Like Christine, when I think of going down the rabbit hole, I think of
obsessive desire. Such desire conjures images of substance abuse, promiscuity,
recklessness... etc. We fall down the rabbit hole when we give into our
obsessions and submit ourselves to them without restraint. I can think of a
number of characters from our studies this semester who fall down the rabbit
hole, and few of them find their ways back out.
For my conference paper, I plan to focus on two female characters: Princess
Kosmonopolis from Sweet Bird of Youth, and Nina from Black Swan. Each of these
characters either has or once had a vision of greatness for herself. Nina
realizes her dream, but loses her life. We meet an older Princess Kosmonopolis,
who, having already attained the fame and wealth she had once desired, lives away
from the screen in absolute misery. Perhaps it isn’t possible to have
everything that we want forever. We cannot ever be truly content; if we do succeed
in finding perfection, its transience threatens to destroy us. I would like to
find some sort of academic discourse that would allow me to expand upon this
idea… It may also be interesting to look at Mary from Long Day’s Journey Into
Night. Mary once had a dream of being a nun, but she gave it her dreams to be
with Tyrone. Mary lives out the rest of her life discontent, and has to turn to
morphine to assuage her sorrows. Perhaps this adds another aspect to the
argument, because if the message to be taken from Sweet Bird of Youth and Black
Swan is a caveat against pursuing some sort of perfection, Long Day’s Journey
Into Night seems to argue that, on the contrary, we have to pursue the things
that make us happy or else we risk living out the rest of our lives in regret.
-Kayla
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