Literature 1.2
Written by Denise Rossel
1
,The virgin suicides:
Protagonists The five Lisbon sisters: Cecilia (13), Lux (14), Bonnie (15), Mary
(16), Therese (17)
Major conflicts · 1 In the wake of their sister Cecilia's suicide, the four
remaining Lisbon sisters struggle to live in a progressively deteriorating and
isolating environment, amid external and perhaps internal expectations of future
tragedy.
2 In the wake of the Lisbon girls' suicides, the neighbourhood boys struggle to
comprehend the deaths and to discover the truth of the girls' motives,
experiences and lives.
Rising action Cecilia's suicide attempt, Cecilia's suicide, Lux's late return from
the homecoming dance
Climax Mrs. Lisbon withdrawing the girls from school, confining them to the
house, and drawing the shades, at the beginning of Chapter Four
Associations
The houses of the PP are prototypically American because this is what we see in
most movies and series. The houses are separated, in the Netherlands we have
‘rijtjeshuizen’. These houses are probably middle class, while these houses would
be upper class for us. The windows are dark and market with a pattern, you
cannot see what happens inside.
The typical/ideal families would live there, but inside the houses things happen
which are not so perfect at all.
Suburbia = buitenwijk
Gated communities = places which are gated, most of the time a guard would
watch who walks in and out. He is allowed to refuse your entry.
The title, potential meanings:
You can only commit suicide one time so you have to do it as a virgin. It says
virgin suicides which indicates that there are more than one suicides, for that
matter it is not virgin anymore.
Virgins are associated with teenagers, girls who are growing up. Suicide happens
among all kinds of people. However, it is most famous among adolescence.
For Catholics it is not allowed to commit suicide. (virgin Maria) if they die as a
virgin is alright, but commit suicide is not.
Types of books:
- Whodunnit
The novel/story is focused on who has done something. (police officer).
Not relevant in the virgin suicide
- Whydunnit
2
, The novel/story is focused on why something is done or why something
happened. (psychologist)
The focus lies on why they committed suicide.
Information about the first pages:
Crucial information:
It already tells you what had happened. However, the reason why is what is from
importance in this novel.
Who is narrating:
The person narrating knows all the details. The narrator is in de present and looks
back on an event (in this case, the committed suicides). Exhibit number 1
indicates the context of a trial. It is someone who wants to find out why they
committed suicide.
Foreshadowing is a literary technique used to ‘show’ what will happen later on
in the story.
- Can be a leitmotif if it supports themes.
Main reason it is used is to arouse and mentally prepare the reader (page 1-3
post its)
The function of setting in The Virgin Suicides.
Setting is the description of the physical and mental backdrop to a text.
Where and when : space, place and time.
Examples: Cities, landscape, garden, buildings, environment, interiors, outer
space, history, future, time-span. How are these places described and what kind
of feeling does it give sketches the setting.
Setting in time: story takes place around the 1960s/1970s -> their fathers were
in war.
The boy who went under the sewer (look for textual proof)
Prom -> picket up in a Cadillac -> a car of that time. Nowadays they would say
‘the Cadillac from 19…)
Type of music -> Lux’s albums of Rock and Roll which were not received with
open hands. (Page 191 -> they are playing the Beatles, the Rolling Stones)
Setting in place: Story takes place
+Setting used as mirror to reflect the atmosphere : Elm trees -> they are dying.
As the threes are taken down the family is also ‘taken down’. Dying of the tree
reflects on the dying of the girls. The girls try to protect the dying tree, which is
quite ironic because they do not protect themselves from dying.
The father says ‘they are going to be down in a year anyway’ about the trees, but
It also reflects on the girls who will be gone in a year anyhow as well. (PAGE
NUMBER)
+Setting used as mould shaping the characters
- the prom, the parent have a lot of rules. the girls change completely while they
are at prom Page 136 :
3
Written by Denise Rossel
1
,The virgin suicides:
Protagonists The five Lisbon sisters: Cecilia (13), Lux (14), Bonnie (15), Mary
(16), Therese (17)
Major conflicts · 1 In the wake of their sister Cecilia's suicide, the four
remaining Lisbon sisters struggle to live in a progressively deteriorating and
isolating environment, amid external and perhaps internal expectations of future
tragedy.
2 In the wake of the Lisbon girls' suicides, the neighbourhood boys struggle to
comprehend the deaths and to discover the truth of the girls' motives,
experiences and lives.
Rising action Cecilia's suicide attempt, Cecilia's suicide, Lux's late return from
the homecoming dance
Climax Mrs. Lisbon withdrawing the girls from school, confining them to the
house, and drawing the shades, at the beginning of Chapter Four
Associations
The houses of the PP are prototypically American because this is what we see in
most movies and series. The houses are separated, in the Netherlands we have
‘rijtjeshuizen’. These houses are probably middle class, while these houses would
be upper class for us. The windows are dark and market with a pattern, you
cannot see what happens inside.
The typical/ideal families would live there, but inside the houses things happen
which are not so perfect at all.
Suburbia = buitenwijk
Gated communities = places which are gated, most of the time a guard would
watch who walks in and out. He is allowed to refuse your entry.
The title, potential meanings:
You can only commit suicide one time so you have to do it as a virgin. It says
virgin suicides which indicates that there are more than one suicides, for that
matter it is not virgin anymore.
Virgins are associated with teenagers, girls who are growing up. Suicide happens
among all kinds of people. However, it is most famous among adolescence.
For Catholics it is not allowed to commit suicide. (virgin Maria) if they die as a
virgin is alright, but commit suicide is not.
Types of books:
- Whodunnit
The novel/story is focused on who has done something. (police officer).
Not relevant in the virgin suicide
- Whydunnit
2
, The novel/story is focused on why something is done or why something
happened. (psychologist)
The focus lies on why they committed suicide.
Information about the first pages:
Crucial information:
It already tells you what had happened. However, the reason why is what is from
importance in this novel.
Who is narrating:
The person narrating knows all the details. The narrator is in de present and looks
back on an event (in this case, the committed suicides). Exhibit number 1
indicates the context of a trial. It is someone who wants to find out why they
committed suicide.
Foreshadowing is a literary technique used to ‘show’ what will happen later on
in the story.
- Can be a leitmotif if it supports themes.
Main reason it is used is to arouse and mentally prepare the reader (page 1-3
post its)
The function of setting in The Virgin Suicides.
Setting is the description of the physical and mental backdrop to a text.
Where and when : space, place and time.
Examples: Cities, landscape, garden, buildings, environment, interiors, outer
space, history, future, time-span. How are these places described and what kind
of feeling does it give sketches the setting.
Setting in time: story takes place around the 1960s/1970s -> their fathers were
in war.
The boy who went under the sewer (look for textual proof)
Prom -> picket up in a Cadillac -> a car of that time. Nowadays they would say
‘the Cadillac from 19…)
Type of music -> Lux’s albums of Rock and Roll which were not received with
open hands. (Page 191 -> they are playing the Beatles, the Rolling Stones)
Setting in place: Story takes place
+Setting used as mirror to reflect the atmosphere : Elm trees -> they are dying.
As the threes are taken down the family is also ‘taken down’. Dying of the tree
reflects on the dying of the girls. The girls try to protect the dying tree, which is
quite ironic because they do not protect themselves from dying.
The father says ‘they are going to be down in a year anyway’ about the trees, but
It also reflects on the girls who will be gone in a year anyhow as well. (PAGE
NUMBER)
+Setting used as mould shaping the characters
- the prom, the parent have a lot of rules. the girls change completely while they
are at prom Page 136 :
3
