Dear Serial Readers,
I agree that there are hints afloat to suggest that the domestic reign of Hyacinth (aka Mrs Gibson, by the end of this installment--I think I counted FOUR different proper names for her this time) will not be especially pleasant for Molly. I also think that when Cynthia does appear from France it's likely there will be some battling wills between this mother and daughter.
I liked how the actual wedding is pushed to the background in this installment which introduces two new characters--Preston and Osborne. Like the attention to cheese eating last time, these chapters too are filled with the fine distinctions of social class: (1) Roger not imagining his romantic ideal could possibly be a surgeon's daughter, (2) the narrator, with that startling intervention ("Attend, Phoebe, to the present moment..."), chiding this character for even fancying that Gibson would consider marrying her, (3) Lady Harriet's unkind condescension of the Browning sisters as "Pecksy and Flapsy"--and Molly's offense that Harriet would treat this "class of people" as "a kind of strange animal," and (4) Lady Harriet's disdain for Preston as "that underbred fop." To Lady H's credit, she takes Molly's offense to heart and pays a visit to the Brownings. To what extent will the novel critique class snobbery or promote some mild cross-class affiliations? Not sure. Gaskell pairs class and gender in interesting ways--the different kinds of femininity (Lady Cumnor, Mrs. Hamley, Miss Browning, Mrs Kirkpatrick) and masculinity (see below) that each seem shaped by material circumstances.
There seems to be a new romance plot brewing via Preston, the land-agent--his muscular manliness contrasts strongly with Osborne's delicate and "effeminate" appearance. Yet he seems conniving too--his lavish attention to Molly perhaps meant to stir jealousy in someone else, Miss Kirkpatrick, I'd guess, from his comments about her beauty. By the way, this issue of The Cornhill includes an illustration before the installment titled "Unwelcome Attentions" with Preston hovering over the dark-haired Molly. I've included it in the sidebar.
Osborne seems a Keatsian kind of guy--"beautiful and languid-looking." Molly tries to sort out her imagined or "ideal" Osborne with "the real" Osborne who clashes with the ideal that is drawn from literary models. The same might apply to Roger who also doesn't measure up to an ideal (or conventionalized) notion of masculinity, but perhaps represents a new version of manliness. I agree with you (Kari, I think) that Roger is the most pleasing of the male characters so far, especially in his kind attention to Molly. And she's already learning about the bees (if not the birds) from him! Roger introduces Molly to a different set of books, not fiction or poetry, but the natural historian Huber on bees.
Briefly, on the contents of the Dec. 1864 issue of the magazine: I didn't find these items to be particularly relevant to the chapters, as I did last month/week. The issue began with the installment from *Armadale* and then an article about the improving relations between England and France through "the bar" or convening of English and French lawyers in London; another item about a popular artist who had recently died; and an article about "Salvers," or those who dredge up salvage from shipwrecks.
Next time: chapters 15-17 for January 1865. Happy New Year! (and a new marriage....)
Serially yours,
Susan
3 comments:
Well, I guess I'll have to admit to misreading the marriage situation a little here. I think I was so struck by the sedate nature of the drama so far that I became too comfortable -- and not particularly attentive to the hints Gaskell's given us.
I love this passage when Osborne comes in: "Molly was trying to reconcile the ideal with the real" (173). And this one: "Every young girl of seventeen or so, who is at all thoughtful, is very apt to make a Pope out of the first person who presents to her a new or larger system of duty than that by which she has been unconsciously guided hitherto" (151). Molly's faults, in some respects, come from her virtues -- she's thoughtful and holds onto ideals. I'm left sympathetic but also concerned about what will happen to rudely alter her beliefs here.
And the deliberate sidelining of the wedding amused me quite a bit. Is this Gaskell having fun with the well-worn plot device of marriage -- we all know what the wedding scenes are like, so no need to go into detail ...?
hersI also enjoyed the section you quote, Joshua--making a Pope out of a person "who presents . . . a new or larger sense of duty." It was such an odd phrase, and then I spent time wondering about it as an observation, and I decided I think it's pretty apt. Such an unusual generalization! And so odd to have a positive comment about the Pope, and about duty, especially in the context of a growing romantic relationship.
I also very much enjoyed how Molly both criticizes Lady Harriet and Lady Harriet takes her at least a bit seriously. Everyone seems to argue that it's not their *class* that makes the Misses Browning objectionable, it's their lack of education and perspective--but on the other hand, there are no examples (other than perhaps Dr. Gibson, and the higher classes all assume he's the bastard son of a nobleman) of the non-landed class who have the education and perspective of the landed gentry. Dear Roger, of course, though he laughs at the Misses Browning still respects them (and I don't think the narrator is sarcastic there--he sounds kind of caring).
I have to admit I wonder what the truly stylish Hyacinth will think about Miss Browning's decorating sense. Clearly Hyacinth's idea of appropriate dress for Molly is significantly better than that supplied by Miss Rose (and I'm not entirely clear how that dress came about).
I feel pretty sure that Preston is fond of Cynthia, (aka Miss Kirkpatrick, as Susan says!) and eager for her to return from France! And doting on Molly because it's 1) entertaining and 2) distracting from his true attention. On the other hand, he didn't do a good job of hiding it.
I found the description of what makes him such a capital house guest very entertaining--his cricketing skills, and his ability both to teach ladies billiards *and* to play a serious game! What a talent!
I also noted the narrator's very gentle sarcasm at Dr. Gibson's *great* generosity at ceding the entire 30 pounds a year from Mr. Kirkpatrick's estate to Cynthia. At least, I think that's sarcasm!
I like the way this novel is entirely fun to read, and I look forward to the next section (I am eager to see Mrs. G. settle into her new home!), and yet I *can* wait for the next installment--that is, it doesn't have cliffhangers.
Beginning their relationship by Molly looked up to and becoming a pupil of Roger's didn't sit entirely well with me, because the Dorothea/Causabon plot arc from Eliot's Middlemarch was such a warning about the foolishness of young, naive girls. However, Roger seems very passionate and kind, he's no dried up husk. I like the way Gaskell is handling their feelings for one another. Neither is willing to entertain the idea that the other is 'the one' or their destined lover, but time will tell!
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