1) 'the albanian virgin' has been the short story with the most substance of munro's thus far. There are a few secrets in this story, but the most intriguing one is that of the connection between Charlotte and Lottar. I think it to be more of a 'second-guess,' but the fact that Munro never specifies leaves it open to question. I first thought the connection to be when on page 85 Claire becomes the narrator and talks of Charlotte, which Lottar ("was what they made of it{her name} pg 81) is told by Charlotte. From there are a few connections between stories.
2) This secret reminds me of the story "Carried Away," merely because from the end of the story, through the next whole reading, I was confused about whatever happened to Jack, and the character whom Louisa sees at the end. It is a case of identity, where the characters are telling stories which could or could not be about themselves. In the case of "the Albanian Virgin," I trluy think that Lottar is Charlotte, and am about 90% believing that Gurdji is the Fransican priest. I am not so clear on that, as there is much less evidence of the priest vs gurdji as lottar vs charlotte (which are uncanny similarities).
3) This unknowing is definitely essential to the narrative, as it allows us to relate the two main, women, characters, Charlotte and Claire. Believing that Charlotte is telling Claire the life of her younghood is comforting to us, the reader, as we get to know Claire(and Charlotte). We are opened to similarities (being all alone for a period of life) and similar circumstances (not having any men {whether publicly or personally forced} upon you) and similiar endings (being the unknown {where did Charlotte and Ghurdji disappear to? for what reason, really, has nelson come to see claire? who was met by "him"--past or present?}). The connection between the two women characters is essential to the reading of this story, as you see their soul connection across different times, different cultures, and different circumstances.
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Rachel makes an intriguing connection between "Carried Away" and "The Albanian Virgin." It seems that both stories leave the reader in a position to assume that one character is in fact another. I myself, wonder what Jack's story really is. I'm also eager to know how Charlotte came to be Lottar and then Charlotte again. Also, her position on the importance of seeing the narrative split in such a way actually does bond the two characters, Claire and Charlotte. Despite growing up in different generations, the two were destined to meet and share their stories, revealing unusual similarities.
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