A captain with seven children . . .

This weeks post takes us once again to the past.  Being a women in a man's world is never easy but being a nanny in a captains household is near impossible.  When those children are hellions who can climb into your window with "a whole jar of spiders" you really have something to be afraid of.  So do you run?  Do you quit?  Do you respond to a whistle?  Depends on who you are I suppose.  Strength comes in all different forms.  It sometimes takes shapes of muscle, other times it takes the shape of courage, and in the case of Fraulein Maria it takes the shape of . . . Confidence.

 

Yes this week I want to discuss Maria from The Sound of Music.  I have loved this movie since I was a little girl.  It had a bit of everything: love, music, and of course Nazis!  As I've grown older I look at it in a new light; a light that shows Maria as not the nanny who fell for the captain but as the captain who fell for the nanny.  Showing the woman who overcame some very difficult circumstances and to reunite a family and become a mother.

Maria uses her independence in several ways from leaving the Abbey to escaping the Nazis.  Now while Maria did not initially want to leave the Abbey I believe the term actions speak louder than words applies all too well here.  The very first scene shows Maria out in the hills where she shouldn't be, singing about how much she loves the outdoors and music.  Back in the Abbey the other nuns sing about Maria's forgetfulness. While she is very persistent in her duties as a nun she can't quite find her groove.  Clearly a nuns life is not for Maria whether she believes it or not.  This brings the Reverend Mother to send her on a new journey.

She is to be the governess to seven Von Trap children.  While the situation is a bit new and scary Maria is up to the challenge.  She is the twelfth in a long line of governesses.  The kids don't like her initially and neither does the Captain.  She refuses his techniques on discipline and wants to let the children play outside more.  The children begin their trickery leaving a frog in Maria's pocket.  They continue with a pine cone on the chair at dinner.  Maria is not an ordinary governess, however.  She quickly guilt trips the children on how important it is that they make her feel welcome in their home.  This is furthered with a private talk with the oldest daughter Leisl about her love life.  Eventually all the children find comfort with Maria during the thunderstorm.  Maria calms them and begins a new sort of friendship with them: a "motherly" friendship.  She resolves to break through all the setbacks she has and raise these kids with or without their father.
She teaches them to sing, dance, and play as normal children should.  Upon their father's arrival back from a business trip he is upset at the untidy household.  When he hears the children sing however he suddenly goes back to his old self.  He is the loving father his children need and with this comes a certain attraction to Maria.  But wait.  She is a nun!  She can't fall in love!  That's not aloud.  AND he's engaged.  She leaves them all, running back to the Abbey and away from her problems.  But this woman can't do that for long.  With a little help from her Reverend Mother she realized that her path in life was not as a nun.  She went back.

It doesn't take the Captain long to break off his engagement upon her arrival.  They have an amazingly attractive scene when they sing and kiss. They get married.  Thus we move onto the Nazi portion of this movie.  They wanted her husband.  She was willing to do anything to keep him away from that life.  So they must escape the Nazi's.  They leave in the dead of night.  her husband and their seven children.  They hide from people who would kill them without a second thought.  They quickly learn that the borders have closed so they won't be able to take the car.  They therefore have to hike across the mountains.  Only Maria with her husband to take their seven children.  A tough challenge.  But she did it! This girl overcame all of her challenges and ended up truly happy!  She was an inspiration to all women out there and should not be forgotten