Dear Serial Readers,
I want to begin with Daun's comment about Molly as our most dependable close observer who at key moments seems to get swallowed up by event-ness and loses hold of the narrative focus. I loved too Daun's comparison with other Victorian heroines as would-be or partial narrators (like Esther in Bleak House). At this juncture in Wives and Daughters something else is going on which might account for Molly's falling away momentarily: Gaskell is preparing to establish Molly as the object of the culminating courtship plot.
Molly's transformation, or the transformation in her relationship with Roger, comes about in these chapters, so that the final page makes clear that Roger's "too late" has to do not with the condition of his jilted heart but his fears that Molly would not have him. Perhaps because I've been watching the Masterpiece Theatre "Emma," I've been mulling over this narrative challenge to convert a quasi- sibling attachment (like Emma and George Knightly) into a romantic one. Gaskell has several devices to get this transformation underway: first, Cynthia safely married away in London (see sidebar for this installment's illustration--Cynthia and Henderson in the garden, with Roger and Molly overhearing from the window) and Molly's illness have the double advantage of releasing Molly from Cynthia's train and removing her to the Towers, to a new scene for Roger to encounter Molly in a new way; second, Molly's advocate (and sharp-eyed matchmaker) Lady Harriet who brings her to the Towers to restore her to health, so that Molly sheds her duckling girlhood and takes on a swanish glow of womanhood in the eyes of the Towers society. I loved the veritable sexual selection scene (chap 58)when Roger's changing interest in Molly is piqued by his notice of the attentions of Sir Charles--the triangulation of desire, this is sometimes called!
As we approach the ending (such as Gaskell was able to complete and Greenwood was able to conjecture), I have a few questions. It's clear that Molly and Cynthia are matched with suitable men for each. But I'm curious about Preston and about Lady Harriet. At first I thought Lady Harriet is the perfect candidate for the revamped, recuperated spinster since she's clearly not of the same cliched mold as the Browning sisters (although Gaskell does try to give them some more complex traits than mere stereotype usually permits). But then, this character is entitled by class position: the "Lady" protects her from the ignominious "Miss" after all. Wealthy women can, Gaskell suggests, act with intelligence, independence, and pleasure.
I'm also curious about Preston. Is he simply a prop, a figure to complicate Molly's reputation via town gossip and to give more substance to Cynthia's dubious judgment? Or is he only the dangerous suitor in a moral tale about girls who attempt to make their own romantic arrangements without benefit of a reliable social vetting network (such as Cynthia has with Henderson)? I think there's more to this character; at one point, as estate agent, Preston seems to represent a different approach to land use reform. But if he drops out completely, then I'm not so sure. Maybe Gaskell just didn't pursue this character beyond the prop status.
Are there other characters for whom you're wanting closure? I suspect Hamley Hall will mean a reconstituted family: the grandfather, French daughter-in-law, grandson, and the prodigal son (once he returns from his six month expedition) and his new bride (our old and favorite Molly). Molly, as Roger's intended wife, will appease the squire sufficiently (he's dropped so many hints about how much he'd love Molly for his daughter in law) so that he'll presumably accept Aimee too.
There is still the problem of money in the Molly-Roger match on the horizon, since he isn't heir to Hamley Hall and Molly doesn't appear to have any assets to bring to the marriage. But perhaps a collective household of Hamleys will ease this problem, at least for the moment. So although there's little left, although we know Gaskell died before writing the full end of this novel, I think we'll be close.
Next time, just a short installment (for Jan. 1866), one chapter and Greenwood's postscript.
And here's the link to Project Gutenberg's pdf of Wilkie Collins's novella, "Miss or Mrs?"
You can download it to your screen (and print it out) or to a device like a Kindle or iPhone or (eventually) the iPad!
Serially submitted,
Susan
4 comments:
This is probably a major oversimplification, but I wonder if it might be productive to distinguish between marriage plots where the obstacles that need to be dealt with are external and those where the obstacles are internal (with variations in between). So in romance, there might be an external obstacle (the protagonist can only marry a princess, and hey, it just so happens that we discover that the woman he loves is a princess after all!). Or in Trollope's The Last Chronicle of Barset, Grace Crawley and Major Grantley are in love early on, but Grace's father is accused of a serious crime and thus brings shame to Grace. Jane Eyre has the madwoman in the attic, etc.
