Reading Journal 2, Week 4

There seems to be something compromised by Italy as the source of the supernatural here with the constant presence of the two Scottish sisters--not Italians, but Scots, and repeatedly described as such. I recognize that, despite accents, these two foreign(ish) sisters allow for linguistic communication, but for a great deal of the piece Italy doesn't function as anything other than a background of absolute, excruciating tourism. Well, I suppose that isn't true. There is, in fact, this idea of Italy as healing--a metaphorical womb, one might say, that is meant to rebirth the relationship between John and Laura, a sort of strange juxtaposition of motherhood, where Italy is to fix where Laura has "failed." How Italy is meant to return maternity to her, to restore her relationship with child-bearing despite the fact that she is clearly suffering from the loss of her child. What seems interesting in that idea is that it is not Italy, often feminized, that serves as the source of her repair, but those two Scottish women. I suppose the story is constantly trying to play on some left-field option, for example: John is in trouble, no the son is in trouble, no John is in trouble, SURPRISE, it's a midget lady! I suppose that the fact that, rather than the foreign, it is something more familiar to the British couple that provides the source of relief. Not to mention that the entire trip to Venice, rather than repairing their relationship, ends up destroying it--leaving John dead and hinting at the radical potency of the Italian setting.