Clothing

For me, one of the most interesting quotes of the novel would have to be “It's funny, he said, have you ever thought that a girl's clothes cost more than the girl inside them?”. Clothing in the novel seems to be a big thing, where some of the girls described are judged based upon some of the gowns that they are wearing. The pictures that I chose are more upscale gowns that would be worn for a night out. 

Stockings in the 1920's

Stockings are talked about a few times throughout the book. The second time we read about stockings is when Anna is buying stockings at the store with Maudie, Walter, and Walter's friend. Anna says ¨I said I wanted two pairs- lisle thread with clocks up the sides- and took time choosing them. The man I had been walking with offered to pay for them and I let him."(11). Walter references the stocking shopping in the first letter that he sends to Anna. One of the things that she buys with the money from Walter is a pair of silk stockings.
I couldn't find an ad for Lisle thread stockings, but there were many advertisements for both silk and non-silk stockings. Stockings were a very important part of a woman's wardrobe in the 20's, and the kind that one wore showed status. The silk stockings are aimed at upper-class women, and women who are glamorous and have sex appeal. Non-silk stockings were for the everyday housewife and middle and lower class woman

Sentimental Prints

"There were stags' heads stuck up all over the dining-room of the hotel. The one over our table was as big as a cow's. Its enormous glass eyes stared past us. In the bedroom there were prints-'The Sailor's Farewell', 'The Sailor's Return', 'Reading the Will', and 'Conjugal Affection'. They had a calm, sleepy look, as if they were drawings of stuffed figures-the women very tall and plump and smiling and tidy and the men with long legs and bushy whiskers; but the placid shapes of the trees made you feel that that time must have been a good time" (77). 

Throughout the novel, Anna misses her home in the West Indies and is treated poorly by men. She finds herself drifting, and her days are made up of streets, bars, and rooms in hotels, many of which have drawings on the walls. In this scene, Walter has brought her to the country and she is observing the drawings hanging in the bedroom. I think being able to see these pictures and understand what they are of better helps us read the character of Anna. With the exception of Reading the Will, all of the pictures are rather intimate portrayals of either lovers or a family; all things which Anna longs for. So having these pictures be the ones that are hanging in her bedroom and what she sees may help us to better understand what she is going through. 

The Sailor's Farewell was produced in 1790 by British landscape and genre painter George Morland.  Young lovers are shown bidding farewell on the seashore, with their forms set against a dramatic background. 

The Sailor's Return was produced by Thomas Stothard and the engraver on the piece was William Ward in 1798. 

Reading the Will was produced by Sir David Wilkie in 1819. 

Conjugal Affection was produced by Robert Smirke in 1799. 

                                                                                                                                                                                 

The Sailors Farewell, c. 1790

Conjugal Affection, c. 1799.

The Sailor's Return, c. 1799

Reading the Will, c. 1819

Voyage in the Dark and the Book of Dirty Pictures

In Voyage of the Dark, there is a time near the end when Anna stayed with Laurie for several days around the time of her abortion. Several men visit them during this time, including a French man named d'Adhémar who Laurie refers to as Daddy around this time. He tells Laurie that he has "a marvellous book of dirty pictures" (170). However when they actually look through it, Laurie says, "I'm disappointed . . . I don't call that hot stuff. Is that book really worth a lot of money? All I say is, some people don't know what to do with their money" (170). 

Upon looking up Aubrey Beardsley, whom the book of dirty pictures is by, I found that his works were not necessarily supposed to be dirty so much as a parody of Victorian art. Although most of the images are extremely vulgar and inappropriate, it is simply because of the body parts which are visible, not because it actually showed many sexual acts or scenes. One of these such books was called A Book of Fifty Drawings and came out in 1897. It featured grotesque erotic and enormous genitalia, along with images of mythology and demons.

One of the drawings the girls might have looked at and thought that it was not "hot stuff" is called Mysterious Rose Garden. It features a naked woman and a man in flowery robes and winged shoes. However, the art style seems to be making the woman a somewhat strange shape, not entirely realistic, which decreases her attractiveness. It reminds me of Greek mythology because of the man's robes and shoes and Hermes was said to wear winged sandals. 

Many of these drawings showed problems with society so Anna and Laurie looking at them was ironic, because of the fact that they could have been seen as some of the women in these drawings. Anna became pregnant from having coitus before marriage, which is a possibility for this young woman as well, as you can assume that she and the man had sexual intercourse in the "mysterious rose garden."

