Your job for today was to produce a final draft of your précis on “The Untold Lie.” Let’s get that document out.
1) Journal: (Suggested: 10 Minutes)
How is this draft a better draft than the last draft? Explain, citing good evidence in the new document using our three-step method for including quotes in our work.
2) Group Discussion: (Suggested: 5 Minutes)
Discuss your outcomes
3) Class Discussion: (Suggested: 5 Minutes)
Turn In Précis
Continuing with Plot:
Last time, started to think about or _frames_
- Play
- Class
- Income
- Setting
and about PLOT.
We defined Plot as the series of events in a story that are linked by causal relationships.
One of the things I said was that there is a difference between “plot” and “summary.”
To drive that point home, I would like us to do the following exercise:
Short journal entry: (Suggested: 5 Minutes)
In a bullet list format, please summarize your average day. What are the things you do over the course of an average day?
Discussion: (Suggested: 5-7 Minutes)
Short Journal entry: (Suggested: 5-10 Minutes)
Okay, now I want you to tell me about some short event in your life that you can tell as a story, or an anecdote.
Discussion: (Suggested: 5-10 Minutes)
Mini-Lecture: The Difference Between Plot and Summary.
Group Work: (Suggested: 5-10 Minutes)
Group Work: Let’s get into groups and look at “The Untold Lie.” Can we identify five plot points in the story? Can we talk about why they are plot points? When we have this work, we will write it on the board.
Group Work: Now, let’s do the same with “Gift of the Magi”
Your Homework is to read “Mrs. Beazley’s Deeds.” I want you to write a two-page blog post identifying the relationship between details relating to play, income, setting, and class.
[...] Day 2: Turn in Précis. More on Plot and Summary. Reading Mrs. Beazley’s Deeds [...]
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Rachel Taggart
This story written by feminist Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1916 truly shows the ideals of feminism, while incorporating income, class, setting, and play. This story illustrates how even if the woman was the possessor of all the money and capital, she still had little say about how business (involving these two matters) was handled, in the early 1900’s. In this particular story, we learn that Mrs. Beazley is the one with all the income, and holds a high class because she stays with her ungrateful husband for the sake of her children, and others. She does this even when her husband’s stupid behavior and demands have frustrated her to no end. She as a proper woman seeks to do what is believed to be right, even if that means she is unhappy during that time. It is not until it is insisted that her leaving her husband would not be unjust, due to the situation he has put her in.
This story uses some of the key words we have been dealing with in class, such as income, setting, class, and play; however, play is not a very important element here. The only thing about play within this story is that Mrs. Beazley experiences little to no play, and Mr. Beazley gets to do what he pleases. This story’s setting is in the early 1900’s in New York State, in a town called Shade city due to its location in between the mountains. The setting is very important because during these times women were considered inferior to men, and had little to no contribution when it came to important decisions, such as business and finances. We see that Mrs. Beazley has many great opinions on how their money should be spent, but since she is a woman, she is silenced with no second thoughts,”What do women know about business, anyway! You just tell him you’re perfectly willin’ and under no compulsion and sign the paper-that’s all you have to do!…Mr. Beazley minded her outcry no more than he minded the squawking of a to-be beheaded hen ” (388). This shows that Mr. Beazley is acting the way he feels he must, however the fact that he does not even acknowledge Mrs. Beazley’s complaints, shows the man he truly is, a selfish stubborn man.
This leads onto class, we see that Mrs. Beazley is very stuck on keeping some of the land her father gave to her, and keeping her family together, but other than that she is very lenient on what happens. Mr. Beazley however only shows concern about his business, but is not willing to do the legwork. He lives of his wife’s money, and chooses to spend it the way he sees fit, “But that house in Rockford is mine-where I was brought up-and I want to keep it for the children…Mr. Beazley’s face darkened. ‘You’re talking nonsense, Mrs. Beazley-and too much of it. ‘Women are words and men are deeds’ is a good saying.’ But what’s more to the purpose is Bible sayin’… ‘Wives submit yourselves to your husbands!”(389). In this quote we not only see Mrs. Beazley’s love for her children, but we also see how uncompassionate Mr. Beazley is and how narrow minded he is about the situation as a whole. He gives no respect to his wife or children, and sees no reason for him to have to work for what he has or gets (his income).
We learn later in the story Mrs. Beazley’s concerns and how skewed the situation is. Mrs. Beazley has always been the one with money, and Mr. Beazley has always been the one in debt. They used her money to buy the store they operate, but he does not work there he just manages it. Mrs. Beazley is the one who does all the work around the house, including taking care of the boarders that also live in their home. She technically is the only one who is earning the income, and has everything under her name, nevertheless Mr. Beazley takes charge of everything that is hers, “He’s got debts. Old ones and new ones. He was in debt when I married him-and he’s made more… ‘It’s not only that, I want to know my rights in this case, Judge. I’ve been to the bank- and she’s drawn ever cent. Every cent of my property.’ ‘Wasn’t it her property, Mr. Beazley?”(395,398). He claims what is technically not his, he shows that’s has poor budgeting skills (low income), and even poorer class.
In the end Mr. Beazley gets what is coming to him, he loses everything including his wealth, family, and capital. He shows his true colors not only to his family, but also to the whole community, and has to start working for things, instead of them just being handed to him. His class is low, his income is low, his play will now be low, and he is placed into a different more appropriate situation within the setting. Mrs. Beazley on the other hand has high class, higher income, will now be able to do the things she has wanted to, and is placed in a better situation within the setting.
Comment by rtaggart6 — February 14, 2011 @ 12:19 am |
In this story, there are many describing words that explain the country and the Beazley house. This is where the setting comes into the picture. The house is described in many sections of the story. The author writes, “She vibrated nervously in the wooden rocker by the small front window” (387). There are little sentences like this throughout the book that paints a picture of the inside of the Beazley house. It shows an image of what it would be like to be in that house. The country was explained as if it was beautiful and it influences the audience to think this way. Charlotte writes, “The drive was quite a long one and slower than more length accounted for, owing to the nature of rural roads in mountain district, and Mr. Beazley found himself talking more freely than was his habit with strangers and pointing out the attractive features of the place with fluency” (390). This is just one of the many parts of this book that the author is fully describing the setting of the story.
Play is also described pretty well in this story. The only person that was found enjoying himself the most was Mr. Beazley. The author explains, “In the store sat Mr. Beazley, quite comfortable in his back-tilted chair, enjoying a leisurely pipe and as leisurely conversation with another smoking, back-tilting man, besides the empty stove” (386). Mr. Beazley would smoke quite a bit and I’m sure he enjoyed it. It was considered his time of play, to enjoy himself. When Miss Lawrence comes into the story, he talks to Mr. Beazley on what she does in her free time to relax. She mentioned a couple of times what she likes to do. The author writes, “’When I’m tired I prefer the sea; but this year I wanted a perfectly quiet place- and I believe I’ve found one’” (391). Boarding at the Beazley’s seemed to be a way to escape her own life for Miss Lawrence. Play used to be going to the sea for her, but now it’s spending some time at a quiet place.
The other topic that comes up quite a bit in this story is class. The way these characters act shows what type of class they have. There is a part where Mrs. Beazley’s daughter is helping out in the store. The author writes, “’Never mind, mother,’ said Luella. ‘I’ll fix him up in no time; supper’s all ready’” (387). Luella was quite a big help for her mother. She shows quite a bit of class for a fourteen year old. I don’t know if it’s rather fair to classify kids as low, middle, and upper class, but there are some kids who are well behaved and helpful and some are bratty, out of control and not much of a help. Luella definitely seems to be a middle class teenager.
Also, in this story it’s clear of Mr. Beazley’s character. Ever since the beginning, he seemed to be rather rude and didn’t care much for his wife. He treated his wife and children horribly. What was most apparent was his offensive idea of women. The author writes, “Mr. Beazley’s face darkened, ‘you’re talked nonsense, Mrs. Beazley- and too much of it. ‘Women are words and men are deeds’ is a good sayin’. But what’s more to the purpose is Bible sayin’- this fool law is a mere formality- you know the real law- ‘Wives submit yourselves to your husbands!’”(389). This clearly states how Mr. Beazley though. People are allowed to have their own beliefs, but it’s not right to treat women like they mean nothing and their ideas don’t matter. Maybe when this was written women had no rights and most women were treated like this. But I still consider this of very low-class people.
Income was not explained very much in this story. There was a lot of talking about how Mr. Beazley traded land and a lot of it. It seemed that even though the Beazley’s had a store and Mr. Beazley earned quite a bit of a profit trading land, it still seemed that the family watched their money and where mindful financially. When Miss Lawrence moved in she liked to eat mushrooms and Mrs. Beazley seemed to like it because they were cheaper than meat. The author writes, “’She gets mushrooms, too- and cooks them herself- and eats them. Says they are better than mean and cheaper. I don’t like to touch them myself, but it does save money’” (392). There were other little parts in the story when it hints at the fact that the family was careful with their money.
