In act 1 I do think Carol has twisted Johns words, it was the way he worded it that made him look bad in the situation. However, as the play progresses John did not make his character look any better. As of Carol's lawsuit being legitimate, I do believe it is legitimate to a certain extent because she accuses John of many things that he implied even if it wasn't his intention. However, accusing John of sexual harassment based on his actions on act 1 I don't think is correct. Accusing him of solely harassment would be more suitable. Even if John's intentions were good, if a student or anyone feels uncomfortable it could be considered as harassment, and in Carol's case I thought it was. John has definitely overstepped his boundaries in act 1 by being an elitist and classicist.
Only analyzing act 1 I would say that John is at fault, however, analyzing the whole play I think it is a mix of both. Carol seems to be hiding something about her past since she interprets the action of John touching her shoulder as sexual harassment, and John feels that he has so much power that nothing could go wrong, he eventually realizes that things could back fire on him but it was too late to fix things. We should have foreseen that this combinationg of student and professor relationship was going to be a bad one.
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In response to your first paragraph I have to say I disagree. I disagree with you because I believe Carol comes from a social environment that has prevented her from seeing the world as it really is. I believe she has been sheltered in a way that prevents her from understanding that her actions could have persuaded John into thinking she was willing to do ANY thing to pass his class. I think that John had the knowledge but not the mental capacity to keep it strictly educational. However I do believe that there is something that Carol is hiding about her past that made her react to dramatically about John's actions, none the less John took it to a level that it should have never have been taken to.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you said John was at fault, and that you also felt after analyzing the play it was a mix of both. I think that she has a alternative motive behind her actions. He acted out in a non professional manner.I think after he put his arm around her she should have left, but she stayed for whatever reason. I feel no teacher should ever put a arm around a student. I do feel its sexual harassment, but not rape he did not have physical contact that was inappropriate with the student. I agree with your opinions about John he really took things out of context especially in the end.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you to an extent. Although John was acting nonprofessional; Carol did have hidden motives, such as willing to drop the charges if he changed his curriculum and retired his book. She also wrote down every word he was saying and then mortifying it to seem like it was a type of harassment. So she seemed to have played the harassment card to achieve what her and her group wanted, and at the end it worked in her favor do to Johns unwillingness to remain claim and ultimately leading him to become physical with her.
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