广州大学陆道夫老师美国文学课件7.pptVIP

Philip Roth’s masterpieces Philip Roth’s masterpieces Philip Roth’s masterpieces Recall of the story 1. What are the sources of pleasure in Consuela Castillo and David Kepeshs relationship? What do they offer each other? What allows each to “master” the other? Describe Consuela. 2. Why does Kepesh become obsessively jealous? Do his pleasure and jealousy derive from the same source? 3. After Consuela leaves Kepesh, his friend the poet George OHearn warns him to stay away from her: “This is the pathology in its purest form. . . . You violated the law of aesthetic distance. You sentimentalized the aesthetic experience with this girl—you personalized it, you sentimentalized it, and you lost the sense of separation essential to your enjoyment” Why would George suggest, and Kepesh be receptive to, the notion that sexual relations be governed by aesthetic laws? 4. Kepesh agrees with George that “attachment is ruinous,” finds those who voluntarily give up their freedom “ridiculous,” and feels that “marriage at its best is a sure-fire stimulant to the thrills of licentious subterfuge” . His son Kenny, who struggles to make his own marriage work, accuses him of gross irresponsibility, of confusing sexual freedom with vulgar self-interest, of behaving like a lecherous fool. Does the novel resolve these conflicting points of view? Does it endorse one position over the other or simply bring them into clarifying opposition? 5. Why doesnt Kepeshs son Kenny listen to his father? Is Kepesh not giving Kenny good advice? 6. In what ways is The Dying Animal about the intersection of Americas cultural history with David Kepeshs personal history? How does he interpret the sixties? How does the sexual revolution “revolutionize” his life? What does it cost him? 7. Kepesh argues that family life is childish and that “emancipated manhood never has had a social spokesman or an educational system. It has no social status because people dont want it to have social status” W