Comment by Alyssa Howell — February 14, 2011 @ 10:41 pm |
This story was written in 1916 about a place in New york called Shade City which is nestled in the crack of the mountains. Where it doesn’t see a sunrise or a sunset, but the southern sun warms it midday and the north winds cools it will. So the family where talking about lives here with little play, and a low income. The only way play comes into the story is what little Mr. Beazley does and thats what ever he want wherehis wife and kids does as he say or he takes out of us that’s all (393). That why the odlest boy let at the age of twevle because his father punished him so.
Now lates talk about income in the story by reading you came to understand that Mrs. Beazley had all the income in the family. She bought the store that he managed with the money they got selling off her fathers land a little piece at a time. Even though she owned the land her husband had the say of what was done to the land and how the business they owned was run. The reason for this is the time they lived in “where wives are to submit yourselves to your husban” (389). In this area women had no say on how things where done. We see this when Mr. Beazley states “what do women know about business, anyway! Youjust tell him you’re perfectly willin’ and under no compulsion and sign the paper that’s all you have to do!” (388). This made Mrs. Beazley very upset so she asked “what’s it about?” she demanded “I’ve signed away enough already” (388). But she already know what he was doing “your going to sell the Rockford lot I know it!” Mrs. beazley asked her husband how can you do it William that”s the very last piece of what my father lft me. She told him it was her and she can’t sell it and she won’t sign the deed. Mr. Beazley didn’t like her outcry no more then a “hen squawking who was going to be beheaded” (388).What ever income Mr. Beazley made by selling and trading he put in his wife name so the people he owded money to couldn’t get to it. This is another reason we know they have a low income he was in debt when he married her and gathered a few new ones after they where married. By looking at what Mrs. Beazley said to Miss Lawrence durning a conversation they where having she said “he’s all about buyin’ and selling’and making money, and I think half the time he losesand won’t let me know.” (392) Know this bring us into class and how their seen to different people. Mr. Beazley is low class because of his selfish personality and the need to do what ever it take to get money no matter who he hurts in the prosses. He’s lazy and we know this when he called for her to come down stair and tend to Mrs. Janeway. Then when Mrs. Beazley folleowed her outside to the wagon and stood their talking and he calls for her again just to see if super was done. He did this even though he knows super is ready every night at six. Another thing that put Mr. Beazley in the low class states is he would allow his kids to go to school. Now we can look at Mrs. Beazley is a high class lady bcause she stayed with her husband regradless of how she was treated because in those time people didn’t believe in divorces. Even if she wanted one she could get it in New York. She had respect for the kids and did the best by them. It took Miss Lawrence awhile to convence Mrs. Beazley to leave her husband and make a better home for her and the kids and maybe the oldest would come back to you if you did. She did leave her husband and gave Miss Lawrence power of attroney to deall with her husband. Before she left she sold evrything they own to Sam Hunt and took all the money from the bank. Then her and the childern locked the house and sheds door then left with Misses Lawrence some place where she could rest and relax. By doing this it put Mrs.Beazley in a better spot with her income. She could send the kids to scholl and the baby would do better because it was down at a alitude for breathing and could get more sun. Not only does Mrs. Beazley have a better income but she can use her fathers land they way she wants which places her in a better situation then she was before. Has for Mr. Beazley his income states went to a low income and he showed everone in the community what his true colors really was and needed to work for everything he gets. He finely got what he deserved and it also affected what he did for play to cause he could do what ever he want to now sense the money is gone and he’s left without anything but his cloths.
Comment by Heidi Grant — February 14, 2011 @ 10:55 pm |
The short story, Mrs. Beazley’s Deeds, was written by the well known feminist writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman in the 1900s. This was a time of under appreciation of women and men were the controllers of most families. The women did the work and the men enjoyed themselves and handled the business and finances. This style of living is described in this story and discusses many of the topics that we have been thinking about ourselves in class.
Mrs. Beazley holds the finances under her name while her husband only has debts to his. She is the one who had land given to her by her father, but Mr. Beazley has nothing that he can truly call his own besides his family. All of his buying and selling has been done with what belongs to his wife and he expresses low class by disregarding the wishes of his wife. He has sold everything off that Mrs. Beazley’s father had given her, everything except the land and house in Rockford. She fights her point towards her husband, “How can you do it William! The very last piece of what my father left me! – and it’s mine – you can’t sell it – I won’t sign”, she exclaims (388). His response is merely that she is talking nonsense and, “wives submit yourselves to your husbands, whom he quoted from the Bible (389). He clearly has no respect for all that was made possible for him by his generous wife, and respect for others is a determining factor in determining ones class.
While Mrs. Beazley beckons to every holler from her husband’s mouth, he leisurely smokes his pipe and chats with other men. She is not allowed anything which to satisfy herself with and he genuinely does not care. This pipe smoking is his form of play and apparently means that he is busy, and no man can be interrupted when he is busy. As Mr. Beazley is, “smoking serenely”, Mrs. Beazley is tending to him, the children, the store, and the house which was above their store. She would much rather live on the land her father had given her, “not only because it’s better for the children – though that’s enough – but it would be better for business to live there—and I can’t make him see it”(392). She confides this information to the boarder that Mr. Beazley invited into their home; little does he know she is a lawyer as well.
Miss Lawrence, the boarder, advises Mrs. Beazley to do what she feels is right and best for her and the children. With Mr. Beazley’s abusive relationship towards her and the children it was not difficult for Mrs. Beazley to make a quick decision. Mr. Beazley went out of town for the day and when he returned the doors were locked and nobody was in sight. He hollered to his son to come get the carriage but, “no hurrying, frightened child appeared” (396). Once he realizes they have left Mr. Beazley proceeds to say, “We’ll have a nice time when she comes back! That young one needs a good lickin’”, therefore is implying that he would beat his wife when she returned. He expresses low class through his raging thoughts and actions towards his family, and they would have done anything that he asked if he had done it in a different manner.
Once his family is gone, Mr. Beazley is left with noting of his own except a bag of clothing. Mrs. Beazley had sold the store and its entire inventory, the home they had above it, even the horse and carriage that Mr. Beazley rode back into town on. He thought he had it all in the palm of his hand but as a result of his actions he lost everything which his wife was so generous to have shared with him, as well as the respect of his community. It just goes to show that in order to be classy you must treat those around you with the respect that you wish to be treated with, and Mr. Beazley learned a valuable lesson the day his generous wife left him to fend for himself.
Comment by Kailtyn-Jade Dingley — February 14, 2011 @ 11:42 pm |
Douglass Xavior Haley
Eh 200
Adam Crowley
Due: February 15, 2011
In the short story “Mrs.Beazley’s Deeds” it is a tale over a woman’s struggles with a husband that is controlling and non supportive to a woman. In the story Mr.Beazley uses Mrs.Beazley for all her money and time and her work ethic and she only stays with him to keep a family together. I will be explaining play, scene, class and income. From how author Charlotte Perkins Gilman articulates a woman’s life trapped and hindered in an age of the 1900’s when woman were not looked at as anything more than a wife.
In this story there are a couple different ideas of play. The wife Mrs.Beazley has no real since of play because she is always home with the kids or running the store that her husband should be, as Mr.Beazley states here “woman are words and men are deeds” (389). This shows you that he believes those women are not that important and really have no say in any thing hens why Mrs.Beazley never gets any play. For Mr.Beazley he gets a great deal of amount of play because he is living off the money of his wife. He gets to have relaxing time such as stated here “quite comfortable in his back-tilted chair, enjoying a leisurely pipe and as leisurely conversation with another smoking, back-tilting men, besides the empty stove” (386). This shows you that he is able to have a good amount off free time to play or relax because he can because his wife is doing all the work in the family. Where it says empty stove, he could have filled it but no he will make his wife doing it because he has so much leisure time and she can’t have any.
When class comes in to play there is a different idea on how you will be looking at it when it comes to Mr.Beazley I would have to say he has little to no class at all. He believes that everything that is in the marriage all of his wife’s money and land is his and he thinks that he can do what he wants with it you can see here that is says “He’ll do it. He’s no right to do it, but he will; he always does. He don’t care what I want nor the children” (387). You can see here that he is in it all for his own and not for his family making him have a lower class. He shows that he is willing to do what he wants and that his wife has no say in any of his ideas she just has to sit, their while he goes out an does what he wants with their money. If he had more class he would listen to his wife and would allow her to do more than just sit around the house and do all his work.
As for Mrs.Beazley’s she has a much more class than her husband she did not want him to take the land and the house that she grew up in and sell it but her husband made her sign the deed to him and then he could do what he wanted with it as scene here “You’re going your going to sell the Rockford lot – I know it!, How can you do it, William! The very last piece of what father left me! – and it’s mine – you cant sell it – I wont sign” (388). Here you can see that this is some thing that is so close to her it’s the last thing her father left her and he wants to take it with out her permission and sell it so he can have more money thanks to her. He class shows here because she is taking it to hart that he is doing this to her, she is letting it happen so she can keep the family together.
