UNIT TWO : MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN
LOOK AT TEACUP
ENGLISH | THE MAGIC OF WORDS
CLASS : 12
Patricia Hampl
“Look At The Teacup” is an essay written by the feminist writer of America, Patricia Hampl. This essay is written in the narrative style which narrates the history of feminism in America. The two major themes of this essay are the relationship between mother and her daughter (the author) and the connection between the past and the present. Both of these themes are represented by the teacup.
In this essay, there are two different stories. The first story is the essayist’s mother’s story. The mother married in 1939 with an American who had been born in Czechoslovakia. She had bought china cups and plates for her marriage. These cups and plates were made in Czechoslovakia and they are beautiful. In fact, she was very happy in her world of her cups and plates. For her, marriage and the family were the most important things of life. Many years later, she gave these cups to the writer because the writer is her daughter.
The second story in this essay is the story of the Second World War, which also started in 1939. Many things fell that year. Basically, ‘that year’ means the time of war that caused many things to fall, for example, human bodies fell dead in the streets by falling bombs. Countries, cities, industries, and a lot of other things fall. Even Czechoslovakia stopped the production of beautiful teacups. In this period, bombs fell on the innocent women and children. Thus, women in America revolted against the crime and atrocities done on women. They considered the crime as a male oppression and tyranny against women. This is why, women’s liberation movement started. The women of this new generation show their anger by rejecting old traditions. They consider work as the most important thing in a person’s life. So, marriage and family lose their importance because feminists take it as a kind of slavery. Tea cups are no more a symbol of marriage and family life for the writer but they are actually the symbols of the war against women. On the other hand, the essayist’s mother used to emphasize on family. Even the mother wanted her daughter to get married. The essayist thinks past is very important but her mother thinks it is the future that matters.
In this way, ‘the teacup’ in the essay connects the mother, the daughter, the past and the present because it was made in 1939 in Czechoslovakia. We can guess that by giving the teacup, the essayist’s mother intends to give her other things like information about the past, but her mother does not explicitly tell her about the past any more. This means that the only way the daughter can find about her mother is by looking at the teacup.
Description of the ‘Teacup’:
The teacup is thin. It is the palest water green. The level of tea in the cup can be measured from outside. It is shinny. There are thin bonds / dividends of gold around the edges of the cup. But, the bands of gold inside the cup have been disappeared by regular use. There is no decoration outside. However, inside the cup, there are flowers. It seems as if someone has scattered / sprinkled / speckled / spotted a bunch / cluster / bouquet. They have fallen all around the inside. Some fell so fast that they have reached the bottom and some were still on the way down. They don’t seem to be pasted but caught while falling. Each is different. Each has different color and each is falling from different heights.
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English