“Vanora herself was simply radiant. She had a mass of glistening, golden hair, a colour full, varying, emotional, eyes like the sea (I lose my temper when people ask me to describe their colour). In figure she was robust, erect, pliant, firmly knit (Caird 104).
In this passage, the male narrator introduces Verona as the subject of his affections. The emphasis placed on her appearance through a continuous list of description and the interjection of narrator’s thoughts mid-sentence demonstrates how the narrator views Verona as something to project his opinion onto despite her strong sense of self and personality. His description’s alignment with the stereotypical victorian portrayal of the femme fatale allows the poem to display how insistent and overbearing the narrator’s sense of importance is along with how he undercuts himself in his actions.
First, his continuous use of commas through the list of “glistening, golden hair, a colour full,varying, emotional, eyes like the sea” gives the sentence many dramatic pauses. These pauses draw the reader’s attention and signal his perceived importance of what he is saying. Secondly, the emphasis on the words used give an abstract sense of her appearance through vague ideas signaling that Verona’s importance is defined by how she can serve the narrator. Through the images of “glistening, golden hair” and “eyes like the sea”, Verona becomes a beautiful object or sensation to chase after and there is little description of her as a person.
The narrator’s interjection of “(I lose my temper when people ask me to describe their colour)” despite later in the passage describing Verona as a yellow compared to the purple colour of other women signifies how much she stands out to him and “how she is not like other women” . It also gives the reader a sense that he believes he is bestowing a gift upon her that he does not do for many. The Verona from being defined as different from other women aligns with the femme fatale concept as she is placed into competition with other women on the basis of appearance against her will. This distinction is apparent in the line “In figure she was robust, erect, pliant, firmly knit” as the commas emphasize the importance of each word. The “strength” of her body differs from the conventional ideal woman as they are often described as dainty. Even though other women are adhering to the beauty standards set by the men, it is still not enough for the narrator as her lack of adherence becomes an alluring trait. This demonstrates the double standards as even if women match up to the standards forced upon them, this adherence can be used against them. They become “plain and boring” in the eyes of men even though they placed those impossible standards onto them.
The breakage in flow shows how destructive and hypocritical the contradiction is as the sentence itself can not mask the illogical claim in a seamless flow. The narrator claims to hate being asked to describe someone’s colour, but yet has no reservations doing it for someone who never asked him to. The construction of the passage shows how exactly the nameless male narrator’s claims contradict and interrupt themselves. With unnatural abrupt flow and excessive use of abstract adjectives, Caird demonstrates the contradiction of gender expectations enforced by men. By using a nameless male narrator, Caird demonstrates the impossible nature of these expectations and how prevalent they are. The narrator could be anybody and therefore present themselves in any area of daily life.
I definitely agree with several of the points you are making here. I especially appreciate how you pointed out that the narrator compares her to other women quite frequently, often as an exception to the rule. The common sexist and manipulative quote “you’re not like other girls” is an apt description of what is going on here. It gives the impression that he is attempting to catagorize her in a misogynistic and limiting way, but cannot because his mind is boggled by her unprecedented behavior. The narrator seems to use the “you’re not like other girls” rhetoric than it is sometimes used today. In modern contexts, it is often used as a backhanded “compliment”, to insist that the woman in question is not boring, trivial, or predictable in her femininity. In this context, he seems to view Vanora’s dissimilarity to other women as an insult and a character flaw. However, he does concede that her difference in demeanor from her sisters and other women he has encountered is what makes her stand out to him. You articulate each of these points quite well, and I appreciate your close reading of his description of Vanora to illustrate these points.