The scene is an older one back in the 1900’s when woman had a little say in the world and couldn’t really do much with how they thought and felt. The scene is a man and his family in a small house over their store and the scene become a bit smaller when a new person comes in to the house as said here “we’ve got no room for our selves over this store…you’ve got nothing’ to do but keep house for a small family – and tend the store now and then when I’m busy” (389). You can see that the scene is coming to be a bit smaller and I believe that they are middle class with a tad bit more money but not enough to make them high class. They all are making the scene of a world with no context of a woman stronger.
When it comes to income they have it. They both have a great deal of money and in the end it all is put together and the husband thinks he can keep taking his wifes money and as you see here it stops “ ‘ how on earth could she get your money out of the bank?’ ‘Why it was in her name of course; matter of business you understand’” (398). Here you see she did what she had to, too keep her land and to make her kids happy and take them away from there ungrateful father.
Comment by Douglass Xavior Haley — February 15, 2011 @ 12:24 am |
Charlie Osborne
This story was written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1916 really was a story about income and class. Mrs. Beazley is the a very rich woman with a lot of income. She is a very high class person who has a husband that she lives with and she only stays with him to support her children. Her husband is very demanding and makes Mrs. Beazley very unhappy a lot of the time, but because of her kids sake she sticks it out and makes it work. She is unhappy a lot and she believes that being unhappy is worth it sometimes because she feels it is the right thing to do. Later in the story she later debates on leaving her husband because it has gotten to the point where she really can not take it any more. As far as Mrs. Beazley having any fun or play, there is none for her at all. Her husband can do whatever it is that he wants and that is the only part of the story where I can relate anything to play.
This story takes place in the early 1900’s New York State, in Shade City. Men were considered better at this time period and women had little if no say at all. Mrs. Beazley seems to have a good understanding of Finances and Business, but this is not looked at seriously because she is a women. Mr. Beazley says “ ‘ What do women know about business anyway’ “. (Pg.388). He clearly doesn’t believe that women know anything about business and that there rights should always be limited. This shows that that Mr. Beazley is very selfish and does not respect his wife in the way he should, he should be supporting her and listening.
Mrs Beazley shoes a lot of class when it comes to caring about her family and taking care of the land that her father gave to her. This shows she is a strong women and would do anything for her family. Her dealing with her husband makes her even stronger as the story continues. The only thing Mr. Beazley cares about is his business, and Mrs. Beazley being very wealthy helps him get by as well. When he does spend the money he does it for his own personal benefit, not thinking of his family at all, surprisingly not even his kids. Mrs. Beazley mentions moving to Rockford where she was brought up where she would like to raise the children. Mr. Beazley shoots it down quick saying “ ‘Wives submit yourselves to your husbands’ ” He is clearly disrespecting Mrs. Beazley and showing how little he cares about his family. He is fast in thinking he is superior to his wife and that just is not right.
Mr. Beazley has always seemed to just live off of his wife and he always seems to be in debt. The store that they own was purchased with Mrs. Beazley’s money. Mr. Beazley is the manager there and leaves all of the dirty work for Mrs. Beazley which does not seem fair at all. While Mr. Beazley is busy trying to get himself out of debt, his wife is always doing lots of work around the house as well. She makes sure her kids are well taken care of with no help from her husband at all. The couple goes to court wanting a divorce and rights to certain property in which Mrs. Beazley should have. Mr. Beazley tries to convince the judge that the property the couple did own was rightfully his in the first place. This was false because it was land inherited by Mrs. Beazley from her father. This shows that Mr. Beazley has poor class and is willing to do anything to get as much away form his wife as he can.
Mrs. Beazley ends up getting the better of the deal. Mr. Beazley loses everything, which was his family and his wealth. He shows the whole town what kind of person he really is, greedy and selfish right down to the end of it. Mrs. Beazley now will have a better life with her kids and will be able to do things for fun now which will make her have a lot more play. She was a high class person right from the beginning and her husband was the opposite. She now will be happier and will look forward to her says without her unsporting husband.
Comment by Charlie Osborne — February 15, 2011 @ 12:42 am |
Bliss Benson
When incorporating income, class, setting, and play to the short novella “ Mrs. Beazleys Deeds” many thoughts arise. The author, Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a feminist which is easily strewn throughout the text. Written in 1916,with feminist views it is clear to see how women in the early nineteen hundreds were valued. This story depicts women and business were not to be correlated. Not even in circumstances in which the women is the main provider.
Within this story, there are a few
conflicts that apply that, in a sense,relate to income and class. It is soon found out that Mrs. Beazley is the main source of income for her family. This story takes place in a town named Shady City, New York. She is of high class, but its displayed as though because she’s a woman, the money she had should be turned over to her husband. She has always been the type of person that has sought to do the right thing, and make the right decision . She feels very strongly as though this is wrong and she shouldn’t have to sign deeds over to her husband, it is hers. Her husband is so unappreciative of what he has simply because a woman is providing to their family.
An example of Mrs. Beazley being high class is the situation she is in due to her husband. She is an extraordinary mother and when purchasing anything her kids comes first. She stays with her husband for the children, even though he is harassing her to sign deed to turn over everything to his name. This itself seems extremely nerve wracking, but she handles it calmly and with posture.
The story keeps bringing up the conflict with the house, land, and money her father had left her when he passed. She wants to keep the house she grew up and and raise her children in it as well, and Mr. Beazley finds this preposterous. Mrs. Beazley feels trapped with her own possessions because her husband refuses to let her make any decisions or have any opinions. “ You’re talking nonsense, Mrs. Beazley and too much of it . “ women are words and men are deeds” is a good saying. But whats more to the purpose is the bible sayin’ “ Wifes submit yourselves to your husbands!“ (389)If he wasn’t so narrow minded and selfish, ( which is due to the time period and how men had rights and women did not . This gave the men a sense of ownership for their wife/loved one) the conflict would have never came up.
As for play, it isn’t really recognized in this story due to the setting and the conflict that occurs. One thing that is noticed is Mr. Beazley has leisure time where as Mrs. Beazley has none. He will smoke his pipe while Mrs. Beazley tends to the children and all of his needs.
Mr. Beazley on the other hand is displayed as a low class man. He is shown as an
abusive husband and father. “ that young one needs a good lickin”(396) In this reference,
he is referring to beating his wife. This shows he has anger issues as well as unstable coping mechanisms. Throughout the story he argues consistently with his wife and acts
with rude intentions.
Mrs. Beazley decides to leave her husband and made the decision of letting the power of attorney deal with abusive Mr. Beazley. She sold all of her possessions toSam Hunt and withdraws her lump sum of money from the bank. Her setting wasn’t safe, so using the income she had she took herself and her children to a better place.Now Mr. Beazley is in the situation that he deserves.
Comment by bliss benson — February 15, 2011 @ 1:22 am |
Mrs. Beazley’s Deeds was written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, who was a feminist writer. This short story is about a husband and a wife who live in Shade City, in New York, in between the mountains. Their source of income comes from Mrs. Beazley. Her father left her a bunch of properties and things. Mr. Beazley took it upon himself to sell all of her property in order to support the family and for him to do the things that he wants. They also own a store, which they live above in a small home. He manages the store, however, Mrs. Beazley does all the work, along with taking care of the family. They also take in a boarder, which is another source of income. Play is not shown all that much in this short story. This is partly because Mrs. Beazley has to work at their store all the time, along with taking care of the family. Class is represented in this short story by Mrs. Beazley. She doesn’t believe in divorce and doesn’t want to leave her husband, even though she is not happy, for her children’s sake. Mr. Beazley, however, isn’t classy because he believes he can do whatever he wants with Mrs. Beazley’s money.
If you look closely at the setting of this short story, Gilman describes the setting here “The southern sun warmed it at midday, and the north wind cooled it well; there was hardly room for the river and the road; and the “City” consisted of five or six houses, a blacksmith shop and “the store”, strung along the narrow banks”(391). For this time period, this would be considered a normal city. There were country dirt roads that you had to take a carriage or walk to everything. The Beazley’s lived above the store that they owned. Here Mr. and Mrs. Beazley are fighting over where the boarder is going to stay “Her room! What room? We’ve got no room for ourselves over this store. William- I won’t have it! I can’t- I haven’t the strength”(389). Their daughter, Luella ended up sleeping on the couch and their son ended up sleeping in the attic.
