The Photographer's Wife
This book is mainly about the long-debated issue of how women should be equal in standing with men, as well as the long-standing problem of women - juggling work and family.However, it is not resolved in this book. Not to me anyway.
Milo, as the protagonist is affectionately called (his real name is Emile Touta), marries Dora, an amateur painter. Dora, who at first does not think much of her husband's profession as a photographer, starts to see it from a different angle when she starts subscribing to a magazine on photography. Soon, she is genuinely interested in it and she realises that photography is not a mere reproduction of reality but that it can also be a form of art if the person who develops the photograph covers up the flaws of the subject and lets him or her be seen as the naked eye does - for example, if a person's wrinkles cannot be seen from afar, why allow the camera to capture them? Just adjust the lighting and touch up a little and the peron's best image will be recorded.
After some trials allowed by her husband and more tips from the magazine he so eagerly despises, Dora is finally able to take superb portraits of her customers. She gains a very good reputation for herself and even recognition amongst royalty. Her husband is unwittingly and increasingly ignored as her fame spreads far and wide though. As a result, as all men do, he becomes jealous of her. This creates a subtle gap in their marriage and it widens as she becomes even more famous.
I got especially worked up when I read about how Milo had a rash affair with one of the couple's friends, Solange Popinot. She is MARRIED and so is he. Yet they were attracted to each other and had an illicit affair on top of it all. And to think that one of the Toutas' customers, William Eillot, a British soldier, was attracted to Dora, kept writing to her even though he was on the frontline in the war with the French (erm, I think) over the possession of the Sudan (an Egyptian territory) and she refused to yield to the temptation to reply him no matter how many times he asked her to because she knew it would harm her marriage.
I was about to write about how women are more able to resist temptation than men when I suddenly came across this part. Dora left with her three daughters for a friend's house and embarked on a trip to Sudan herself to take photographs of the war scene for a newspaper. This was because she couldn't stand her insufferable husband any longer when he slapped her one day and after he repeatedly behaved coldly towards her as well as gave her trouble. In Sudan, she met William Eillot again because he was the only friend she had there amidst all the action of the war. It was there and then that she finally could resist temptation no longer and...you know.
One thing that the author makes very clear, however, is the immense guilt one would feel from cheating on one's spouse.
Perhaps I should say that the author (okay! I forgot his name haha) was fair. At least he didn't promote superiority in either gender. This makes his story more genuine and less like a tool in propaganda (i.e. for either feminism or masculinism). For in real life, how easy is it to resist temptation? Especially those of this kind. (Which is also why I don't think I will ever want to get married) It was irritaing to see Milo being jealous of his wife's achievements when he should have supported her. He was lousier than her anyway!! And who asked him to refuse to listen to the viewpoints of others? He stubbornly stuck to his old way of taking portraits, which was why he didn't improve. On the other hand, in conservative Egypt, where men are seen as superior to women, it must have been very embarrassing for Milo's wife to overshadow him in his profession. Moreover, he had been a photographer for a larger number of years than her. Isn't this contradicting? I seem to be trying to see things from both sides of the coin. So ought Milo support his wife or resent her success? Should Dora have simply have stuck to what women "ought" to do - take care of the children and serve her husband - instead of carving out a career for herself?
This is a problem that does not only exist in conservative countries. It is prominent in countries like Singapore too. This is probably the reason why many people are not getting married. A career actually does interfere with the process to building up a close-knit family. Especially for women. Only in rare cases are people able to achieve a balance, or should I say, equlibrium, between work and family. Will this equilibrium ever be able to be achieved by more people too? I say never. But I still hope it will. =)
Anyway, Dora returns to her hometown in the end and reunites with Milo. Their reunion is not really described in many words though. All the author wanted to convey about it was these few words that he combined and they were powerful enough to bring across how the both of them felt.
Milo, as the protagonist is affectionately called (his real name is Emile Touta), marries Dora, an amateur painter. Dora, who at first does not think much of her husband's profession as a photographer, starts to see it from a different angle when she starts subscribing to a magazine on photography. Soon, she is genuinely interested in it and she realises that photography is not a mere reproduction of reality but that it can also be a form of art if the person who develops the photograph covers up the flaws of the subject and lets him or her be seen as the naked eye does - for example, if a person's wrinkles cannot be seen from afar, why allow the camera to capture them? Just adjust the lighting and touch up a little and the peron's best image will be recorded.
After some trials allowed by her husband and more tips from the magazine he so eagerly despises, Dora is finally able to take superb portraits of her customers. She gains a very good reputation for herself and even recognition amongst royalty. Her husband is unwittingly and increasingly ignored as her fame spreads far and wide though. As a result, as all men do, he becomes jealous of her. This creates a subtle gap in their marriage and it widens as she becomes even more famous.
I got especially worked up when I read about how Milo had a rash affair with one of the couple's friends, Solange Popinot. She is MARRIED and so is he. Yet they were attracted to each other and had an illicit affair on top of it all. And to think that one of the Toutas' customers, William Eillot, a British soldier, was attracted to Dora, kept writing to her even though he was on the frontline in the war with the French (erm, I think) over the possession of the Sudan (an Egyptian territory) and she refused to yield to the temptation to reply him no matter how many times he asked her to because she knew it would harm her marriage.
I was about to write about how women are more able to resist temptation than men when I suddenly came across this part. Dora left with her three daughters for a friend's house and embarked on a trip to Sudan herself to take photographs of the war scene for a newspaper. This was because she couldn't stand her insufferable husband any longer when he slapped her one day and after he repeatedly behaved coldly towards her as well as gave her trouble. In Sudan, she met William Eillot again because he was the only friend she had there amidst all the action of the war. It was there and then that she finally could resist temptation no longer and...you know.
One thing that the author makes very clear, however, is the immense guilt one would feel from cheating on one's spouse.
Perhaps I should say that the author (okay! I forgot his name haha) was fair. At least he didn't promote superiority in either gender. This makes his story more genuine and less like a tool in propaganda (i.e. for either feminism or masculinism). For in real life, how easy is it to resist temptation? Especially those of this kind. (Which is also why I don't think I will ever want to get married) It was irritaing to see Milo being jealous of his wife's achievements when he should have supported her. He was lousier than her anyway!! And who asked him to refuse to listen to the viewpoints of others? He stubbornly stuck to his old way of taking portraits, which was why he didn't improve. On the other hand, in conservative Egypt, where men are seen as superior to women, it must have been very embarrassing for Milo's wife to overshadow him in his profession. Moreover, he had been a photographer for a larger number of years than her. Isn't this contradicting? I seem to be trying to see things from both sides of the coin. So ought Milo support his wife or resent her success? Should Dora have simply have stuck to what women "ought" to do - take care of the children and serve her husband - instead of carving out a career for herself?
This is a problem that does not only exist in conservative countries. It is prominent in countries like Singapore too. This is probably the reason why many people are not getting married. A career actually does interfere with the process to building up a close-knit family. Especially for women. Only in rare cases are people able to achieve a balance, or should I say, equlibrium, between work and family. Will this equilibrium ever be able to be achieved by more people too? I say never. But I still hope it will. =)
Anyway, Dora returns to her hometown in the end and reunites with Milo. Their reunion is not really described in many words though. All the author wanted to convey about it was these few words that he combined and they were powerful enough to bring across how the both of them felt.
posted by andriTz* @ 8:30 AM
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