How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Drouet had a habit, characteristic of his kind, of looking after stylishly dressed or pretty women on the street and remarking upon them. He had just enough of the feminine love of dress to be a good judge—not of intellect, but of clothes. He saw how they set their little feet, how they carried their chins, with what grace and sinuosity they swung their bodies. A dainty, self-conscious swaying of the hips by a woman was to him as alluring as the glint of rare wine to a toper. (11.5)
It's interesting that what really catches Drouet's attention is a kind of exaggerated femininity that's emphasized by clothes and by actions like carrying, swinging, and swaying. This suggests that for a woman to be attention-worthy for men of Drouet's "kind" it's not enough to simply be a woman; one needs to act like a woman through dress and exaggerated movements.
Some feminists (like Judith Butler) might say that these socially-sanctioned acts of femininity are exactly what create the illusion that men and women are so very different from one another (rather than being innately different).
Quote #8
She looked in the mirror and pursed up her lips, accompanying it with a little toss of the head, as she had seen the railroad treasurer's daughter do. She caught up her skirts with an easy swing, for had not Drouet remarked that in her and several other, and Carrie was naturally imitative. She began to get the hang of those little things which the pretty woman who has vanity invariably adopts. In short, her knowledge of grace doubled, and with it her appearance changed. She became a girl of considerable taste. (11.27)
"One is not born, but rather, becomes a woman," declared twentieth-century feminist Simone de Beauvoir. How does Carrie illustrate this idea here?
Quote #9
[Carrie] might have been said to be imagining herself in love, when she was not. Women frequently do this. It flows from the fact that in each exists a bias toward affection, a craving for the pleasure of being loved. The longing to be shielded, bettered, sympathized with, is one of the attributes of the sex. This, coupled with sentiment, and a natural tendency to emotion, often makes refusing difficult. It persuades them that they are in love. (23.3)
Wow, the narrator sure claims to know a lot about lovesick women. What do you think of this theory?