Another big factor that we’ve been talking about is income. Setting is related to income because if you have a large income then you will most likely live in a nice area. In this short story, the only income the Beazley’s have is from Mrs. Beazley. Her father left her a bunch of properties when he passed. Mr. Beazley has taken it upon himself to do what he wants with those properties and he has sold all of them except for one. The other source of income they have is the store that they own and live above. Mr. Beazley manages the store, but doesn’t do any work for it. Mr. Beazley is about to do a business deal to sell Mrs. Beazley’s last property, but she won’t stand for it! The last source of income the Beazleys have is Mr. Beazley decides to house a boarder, which is someone who pays to live with you for a short amount of time. All of the money is in Mrs. Beazley’s name because we find out that Mr. Beazley is actually in a bunch of debt and he doesn’t want the creditors to find that he has any money.
Play usually relates to income because if you have a great source of income then you are able to do a great deal of playing, if you choose. In this story however, there isn’t much play involved in the Beazley’s lives at all. Mrs. Beazley doesn’t have time for play because she is always working at the store, taking care of the house, or tending to the children or her husband. There is one time where it does show Mr. Beazley playing. “In the store sat Mr. Beazley, quite comfortable in his back-tilted chair, enjoying a leisurely pipe and as leisurely conversation with another smoking, back-tilting man, besides the empty stove”(386). This is showing that even though Mr. Beazley is in the store and could be helping out his wife so she doesn’t have to bend over backwards taking care of the store, he’s just sitting in the store comfortable smoking a pipe, relaxing, doing something he likes to do for fun.
Class is a major part of this short story. There is a major example of classy and a major example of not being classy. The classy example comes from Mrs. Beazley. Even though she has a husband who makes her take care of everything and doesn’t let her decide anything or think for herself, she hasn’t left him. She has done this for two reasons. First she doesn’t believe in divorce, and second, she doesn’t leave for the children. She believes that being a family is best for them. This shows incredible class because she is giving up her happiness in order to be a family. The act of not being classy comes from Mr. Beazley. He shows us this because he has taken all of Mrs. Beazleys properties and has sold them, even though she didn’t want to. He has taken advantage of her and her money. He is not a loving husband and doesn’t think that she knows anything about business or making deals. He only thinks she’s good for taking care of the family and the house and working at the store.
In the end, Mrs. Beazley gets talked into leaving. She gets the courage, takes the kids and sells everything that she had so that her and the kids can get away from Mr. Beazley. Throughout this short story we get to see how setting, income, play and class are all related.
Comment by Allison DeFilipp — February 15, 2011 @ 2:36 am |
One can assume that her income is higher than the average store clerk or farm hand.
Mr. Beazley from “Mrs. Beazley’s Deeds”, exhibits how unprofessionalism can lead to low income. Mr. Beazley repeatedly exhibits low class qualities in almost every setting he is in. When in the privacy of his home, Mr. Beazley disrespects all of his family members, both verbally and physically. His disrespect is shown in the following quote of an argument with his wife over his business methods. “Said he meditatively, “What do women know about business anyway”… [Mrs. Beazley objects] “you’re going to sell the Rockford lot…the very last piece of what father left me… you can’t sell it”… Mr. Beazley minded her outcry no more than the squawking of a to-be beheaded hen” ( 388). While running ‘his’ store he lazily rests in his chair and summons his wife to tend on the customers, claiming he doesn’t know where the product they’re looking for is. “In the store sat Mr. Beazley, quite comfortable in his back-tilted chair, enjoying a leisurely pipe… “This lady wants some cotton elastic,” said he” (386). Outside of the home, he is arrogant and believes that men, more particularly he, know everything. “Women are words and men are deeds is a good sayin’… you know the real law – ‘Wives submit yourselves to your husbands’” (389). In the story, Mr. Beazley’s unprofessionalism, and altogether low class, leads him to lose both his family and their store (his source of income). Proving the point that how professional one is affects their income.
From the unprofessionalism Mr. Beazley exhibits one can see two of the major points to be talked about, class and income. Along with that Miss Lawrence had a great view on work being a very highly proclaimed lawyer is no small task and is only achieved by few individuals. That is a good example of how work related to the story.
Comment by Cody raven — February 15, 2011 @ 3:29 am |
Mrs. Beazley’s Deeds
In most cases, it’s safe to say that the more professional one is the higher their income. In “Mrs. Beazley’s Deeds”, Miss Lawrence exhibits exceptional class and in doing so has worked her way to the top of her career field in the justice department. She is polite and helpful to everyone around her, even if they are hostile toward her. “Mrs. Beazley’s welcome left much to be desired… But Miss Lawrence took no notice. She came down for supper simply dressed, fresh and cheerful” (391-392). When listening to a tour of a small town, that would not keep the concentration of most, “Miss Lawrence was observant, interested, appreciative” (390). Miss Lawrence’s professionalism allowed her to become the best woman lawyer in all of New York. One can assume that her income is higher than the average store clerk or farm hand.
Mr. Beazley from “Mrs. Beazley’s Deeds”, exhibits how unprofessionalism can lead to low income. Mr. Beazley repeatedly exhibits low class qualities in almost every setting he is in. When in the privacy of his home, Mr. Beazley disrespects all of his family members, both verbally and physically. His disrespect is shown in the following quote of an argument with his wife over his business methods. “Said he meditatively, “What do women know about business anyway”… [Mrs. Beazley objects] “you’re going to sell the Rockford lot…the very last piece of what father left me… you can’t sell it”… Mr. Beazley minded her outcry no more than the squawking of a to-be beheaded hen” ( 388). While running ‘his’ store he lazily rests in his chair and summons his wife to tend on the customers, claiming he doesn’t know where the product they’re looking for is. “In the store sat Mr. Beazley, quite comfortable in his back-tilted chair, enjoying a leisurely pipe… “This lady wants some cotton elastic,” said he” (386). Outside of the home, he is arrogant and believes that men, more particularly he, know everything. “Women are words and men are deeds is a good sayin’… you know the real law – ‘Wives submit yourselves to your husbands’” (389). In the story, Mr. Beazley’s unprofessionalism, and altogether low class, leads him to lose both his family and their store (his source of income). Proving the point that how professional one is affects their income.
From the unprofessionalism Mr. Beazley exhibits one can see two of the major points to be talked about, class and income. Along with that Miss Lawrence had a great view on work being a very highly proclaimed lawyer is no small task and is only achieved by few individuals. That is a good example of how work related to the story.
Comment by Cody raven — February 15, 2011 @ 3:30 am |
The short story Mr. Beazley’s Deeds, date’s back in the early1900’s where people traveled in horse drawn carriages and trains; which is exactly how a woman by the name of Miss Lawrence came into his life. He had met her at the train station to board her in his home (despite is family’s objections), “The drive was quite a long one and slower than mere length accounted for…” (390) indicating that the means of travel were not that of automobile. The city in which the story had taken place was called Shade City, which was not much of a city but more of a small village in the mountains “… “City” consisted of five or six houses, a blacksmith shop and “the store” stung along narrow banks” (391).
“… it stood in a crack of the mountains and saw neither sunrise nor sunset.” Rural and far from having enough people to be considered a city, this setting is portrayed as quiet and peaceful and the reason why Miss Lawrence as chosen the area, “… this year I wanted a quiet place — and I believe I found one,” she would explain.
Unfortunately, for Mr. Beazley’s family they were controlled by the Mr. Beazley, ’women are words men are deeds’ is a good sayin’… ‘wives submit yourselves to your husbands!” (389). With this, Mr. Beazley would often punish unreasonably and force them to do things that they object to for the sake of his happiness. He found comfort in doing little to no work, often smoking his pipe and discussing new ways to make quick buck, ‘… he won’t stock up as he ought to…” his wife will complain. “He’s all for buying’ and sellin’ and making money…he won’t let me send Luella to school (daughter) — nor Willie’ half the time” (392, 394). This example of Mr. Beazley’s forcing misery upon his family for his happiness. He trades family’s dignity to accomplish the ‘lap of leisure’ lifestyle, pleasing only himself is his form of play.
Despite consequences, his wife explains, “He’s got debts, Old ones and new ones” (395) he continues to force his wife to sell his wife land. The income that he earns are banked in his wife name to avoid creditors, “…he has some trick to that. He banks it in my name or something—so his creditors can’t get it” his wife admits. This clearly shows the value that Mr. Beazley is worth, which is slim to nothing. He has never been middle class or rich only tries live as though he was, when in fact it is apparent that he is poor and only tries to keep up appearances. With the money he has made in the real estate business and the store his family runs will only give his wife much more when she sets out on her own with their children.
Furthermore, Mr. Beazley will never be considered “classy” with his uneducated language structure, for example when he demands his wife to take care of a customer near the beginning of the story; “…you know where those dewdabs are better’n I do” (386). Also, his obvious disregard for his family in which all the neighborhood was aware of, “Clean as a whistle’… ‘Not so much as a cat to kick! Nobody to holler at! No young ones to lick!” (400). The neighbors discuss the events of Mr. Beazley’s wife up and leaving him, indicating that the appearance that he tried to achieve did add anything to his true personality. His peers share a laugh at his expense, which had given him more reason to leave town to avoid the ridicule from the town.
