Lauren Hope Gottschalk
Mrs. Robbins
Critical Analysis of Film and Literature
26 September 2014
-Susan's opera career: Why is Kane so determined to make her a star? (consider the performance and review scene)
After Kane loses the battle for the position of Governor of New York it seems a though he feels he has
failed something that could have been one of his life's greatest achievements. His wife; Susan
Alexander is a beginner opera singer. Since Kane slipped in the elections he wants at least one person
in his life to be successful, therefore he holds Susan up from slipping. He hires a singing coach, cheers
Susan on, and pushes her almost to death. In this movie it seemed as though Kane thrived off of
success. He was an icon to most people, so if his future did not hold success what did he have to offer?
Also, Kane did make the large decision to divorce his wife, quit the race for Governor of New York,
and marry his mistress; Susan Alexander. Since Kane does thrive off of this success, if the public saw
that Kane married a lowlife his reputation would be in complete shambles. To keep his standing at a
high degree Kane decided to put his success within Susan.
I really like the parallel you made between Kane's distressed state and his goal to make at least something in his life successful. To be honest, I didn't pick this topic for this blog because I had absolutely no idea what could have motivated Kane to make a career out of someone who was obviously not talented or motivated to have this career. Your blog offered to me that maybe Kane had lost everything that he had created in his life, and by making Susan successful he could feel better about himself. Great ideas in this blog!
ReplyDeleteAs I considered this topic for my blog, I made the connection that Kane wanted Susan to be equally as successful as him, but you took it a step further by saying that he tried to make up for his recent lack of achievements by making Susan famous and therefore making them somewhat of a "power couple." This post has detailed thoughts packed into a concise blurb which is what most posts should be like, as it lacks all the repetitive thoughts and gets right to the point. Great job.
ReplyDeleteYou have a lot of good point. I agree with the idea that Kane always felt the need to be successful which is why once he failed in the election he tried immensely to have at least Susan be successful. I believe that Kane wasn't taught anything else considering that from when he was taken by Thatcher, his whole life revolved around: getting a good education, getting a good job, becoming very wealthy, building and getting the best and most amount of things possible with great value. All of this in search of success however, in the end he realizes none of this is meaningful and he will always be unhappy with what he has if he isn't happy with himself and what he already has alone. This relates to the quote "Kane had everything and lost everything".
ReplyDeleteGreat reflections on why Kane was motivated to help Susan become a star. Great point about how his political failed aspirations fed into this motivation.
ReplyDelete