Victorians! discussion

Shirley: Week 4: May 26- 31: Ch. 28-37 (end)

In this section Shirley admits she believes has rabies & is finally reassured. Louis admits his thoughts/feelings about Shirley,
Robert admits how Shirley reacted when he proposed and what he learned from her rejection, Robert gets shot, and Shirley’s uncle confronts her on the subject of marriage. Also, young Martin Yorke proves to be quite the manipulative, little schemer.

And, in the end, the Moore brothers end up with the women best suited to their temperaments. (Or do they?)

Feel free to comment on anything from this section or the book as a whole.

All the plot twists mentioned above provided lots of excitement in the last section, and I couldn't help reading every spare minute. Even though we expect the romantic outcomes to happen, the path is what holds our attention. I became very attached to this book, and ended up loving it. This group was my reason for moving it up my to-read list, so thank you!

I’m so glad you enjoyed it. I was very pleasantly surprised as well.

I'm finished! I read all night long, what a novel!
Should I dare to add: #longlivecharlottebronte and #IamShirley ! :)

What a feminist and independant mind's plea Shirley sends to her uncle! Go ahead, Shirley!

"'Mr. Sympson . . . I am sick at heart with all this weak trash: I will bear no more. Your thoughts are not my thoughts, your aims are not my aims, your gods are not my gods. We do not view things in the same light; we do not measure them by the same standard; we hardly speak in the same tongue. Let us part.'
'It is not,' she resumed, much excited - 'It is not that I hate you; you are a good sort of man: perhaps you mean well in your way; but we cannot suit: we are ever at variance. You annoy me with small meddling, with petty tyranny; you exasperate my temper, and make and keep me passionate. As to your small maxims, your narrow rules, your little prejudices, aversions, dogmas, bundle them off: Mr. Sympson - go, offer them a sacrifice to the deity you worship; I'll none of them: I wash my hands of the lot. I walk by another creed, light, faith, and hope than you.'
(...)
'Your god, sir, is the World. In my eyes, you too, if not an infidel, are an idolater. I conceive that you ignorantly worship: in all things you appear to me too superstitious. Sir, your god, your great Bel, your fish-tailed Dagon, rises before me as a demon. You, and such as you, have raised him to a throne, put on him a crown, given him a sceptre. Behold how hideously he governs! See him busied at the work he likes best - making marriages. He binds the young to the old, the strong to the imbecile. He stretches out the arm of Mezentius and fetters the dead to the living. In his realm there is hatred - secret hatred: there is disgust - unspoken disgust: there is treachery - family treachery: there is vice - deep, deadly, domestic vice. In his dominions, children grow unloving between parents who have never loved: infants are nursed on deception from their very birth; they are reared in an atmosphere corrupt with lies. Your god rules at the bridal of kings - look at your royal dynasties! your deity is the deity of foreign aristocracies - analyse the blue blood of Spain! Your god is the Hymen of France - what is French domestic life? All that surrounds him hastens to decay: all declines and degenerates under his sceptre. Your god is a masked Death.'.."

Beautiful quote by C. Brontë said by Robert Moore, in chapter 35:
"We will remember that with what measure we mete it shall he measured unto us, and so we will give no scorn - only affection."

In Chapter 36, Shirley the leopardess says to Louis Moore:
'I am glad I know my keeper, and am used to him. Only his voice will I follow; only his hand shall manage me; only at his feet will I repose.'
By the way, i enjoyed their dialogue!
Then in the last chapter 37 C. Brontë writes:

"Shirley furthered no preparations for her nuptials; Louis was himself obliged to direct all arrangements: he was virtually master of Fieldhead, weeks before he became so nominally: the least presumptuous, the kindest master that ever was; but with his lady absolute. She abdicated without a word or a struggle. 'Go to Mr. Moore; ask Mr. Moore,' was her answer when applied to for orders. Never was wooer of wealthy bride so thoroughly absolved from the subaltern part; so inevitably compelled to assume a paramount character.

In all this, Miss Keeldar partly yielded to her disposition; but a remark she made a year afterwards proved that she partly also acted on system. 'Louis,' she said, 'would never have learned to rule, if she had not ceased to govern: the incapacity of the sovereign had developed the powers of the premier.'

One may wonder who is taming the other? Shirley or Louis? I have my own opinion...! ;)

And the last sentence of the novel:
"The story is told. I think I now see the judicious reader putting on his spectacles to look for the moral. It would be an insult to his sagacity to offer directions. I only say, God speed him in the quest!
Please, Honorable Professor C. Brontë, can I just enjoy this novel, or do I really have to think about it? Well, I'll think about it, which will be a very humble thanks to you who wrote these beautiful and strong pages.

My dear Théophile Gautier wrote:
"It doesn't matter if it's a sword, a sprinkler or an umbrella that governs you! It is always a stick, and I am surprised that men of progress are arguing about which club to tickle their shoulders, while it would be much more progressive and less expensive to break it and throw it to the devil. (translation by myself, sorry!)
(The sword being the symbol of the armed force, the sprinkle being the symbol of the clergy and the umbrella being the symbol of secular authority.)
In Shirley, all the characters are subject to one or more authorities: the distant and foreign Napoleon, the English Lord Wellington, the churchmen, the uncle ..., whose decisions have a direct impact on their lives.
Question: Do we really still need all these so-called leaders? Humans are not yet wise enough, you will answer me, so they still need leaders. But are the leaders wise?

What, miss Brontë? It's not enough? Ok, let's see...
On the one hand, Robert Moore, although he has heart, manages his factory with an iron fist. He defends his good rifle against rifle. This results in death and injury and revenge. The result is also that in the end, it is Robert Moore who feels bad and is alone.
On the other hand, Shirley, like Moore, runs her estate and her servants. With a heart too, but without violence: she does not reprimand her cook who robs her blatantly. The cook was eventually won over by this good heart: she no longer stole from her mistress and even defended her. Shirley is not isolated like Moore, she makes friends: Mrs Pryor, Caroline, Mr Hall, Henry, etc.... With different means, she manages to manage her field.
Robert Moore acts initially as society has educated him: as a man. But, fortunately, he is one of the heroes of the novel, and he will learn to change alone for his own good and that of others.
Shirley acts like a woman: kindness, understanding, etc.... although her character is as impetuous as Robert Moore's, it is attenuated by her education. She is lucky, because, let's take the example of the cook: Mrs Gil, that's her name, I think? Mrs Gil could have been a heartless person and continue to steal from Shirley, in which case Shirley would have had to act.
Two leaders, two different ways of leading. See How movies teach manhood

Still not enough? About feminism, Miss Brontë?
Well, there has been progress, but there is still a lot to do!

Wonderful comments, Gabrielle. I love the way you’ve compAred the leadership styles of Shirley and Robert. And agree completely on you comment about the Shirley/Louis relationship. Pupil becomes teacher!

I finished this after a long gap, and was quite glad about it. The story seemed to me complicated and long, and though Shirley is independent, she longs to be "tamed". Don´t know if I´m happy about that.