Masters Reading Response to Don't Look Now

I know I've said that I've enjoyed all the readings we've done, but this one sucked me in from the very beginning. I feel like I had deja vu while reading this, it seemed so close to another plot line that I read, but even still, I could not stop reading. This piece is set in Venice, which is very appropriate because of the Gothic nature of this book. Venice is home to Gothic architecture and art, and Du Maurier's Gothic novel thrives on this idea. Venice is considered a dying city, since it is drowning and the city as a whole has converted to wood because it is easier to prevent decay this way: underwater, wood is oxygen deprived. This may seem unimportant, but in Du Maurier's piece, the family is slowly dying. Laura and John have just lost their little girl and their boy is away at school, so they decide to get away and try to cut off the oxygen to their loss. Under this water, there is a extension on the decay of their marriage and family. But there are new things to worry about. Venice has to worry about heat and rain, smell and crowded places. Just like this family, or at least John, who thinks that now that they have this daughter out of their mind, they are free to not worry about anything. But not long after, John realizes that there are two women that bring up a whole different set of fears. Venice is full of fears. Italy is full of fears. I have realized this since traveling to Italy. You have to worry about food, about transportation, about stores closing, about where to sleep, about getting in contact with someone, about everything. But this is just like normal life. The only difference is that you are in an unfamiliar place and when you put a huge emphasis on it like John's wife does with the fears that the women bring to their attention, that is when something more excessive happens. But the reason that this is set in Italy and cannot be set anywhere else is the mix of this fear and Gothic influence. There is nowhere else in the world that these two can mix: Italy is the birthplace of the Gothic.