Boredom is Simply an Opinion

Is boredom truly a characteristic that coincides with a certain gender?

"The Idler has no rivals or enemies." (Johnson 2)

This quote from Samuel Johnson's The Idler really struck me. It seems to portray boredom as a neutral position that doesn't have any opinions or feelings. There is nothing to provoke and nothing to question when stuck in a state of boredom. Because there is no motivation to be doing anything, the individual is stuck in a state of leisure and at that time would not be causing any controversy or denying any other opinions. Therefore, due to the fact that they do not have opinions, they could not truly make allies with individuals based upon common interests or opinions and could definitely not offend anyone with their outward opinions.

It is interesting though, that within Spack's Boredom chapter, there is information based upon ideals of gender discrimination within boredom. "In the eighteenth century, women attributed it to men, in the nineteenth, men attributed it to women." (Spack X) The fact that there was gender differentiation within boredom boggles my mind. It is interesting because boredom doesn't necessarily mean lazy. It could mean leisurely, unmotivated or just uninterested. I don't believe that it has to take on a negative connotation because one gender is better than the other at a certain time.

Because of Johnson's opinions based upon boredom in saying that because the Idler doesn't have enemies, those individuals really don't challenge anything. It could mean that they are content and do not want to challenge the ideas that are prominent within society at that time. Because this passivity is prominent, it makes that certain gender appear to be lazy. Because history reports that men rested upon their laurels during the seventeenth century and then women began to take on more household roles during the eighteenth century, these ideas of changes within interest provided people with the opportunity to generalize boredom into one gender category. I believe that this is unfair. No matter what occurs in life, there are always going to be times of boredom and no motivation, but there are also times of inspiration and genius that can provoke interest. Therefore, I do not believe that this category can be directed towards one gender as a whole. Based upon certain individuals' interests, boredom can occur at any time and in any place.

Shandy's Impressive Memory

How can memory be reproduced so thoroughly within Tristam Shandy? I find it interesting that he can completely remember everything from his past.

"The trope articulates processes of recollection whose goals are to invent and compose in the present -- not to reproduce a record of past events." (Carruthers 21)

Carruthers makes some interesting points within the piece Book of Memory. She discusses how important memories are and how the human mind can recite specific details from any angle of the memory. This is clearly shown within Volume III of Tristam Shandy. Tristam can quite prominently recount even the tiniest of details from his stories. "Any man, madam, reasoning upwards, and observing the prodigious suffusion of blood in my father's countenance-- by of which, (as all the blood in his body seemed to rush up into his face, as I told you)" (Sterne 115) Within this passage, he remembers how his father's blood was rushing through his body. It is absolutely ridiculous that he can remember such small details.

Despite that, I believe that Tristam Shandy reflects the above Carruthers quote throughout the entirety of the novel. In the beginning, he was completely focused on starting the journey of his birth but he subsequently becomes distracted. Although he is reproducing a record of events from his past, he is making his story original by jumping timelines, adding in small historical references and also by breaking the fourth wall and adding ridiculous commentary. Therefore, he is inventing a story in the present while still recounting interesting stories from the past.

Absorption Outline

Thesis: Absorption is a state of mind that can transport an individual to a far off place from reality. Due to evidence from The Female Quixote, readers are provided with a first hand account of how absorption sweeps individuals into a fantasy land within their own minds. 

Outline

1.     Absorption and Relationships

a.     “Diversified only by accidents that daily happen in the world, and influenced by passions and qualities which are really to be found in conversing with mankind.” (Johnson 1)

                                               i.     Absorption is a process that occurs within a cycle. It grows and is influenced by interests and desires and formulates a passion for a certain object.

1.     This is displayed thoroughly by Arabella and her obsession with writing her own life story.

b.     “Yet he dreaded to see her exposed to Ridicule by her fantastical Behavior and become the Jest of Persons who were not possessed of half of her understanding.” (Lennox 117)

                                               i.     Absorption can also be associated with love. The feelings of obsession and desire can transform into absorption and love.

1.     This is clearly shown by Glanville caring about Arabella. He didn’t want her fantastical sense of absorption embarrassing her within reality, when at the same time, he was absorbed within his obsession of Arabella.

2.     Absorption and the Unspoken Language

a.     “I dream my life away in others’ speculations.”

                                               i.     Absorption is a world in which individuals become lost. They become unaware of their surroundings and completely enamor themselves with the ideas of their obsession.

1.     Shown by the image of the girl reading by Fragonard, absorption is completely prominent as shown by body language. Posture is slouched over the book, the head is tilted down, the book is held up with a regal stature.

b.     “Therefore to disengage herself from the Perplexity his Question threw her into, she was obliged to offer some Violence to her Ingenuousness;”

                                               i.     Absorption is quite difficult to separate oneself from. Therefore for Arabella to know that the only way of detaching herself from the situation is of violent language is quite impressive.

