A FIENDISH MOOD

At Mrs. Lippincote's, for example, is saturated with the presence of the Bronte sisters: there is frequent talk of them and their books; the novel's protagonist, Julia Davenant, strikes up a friendship with her husband's boss, Wing Commander Mallory, the novel's Mr. Rochester fig...

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Published in:Boston review (Cambridge, Mass. : 1982) Mass. : 1982), 2008-01, Vol.33 (1), p.37
Main Author: Mukherjee, Neel
Format: Magazinearticle
Language:English
Subjects:
Amis, Kingsley
Taylor, Elizabeth
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:At Mrs. Lippincote's, for example, is saturated with the presence of the Bronte sisters: there is frequent talk of them and their books; the novel's protagonist, Julia Davenant, strikes up a friendship with her husband's boss, Wing Commander Mallory, the novel's Mr. Rochester figure, on the basis of their shared love for the Brontes; there is even a madwoman in the attic, in the form of unexpected and unwelcome visits from the landlady's unhinged daughter, driven to madness, it is implied, by having been abandoned at the altar. [...]she may be one of the best (and one of the last) English writers-and there is bristling competition in this field-to have written about servants. [...]we can see it as playfully diverting our attention, however fixed it has been on the serious and ambitious lineage she has drawn from the Brontes, away from the real inspiration for the book, Ibsen's A Doll's House. [...]we can argue that it is not even that, but rather a settling for the second best, a harmony reminiscent of the jagged irresolutions of Cost fan tutte or All's mil That Ends mil; yes, Ferrando and Dorabella, Guglielmo and Fiordiligi, Helena and Bertram are all united in the end, but we wonder whether they are going to be happily united.
ISSN:0734-2306