The obstacles here seem pretty much wholly internal -- Roger has to learn to appreciate Molly's worth despite her tendency to recede into the background -- with the exception of Cynthia. So now that she's gone, it seems like the other characters in the novel don't need to serve as plot points anymore. All of which is to answer the question in a roundabout way: I feel like the characters who were posing plot problems before (Preston, for instance) have served their function at this point. Although Preston gets to leave the novel after accurately perceiving something special about Molly, so he's not the pure villain of melodrama. I wonder if the other characters seem less relevant at this point because Gaskell has so skillfully prepared us for the culmination of the courtship plot -- we know it's coming, and we've seen character subtly change and emerge, so it's the center of our attention. Maybe when all the obstacles remaining are internal, there's not as much left for minor characters to do.
Two interesting comments so far! I have also been watching Emma with my partner, as well as Wives and Daughters from Netflix. For some reason, Stephen leaves the room or falls asleep in W & D, but stays interested in Emma. I asked why, and he can't really tell me. I was wondering if in part it's because there is more obvious plot in Emma. I'm just not sure. I think in both cases the TV versions are excellently subtle-there's no voice over to tell us that the future Mrs. Gibson overdresses or is totally selfish, and so much relies on differences in interior decor and costume. I know we debated about plot early on, but I do know plot is what keeps Stephen interested.
I am interested to see how Molly turns into a swan in the BBC/netflix version--she is lovely and tall and slim in the first two episodes, and yet her chin and expressions make her seem very young. I have a hard time imagining her looking grown up! I'm looking forward to it.
I did enjoy having Molly be submitted to Parkes and coming out lovely! And Mrs. G. weighing the pros and cons of Molly going to the Towers: her sense of jealousy is so out of place and ridiculous, while Roger's (sexual) jealousy of Sir Charles seems appropriate (if based in misunderstanding).
I also enjoyed Molly becoming shy around Roger after hearing town gossip and worrying about it--it's amazing what gossip can do to draw one's attention to romantic feelings, too.
I also have wondered about Lady Harriet and Preston--it seems to me Lady H. ought to have some companion with whom she can talk openly and get interesting responses from. When I think about how little she has companions who share her views, or who are open with her and not weighed down by social obligation, I can understand why she appreciates Molly so much for M's honesty and straightforward speech. I don't *have* to see her married, but it would be great to see her in some happy occupations, at least. And Preston wasn't totally a loser, was he? Just a bit arrogant and licentious.
Susan asked about what other closure, and I wouldn't mind a little more comfort that Mr. G. will find happiness. I really enjoyed one scene in the BBC version in which he looked downright excited to get into the bedroom with Mrs. G., after Cynthia had come to live with them. I can imagine he would appreciate physical connection after years of widowhood.
I also have thought about internal v. external blocks toward marriage--I wonder whether the internal ones are so very internal, really. I want to think more about it. The novel certainly does have a number of examples of mis-communication leading to unreasonable estrangement, primarily over at Hamley Hall.
I thought it was a lovely scene, Molly's change in appearance and Roger's change in heart, buttressed by the interaction with Sir Charles. The turn in their relationship was rather sudden, for Roger anyway, but not abrupt. For me, the beauty is in how the rendering of it--throughout the novel, really, not just in 58--made their coming together seem natural.
I was also struck by Molly's transformation-the upgraded physical looks and beauty--after her illness. Molly was perceived as a sensible observer,a seeing subject so far, but now she turns into a swan to become matched for Roger(to compensate for his loss of beautiful Cynthia). I personally didn't like the way Gaskell describes Roger's sudden interest in Molly's physical charms (Gaskell actually used the word "pretty" several times in this installment to alert us to her improved looks)--it seemed rather artificial and abrupt to me.But I could find some interesting point in his internal thought when he tried to connect between her improved (changed) looks and her old known sensible character: "She has grown into a delicate fragrant beauty just as he[Osbourne] said she would: or is it the character which has formed the face?(625)."
I wonder what Gaskell is up to through these scenes--another problem of internal vs. external controversy yet in reading characters. If we read this as character forming a certain face, how do we read Preston's too handsome face all throughout the narrative(along with his sudden disappearance). What counts as crucial for Gaskell is probably a process of transformation --which only applies to Molly (heroine) and Roger(hero) in their looks and thoughts. I think the rest of characters remain flat, unchanged throughout. So does this apply to Round vs flat characterization?
I also liked the way Gaskell subtly describes the upper class people in the Towers as appreciating the development of "art and science" as well as their most recent publication of new magazines, novels and essays ready at hand for Molly.
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