Wow, I find myself so grateful for Marian's clear mind and strength of character under the shameful barrage of her father's greed.
"Do you distrust my ability to conduct this periodical?"
She did. Some of her responses...
"I can't say anything that would sound like a promise."
"... I am afraid to encourage you."
And her thoughts...
'as an editor he would almost certainly fail... in truth she suffered from the conviction that to yield would be as unwise in regard to her father's future as it would be perilous to her own prospect of happiness.'
All of this in contrast to Alfred's soup of self-pity, inflated self-assessment, imposition of guilt, and hypocritical good nature on top of the scheming preparation of his plan with Quarmby and Hicks behind which he must have almost immediately considered the 5,000 pounds as his own with which to speculate.
Love Marian's kind, yet clear-sighted stance for reason - and independence.
She graciously articulates her own opinion, in a deferential, yet firm tone: ‘I am afraid I haven’t so much sympathy with literary undertakings as you would like me to have.’
Yet, she continues "speaking with a steadier voice, walking with a firmer step; mentally she felt herself all together a less dependent being … The smile which accompanied the words was also new; it signified deliverance from pupilage.”
"Alfred's soup" - I love it! A veritable stew in fact!
I did wonder how he could treat his wife so badly and Marian like she was his personal hired clerk he doesn't pay and still be a reasonable person of some sort ..
Shameful barrage is a good way to put it. Ironically, her long apprenticeship has enabled her to make an accurate assessment of this investment opportunity and her father's capabilities. Had he not made his daughter his assistant (unpaid and uncredited), she might be more susceptible to this scheme.
A person in lifelong financial straits dispensing business advice is sort of like consultation about how to get your novel published from someone unpublished. In this chapter the execrable Alfred Yule sinks to a new low, trying to guilt-trip his impoverished young adult daughter to invest her meager inheritance from her uncle (who apparently had sized up his brother Alfred's character) in his hare brained scheme for getting rich (and fulfilling his own fanciful literary potential) from yet another literary journal startup. Fortunately, Marian seems smart enough not to fall for his fake expressions of affection to her and her mother. Marian needs to get out of that house!
"There came into her mind a more disagreeable suspicion than she had ever entertained of her father." This line called to mind the suspicions her father - and hence - she has had about Jasper. I fear Gissing might be setting Marian up to be a pawn, pushed and pulled by these two men. I hope I'm wrong!
I hope so too! Thus far she has managed to balance sentiment (kindness) with intelligence (astute insight) and moral equanimity: “Marian was pained by the humility of his pleading with her –for what was all this but an endeavor to move her sympathies? –[yet] she suffered from the conviction that to yield would be as unwise in regard to her father’s future as it would be perilous to her own prospect of happiness.”
As you pointed out toward the beginning of novel, Gissing seems to sneakily shape women as complicated, strong characters, who subtly push against societal constraints in pursuit (implicitly) of some form of humane justice. Why do so, if ultimately, the push and pull between men, will result in Marian solely being a cliche - "woman as pawn?" I am rooting for Marian!
Are we all waiting with baited breathe to see if Marian can pull off financial independence? I am rooting for her, but afraid, I mean women were only allowed credit cards apart from their husbands in the 1970s! Will she own the money straight out? Can she keep it away from a father or husband if she wants to? The same question applies to Amy Reardon as well.
I felt some impatience when reading today, unusual for a novel which is so dramatic. Partly I was charmed by the male camaraderie, but if life were a contest, I think Marian is the more sympathetic. She feels like an outsider -- “It had not often happened that Marian was invited to join parties of this kind.” Her (future) prospects has now given her access -- the Gissing reality principle at work. No sugarcoating, indeed!
The first sentence of this chapter fires a warning shot: "even for him the uses of adversity could be sweet." I read that and thought.. oh oh.
But I didn't see his wholesale onslaught of Marian and assumption of her inheritance as one of those sweet uses.
Why is Gissing so bent on showing us how selfish men can be, I wonder? He hardly treats his female characters any better. He allows them dignity but no real means to act on it. Or he lets them act (Amy, Dora and Maud) but removes a measure of dignity.
Marian has spent this whole novel in a high-wire act ..
Echoes in this chapter of Jasper's "I am cool-headed enough to make society serve my own ends."
Alfred is not cool-headed, but a hot mess. Motivated by revenge never turns out that well ..
You would think that one of the things a person destined to be a leader would know is that listening is half the battle. And how can you be a writer if you can't listen to others? At the most basic level?
Of course I want to know what Yiyun said in reply to that workshopper of old .. !! Or did she just suppress her laughter?
That's an interesting thought about why Gissing is so bent on showing how selfish humans are. I have been wondering if one (or several) characters were going to have a fall throughout the book and one (or several) characters were going have a rising trajectory. But now I wonder if they will just all fall, each somehow related to money.