Anna's Recollection of a Biscuit Advertisement (Huntley & Palmers Co)

Anna is lying in bed and thinking of an advertisement featuring “Biscuits Like Mother Makes, as Fresh in the Tropics as in the Motherland.” She proceeds to give a very detailed description of how this advertisement looked. Her recollection was very precise, direct and accomplished the goal it was set out to do. The visual imagery created from this scene was very effective. The children and how they were dressed, the surrounding environment, the colors of the clothes and nature in general, every feature, even down to the little boy looking over his shoulder…she did not fail to cover every minute detail. The reader cannot see the actual tangible picture, but through her description, the reader is able to achieve the parallel and linear connection she is attempting to form. Anna then makes sure to point out the wall and the darkness it represents. The representation is then further taken to stand for England itself and how she saw the country. She does not see herself as native or part of the country, in fact the wall (England) is the barrier that precludes her from really embracing her true identity. The picture gives this one perception of infinite possibilities where the sky is the limit; however it carries this double meaning where your limits are only as far as the motherland allows and your identity is really not your own.

One major biscuit company in Britain was known as The Huntley & Palmers Co. They started in 1822 as a small bakery in London Street, Reading. By 1900 it was the largest biscuit manufacturer in the world, employing over 5,000. Reading became known as the “biscuit town.” By 1903 it was producing over 400 different varieties. This would suggest that the taste of the British people was in a constant state of change and the company made sure to keep up with the demand. They even went international (you will see this displayed from the Chinese advertisement). By the 1930’s they were advertising on the radios and they even had pocket calendars, diaries and envelopes (see below for images). They were very aggressive advertisers. It was no wonder that Anna recalled this image. They were everywhere. They legacy is still around today but under a different name. They are no longer a Reading company. In 2004 the brand was re-launched after being sold by Danone to a new company.

Voyage in the Dark, Jean Rhys, pgs. 148-149 

http://www.huntleyandpalmers.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.exe?a=file&p=huntley&f=huntley.htm

Picture 1 - Pocket Calendar in French

Picture 2 - Advertisement in Chinese

Picture 3 - Advertisement in English

Picture 4 - Advertisement Leaflet

Picture 5 - Pocket Calendar in English

Longman Magazine and other things

Jean Rhys' character Anna Morgan when having a meal with her step-mother, Hester, observes a stack of magazines. Rhys writes, “There was a chest in the corner where the drinks were kept and a sideboard ranged with glasses. And the bookshelf with Walter Scott and a lot of old Longmans’ Magazines, so old that the pages were yellow” (70).It is significant that Rhys mentions these magazines. Longmans Magazine is a magazine that ran monthly beginning in 1882 by C.J. Longman and ended in 1905. The magazine was under the publication of Longman, Green and Co. of London. (wikipedia). The Magazine heavily published men such as Thomas Hardy, James Payn and featured Andrew Lang. The one notable female contributed that they published was Margaret Oliphant, a Scottish writer characterized as a domestic realism. Overall the Magazine featured a lot of writers influenced by Romanticism and other literary movements that pre-dates modernism. I believe that it is significant that Rhys is making note of Longmans Magazine because it is a magazine that heavily are relent on members of pase literary movements compared to Rhys' time and that are heavily controlled by men. The two things in Morgans’ life that seems to be oppressing her. Additionally Rhys make note of Walter Scott, and late 18th-century Scottish writer. In Rhys referring to these writers that are outside the mainland Britian she is hinting to the alienation of Morgans. Finally, when Rhys adds the detail that they are yellow, Rhys demonstrates the traditional nature of patriarchy, movements like realism and romanticism along with alienation of a non-mainland British citizen still experiences. 

Oddenino's and Melvin Giddeon

Oddenino's was a hotel and restaurant located at 62 Regent Street, London. From the looks of it it was pretty fancy and upscale. I found a reference to this on page 118 in Voyage in the Dark, where it says "We met Carl and Joe at Oddenino's. Melvin Giddeon was at the piano; he was singing rather well."
Finding the images of the hotel restaurant gives me an idea of just how fancy some of these places were that Anna was getting gentlemen to take her to. It honestly gives me a slightly different opinion of her. Before looking up the images, I kind of felt sorry for her, she really seems very depressed. Admittedly I feel less sorry for her after seeing where these guys are taking her.

Melvin Giddeon was an American ragtime musician who composed music for Broadway musicals (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melville_Gideon). There is a youtube clip of him from 1933 right before he died that I will attempt to embed at the bottom. Gideon had an upbeat jazzy sound, which also gives me a slightly different impression of Anna. Hearing the music this character was listening to, creates an image all its own. This is a trendy, hip, restaurant bringing over this star from America. I am now more picturing Lorelei Lee from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes- who was truly a stereotypical gold digger of the same era only in America. I guess I am now seeing Anna as less pathetic and more of a gold digger.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oK_XvCO7Ak