Comment by Katherine Stewart — February 15, 2011 @ 7:26 am |
Katherine Morissette
“Mrs. Beazley’s Deeds” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a story that made many relations to income, play, and class. At the beginning of the story, describing Mrs. Beazley, the author wrote, “A rather undignified little pile of bones, albeit discreetly covered with stringy calico” (386). This quote specifically describes income and class. Mrs. Beazley is said to be undignified, or low-class, and her clothing is said to be of poor quality, describing her income. Mrs. Beazley is also portrayed as low class because of the setting she is in, laying on t e floor of a dingy kitchen.
Class and power is shown when Mr. Beazley talked about equal choices in their household, “the protest that had no power of resistance won scant consideration from a man like him” (388). This quote basically shows that Mrs. Beazley’s opinion did not matter to Mr. Beazley. To him she was just a woman who was unknowledgeable and clueless. He did not value her opinion so most of the time she did not share. This shows a lot about Mr. Beazley’s level of class. A man who cannot respect his wife and treat her as an equal is viewed as low class in today’s society. By not allowing his wife to have a voice in their home Mr. Beazley categorizes himself as low class.
Another character from the story, Miss Lawrence, was viewed in a completely different light. Miss Lawrence was described at dinner, “she came down to supper, simply dressed, fresh and cheerful. She talked gaily, approved the food, soon won over Luella’s interest, and captured Willie by a small mechanical puzzle” (392). Miss Lawrence was able to blend with the different personalities of the family with ease. She was polite, and made sure to complement her hostesses cooking. Miss Lawrence would be considered high class. She was able to treat everyone with respect, despite the fact that she didn’t know them. Miss Lawrence treated Mrs. Beazley with more kindness and respect then her own husband did. Miss Lawrence had a great personality and treated everyone like they were high class.
Miss Lawrence had a style of play that was different than most people Mrs. Beazley had met. Miss Lawrence’s idea of play was described as, “tramping off with an opera glass and a book—Willie likes to go with her , and shes tellin’ him a lot about birds and plants and stones and things” (392). Miss Lawrence enjoyed simple things in life; like nature and reading. This showed something about her play and income. She was able to find enjoyment out of simple pleasures. Although she may not have had a restricted income, she still liked to do things that were very inexpensive, and she taught other people like Willie to do so also.
Mr. Beazley, on the other hand, had a completely different idea of play. Mr. Beazley found enjoyment out of belittling his wife. A favor Mrs. Beazley tried to do for him was described as, “an early breakfast was prepared and consumed, with much fault finding on his part” (395). Mr. Beazley decided instead of thanking his wife he would make fun of here. Mr. Beazley found enjoyment out of making his wife’s life more difficult. This showed that Mr. Beazley had a negative form of play that was harmful to the people around him.
Lastly, income was a large part of this story. Mr. Beazley’s financial situation was portrayed as, “He’s got debts. Old ones and new ones. He was in debt when I married him—and hes made more” (395). Mr. Beazley only had financial security because of his wife’s inheritance. Mr. Beazley was personally financially irresponsible and had quite a negative effect on his income. Mr. Beazley needed to learn how to better manage his money and not rely so heavily on his wife. In an income classification, Mr. Beazley would most likely be categorized as low income because he had so many debts and no real money of his own. His wife would be more likely described as high income because she knew how to manage her finances and did not get herself into substantial debt.
Comment by kmorissette16 — February 15, 2011 @ 12:34 pm |
“Mrs. Beazley’s Deeds” was set in the late 1800’s early 1900’s, in a little town in New York. During this time women were expected to be subjected to what their husbands wanted. During the course of this story, Mrs. Beazley has to abide by what Mr. Beazley wants her to do, that is until Miss. Lawrence becomes a boarder at their house. During the course of this story there are many changes as to how play, income, setting and class relate to the context of the story.
One example of how play, income, setting and class relate to this story is, ‘ “ You just tell him you’re perfectly willin’ and under no compulsion and sign the paper– that’s all you have to do!” ‘ (379) This excerpt is during the time in which Mr. Beazley is trying to get Mrs. Beazley to sell her family home. Where this is the last bit of property and belonging that Mrs. Beazley has, she is reluctant to sell. On Mr. Beazley’s part it shows that he has little class and would rather him have the money to put into bad business schemes, then for his wife to have it in property. It also imply’s that he squanders away his wife’s money in order to better his own financial income. On Mrs. Beazley’s part it shows her moral importance towards her family things. It also shows that her setting is bad because of the way her husband treats her.
Another example to show how the terms relate is, “ The southern sun warmed it at midday, and the north wind cooled it well; there was hardly room for the river and the road; and the “City” consisted of five or six houses, a blacksmith shop and “the store,” strung along the narrow banks” (382). This excerpt provides a good picture of the setting of this story. It is a very small town in which everyone knows everyone. There are people like Mr. Beazley who shows no respect to anyone because he is the only store in town.This would represent his lack of class. His income would be on the lower side considering how small the town is. Because of his lack of income in the store, and his desire to have money , he often sells off his wives inherited lands and funds in order to put her money into dead- end schemes that could pay off his debts. This shows very little class on his part, and it also shows financial struggle.
Despite these hardships towards Mrs. Beazley, her luck begins to turn around with the arrival of Miss. Lawrence. ‘“ But, Mrs. Beazley, think. If you and your sister could keep house together you could make a home for the children, and your boy would come back to you. If you leased or sold the falls you could afford to send Luella away to school. Willie could go to school in town the baby would do better down there where there is more sunlight, I’m sure why do you not make a stand for the children’s sake?” ’( 386) This shows that Mrs. Beazley cares more about her children than herself. By leaving her husband, which she eventually does, she is making a better life for herself and her children.This shows an enormous amount of class. She could also make a good amount of income by opening her house to boarders. She would be out of the Falls and away from her husband, which will make a better life for everyone involved. Mrs. Beazley’s life will become more enjoyable and in result make a happier life.
“Mrs. Beazley’s Deeds” started off as a dreary story about a woman who is controlled by her husband. The situation that herself and her children are in is not healthy, fun or respectable. In order to lose his debts, Mr. Beazley makes Mrs. Beazley sell most of her family inherited belongings. However, when Miss. Lawrence arrives Mrs. Beazley learns that she can take control of her life, and provide a better life for her children and herself if she left Mr. Beazley. By leaving Mr. Beazley, Mrs. Beazley’s life along with her children’s would become more enjoyable. They would be more financially stable, have better surroundings and be able to have a better sense of respect.
Comment by Kristy Benner — February 15, 2011 @ 1:54 pm |
The story “Mrs. Beazley’s Deeds” was written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1916. Many of the details in this story bring out what time was like back in the 1900’s. many women didn’t understand finnces and lived under the control of their husband. Mrs. Beazley was one of those women living that life style. Many of the details in the story make us clearly see that. Her play was limited ; she didn’t know she was the sole provider of the family. Her husband had absolutely no class. Also the way the author describes the setting paints us a more visual picture of Mrs. Beasley’s life.
The author describes the setting in various place throughout the story. She writes that their living room is right over the store they own. You can get a picture that they live in a rural area when Mr. Beazley and Miss Lawrence make their way to the house. The author writes “… owning to the nature of the rural roads in the mountain districts…”(390). This shows that they live from the city, so there must not be that much fun thing to do around their little town. But the setting also does some contributing to Mrs. Beazley’s fun.
The author describes how Mrs. Beazley listening into conversations down stairs. The author writes “Mrs. William Beazley was crouching on the floor of her living room over the store in a most peculiar attitude. It was what the doctor would call the “knee-chest position”; and the women’s pale, dragged out appearance quite justified the idea” (385) . The author later on describes how she was “listening at a stove-pipe hole” (386) to listen to her husband’s sneaky business. This was about the extent of her play. Mrs. Beazley mainly tended to the customers, while her husband sat back and relaxed. Mrs. Beazley’s day mostly consisted of her taking care of her children, the store and being bossed around by her husband. On the other hand, Mr. Beazley enjoys himself a lot. The author writes “In the store sat Mr. Beazley, quite comfortable in his back-tilted chair, enjoying a leisurely pipe and as leisurely conversation with another smoking, back-tilting man, beside the empty stove”(386). As these details show play, they also show class.
As Mrs. Beazley tends to the customers, her husband just sits there and does nothing. Again this relates back to the time period. Another detail that shows Mr. Beazley has no class is when he demands Mrs. Beazley to sign the deed to sell the last piece of the land her father left her. As Mrs. Beazley outcries not to sell the land her husband doesn’t care. The author writes “Mr. Beazley minded her outcry no more than he minded the squawking of a to-be headed hen”(388). This shows that Mr. Beazley has no respect for his wife and all he wants is money. Income is another important detail the author includes into the story. Mrs. Beasley is higher income. She is the main provider for the family, even though she does not know that. Her husband on the other hand has been in debt for most of his life, so that’s why he puts everything under her name. In the end she gets everything and he gets nothing, just like he deserves.