To me he is showing how awful the system is-wouldn't most of us be better people with a steady income? How trapped by class and gender expectations are we all still today? By expectations that we are intelligent and must pursue intelligent work worthy of our status and education level? Not a pretty picture then or now.
Yiyun mentioned previously that money would make Yule worse. Clearly even the thought of it was enough.
Marion is an interesting character. She has evolved considerably as the story moves on. No other character has changed significantly but as she navigates her way through work, family and relationships, we see her in contrast to the others with whom she interacts.
I have to hand it to Gissing. I honestly didn’t think Marian’s father would sink this low. I too was praying for her to hold on to that money. Gissing wrote that manipulative dialog so well. I wanted to shout into the book.. run away! Jasper and Alfred, the two major figures in Marian’s life, are cold men. She needs to get away.
“It wasn’t I who spoke; it was the demon of failure, of humiliation.” Spoken like a true villain! Alfred reminds me of a Shakespearean character, maybe some combination of King Lear and Iago? Poisoned by his passion for fame. I’m enjoying Gissing’s expertise at building psychologically rich characters more and more.
Okay, Boomer! Not only is Alfred acting horribly, the truth is his ideas are dated and out of touch. Marian has to face her father’s failings and his denial as well. I’m thinking of the cringy feeling when friends or family are chasing crazy dreams, not realistic goals. Luckily, no one’s asked for all my money, but it’s sad in a Death of a Salesman way.
"The failure of all my undertakings so rankles in my heart that sometimes I feel capable of every brutality, every meanness, every hateful cruelty." This is true of Yule, as this chapter makes clear, and his recognition of it could be the beginning of grace--if he weren't making the assessment as part of a campaign. He knows this about himself, and yet he thinks the only way out of his bitterness is to achieve the success that has been denied him, apparently at any cost. Marian acknowledges, "As a man of letters he had probably done far better work than some who had passed him by on their way to popularity." That sucks for Alfred, but he has made it so much worse for himself and his family. A lesson in the importance of letting go, resisting the seduction of self pity and rancor.
What a painful chapter to read. Yule is so pathetic and vile. An “investment”! At least Marian knows what a disaster giving her inheritance to this venture would be, but she is not safe yet.
Wow, I find myself so grateful for Marian's clear mind and strength of character under the shameful barrage of her father's greed.
"Do you distrust my ability to conduct this periodical?"
She did. Some of her responses...
"I can't say anything that would sound like a promise."
"... I am afraid to encourage you."
And her thoughts...
'as an editor he would almost certainly fail... in truth she suffered from the conviction that to yield would be as unwise in regard to her father's future as it would be perilous to her own prospect of happiness.'
All of this in contrast to Alfred's soup of self-pity, inflated self-assessment, imposition of guilt, and hypocritical good nature on top of the scheming preparation of his plan with Quarmby and Hicks behind which he must have almost immediately considered the 5,000 pounds as his own with which to speculate.
If Jasper won't have Marian, I will!
I concur, but I'm fearful she'll cave under his obscene pressure. Hang in there Marian!
It is obscene. And she is not without compassion for him. I'm fearful too.
Love Marian's kind, yet clear-sighted stance for reason - and independence.
She graciously articulates her own opinion, in a deferential, yet firm tone: ‘I am afraid I haven’t so much sympathy with literary undertakings as you would like me to have.’
Yet, she continues "speaking with a steadier voice, walking with a firmer step; mentally she felt herself all together a less dependent being … The smile which accompanied the words was also new; it signified deliverance from pupilage.”
"Alfred's soup" - I love it! A veritable stew in fact!
I did wonder how he could treat his wife so badly and Marian like she was his personal hired clerk he doesn't pay and still be a reasonable person of some sort ..
Shameful barrage is a good way to put it. Ironically, her long apprenticeship has enabled her to make an accurate assessment of this investment opportunity and her father's capabilities. Had he not made his daughter his assistant (unpaid and uncredited), she might be more susceptible to this scheme.
A person in lifelong financial straits dispensing business advice is sort of like consultation about how to get your novel published from someone unpublished. In this chapter the execrable Alfred Yule sinks to a new low, trying to guilt-trip his impoverished young adult daughter to invest her meager inheritance from her uncle (who apparently had sized up his brother Alfred's character) in his hare brained scheme for getting rich (and fulfilling his own fanciful literary potential) from yet another literary journal startup. Fortunately, Marian seems smart enough not to fall for his fake expressions of affection to her and her mother. Marian needs to get out of that house!
"There came into her mind a more disagreeable suspicion than she had ever entertained of her father." This line called to mind the suspicions her father - and hence - she has had about Jasper. I fear Gissing might be setting Marian up to be a pawn, pushed and pulled by these two men. I hope I'm wrong!
