Sally Olivas

Rhetoric/Composition Portfolio
Spring 2015
English 583 Paper
Three Women and a Memory
Helene Cixous suggested, well demanded, that women live the life they want without any
cares, fears or doubts. She would spy Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley from Edith Whartons short
story Roman Fever with admiration and disgust, glee and worry. Initially for this English 583
paper, I used Kenneth Burke to examine the motivation of the characters and their actions. Given
another chance to look at that paper, I would use Helene Cixous The Laugh of the Medusa.
Cixous would like Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley because they are women who take action,
and they dont wait for men to take care of things. However, she would not approve entirely of
what the women did to each other. On page 2 of my paper, I would add a paragraph in which
Cixous talks about letting the past go so women can progress, The future must no longer be
determined by the past. I do not deny that the effects of the past are still with us. But I refuse to
strengthen them by repeating them (1524). Although Cixous is talking about how women were
treated generally in the past as compared to the present when she wrote her essay, this belief
certainly carries into all aspects of womens lives. She would not approve of either Slade or
Ansley dwelling in the past, and she certainly would not approve of Slade using the past to hurt
another woman.
The hatred Slade has for Ansley is palpable, and Cixous would say this hatred for other
women or self-hate women had for themselves is a result of what men have done to women year
after year, Men have committed the greatest crime against women. Insidiously, violently, they

have led them to hate women, to be their own enemies, to mobilize their immense strength
against themselves, to be the executants of their virile needs. . . They have constructed the
infamous logic of antilove (1526). Slades hatred drives her to almost kill Ansley, and it drives
her to seek revenge twenty-five years later. I would discuss Cixous view that this is not healthy
on page 5 of my paper and that Cixous would believe the worst part of Slades hatred is that a
man inspired her to feel this way.
Not only would Cixous disapprove of Slades hatred, she would admonish her for her
jealousy as well. On page 8 of my paper, I would discuss Cixous view of what love should be,
Woman of course has a desire for a loving desire and not a jealous one (1535). This jealousy
shows Slades insecurity, and Cixous would not like that at all, most especially because it is
because of a man that she feels insecure. Cixous would say Delphin is controlling Mrs. Slade
even from the grave and Mrs. Slade should not give her power away.
On page 9 in my description of the ladies personalities and character traits, Id discuss
Cixous encouragement to women to stop feeling guilty for everything, and I would discuss how
and why Ansley feels absolutely no guilt for what she did. Cixous says, It (the writing process)
will tear her away from the superegoized structure in which she has always occupied the place
reserved for the guilty (1527). There is no place for guilt, Cixous says, and Ansley clearly
agrees.
Ansley is also a risk-taker; she risks her health, her friendship with Slade, and her
reputation when she meets Delphin in the dead of the night in the Coliseum. Cixous would do
cartwheels at Ansley doing what she feels is right even in the face of tremendous societal
pressure to the contrary, Ive seen them (women), those who will be neither dupe nor domestic,
those who will not fear the risk of being a woman; will not fear any risk, any desire, any space

still unexplored in themselves (1536). In Cixous view, Ansley absolutely did the right thing.
Cixous encouraged women to be themselves and to be comfortable with themselves. She,
I think, would side with Ansley as she is most true to herself and to her desires. Slade does not
deal well with her emotions, and Cixous would regard this as weakness. However, both Slade
and Ansley are smart, strong-willed women, and Cixous would encourage them to harness this
spirit and utilize it in a more positive way.

Works Cited
Cixous, Helene. The Laugh of the Medusa. The Rhetorical Tradition:
Readings from
Classical Times to the Present. Ed. Patricia Bizzell and Bruce Herzberg.
2nd ed. Boston:
Bedford/St. Martin, 2001. 1524 - 1536. Print.
Wharton, Edith. Roman Fever. Perrines Story and Structure. Eds. Thomas R. Arp and
Greg Johnson. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth. 351-362. Print.