1.     She pulls herself out of her fantasy with Glanville but still remains absorbed with formulating every action within the ideas of a dramatic reading performance.

3.     Absorption and Fantasy

a.     “’Your history,’ said Miss Glanville! ‘Why, will write your own history then?’” “’I shall not write it,’ said Arabella, tho’ questionless, ‘it will be written after my death.’”

                                               i.     Absorption can completely be tied in with the grand vision of what reality could possibly be. Absorption therefore hinders reality and lands within a fantasy of the world.

1.     Arabella is insanely concerned with the ideas that her history will be written and her life will be immortalized forever.

2.     She seems to forget that her reality is present and she doesn’t reflect upon her actions. She simply continues to live her life without consequence and travel on as she pleases.

b.     “Our charming Heroine, ignorant till now of the true State of her Heart.”

                                               i.     Absorption can also prompt ignorance, which is associated with fantasy. Fantasy can blind an individual from reflecting upon their actions.

1.     Arabella was forced to see what her relationship with Glanville really was but it was within a fantasy land of the princess.

a.     She required outside sources to force her out of her ignorance and reign her back into the world of reality.

Sample Body Paragraph

            Absorption seems to be tiered upon a hierarchy that is driven by interests, passions and desires. Absorption can begin as a small spark of interest and then grow into a desire or obsession until the individual is completely lost within absorption. With absorption reigning as the top tier of this hierarchy, it seems proper that relationships reflect the same development as absorption does. “Diversified only by accidents that daily happen in the world, and influenced by passions and qualities which are really to be found in conversing with mankind.” (Johnson 1) Throughout The Female Quixote, readers view the development of Arabella and Mr. Glanville’s relationship. Their relationship begins as a simple conversation. These conversations grow and spark emotions and require opinions and thoughts from each speaker. From there, similar interests are found, ideas are shared and passion begins to form. Individuals claim stake within relationships that challenge one another and provide a safe haven for conversation. This is where absorption begins to develop on a scale. Interest is sparked within conversation, those similar interests fuel desire and absorption is reached when desire has filled over into obsession. Throughout this, absorption the constant stream of what that individual is thinking about. Throughout the novel, Glanville and Arabella are obviously thinking about one another. Glanville even develops the instinct to protect her. “Yet he dreaded to see her exposed to Ridicule by her fantastical Behavior and become that Jest of Person who were not possessed of half of her Understanding.” (Lennox 117) Glanville truly began to care about Arabella and had the desire to protect her from the evils of her own absorption. He was absorbed in saving her from her own absorbed mind. Therefore, absorption and the development of a hierarchical format is quite important within the idea of relationships and desire.

Reflection, Absorption and Arabella

"To-bed passed the small Remainder of the Night, not in Rest which she had very much needed, but, in Reflections on all the Passages of the preceding Day:" (Lennox 110)

Does absorption blind an individual from reflecting upon the situation at hand? And if so, what is the difference between absorption and infatuation?

The third book of The Female Quixote is heavily burdened by conversations within the text. Between conversations with Lucy and interviews with Mr. Glanville, Arabella continues to figure out how her story is written. Along with that, she is trying extremely hard to reflect upon her adventures and attempting to sort out her feelings about men.

It seems that Arabella is so absorbed in creating her life story and going on all of these fancy adventures that she isn't taking enough time to step back and reflect upon what she has done. She doesn't want to face reality. She simply has the desire to continue to float along in life. She also seems to be extremely involved in other stories rather than facing her own reality. She is extremely knowledgable upon Thalestris and continues on about how, "thos' the most stout and courageous of her Sex, was nevertheless a perfect Beauty; and had as much Harmony and Softness in her Looks and Person, as she had Courage in her Heart, and Strength in her Blows." (Lennox 125)

The juxtaposition between Arabella and the character Thalestris is quite prominent. She is completely enamored with knowing all that there is to know about this goddess and somewhat reflects the qualities that are described in the quote above. Therefore, because Arabella is so caught up in the fantasy of Thalestris, she is not able to face her own reality with Glanville. It seems that Arabella doesn't want to face the truth within the conversation with Glanville. She emulates Johnson's idea of, "diversified only by accidents that daily happen in the world, and influenced by passions and qualities which are really to be found in conversing with mankind." (Johnson 1) She is extremely passionate about her conversation with Glanville and proves that she really does want to face her fears and speak with him.

The line between absorption and reflection is not greatly crossed by Arabella, but conversing with Glanville in reality is helping her to learn how to reminisce and reflect upon her actions.