What is marriage? Can a relationship dedicated to equality,
friendship, and mutual education flower in an atmosphere of
romance? What are the paths between loving another and knowing
another? Stanley Cavell identified a genre of classic American
films that engaged these questions in his study of comedies of
remarriage, "Pursuits of ""Happiness." With "Contesting Tears,"
Cavell demonstrates that a contrasting genre, which he calls "the
melodrama of the unknown woman," shares a surprising number and
weave of concerns with those comedies.
Cavell provides close readings of four melodramas he finds
definitive of the genre: "Letter from an Unknown Woman,"
"Gaslight," "Now ""Voyager," and "Stella Dallas." The women in
these melodramas, like the women in the comedies, demand equality,
shared education, and transfiguration, exemplifying for Cavell a
moral perfectionism he identifies as Emersonian. But unlike the
comedies, which portray a quest for a shared existence of
expressiveness and joy, the melodramas trace instead the woman's
recognition that in this quest she is isolated. Part of the
melodrama concerns the various ways the men in the films (and the
audiences of the films) interpret and desire to force the woman's
consequent inaccessibility.
"Film is an interest of mine," Stanley Cavell has written, "or say
a love, not separate from my interest in, or love of, philosophy."
In "Contesting Tears" Cavell once again brilliantly unites his two
loves, using detailed and perceptive musings on melodrama to
reflect on philosophical problems of skepticism, psychoanalysis,
and perfectionism. As he shows, the fascination and intelligence of
such great stars as
Ingrid Bergman, Bette Davis, and Barbara Stanwyck illuminate, as
they are illuminated by, the topics and events of these beloved and
enduring films.
General
| Imprint: |
University of Chicago Press
|
| Country of origin: |
United States |
| Release date: |
February 1997 |
| First published: |
February 1997 |
| Authors: |
Stanley Cavell
|
| Dimensions: |
229 x 154 x 15mm (L x W x T) |
| Format: |
Paperback
|
| Pages: |
272 |
| Edition: |
2nd ed. |
| ISBN-13: |
978-0-226-09816-6 |
| Categories: |
Books >
Arts & Architecture >
General
Promotions
|
| LSN: |
0-226-09816-8 |
| Barcode: |
9780226098166 |
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