“He felt himself ill-used by destiny, and therefore by Marian, who was fate’s instrument.”
An insightful line into Milvain’s psyche. Faults can always be found by a mind plagued by discontent.
“Again Jasper held the white, soft hand for a superfluous moment.”
A superfluous and yet an essential moment!
The end of the chapter foretells the birth of two writers. It’s rather telling that all the male writers in the novel pursue fame, ambition, status, and wealth through writing. Women become writers out of necessity.
Join us on December 13 for a virtual discussion of New Grub Street with Yiyun Li.
There are no saints or demons in this novel. Gissing's characters are fully rounded persons reacting mostly to the hideous specter of poverty. Milvain is right to fear its destructive power over his own values and disposition. The character who still comes closest to lacking redeeming virtue is Alfred Yule. Hard to blame Jasper not wanting to endure poverty to support that awful man. The fates have treated Marian most unjustly.
I was relieved to see how this chapter of Jasper's not-so-delicate handling of a "fatal” marriage ends. From Marian to Dora:
"To judge from your letters, you could make an excellent background of word-painting."
As Yiyun points out, the women seem to be the true, consistent writers in this novel. They care about style. They care about craft. They turn to each other for editing and advice as well as friendship. I wish we had excerpts of their writing. I'm curious, has anyone here read Gissings novel, "The Odd Women"?