Commentary on Impossible Object (Nicholas Mosley)

Tara Singh
12/3/12
English
Grade 12

In Nocholas Mosley’s prose piece Impossible Object he depicts the life of a Hippolyta a mother of one child who is separated from her husband.

Mosley’s depiction of Rome as a city, along with his depiction of Hippolyta herself and her relationship with her husband and child illustrates his main idea of happiness and love being unattainable for an affluent member of society.

Hippolyta:

1) The opening sentence of the prose piece introduces Hippolyta “overlooking the Borghese gardens.”
a. This image sets up an atmosphere of regality where Hippolyta is described to look over gardens that are something natural and beautiful. This image …show more content…

Hippolyta neglects her child, and has a broken relationship with her husband, which in turn reflects the fact that her life is absent of love. One of the most fundamental emotions that one needs to be happy. The broken state of the family is used in order to emphasize that love is one of the impossible objects Hippolyta is unable to attain.

III.
a. The setting of Rome along with the environment which is described emphasizes Hippolyta as a cruel leader much like an authoritative figure who will not experience happiness because of her obsession with money and material goods.
b. When the author writes about his visit to Rome he parallels the city as a whole to Hippolyta. He says that “Rome was a place of cruelty had been normal.” and “Hippolyta’s flat was close to where Caligula had once walked and had watched men being kept alive in tiny cages.”
c. The conflict between the Hippolyta and her husband is one that serves as contrast to the lavish lifestyle that she lives, which is presented in the opening remarks.” overlooking Borghese gardens.” “”her flat was full of poets, drug-addicts, and hairdressers that are symbols of the fashionable world.”
d. He also describes her flat as a “crenellated building round which traffic swam in a moat.” This portrayal separates Hippolyta from commoners. She is again depicted as an authoritative figure who owns her fortress.
e. This