Ohh Mantissa

When reading Mantissa, discussing it in class definitely helps connect what concepts we have learned to what is actually going on. I have really begun to enjoy reading Mantissa because I'm seeing these concepts much more clearly. After reading the first part I had to go back and look for concepts that I had originally missed in my first quick reading of the text. However now I find it much easier to spot these ideas we have discussed and theories.

Around pages 82 through 90 or so when they are talking about whether Erato has control or is it him who tells her what to say. As I was reading this part and many parts before this I kept thinking of the theme of authorship. How he has been writing this book the whole way and if things are not going his way he can just change it or change what people are saying. Then when Erato is recalling when she had sex for the first time and it was with a fawn it was just something that another author had written for her. She is the muse in this story and others but she cannot create things for herself to say she has to inspire all of these other men.

That is why the muse is always a beautiful feminine being because it is all these men writing these stories but in Mantissa the muse is able to fight back a little. This right at the start of part two when she comes blaring into to room this strong feminist and yells at the author for writing this bad pornography. She as seen as this completely ferocious being who is not to be crossed and not take whatever the author is trying to write.

Mantissa is full theories and concepts we have talked about so far in class. Every section seems to be full of loaded text to analyze. Really reading into what is actually going on is bettering my knowledge on all the subjects we are talking about. Reading a novel especially this one is helping tremendously.