Compare and contrast carters presentation of lady Atalanta and daisy duck Essays

Compare and contrast carters presentation of lady Atalanta and daisy duck   Essays Compare and contrast carters presentation of lady Atalanta and daisy duck   Essay Compare and contrast carters presentation of lady Atalanta and daisy duck   Essay Essay Topic: The Wild Duck A close analysis of Carters characters of Lady Atalanta and Delia Delaney in wise children will present several similarities and differences between the two. Both women were wives of Melchior hazard, but they vary greatly in terms of personality.The outcome of their personalities is backed up by carter with an insight into their family backgrounds, financial status, and early lives, presented through the character of Dora Chance in a series of anecdotes.Carter presents Delia Delaney as a somewhat extreme character, in contrast to the character of Lady Atalanta, although the idea that she does have morals is also conveyed throughout the novel at certain points, for example her reluctance to tell Genghis khan that the baby she is carrying is his although it is actually Melchiors. Delia was born in the Bronx, New York on what Dora refers to as the wrong side of the tracks. Unlike Lady Atalanta, Delias career escalated resulting in her becoming wealthy, maintainin g this wealth towards the later stages of her life. Her start in life was vastly different to what the glamorous exterior of the classic thirties blonde might indicate.She came from a family of several brothers and sisters, and her father was a fish peddler who was caught in a cross fire resulting in his death. Her family were poor, as Dora reveals she didnt have a pot to piss in. In the early stages of her life, she became a child star, referred to as little dolly daydream. Carter uses imagery to create a picture of Delia in the readers mind. She gives physical descriptions, commenting on her naturally nasal tone and the fact that she was one inch less than five foot, with a perfectly enormous head. The physical description of her is different to that of Lady Atalanta who is described as the most beautiful woman. Carter conveys Delia as quite a crude character, through her dialogue, and the way that Dora describes her to have danced on tables, and fancied older men. Her dialogue is also crude, as the first line of her dialogue in the novel is where does the orgy begin. .She was also willing to sleep with people in order to help her career, as she left lipstick on every pair of underpants further up the hierarchy.The theme of promiscuity is very prominent in the novel, presented through several of the characters including Dora and Nora; this presents the question of whether Delias provocative manner has influenced the twins into having sexual relations with a number of different partners, this idea is reinforced by the fact that her marriage with Melchior is extremely short lived and lasts only a few days before ending in divorce. Delias dialogue throughout the novel reflects the extremity and wildness of her character. She is conveyed as quite juvenile in that she has a lack of class, and self control. When receiving the phone call from Genghis Khans ex wife, she furiously ends the call throwing the phone and shouting DROP DEAD. Dora and Nora seem to approve of her despite her unladylike and somewhat irritating characteristics, although perhaps for trivial reasons. Dora liked the fact that Delia would lend her and Nora dresses, and always wanted to party. As well as the negative aspects of her personalities, Carter also conveys the idea that she is an extremely talented individual, showcasing this by the fact that she receives a role in the Hollywood film The dream.Lady Atalanta is a very different character to Delia Delaney. She is conveyed as a very respectable, controlled character. Born into a family of aristocracy, Lady A is a lady in her own right, although she later descends from wealth to poverty. At the beginning of the novel we see that she ends up living in the basement of Dora and Noras house, confined to a wheelchair because of an accident. This presents the question Dora asks herself, did she fall, or was she pushed? indicating that the accident could have been the fault of her daughters, Saskia and Imogen. A very resonant attribute of Lady As personality is her self control.All the way through the novel she retains the manner of a lady and has a consistently genteel fashion. Her life appears to be quite monotonous due to her condition. It is clear that she is still in love with Melchior after several years, as watching him on television makes her perk right up. She also has a large portrait of him hanging in her Sussex home. She doesnt have a great deal of dialogue throughout the novel, although towards the end she gives a dramatic speech about how Melchior has left her womb empty because his concentration became solely on his career rather than on family life. Dora says she got it all off her chest in one go, however astonishingly, as the outburst she has is rather poignant, she still maintains her calm, ladylike manner. Carter presents a deterioration of her career, as well as in her physical appearance. Not only does she end up in poverty, she also is confined to a wheelchair and growing old has had quite an effect on her, and taken the life out of her. She was described as the most beautiful woman of her time. in her early life.Carter uses language extremely skilfully to create both characters. She does this through physical appearance, use of dialogue, and opinions of other characters. She creates Lady Atalanta as a cultured, Ladylike, woman of gentility. She elaborates the physical characteristics of Lady A by creating a family background for her. Her well mannered personality reflects her aristocratic family, and her upper class childhood, also resulting in her very significant self control. She also conveys the idea that her childhood has had only good effects on her. Dora says there is not a scrap of harm in her- plus we owe her one from way back indicating that she is a kind woman, who causes no harm to others. She is also voluntarily a mother figure for Dora and Nora, even though they are not at all blood related. Carter creates sympathy for her in a number of diffe rent ways.The fact that shes been confined to a wheelchair, the fact that she is so in love with Melchior and can only be close to him by watching him on television, and also the idea that her own children dont respect her, as Saskia and imogen forced her to sign away her residence, leaving her poor in Brixton with Dora and Nora. Her dialogue is also extremely significant in creating her character. The way she speaks in a controlled ladylike manner contributes to her continually emotionless personality. Delia Delaneys character contrasts to that of Lady A, but is still created very skilfully through Carters use of language. Carter creates Delia as a woman of common vulgarity and unladylike characteristics, but also a woman of talent. The description of her physical appearance is extremely important in elaborating her character. Her talent is reflected through this. Dora reminisces on the fact that her face went from one side of the screen to the other indicating her celebrity status , and just how popular she was at the time of her fame. Her dialogue is also very significant in contributing to her crude persona. She had heart shaped pubic hair. Carter skilfully focuses on very minor details to convey the idea that although she wasnt a very attractive woman, she took pride in her appearance.Both women are similar in terms of career. They were both actresses although Lady A was Shakespearean and Delia was a Hollywood actress. They also both had relationships with Melchior and Peregrine, but both only married Melchior. They are vastly different in terms of early life, they came from contrasting financial situations and families, Lady A went from wealth to poverty, the opposite to Delia, also Lady A gained wealth from talent, as opposed to Delia who gained wealth from Melchior, and sexual relations with those in the fame industry.Carter skilfully creates differences between the two characters through dialogue, and the way Dora describes them. An extremely simplisti c and subtle, yet significant difference between them is their names. Lady Atalanta reflects someone from an aristocratic background, and the almost fictional name of Daisy duck reflects a Hollywood starlet, although the fact she changes her name to Delia Delaney does convey that she grows slightly more sensible with age. Carter successfully creates a range of similarities and differences between both characters, inventing two opposing characters that become increasingly interesting to the reader through her vivid descriptions and language.