Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Laura Deserves Some Sympathy Too

I am afraid I must completely disagree with Joseph's interpretation of how the characters dealt with the respective problems in the film, particularly with Woolf and Laura Brown.  First off, both characters feel trapped by their situations.  Woolf elects to commit suicide while Laura runs away.  Both choose escapism as their method of handling the situation.  Can we say that suicide is a more legitimate way of handling such a problem over running away?  I don't believe so.  But as one may point out, as Joseph did, perhaps Laura's motivation was not as convincing or did not seem as important as Woolf's.  As stated earlier, Woolf had a history of mental illness, but could one not also argue that Laura did?  I mean, she clearly shows signs of intense depression and any psychologist would find a suitable diagnosis in the pages of the DSM-IV.  So, even though it seems like she had it all going for her, she obviously felt trapped and possibly had deep-seated mental issues like Woolf had.  Thus, I believe we can extend sympathy for her as well.  All the women in the story had unsettling intertwined issues to deal with and all of their struggles should be regarded equally.  That's my two cents at least.

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