Comment by Briana Shields — February 15, 2011 @ 2:56 pm |
Mrs Beazley’s Deeds, written by Charlotte Perkins Gilmore, contains a vast amount of description relating to play, income, setting and class. As it is written in 1916 there are a lot of differences compared to the modern day. Charlotte Gilmore was a lecturer of trying to promote the status of women at the time where women had a severe lack of rights. It can be seen within the story that it is implies the struggle that some women had at that current time.
Mr and Mrs Beazley are the main characters of the story. However both have different versions of play. It can be seen that Mr Beazley likes, “enjoying a leisurely pipe and as leisurely conversation with another smoking, back-tilting man, beside the empty stove” (386). This is different to the play that Mrs Beazley indulges into. Mr Beazley describes what Mrs Beazley has to do when he says, “’You’ve got nothin’ to do but keep house for a small family – and tend the store, now and then when I’m busy’” (389)/ The version of what Mrs Beazley has to do described my Mr Beazley makes it sound easy for what Mrs Beazley has to do. However she works extremely hard whilst Mr Beazley does nothing at all. She works extremely hard and completes all the jobs whilst he relaxes and orders her around.
The setting of the story is 1916 in America. The location of the area Mr and Mrs Beazley live is called Shade City. The name of the city was because, “it stood in a crack of the mountains and saw neither sunrise or sunset” (391). There is further description of the city as it says, “The southern sun warmed it at midday, and the north wind cooled it well; there was hardly room for the river and the road; and the “City” consisted of five or six houses, a blacksmith shop and “the store,” strung along the narrow banks”. This is a great description of what the environment Mr and Mrs Beazley are living in. Their version of a city is a great deal different to what we would call a city today. With their being only a few houses in the city people knew each other very well and relied on what they had as it was difficult to raise money to survive.
This leads on to the amount of income that the Beazley family receives. Mrs Beazley is seen to have inherited a great deal from her father. This is explained when she says, “’my father left me a lot o’ land – left it to me – to take care of me and the children, and you’ve sold it all’” (388). This displays the amount of future that Mrs Beazley had infront of her by making a business, however Mr Beazley had other ideas and forced her to sell the land to make money. Now he has sold every last bit resulting in their family only owning one more plot of land. However the money that they have been making has not been lasting them long. This is as Mrs Beazley goes on to explain, “’he’s all for buyin’ and sellin’ and makin’ money, and I think half the time he loses and won’t let me know’” (392). With Mr Beazley losing this vast amount of money does not put himself and the family in good stead for the future. This shows the income that the family is receiving. They had the potential to make a very healthy amount of money but Mr Beazley had made some very poor choices in how to spend the money.
Mr Beazley had a different level of class to Mrs Beazley. Mr Beazley would be considered low class compared to his wife being upper class. Mr Beazley’s class can be seen when his wife explains how he sells all the land, “’he’s no right to do it, but he will; he always does. He don’t care what I want – nor the children’” (387). For his wife to express these feelings about him is interesting to read. However continuing to read the story shows that she is correct in what she says. For him not to care about his family is low class, that should not be occurring from a husband with a wife and children. He had even chased his son out of the city as Mrs Beazley says, “’and he’d come back to me any day – if it wasn’t for his father’” (393). For his son to be thinking like he is shows the very low class that Mr Beazley is. Mrs Beazley on the other hand is considered high class. This is as she is willing to do the majority, if not all, the work around the house and store for her family. She has, “much friendliness” (387) and has a devotion to stay with her husband even though he mistreats her and the family. For a woman to still want to be loyal even with the behavior of a husband like Mr Beazley shows the amount of class she has. However she then does break off from Mr Beazley as enough is enough and she needed to do the best for herself and her children.
Comment by James Crockford — February 15, 2011 @ 3:28 pm |
In Mrs. Beazley’s deeds there were a lot of references to Class, Income, and setting. However there was no play in the story that I could find. In this story Class, income, and setting all connect with one another. This story was not exactly an easy read, it was hard to figure out what the story was trying to convey until later in the story. The story shows how income, class, and setting all lead into each other. You start with one of those and you’ll end up with information to back up all of them. The setting in the story leads into the type of income they have and their income leads into the type of class they are. In this paper I will show you how they relate to one another.
In Mrs. Beazley’s deeds there was a lot of conflict to do with the setting. Mr. Beazley kept trying to sell property that belonged to Mrs. Beazley which made her very angry. However there was nothing Mrs. Beazley felt she could do about the situation because she was made to fell beneath Mr. Beazley because she was a woman. The story took place in Shade City. It was considered to be a small quite town found between two mountains, “Shade city was well named, in part at least, for it stood in a crack of the mountains and saw neither sunrise or sunset” (391). It was a small town that was about to have big things taking place.
The income in this story was not very high; lower middle working class; however Mr. Beazley would like everyone to think that his income was very well off. Mr. Beazley made his income by basically coning people. He owed a lot of debt to a lot of people therefore he put all of his assets into Mrs. Beazley’s name so that none of it would be touched. The funny thing is that most of the income Mrs. Beazley was putting into Mrs. Beazley’s name was hers anyway. Mr. Beazley took a lot of what was not his, including Mrs. Beazley’s property and assets. Mr. Beazley had sold pretty much everything that meant anything to Mrs. Beazley and was trying to sell land in Rockford that her father had left her, “But the house in Rockford is mine” (389). Mrs. Beazley tried to put up as much of a fight as she could, “Mr.Beazley minded her outcry no more than he minded the squawking of a to-be beheaded hen” (388). But it was clear in the story that Mr. Beazley had all the control and power in their relationship. Mr. Beazley didn’t care much for other people’s feelings, which leads into class.
Income wise the Beazley’s seem to be working middle class people, Mr. Beazley, quite comfortable in his back-tilted chair, enjoying a leisurely pipe” (386). However Mr. Beazley’s actions prove that he is a low class person with not much respect for those around him. Mr. Beazley treats his wife likes his property by bossing her around, taking her things, and making sure he is in charge of what she can and cannot do, “Their husbands pocketing all the money” (390) . It seemed as though the characters in the story believed women were of a lower class than men that wives should obey their husbands and that is it, “Wives submit yourselves to your husband’s” (389). Mr. Beazley showed very low class by treating his wife and family bad; His actions were so poor that one of his sons moved out by the age of twelve just to get away from his father. Karma comes back around to get Mr. Beazley for his bad actions in the end.
Setting, Income, and class played into each other a lot in this story. The setting had a lot to do with their income, which played a huge part in their class. However the characters In this story did not experience any play. Mr. Beazley made it hard for his family to enjoy anything having a harsh rule over the house. Mrs. Beazley getting all of the assets and her family away from Mr. Beazley seemed like a form of play for her. It isn’t by our definition; however it made her and her family a lot happier than they were. It was good that even though Mr. Beazley had taken everything away from Mrs. Beazley she was able to gain back some of it to be able to live a happy life with her children.
Comment by Elizabeth McMullen — February 15, 2011 @ 3:33 pm |
Dan Hallinan
2/15/11
Mrs. Beazley’s Deeds
In the story “Mrs. Beazley’s Deeds” there are a lot of details about play, income, setting, and class. At first the story was very hard for me to understand what was going on. As it gets towards the end of the story though everything came together for me. In the story Mr. Beazley is a character who likes to have power or control. He seems to run his families decisions and unfortunately their way of living. Here Mr. Beazley says a saying, “Women are words and men are deeds”(389). This saying meaning their opinion doesn’t matter. But Mrs. Beazley is almost like his puppet, living to her husband’s expectations. Thriving off control and power Mrs. Beazley is trapped under her husbands regulations.
Mr. Beazley’s way of playing is overpowering someone else. Having control over someone to do as commanded. Mrs. Beazley is a whole different story. As a character she seemed to have lived in the darkness of Mr. Beazley’s control. As if she never made decisions for herself, Mr. Beazley always would make them for her. Mrs. Beazley explains, “Oh Miss Lawrence, you don’t understand, here am I and here’s the children, and none of us can get away, and if I don’t do as he says I must, he takes it out of us, that’s all”(393). She explains this to Miss Lawrence because of the power her husband has over her and she can’t get away from it without being punished. Mrs. Beazley has no play. Mr. Beazley would just smoke his pipe and act like there were no worries in life, while Mrs. Beazley would be stressing to make her husband happy along with tending to the kids.
This story took place in New York in 1916. A time where in New York you couldn’t get a separation. The judge states, “You can get a separation, in due time. If you cared to live in another state long enough you could get a divorce, not in New York though”(398). Here the judge just explains to him his options and actions Mr. Beazley might take as the laws under New York which is a lot different nowadays. There were horse being driven in the story which makes it way back in 1916 which gives a good picture in the reader’s mind. I couldn’t really tell exactly where in New York, but it seemed to be more in the countryside because of the horses. Seemed like they lived in a small little town where they had their business.
