Monday’s class opened with a discussion of the concert the class went to see on Sunday, 10/14, Cultures in Harmony.  The piece we zeroed in on was the third piece we heard that day, “Scottish”, by Felix Mendelssohn.  Dr. Kahan explained to us that Mendelssohn was a well-respected and highly sought – after composer in his day, during the Victorian Era in history.  His music spoke to the people of the time…it was emotional, but not too emotional, something I could understand after listening to one of his pieces.  In addition, Mendelssohn was very well – educated, and as a requirement of his education, took the Grand Tour, a tour all around Europe, during which he was introduced to the history, architecture, and cultural styles of many different countries within Europe.  Being a lover of music and interested in the orchestral and symphonic aspect of music, Mendelssohn took his experiences in Europe and turned them into music.  The piece we heard at the concert, “Scottish”, was Mendelssohn’s interpretation of Scottish culture and their way of life.  It was interesting to me to put into perspective that an artist’s work is not only an influence on a certain time period or group of people, but is a result of the time period he or she lives in and the people he or she interacts with.

After our introduction to Mendelssohn, we moved onto the main discussion of the class, that which concerned Washington Square by Henry James and its play counterpart, The Heiress.  We first examined the actual book and the script of the play and identified some of the similarities and differences between the two.  One of the main differences, something that I had always taken notice of and interest in, was that when reading a book, one can either infer or absolutely know (depending on the author’s style) the emotions and responses of a character within his or her mind.  We are made aware of his or her reactions to another character or a conversation they are having.  Personally, I love to read, and that was something I always enjoyed – being able to know a character fully and the ability to relate to them.  While I also enjoy seeing plays, if one does not know the background of the story he or she is seeing, it is not always possible to really know what is going on or a particular character’s reaction or personality.  While many of the conversations remain unchanged from Washington Square to The Heiress, it is not so easy to bring over the character’s personalities from the novel to the play.

We then watched clips from two different movie versions of the story, ironically enough, one named Washington Square from 1997 and the other named The Heiress from 1949.  Once again, there were similarities and differences.  I find the differences much more fascinating.  First of all, Catherine’s red crimson dress, which was such a vital aspect of the original story, was completely cut out of the Washington Square movie.  They also didn’t really stay true to the characters.  It seemed to me that in this movie version of the story, they tried to modernize the characters a bit, something that I usually enjoy, but in this particular story, just annoyed me.  Catherine was very perky, and Morris Townsend was just seemingly unintelligent and boyish.  I much preferred The Heiress version from 1949 that we saw clips from.  Catherine was much more poised and elegant and the director didn’t stray from particular story aspects like it seemed they did in Washington Square.  To me, analyzing the two versions is enjoyable and gives me a chance to evaluate how different people can interpret the same story.

I enjoyed reading the story of Washington Square and I look forward to seeing the Broadway production of The Heiress tomorrow night.