Look at a Teacup

Look at the teacup

• Written by feminist writer Patricia Hampl.
• Patricia narrate a story in 1976
• An essay that is written in Narrative style which narrates the story of her mother’s past and the destruction made by the Second World War.
• Main themes of essay are “the mother and daughter relationship” and “the connection between the past and the present”.
• Narrative style essay which narrates two different stories in this essay about the pre-war and post war situations. And speaks about the feminism.
• This essay digs up history that connects past and present together, even a small teacup may represent a long and mesmerizing history of war details and consequent result on social norms, values and traditions and reel of past relation.
• War created huge destruction, frustration and depression among people especially to women and made them more radical and revolutionary for proclaiming their rights and freedom with new perspective of FEMINISM.
• Patricia Hampl was born in USA from Czechoslovakian couple; the essayist is fascinated by her communities, her family and her ancestral homeland in Czechoslovakia. Through this essay Hampl reads her mother’s history in a delicate and decorated teacup. Her mother represents old, traditional, pre-war and submissive generation. She says family, marriage and husband are important. No matter how cruel and destructive the war and situation is, the writer refuses and revolts against such tradition and comes with some radical idea about family, marriage and husband, she represents modern, post war and pro active generation.

Q/A:

1.      How does Hampl see herself and her mother connected by the teacup?

Ans: Hampl’s mother bought the teacup in 1939. Later, she gave it to her daughter. Hampl reads her mother’s history in the cup. It takes her to her mother’s past and to the country where the cup was made. Because of the Second World War, the country and the tradition destroyed. But, this is the cup that reminds Hampl about the country and her mother. By giving the teacup to her daughter, Hampl’s mother also wants to hand over the tradition and culture which her daughter refuses to accept. In this sense, the mother and the daughter both were related to the cup. The mother had brought the teacup in 1939 when she was just married. So, the teacup has sentimental value for her mother and so this is important for her. The daughter wants her mother should give her many other things with some information about the past. In short, we can say that the writer and her mother are connected with the teacup by emotion.

2.      What do you mean by “many things” fell that year?

Ans: Here, many things fell that year indicates the destruction that happened during the Second World War. The second war started in 1939. The falling off bombs caused much destruction. The countries were captured by their enemies. Many European innocent youths lost their lives in the battlefield. Human bodies fell like rain. Hampl’s mother and other brides fell, paired with other bodies, and lost their virginity. Flowers fell into teacups. Cities after cities, whole nations fell and vanished from the map of the world. Everything got destroyed in the bonfire of the war. In this way art, virginity, culture, tradition, and faith in marriage fell in that year.

3.      How does the writer in her essay, “Look at a Teacup” show the relationship among the falling flowers and teacups, falling bodies and beds, and falling off bombs onto women and falling countries?

Ans: Fallings of all these things are linked together by a thread of association. Here falling of things indicates the destruction caused by the Second World War. This essay trying to show the pre and post war situation.

Falling of flowers into the tea cups has now remained only a thing of the past. Such Czech-made china tea cups (made from china clay) are no longer produced. (Shows the falling of art & discontinuity of art and culture). Falling bodies on bed suggests the traditional system of marriage in which a bride acts subsidiary (as a helper) to her husband, remains confined (limited) within four walls of the home & serves for the sole satisfaction of her husband. However, this submissive attitude of women is falling. Falling of bombs in the World War II, caused widespread destruction. New countries emerged from the ashes of the old. Old traditions and system collapsed gave away to new ones.

4.      What is Hampl’s attitude toward marriage?

Ans: The Hampl’s mother got married in 1939 when the Second World War began. It destroyed many things. Many married women who lost their husband and family members were compelled to fall on the beds of strange persons after own husband’s death in the battlefield. The destructive Second World War caused a sense of fear in young girl’s life. The writer herself saw the miserable condition of married women of that period. They lost the faith in marriage. Hampl takes `work’ as the important thing but not marriage. For writer and her generation marriage is a tragedy.

5.      What does the story “Look at a Teacup” tell us about being women?

Ans: Hampl says that in the generation of Hampl’s mother, there was great faith in marriage and family relations before marriage. The traditional women wanted to hand over their tradition and culture to their daughters. They considered that women should marries for sexual relations. For the family life was greater than work. But modern women don’t follow the traditional values and work is greater than families for modern women. Marriage and family life is a tragedy for Hampl’s generation.

6.      What does the essay “Look at a Teacup” tell us about marriage? About mother-daughter relationship? About the importance of family?

Ans: The `teacup’ about which is talking was bought from Czechoslovakia. Later on, this country was destroyed in the Second World War. According to the writer, Hampl before the Second World War marriage and family life was considered a great thing. The mother used to hand over culture and their possession to their daughter. Hampl’s mother also did the same thing as other women used to do. Her mother gave her a teacup as a gift. The teacup reminds the writer her mother’s marriage, happy life, etc. they didn’t have sexual relations before marriage. This essay also tells us about the importance of happy family life before the Second World War. But during the Second World War, many married women lost their husbands and family members in the battlefield and compelled to fall in the beds of strange ones and these women cursed themselves of being women. After the Second World War, the importance of married life fell down. The Second World War caused fear in young women. Married life means to means to Hampl and Hampl’s generation is a tragedy.

7.      Explain “The cup is a detail, a small uncharged finger from the mid-century bonfire”.

Ans: The cup, which was offered to the writer Hampl, was brought from Czechoslovakia. It was a beautiful cup with beautiful flowers inside it. In that century, Czechoslovakia was destroyed in the Second World War. The Second World War started in 1939 or in the mid-century. The married women lost their husbands as well as family members in the war. Everything was destroyed but the cup remained unaffected. Here, uncharted finger indicates that whole body or everything brunt except little finger or little teacup in the war. The country Czechoslovakia lost its culture, tradition, identity, freedom, etc. in the war. Here, the unchanged finger is the symbol art of Czechs.

Description of the ‘Teacup’.

Ans: The teacup is thin. It is the palest water green. The level of tea in the cup can be measured from outside. It is shiny. 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 a different color and each is falling from different heights.

Questions for Practice

1. What major event took place in 1939 and what were the “many things that fell that year?”
2. What does “Look at a Teacup” tell us about marriage? About mother-daughter relationship? About the importance of family about women?
3. In what significant ways are the mother and the daughter different from each other in “Look at a Teacup”? 4. Explain the daughter’s attitude to marriage.
4. How does the write in the essay, `Look at the Tea Cup’ show the relationship among falling flowers and teacup, falling bodies and beds, falling of the bombs into women and falling countries. Also, write Patricia Hampl’s view on Marriage.

Short Q/A:

•         What does the word “that year” mean in this essay?
•          How the essay is written in this essay?
•          Who is the write of this essay?
•          What are the main themes of this essay?
•          What are the stories that writer narrates in this essay?
•          What does it mean by Phrase “many things fell that year”?
•          Describe the teacup.