The family didn’t have a whole lot of money. Mr. Beazley would sell Mrs. Beazley’s fathers land that was given to Mrs. Beazley by her dad. Mrs. Beazley never spoke up and yet here’s an example of Mr. Beazley’s power. But that was where some income came in as he would buy property then sell it. Mrs. Beazley would scream, “The very last piece my father left me”(388). Shows that what her father gave her was more important than the money. Mr. Beazley cared about the money. The family also owned a shop that was bringing in a little income, so they weren’t rich but they weren’t living poor either. Although Mrs. Beazley says, “He’s got debts. Old ones and new ones. He was in debt when I married him, and he’s made more”(395). From the sounds of it, it seems that Mr. Beazley is the damper in the family with all the business he tries to do with properties.
Mr. Beazley shows no class in this story whatsoever. He expects Mrs. Beazley to wait on him, pretty much as his slave. All he does is demand more and more out of his family. Mrs. Beazley however has a hidden heart inside her. At first she let her husband order her around as if she deserved no respect. But she didn’t know what else to do, or what she could do for her and kids. She has a class act because in the end she stands up for herself, with a little push of the lawyer. The lawyer also had a class act to help Mrs. Beazley get out of the shadows. All the lawyer, Miss Lawrence, says is, “M-m-m”(395). She didn’t have to get involved with the situation with Mrs. Beazley and her husband but she opened up Mrs. Beazley’s eyes to what she was really living like.
Comment by Dan Hallinan — February 15, 2011 @ 3:34 pm |
Mrs. Beazley’s Deeds
The first thing this story brought to mind was the idea of irony. Mrs. Beazley, through the course of her marriage, had put up with so much from Mr. Beazley. She had dealt with him selling all of her property just to make a buck; money that he would not use to benefit his family but, in the end karma catches up with the man because he had left the money in her name and she rounded up the courage to take the money and make a better life for herself and her children.
Through-out the story, in terms of class, income, play, and setting, Mr. and Mrs. Beazley were often on different terms through the entirety of the story.
Income-
One could gather that this family was “well-off” in terms of money because of all the properties Mrs. Beazley’s father had left to her, the store the family owned, and the rent they earned of the boarders they had taken in. However, even though they seemed to do alright in terms of income Mrs. Beazley didn’t seem to see much of it. “-and he takes everything he can scrape up and puts it towards the land-and then sells that and gets more.” “And he won’t let me send Luella to school.” (393) This example shows how Mr. Beazley surely does make the money to support his family but, that isn’t what he uses the money for.
Play-
Here again, what comes as ‘play’ for Mrs. Beazley is rather different than what comes for ‘play’ for Mr. Beazley. Mrs. Beazley seems to find play when her children are happy. There is nothing more she wants in life than to send her children to school and to see her oldest boy return home to her. “…you could make a home for your children, and your boy would come back to you. If you leased or sold the falls you could afford to send Luella away to school.” (395) She puts her energy into providing the best situation possible for her children, whereas, Mr. Beazley takes joy in selling her properties and trading up to make the best dollar he can. “In the store sat Mr. Beazley quite comfortable in his back-tilted chair, enjoying a leisurely pipe and as leisurely conversation with another smoking, back-tilting man, beside the empty stove.” (386). Mr. Beazley is the father of four children yet, doesn’t waste his worries with the cares of them.
Class-
Class is where Mr. and Mrs. Beazley are most different. Mr. Beazley is a rude man, who cares not of the interest and concerns of his family. “Wives submit yourselves to your husbands!” he proclaims to his wife.” (389). A quote he believes he is following from the Bible but, did the Bible intend for his harsh treatment to his family? No. Mr. Beazley exhibits nothing but that of a low-class character and that catches up to him at the end of the story. Mrs. Beazley on the other hand portrays dignity and class, very opposite her husband. She shows humility to her guest, even when she didn’t want to welcome her, she puts the needs of her families before her own; characteristics that a high-class woman would show.
Setting-
The area the Beazley’s live in seems to be that of a middle-income area. They own a store and have a home that fits the size of their family well. The scenery is described as that of serene and welcoming. “The drive was quite a long one and slower than mere length accounted for, owing to the nature of rural roads in mountain districts; and Mr. Beazley found himself talking more freely than was his habit with strangers, and pointing out the attractive features of the place with fluency.” (390) This scene occurs when Mr. Beazley is bringing the boarder into town and she gazes upon and admires the quaintness of the town.
I have simply only touched upon each frame to the story. It goes so much deeper due to the fact that the Mr. and Mrs. are on very different level which is a whole new frame in itself I do believe.
Comment by Lauren Taylor — February 15, 2011 @ 4:49 pm |
“Mrs. Beazley’s Deeds” was written in 1916 by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, who wrote many pieces focusing on social and feminist issues of the time. Since she centered her works around feminist issues, it is no surprise that “Mrs. Beazley’s Deeds” contrasts the concepts of income, class, play, and setting as they are related mainly to a female character, Mrs. Beazley, and to her husband, Mr. Beazley. Income will be defined as an individual’s financial means with respect to the financial means of other people within a given community or region. Class is an individual’s behavior with respect to the social standards of his or her community or region. Play encompasses activities undertaken for amusement, and setting is the geographic and social situation within which action occurs. Using these definitions, we make connections between these concepts and see how they are related to each other.
In “Mrs. Beazley’s Deeds,” it seems that the setting affects the Beazleys’ income, which in turn affects their play. Their income also affects their setting because they do not have the money to be able to just get up and change locations, and their income does not give them extra money to spend on play. In the beginning of the story, Mr. Beazley appears easy-going and relaxed because the first description of him is when he is sitting in the store, “quite comfortable in his back-tilted chair, enjoying a leisurely pipe and as leisurely conversation with another smoking, back-tilting man” (Gilman 386). This shows he has the time to sit around conversing and smoking a pipe, so you do not get the impression that he is going to be the type to be constantly working and always indulging in laborious jobs. However, soon after this description of Mr. Beazley, we start seeing the way he views and treats women, as he yells to his wife to get the customer some elastic cotton while he sits there and smokes. During this time, Mrs. Beazley is working around the store and their living area, trying to clean, get dinner ready for the family, and tend to the store’s customers.
Although Mr. Beazley tells Mrs. Beazley what to do and when to do it, you can see traces of her character wanting to stick up for herself and not easily give in to her husband’s commands. When he mentions to her that he has another deed for her to sign, she replies, “‘You’re going to sell the Rockford lot—I know it! […] The very last piece of what father left me!—and it’s mine—you can’t sell it—I won’t sign!’” (Gilman 388). This shows that she is willing to fight to keep this last possession, and from Mr. Beazley saying he has another deed for her to sign and by her saying that this lot is the very last piece of what her father left her, it gives you the impression that Mr. Beazley has sold the rest of the lots she had been left and that she was not going to put up with it anymore. This is a turning point for the character of Mrs. Beazley, and it foreshadows her character’s future decisions to finally do what is in her best interest instead of doing what Mr. Beazley wants. During the discussion that follows this retort, Mr. Beazley agrees to talk about the deed with her, “‘seein’ as [she is] so far on to this business.’” He says to her, “‘I suppose you’ll admit that you’re a woman—and that you don’t know anything about business, and that it’s a man’s place to take care of his family.’” This shows Mr. Beazley may actually be concerned about taking care of his family and that he feels it is his responsibility, but he still thinks that Mrs. Beazley has no authority or credentials when it comes to taking care of business simply because she is a woman. After this, Mr. Beazley also tells her that women are words and men are deeds, and that according to the Bible, wives should submit themselves to their husbands (Gilman 389). He then proceeds to inform her that she has one day to get a room in order because they are having a boarder, so Mrs. Beazley must do the cleaning and get things ready so that she can take care of a boarder, and although she tells Mr. Beazley that she doesn’t have the room or the strength to take care of this boarder, Mr. Beazley seems to think that “[she] has nothing to do but keep house for a small family and tend to the store when he is absent.”
Throughout this story, we continue to see the conflict between Mrs. Beazley and her husband, which mainly arise because she is a woman and Mr. Beazley “[minds] her outcries no more than he minded the squawking of a to-be beheaded hen” (Gilman 388). Since they are located in the mountains in a small town, they do not have access to much. Mr. Beazley’s play may be sitting around and smoking his pipe or conversing with others and relaxing as he makes Mrs. Beazley do most of the work, or his form of play may even be when he buys and sells things in attempts to make profit. Since he is in debt and still attempts to buy and sell things, his income may not affect his play much. However, since Mrs. Beazley must do most of the work for Mr. Beazley, and since she must care for her family, she does not have the money or the time to play. However, in the end of the story, she finally takes her children and leaves Mr. Beazley, and she gets to go away and relax for the summer. Essentially, the whole story led up to this point, so this could very well be a story of a woman’s journey to finally get her form of play through freedom.
