Thinking about Wieland

I wanted to recap some of our discussion yesterday, which I thought brought up many interesting points about this confusing and weird novel.

We talked about Carwin’s function: is he merely a chaotic force, overturning order and bringing destruction, or is he a kind of revolutionary, who works outside of set structures and systems to undermine them? What does he undermine exactly in the novel, anyway?

Why is Clara the narrator of this story, and why does her story have to keep getting interrupted by men telling their versions of the same story? Isn’t it interesting that the plot of this novel keeps getting retold? In other words, we hear about the same events throughout, but told from different perspectives.

Why is women’s virtue so important? Are the men in this novel hypocrites for so valuing virtue and then acting as they do? (In other words, are any of them as virtuous as Clara? Or does the novel try to lead us to the conclusion that the whole category of virtue doesn’t really exist?)

I have to say that every time I read this novel, Wieland’s story unsettles me. Clearly, one of Brockden Brown’s main interests is the thin line between sanity and insanity. How far are any of us from Wieland’s behavior? How does anyone know how they would react if they thought God were actually talking to them? How do you say “no” to God’s voice anyway? We live in one of the most religious nations in the world. It was when Brockden Brown was alive, and it is now. What do you make of our sense that we have a close relationship to the divine?

Thoughts on Wieland?

I was a bit surprised to come here today and find that no one had written any responses to what has transpired in Wieland.  I’m interested to hear your responses in class and encourage you to post further thoughts here too.