zBlogging the Literary Life - AP College English

Piano is Power

Baines scares me.  Even when she goes to him willingly he looks like such a beast.  Maybe it is his size compared to hers but he looks violent to me even in the end when they are happy in love and kissing.  How did she fall in love with this man?  Did she love him because he loved her?  Did she love him because he loved her piano playing?  This brings me to question what the piano symbolizes.  I don't know so I will just throw out some ideas.  The piano could symbolize the voice of a woman's desire.  Obviously she cannot speak and so I think piece of what the piano symbolizes must be her voice.  I think the piano is part of her or she lets herself become a part of it because as a woman she could not be heard through speech.  Maybe the piano is her power because it makes people listen to her.  Maybe Ada cannot love her new husband because he does not care about her voice.  He leaves the piano on the beach and then sells it to Baines.  He doesn't see her as a person.  But baines badly wants her voice.  Not just to own it but to listen to it.  Maybe that is why she loves Baines.  In the end when her finger is cut off and she cannot play piano she thinks her voice is gone and she has no power left.  I think that is why she goes down with the piano.  Now why she comes up I don't have the energy to try and figure out now, but I want to ask the question, in the relationship between Ada and Baines, who has the power?

Man, I Feel Like A Woman

There is still something about The Piano that i don't understand.  That is why she bailed her piano off the boat. 
I see it as a cleansing of Ada, in a way.  she now has George and she no longer needs the fulfillment of the piano.  george sees her as a person and she no longer feels submissive. 
symbolism: the piano made her feel like a woman

the piano helped her express her feelings.  The other women said that they could feel her emotions through the piano.

I think that she got rid of the piano becasue she has a new sense of identity where she doesnt need to identify herself/express herself with the piano anymore.

Is It Really All About Sex?

In my opinion, The Piano is not about sex. Although sex is prevalent in this movie, sex symbolizes something more.  Sex symbolizes freedom in a way.  Especially for women during that time period. Ada symbolized the typical role of women during that time period.  Women were expected to be submissive to men, obey them and to be quiet when they are speaking. 

Ada was a representative of the typical woman during that period without bluntly revealing her true role. For Ada to be mute forced her to be submissive to her husband and at times forced her to obey him.  The piano just like sex in the movie freed Ada from the typical role she was expected to live by.  When her husband boaded up the house to prevent Ada from sneaking off and being with Bailey, it dampered her spirits and in a way caged her.  After her husband boarded up she felt the need to have sex with him although that is not what she really wants to do.  She needed to feel freedom again.  When her husband cut her fingers off it in a way helped Ada releases the baggage that came along with playing the piano.  Ada finally got the freedom she wanted when she left her husband. 

women, oppression, society, and you know.. uh...feminism and stuff

In The Piano, Ada cannot be happy on her own. At first, Ada is only happy when she is playing the piano. When Ada arrives in New Zealand, she cannot play the piano unless the native men help her bring it to her house. Once they retrieve the piano from the shore, it is still not completely hers. Ada can only have the one thing that makes her happy until Ada and Baines carry out their agreement. In the process of this, Ada finds something else to satisfy her desires and make her happy. However, as we all saw, Ada cannot be satisfied sexually without the help of Baines. It seems like Ada is not independant at all, and I think that she represents the point that the movie is trying to get across: women do not have control in our society, and their oppression makes them unable to achieve their desires.

The end of The Piano reminded me of The Awakening. In the Awakening, Edna cannot escape society's restraints and kills herself in the ocean (Kate Chopin probably says it better). When Ada slipped into the sea it was as if she was giving into society's oppression of women, however when she decided to live she was saying "Hey, I wont give into oppression!, I'm going to live a life of satisfaction with Baines!". (I clearly don't mean that literally) At first I viewed this as an act of independence, but now I am not so sure. She does live a happy life, but it is only happy because she has found a man to help her find her voice in three ways.
1) made her metal finger
2) helped her learn to speak
3) physical satisfaction

The Piano has a bittersweet ending, but can it be viewed as a triumph or a failure for women? While she is finding her "voice", it is still with the help of a man.

Sex, Drugs & Classical Music

I am confused how The Piano relates to our english class, not that I am not enjoying the film. I like the sexual independance of the main character. She is not confined by her gender and lets herself enjoy passion. She is very different than the female characters in Heart of Darkness. She is strongwilled and intelligent. I see a weak parallel in the imperialism of New Zealand and Africa. The conquering of the natives in Africa was far more violent. In this movie, the natives, except for the main character's lover, are disrespectful to white culture whereas we are made to pity the natives in Heart of Darkness.

The sex scenes themselves were very curious. They were awkward and very realistic. I think that's why they made a few people (coughBeccacough) uncomfortable. But that's what they were ment to do.