Princeton - Weekly Bulletin 11/01/04 - Debating differences between genders in literature, film and life

Contents

The Bulletin is published weekly during the academic year, except during University breaks and exam weeks, by the Office of Communications. Second class postage paid at Princeton. Postmaster: Send address changes to Princeton Weekly Bulletin, Office of Communications, Princeton University, 22 Chambers St., Suite 201, Princeton, NJ 08542. Permission is given to adapt, reprint or excerpt material from the Bulletin for use in other media.

Subscriptions. The Bulletin is distributed free to faculty, staff and students. Others may subscribe to the Bulletin for $30 for the academic year (half price for current Princeton parents and people over 65). Send a check to Office of Communications, Princeton University, 22 Chambers St., Suite 201, Princeton, NJ 08542.

Deadlines. In general, the copy deadline for each issue is the Friday 10 days in advance of the Monday cover date. The deadline for the Bulletin that covers Nov. 15-21 is Friday, Nov. 5. A complete publication schedule is available at <deadlines> or by calling (609) 258-3601.

Editor: Ruth Stevens
Calendar editor: Carolyn Geller
Staff writers: Jennifer Greenstein Altmann, Steven Schultz
Contributing writers: Karin Dienst, Eric Quiñones, Danielle Scruggs
Photographer: Denise Applewhite
Design: Margaret Westergaard, Laurel Masten Cantor, Mahlon Lovett
Web edition: Mahlon Lovett

Princeton NJ -- Fifteen freshmen sat around a seminar table in Blair Hall debating the nature of love in one of the most enduring novels of the 19th century, ''Wuthering Heights.''

''The first generation -- Catherine and Heathcliff and Edgar Linton -- that love triangle irrevocably alters the lives of each of the characters,'' said Dan Pall. ''In the next generation there is another love triangle -- Hareton, Linton and Catherine -- but their love is not nearly as intense. It's almost a watered-down version -- built from the same kind of blueprints, but not with the same structure.''

Yvon Wang disagreed with his conclusion, suggesting that in the second generation ''there was an absorption of the lessons of the first generation.''

''So,'' interjected Professor of English Deborah Nord, ''you're proposing that it's not a watering down but what? An improvement?'' Yes, Wang said. ''What do you think?'' she asked, addressing the rest of the class.

The students are enrolled in a freshman seminar, ''Men and Women,'' that examines how gender relationships are represented in literature, film and the Bible, as well as how the differences between men and women define our lives and our ways of looking at the world.

''Wuthering Heights'' and the other texts the students are reading ''demonstrate that questions about gender difference and the nature of love have preoccupied thinkers, philosophers, novelists, playwrights and scientists throughout history,'' Nord said. ''One of the goals of the class is to make the students more skeptical and critical in their thinking about all kinds of assumptions about gender identity and relations between men and women.''

Other readings for the class, which is sponsored by the Program in the Study of Women and Gender, include excerpts from Genesis and Plato's Symposium as well as D.H. Lawrence's ''Sons and Lovers,'' Edward Albee's ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' and Jeffrey Eugenides' ''Middlesex.'' The students also view several films, including ''Adam's Rib'' and ''Tootsie.''

''I like this class because I get frustrated when I come here,'' said Natalia Naman. ''People have such strong opinions that it really makes you re-think what you thought in the first place.''

''What makes the class so good is that it's a really interesting mix of people,'' said Bradford Stevens. ''Everyone has a different perspective on what makes a man and a woman.''

''These students are great talkers and readers, making connections between works that surprise me and keep our discussions moving along, sometimes at an intense pace,'' she said. ''I have been struck by their enthusiastic responses to Milton's 'Paradise Lost' and to John Ruskin's 'Sesame and Lilies,' a Victorian peroration on the natures of men and women. Freshmen are a joy to teach, and this group in particular is spectacular.''