Heavenly Twins
{{The Heavenly Twins}}
Basic Info
- Author: Sarah Grand
- Year: 1893
- Type: #primary1
Summary (brief)
-Literally probably the best book I have ever read in my life. Angelica and Theodore (Diovolo) are called 'the heavenly twins' because they are such a pain in the ass - little pranksters. Twins is the perfect way for Grand to explore the sexual double-standards of the Victorian era. Even though Angelica is the more ambitious, clever one, Diovolo is going to get the better education because he is a boy. This book is similar to Well of Loneliness because both women characters (stephen and Angellica) don't feel particularly feminine or identify with the social expectations, but they are kind of prisoners, and it is only by transgressing can they be their true selves; Stephen openly dresses in a masculine way; Angelica does so in secret, fully taking on the identity of Claude, affectionately referred to as The Boy by the Tenor. Angelica is married to an old man who basically lets her run wild. It's hard to say why i loved this book so much. While reading it though, I just felt pure pleasure - I felt so understood. Evadna is tricked into marrying some sexual deviant and they live together as friends until the Colonel finally dies and then Evadna basically has PTSD; she marries a doctor but suffers terribly and tries to kill herself and her baby because she doesn't want a daughter to go through what she has gone through; at the end I think it alludes to Evadna killing all her children but Wikipedia says no.
Major Themes
Key Passages / Quotes
Quote 1
quote:: “I am no bird.”
page:: 197
themes:: freedom, identity
Genre Notes
Characters / Concepts (if relevant)
-Angelica
-Diovolo
-The Tenor
Theory Connections
Related Texts
My Argument / Interpretation
Dissertation Relevance
How could this matter to my project?
#genderbending
#hatingwomen
#marriage/relationships/friendship