understand her to be a very sincere and thoughtful woman. She is obviously mourning the death of her recently deceased husband, but this does not completely incapacitate her. As a part of her grieving process she gets closure between herself and one of the women her husband had an affair with. I was surprised by how satisfying the moment was for me when Suzanne returned from Victorine’s flat and started a fire. Not only had she come to the conclusion that she was Eduard’s one true love, being with him to the end, but she came to appreciate the little things Eduard did in his lifetime. My personal favorite moment was when she noticed the way her feet angled outward in the same way that her husband had painted them. As opposed to the way she disapproved of their portrayal in the painting at the beginning of the story, she very much enjoyed them this time.

Having background information on the life and work of Eduard Manet I believe that I enjoyed this story much more than that of Van Gogh. From a historical perspective it is easy to appreciate all the idiosyncrasies of Manet’s life and work imbedded in the text. The two passages that I much enjoyed show Suzanne’s process of what I wouldn’t quite call revenge, but a stage of confrontation to receive closure in her grieving process. When Isabelle, another one of Eduard’s lovers, approaches Suzanne in the grievance line Suzanne shows her the letter she has addressed to her from Eduard. After she reads it Suzanne snatches it away and turns her back on a mourning and resentful Isabelle. The other passage that I’m sure many people chose is Suzanne’s confrontation with Victorine. Both of these instances show that Suzanne was emotionally closer to Eduard and his true love. This shows something about Suzanne’s character, at first she wasn’t confident about her role in Eduard’s life following his death, but she becomes more confident in their love after she stands up for herself.

I think that it is a combination of events that affect and shape our lives. I don’t know if I am in an appropriate position to make a philosophical judgment of freewill with the limited information I have been given in this story. I get the sense from the author that Suzanne is still going to do something noteworthy in her life besides simply being the wife of a famous painter. I’m curious as to if that prediction will prove true.

Though I still think the writing and dialogue are a bit odd as in the Van Gogh piece, I enjoyed this piece quite a lot. I become very attached to the character of Suzanne and felt a great deal of contentment at the end of the story when she reached a sense of resolve. I think because of the background information I had on the artist going into this piece it was much easier to become a fan of the story. This type of piece, in my mind, would be very hard to understand for someone without any knowledge of the artist's biography in mind and very much appreciated by a fan of the artist.