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The Virgin Suicide By Jeffrey Eugenides

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“The Virgin Suicides” By Jeffrey Eugenides Theory: Feminism The novel entitled, “The Virgin Suicides” by Jeffrey Eugenides, describes the lives of the five Lisbon sisters who, together, captivate the eyes of the neighborhood boys. By focusing on the Lisbon sisters’ tales throughout the text, one can begin to see the emergence of feminism. This analysis calls for the interpretation of objectification and suppression of the young girls. For instance, the concept of male gaze is evident. Despite the constant surveillance of the Lisbon sisters, it is clear that the boys are unable to truly see the girls. They are instead observing them through a window built by their fantasies and idealizations of them, which are generated at the sight of the …show more content…

This description therefore allows for a Marxist analysis. For example, there is sufficient evidence to prove that the mother represents the bourgeoisie in the household. Due to Lux’s failure to abide by her parent’s conditions, “Mrs. Lisbon shut the house in maximum-security isolation. […] There was no explanation except the psychic one that the house became obscured because Mrs. Lisbon willed it to” (136). It is obvious that in Lux’s failure to follow the rules, Mrs. Lisbon acted upon her powerful status as the head of the household, and punished all of the girls. This further maintains the concept that her strictness establishes her dominance when it comes to authoritative decisions over the girls, as the bourgeoisie would have over the proletariat. Furthermore, the text portrays dialectical materialism. When interviewed by the captivated boys years after her daughters’ deaths, “Mrs. Lisbon maintained that her decision was never intended to be punitive. ‘At that point being in school was just making things worse. […] The girls needed time to themselves. A mother knows. I thought if they stayed home, they’d heal better’” (137). It was made clear that Mrs. Lisbon already held control over her daughters, but this quote illustrates the impact she has over her daughters’ roles in society. This is exhibited through her decision to unenroll her daughters from school, without taking into account her daughters’ opinions. Mrs. Lisbon believed that her parenting techniques consisted of good intentions in that they would eventually benefit the girls and their futures. However, the practice Mrs. Lisbon considered to be useful ended in utter disappointment at the suicides of all her daughters. In addition to the regulation of her

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This chapter is a difficult and sad one. We have two cases of two teenagers dead in different circumstances, and two parents reacting differently to the same tragedy. Losing a child must be something unimaginable; something that causes you deep pain. It is difficult to understand the pain and suffering that person is feeling, without having gone through a similar situation. I cannot say who suffered more from both parents, because the suffering cannot be measured, but I wonder, which of the two parents handled better the suffering caused by the death of their daughter.

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This enforced optimistic ideology manipulates her children’s perceptions of their lives which takes any accountability for their misfortunes away from her. She chooses to neglect her children but enlightens it to be a generous gesture because “suffering when you’re young is good for you… It immunized your body and soul” (28). She influences her children to be accepting of their misfortunes so she may restrict the necessity of providing care for her children. The children are used to being deprived of simple needs such as food and health care so they do not mention to their parents when their difficulties have increased.

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