The Ring, by Isak Dinesen

Karen Blixen: http://www.karenblixen.com/

Isak Dinesen was the pseudonym of Karen Blixen. Most people remember her because she was the heroine of Out of Africa, but Karen's life and character have very little to do with the role acted by Meryl Streep.

The Danish author Karen Blixen (1885) belonged to an aristocratic family. She was grown up by some aunts obsessed by being nobles. She fell in love with a distant cousin of hers, but he rejected her and then she got married to his twin brother, a baron, with whom she sent to Kenya. The marriage was a disaster, and he transmitted the syphilis to her. He was also very bad at bussines, and she had to take care of their coffee plantation. At last, they went bankrupt, and she came back to Denmark, where she started to write.

Hemingway said she deserved the Nobel Prize more than himself.

Another very famous work of hers is Babette's Feast, also adapted to a film.

TRY TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS WHILE YOU READ

Was theirs a balanced marriage?

How do we know that they were happy?

What was the difference of character between them?

Where did they go in a lovely July morning?

Why does she think "What a baby he is! I'm a hundred years older than he?"

What happened to some of the English lambs?

What crimes did the thief commit?

What were Lise's feelings about the thief?

Why was she happy when she was alone?

Why did she go into the shrubbery?

Who did she find in the shelter?

What did the man do with the knife? What does it symbolize?

She dropped her handkerchief: What is the meaning of that? And of giving her ring?

And why did he kick the ring away?

What do you thing is the meaning of "the blade was much worn - it went in?

Why does she think "All is over"?

Was she in love with her husband? How do you know?

 

 

WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS: TRY TO LOOK THEM UP

aka

had set on their purpose for ten years 

haughty

jesting

raillery

no stone in his bride's path

haymaking

drifted

frock

ram

stock

sheepfold

gruesome

whimper

shrank

swallows

gambolling

moist

took him in one simple glance

alcove

at bay

asunder

TOPICS TO DISCUSS

Why do some women take a male pseudonym to write?

What do you think of positive discrimination?

What is for you the difference between sex and genre?

SAYINGS, IDEAS AND OTHER THOUGHTS BY ISAK DINESEN

The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea.

It is a good thing to be a great sinner. Or should human beings allow Christ to have died on the Cross for the sake of our petty lies and our paltry whorings. 

All sorrows can be borne if you put them into a story or tell a story about them. 

All the sorrows of life are bearable if only

we can convert them into a story. 

Truth, like time, is an idea arising from, and dependent upon, human intercourse. 

People work much in order to secure the future; I gave my mind much work and trouble, trying to secure the past. 

If a man can devote himself undisturbed to the work which is on his mind, he can, as far I have observed, completely ignore his surroundings--they disappear for him; he can sit in filth and disorder, draught and cold, and be completely happy. For most women it is insufferable to sit in a room if the color scheme displeases them. 

From my journeys in southern Europe I have gained the impression that in our time the Virgin Mary is the only heavenly creature who is really beloved by millions. But I believe these millions would be uncomprehending and perhaps even offended if I were to tell them that the Virgin Mary had made a significant discovery, solved difficult mathematical problems, or masterfully organized and administered an association of housewives in Nazareth.