Comment by Tyler Smith — February 15, 2011 @ 5:26 pm |
Robyn Gray
Eh 200
February 14, 2011
“Mrs. Beazley’s Deeds” Two Page Blog Post
“Mrs. Beazley’s Deeds” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is the story of a woman whose husband is convinced she knows nothing about business or finances. Mr. Beazley believes he knows everything there is to running a business and thus takes all of the assets Mrs. Beazley had from her father and proceeds to lose money after trading or selling the deeds. However one day after her husband has tried to get on her bad side does Mrs. Beazley find out she can do much better than the life she has with him. Although there did not seem to be many examples of setting and none about play a few connections can be made about the relationship between income and class within “Mrs. Beazley’s Deeds”.
The first thing we will look at is the setting in which this story takes place. Mr. and Mrs. Beazley live in a small apartment above the convenience store they own in town (386). There is not much room in this apartment as the children get moved from their bedrooms when Mr. Beazley adds a boarder to stay in their apartment (389). The town in which they live is called Shade city and it only consists of five or less houses, one blacksmith shop, and the store the Beazley’s own (391). This “city” is located in the mountains and the people there never get to see the sun rise or set. However judging by the awe in which Miss Laurence the boarder looks on at the sights it seems to be a very beautiful place. So we can tell from this brief description of Shade City that it is a beautiful place and since the population is so few the only people there must control all of the money, leaving no one too far below their average level of income.
Next is income, as I mentioned before the level of income seems to be a little more than sustainable for at least the Beazley’s and of some of the surrounding neighbors. Mrs. Beazley has been left a few pieces of land consisting of saw mills and tanneries by her father that has added to her assets and overall wealth (390). However all of these deeds but one has been sold by her husband (388). You would think that if a man has sold all of these assets than he must have gotten some money out of it. Well it seems that Mr. Beazley has done the opposite and is now in more debt at present than he was when he married Maria (395). So the Beazley’s have a okay income but it is only because of the debt they are in.
The appearance of class in this story is very good because each of the main characters are showing very different levels of class. First we have Mr. Beazley who thinks very little of his wife’s intelligence and knowledge of how to handle business transactions (388). Directly after those insults he tells his wife of the female boarder he is picking up soon, knowing well that his wife would be upset about this (389). From these examples it seems that Mr. Beazley is a mean selfish man with very low class. However on the other hand Mrs. Beazley, who has grown up with money, would at first never think of breaking apart her family just because the marriage was not going well (395). However with some encouragement she does manage to do what is best for her and her children, to get away from her husband and get her children in school (400). This shows that she is willing to do the right thing even if it was not the easiest thing to do.
It appears to me that the relationship between class and income is apparent in the Beazley’s lives. Maybe it was because Mrs. Beazley had no income of her own that she finally decided to do the right thing. It could have been that Mr. Beazley was so mean because he was always worrying about his debt. Here we can see that low income can lead to either wonderful decisions or leave someone bitter and inevitably alone.
Comment by Robyn Gray — February 15, 2011 @ 5:52 pm |
Keyleigh Bennett
Adam Crowley
EH 200
February 15, 2011
Mrs. Beazleys Deeds
The author of this story, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is a feminist and wrote this story in 1916. There are aspects in class that we have been focusing on; class, income, setting and play. In this story there are a lot of examples on class. Mrs. Beazley was a well educated woman; however, she did not get the respect she deserved. Mr. Beasley was extremely sexist and did not respect her opinion. This would be an example of low class on Mr. Beazley’s part. For Mrs. Beazley she would be considered to have high class because she cared about her children and wanted to give them the best that she could.
Income was also a prominent aspect in this story. Mrs. Beazley signed most of her land over to Mr. Beazley, however, she did not want to sign her house over to him. This was a definite financial issue. Her husband also was in a great amount of debt that would affect her as well. These financial situations are a burden on Mrs. Beazley.
Setting is also a factor in this story. This story was written back in 1916, so I would assume that money was very scarce back then. Back then there were many prominent issues with people being sexist. That would affect the story as well. Another setting aspect could be the fact that Mrs. Beazley owned a lot of land that Mr. Beazley wanted to take.
The last aspect to the story is play. Mr. Beazley enjoyed being mean to Mrs. Beazley. This could be Mr. Beazley’s idea of play. Whereas, Mrs. Beazley enjoyed taking care of her children and that was the most important thing in her life. She cared about them more than her husband.
Comment by Keyleigh Bennett — February 15, 2011 @ 8:10 pm |
The author, Charlette Perkins, was a feminist which is shown through the setting in this short story. It is about a young woman caught in the struggles of life with the idea that she has no power only to find out she holds all the cards. You easily see how the family positions were viewed in the early 19th century. Even though everything was in the womans name it was the mans job to handle the business and women has no place making it an affair.
In Mrs. Beardley’s Deed’s there is an obvious power struggle. Mrs. Beardsley’s owns property left to her by her father but feels controlled by her wealth hungry husband. In these times many women married at a young age and were not allowed to get a divorce. There was impression that “wives submit yourselves to your husbands!” which caused Mrs. Beardsley to allow her husband to act in ways she knew to be wrong. Because of her submission in the situation, it caused her and her children not only mental agony but physical pain. Her family was living under a dictatorship because of her husband view on the impressions of income.
Many conflicts arise that help develop how income, play, class, and setting are portrayed in the story. During this time there was a constant struggle for the low class worker to rise up and own his own business. Mr. Beardsley goes over board in constantly buying and selling land for profits. He only seems to care about money. You can assume this by how he puts his drive for his wifes assets over his families health.
When the boarder arrives you see a difference in class. There was a certain way that Miss Lawerance carried herself that let you know she was important. That she knew what she stood for and had schooling background that she was able to use in the given situation. Though she was on vacation, Miss Lawerence saw an opportunity to not only to further her education but help a family in need deal with the crisis at hand appropriately.
Once Mrs. Beardsley is properly advised she is given the chance for some real play. Miss Lawerence handles her affairs while she rests in a quite location with her children. She will also have the opportunity to explore her options with play such as sending her children to school.
Comment by Nicole — February 15, 2011 @ 8:30 pm |
In Mrs. Beazley’s Deeds, there are many examples of setting. From the beginning of the story, we know that Mrs. Beazley and her family live above the store that she owns. When we first meet Mr. Beazley, he is sitting in a back-tilting chair, smoking a pipe with his friend and before dinner, Mrs. Beazley is sitting in her old wooden rocker, in front of their small front window. From this, the audience can imagine that their house is quite small, especially since they live above a store. It is also said in the story that there are 4 bedrooms, but there is hardly any space for the children and Mr. & Mrs. Beazley to be comfortable. One could infer from this they they are low-class and also have a low income.
Mrs. Beazley’s father left her with a lot of property after he died, but her husband has sold nearly all of it. It seems that Mrs. Beazley’s father may have had a higher income and was probably middle-class to upper-class if he had obtained all of that property in the first place. I would say that Mrs. Beazley’s husband is low-class compared to Mrs. Beazley’s father, because her husband is selling all of these properties, whereas her father had collected or acquired them. It is unclear as to whether or not Mrs. Beazley herself is low-class, at first, because her husband has control of anything and she doesn’t put up much of a fight. That is, until Miss Lawrence, who is very upper-class, shows Mrs. Beazley her potential. Miss Lawrence is described as, “. . . fairly young, undeniably good-looking, and had a sensible, prompt friendliness that was most attractive” (390). From this, we see that Miss Lawrence cares about her appearance and her attitude towards other, which makes her upper-class. Mr. Beazley thinks that she must have money, because she can afford to be a boarder, so the audience also assumes that she is most likely middle- to upper-income.
There is no play in this story, from what I can see. There is some, when the author describes the way that Miss Lawrence spends her time, but Mrs. Beazley nor her children have time to do anything that amuses them. Mr. Beazley sees to it that everyone is working hard to keep the store running, while he “does business”. We see how Miss Lawrence plays whhile Mrs. Beazley is describing her to a visitor, “She ain’t the piazza kind. She’s doing what they call nature study. She tramps off with an opera glass and a book – Will likes to go with her, and she’s tellin’ him a lot about birds and plants and stones and things. . . ” (392). From this, we can gather that perhaps Miss Lawrence isn’t upper-class, as she is not into going to piazzas, and would rather be outdoors, exploring and learning.
Although Miss Lawrence does not like piazzas, she does know a great deal about law. Mr. Beazley looks down on women a lot in this book, and is a bit of a Bible-thumper, but Miss Lawrence puts him in his place at the end. I would say that Miss Lawrence is one of the author’s feminist characters, who believe that a man does not need to have control over everything, that a woman has the right to choose her way of life.
This story is a great example of class, setting, and income, but not of play. It is also a perfect example of feminism and womens rights.
Comment by Cayley Light — February 22, 2011 @ 4:48 pm |