I hope so too! Thus far she has managed to balance sentiment (kindness) with intelligence (astute insight) and moral equanimity: “Marian was pained by the humility of his pleading with her –for what was all this but an endeavor to move her sympathies? –[yet] she suffered from the conviction that to yield would be as unwise in regard to her father’s future as it would be perilous to her own prospect of happiness.”
As you pointed out toward the beginning of novel, Gissing seems to sneakily shape women as complicated, strong characters, who subtly push against societal constraints in pursuit (implicitly) of some form of humane justice. Why do so, if ultimately, the push and pull between men, will result in Marian solely being a cliche - "woman as pawn?" I am rooting for Marian!
Great points! I hope you're right!
Are we all waiting with baited breathe to see if Marian can pull off financial independence? I am rooting for her, but afraid, I mean women were only allowed credit cards apart from their husbands in the 1970s! Will she own the money straight out? Can she keep it away from a father or husband if she wants to? The same question applies to Amy Reardon as well.
I felt some impatience when reading today, unusual for a novel which is so dramatic. Partly I was charmed by the male camaraderie, but if life were a contest, I think Marian is the more sympathetic. She feels like an outsider -- “It had not often happened that Marian was invited to join parties of this kind.” Her (future) prospects has now given her access -- the Gissing reality principle at work. No sugarcoating, indeed!
The first sentence of this chapter fires a warning shot: "even for him the uses of adversity could be sweet." I read that and thought.. oh oh.
But I didn't see his wholesale onslaught of Marian and assumption of her inheritance as one of those sweet uses.
Why is Gissing so bent on showing us how selfish men can be, I wonder? He hardly treats his female characters any better. He allows them dignity but no real means to act on it. Or he lets them act (Amy, Dora and Maud) but removes a measure of dignity.
Marian has spent this whole novel in a high-wire act ..
Echoes in this chapter of Jasper's "I am cool-headed enough to make society serve my own ends."
Alfred is not cool-headed, but a hot mess. Motivated by revenge never turns out that well ..
You would think that one of the things a person destined to be a leader would know is that listening is half the battle. And how can you be a writer if you can't listen to others? At the most basic level?
Of course I want to know what Yiyun said in reply to that workshopper of old .. !! Or did she just suppress her laughter?
I never heard a good leader refer to themself as a good leader
That's an interesting thought about why Gissing is so bent on showing how selfish humans are. I have been wondering if one (or several) characters were going to have a fall throughout the book and one (or several) characters were going have a rising trajectory. But now I wonder if they will just all fall, each somehow related to money.
To me he is showing how awful the system is-wouldn't most of us be better people with a steady income? How trapped by class and gender expectations are we all still today? By expectations that we are intelligent and must pursue intelligent work worthy of our status and education level? Not a pretty picture then or now.
Yiyun mentioned previously that money would make Yule worse. Clearly even the thought of it was enough.
Marion is an interesting character. She has evolved considerably as the story moves on. No other character has changed significantly but as she navigates her way through work, family and relationships, we see her in contrast to the others with whom she interacts.
I have to hand it to Gissing. I honestly didn’t think Marian’s father would sink this low. I too was praying for her to hold on to that money. Gissing wrote that manipulative dialog so well. I wanted to shout into the book.. run away! Jasper and Alfred, the two major figures in Marian’s life, are cold men. She needs to get away.
“It wasn’t I who spoke; it was the demon of failure, of humiliation.” Spoken like a true villain! Alfred reminds me of a Shakespearean character, maybe some combination of King Lear and Iago? Poisoned by his passion for fame. I’m enjoying Gissing’s expertise at building psychologically rich characters more and more.
I love it.. I mean I hate him but I love hating him... if that make any sense at all.
Will Jasper's refreshing honesty keep him from being a cad? I hope so!
Okay, Boomer! Not only is Alfred acting horribly, the truth is his ideas are dated and out of touch. Marian has to face her father’s failings and his denial as well. I’m thinking of the cringy feeling when friends or family are chasing crazy dreams, not realistic goals. Luckily, no one’s asked for all my money, but it’s sad in a Death of a Salesman way.
I wonder that too.
"The failure of all my undertakings so rankles in my heart that sometimes I feel capable of every brutality, every meanness, every hateful cruelty." This is true of Yule, as this chapter makes clear, and his recognition of it could be the beginning of grace--if he weren't making the assessment as part of a campaign. He knows this about himself, and yet he thinks the only way out of his bitterness is to achieve the success that has been denied him, apparently at any cost. Marian acknowledges, "As a man of letters he had probably done far better work than some who had passed him by on their way to popularity." That sucks for Alfred, but he has made it so much worse for himself and his family. A lesson in the importance of letting go, resisting the seduction of self pity and rancor.
Yes, grace to be found in "resisting the seduction of self pity and rancor!" Let it go!
What a painful chapter to read. Yule is so pathetic and vile. An “investment”! At least Marian knows what a disaster giving her inheritance to this venture would be, but she is not safe yet.