A BUYER'S MARKET
A Buyer's Market begins with a flashback to Paris just after the War when the Jenkinses meet Mr. Deacon in the Louvre. The narrative jumps to London in 1928 at the Walpole-Wilsons', where Jenkins is attending a dinner party with his love interest, Barbara Goring. After dinner they go to the Huntercombe's dance, where Barbara, in a joke gone awry, pours sugar over Widmerpool's head. Jenkins and Widmerpool leave the dance soon afterwards, and meet Deacon and Gypsy Jones in the street. They encounter Stringham, who invites them all to another party.
Stringham brings Jenkins, Mr. Deacon, Gypsy Jones, and Widmerpool to Milly Andriadis' party. The bohemian atmosphere of the party sharply contrasts with that of the Huntercombs'. Jenkins sees Sillery and Prince Theodoric and admires Baby Wentworth and Bijou Ardglass. Widmerpool drinks too much and admires Gypsy. Mr. Deacon fights with Max Pilgrim about his risque song, and Stringham quarrels with Milly and leaves. At the end of the evening, Uncle Giles' appears outside Nick's flat. Jenkins speaks with Barnby about Baby Wentworth; then he visits the Walpole-Wilsons in the country for a `house party'. The party is asked to lunch at Stourwater, Sir Magnus Donners's castle. Here they meet Prince Theodoric and with Truscott and Stringham tour the dungeon - where, says Sir Magnus, "we should put the girls who don't behave." Jenkins meets up with Widmerpool, who is upset at having to pay for Gypsy's abortion, and who later backs his car into a huge stone urn in the castle keep. At his birthday party Deacon has an accident and dies. Jenkins attends his funeral, meeting Quiggin and Members there. Later, Jenkins returns to Deacon's shop, where he finds Gypsy, dressed as Eve, and loses his virginity to her. He then goes to the Widmerpools' for dinner where Janice Walpole-Wilson reveals Barbara's engagement to Pardoe. |
"We ascended the steps of the Albert Memorial.... [Eleanor Walpole-Wilson's remark] caused Barbara to burst out laughing. This happened on the way down the steps at the south-east corner, approaching the statues symbolising Asia, where, beside the kneeling elephant, the Bedouin for ever rests on his haunches in hopeless contemplation of Kensington Gardens' trees and thickets, the blackened sockets of his eyes ranging endlessly over the rich foliage of these oases of the mirage." A Buyer's Market, 23. |
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These are the major characters in this volume, organized by chapter: Chapter 1 Mr. (Edgar Bosworth) Deacon - eccentric, homosexual artist, friend of Jenkins's parents Barbara Goring - small, dark, restless, crush of Jenkins, niece of Lady Walpole-Wilson Lady Walpole-Wilson - upper-class hostess of many dinner parties, wife of Sir Gavin Sir Gavin Walpole-Wilson -former diplomat, reminds Nick of Uncle Giles Eleanor Walpole-Wilson - troublesome daughter of Walpole-Wilsons, friend of Barbara Archie Gilbert - handsome, well-dressed, frequent party-goer, works in non-ferrous metals Johnny Pardoe - ladies' man, wealthy Tomsitt - another suitor for Barbara Gypsy Jones - friend of Mr. Deacon's; avant-guard, rather sluttish but attractive Chapter 2 Milly Andriadis - renter of the house in which the party takes place, also Stringham's mistress Max Pilgrim - a member of the gay community that plays the piano during the party Sillery - an Oxford don Prince Theodoric - Balkan royalty Bijou Ardglass - an aristocratic and good-looking blonde Baby Wentworth - Sir Magnus Donners' lover Sir Magnus Donners - the "Chief," Stringham and Truscott's boss Uncle Giles - Jenkins' uncle Chapter 3 Barnby - a painter living above Deacon's shop Chapter 4 Quiggin and Members - Jenkins' acquaintances from Oxford Mrs. Widmerpool - Widmerpool's mother Miss Walpole Wilson - Eleanor's aunt |
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Gauri Kirloskar The title of Powell's second book, A Buyer's Market suggests a book about commerce; however, it is a book that revolves around a number of parties that Jenkins' attends. The characters of the book go to these parties in quest of any of a number of items: money, jobs, sex, social status. The parties function as the marketplaces for these commodities that the characters are searching for. At some parties, actual economic connections are made, and jobs are acquired. Sir Magnus Donners' party at Stourwater is in fact a market for business connections. Sir Magnus is a renowned executive who recruits qualified men for his metals business, and people attend his parties to make these connections with him. Widmerpool attends this party to talk to him about "non-ferrous metals" and this party is given for Prince Theodoric, who needs the technology that Sir Magnus is able to sell him. Jean Templer is also present at this party in relation to business which her husband Bob is involved in. This party is a market for jobs and money. However, all of these parties are not marketplaces for such obvious commodities. Men and women can also be thought of as "commodities" used for the satisfaction of sexual desires. The party at Milly Adriadis' place serves as this marketplace. Milly is anxious to acquire Stringham. Max Pilgrim, a homosexual, sings songs with sexual connotations. "I'm Tess of Le Touquet/My morals are flukey ... Down in the club-house - next door to the lavabo," although Mr. Deacon doesn't buy what he's selling. Jenkins too, is admiring the two gorgeous women present and in this description of Mrs. Wentworth he mentions that she has "small pointed breasts and a neat, supple figure" (112). He is considering her as a sex object but the problem is Theodoric is, too. He is "gravely watching the two young women between whom he stood, as if attempting to make up his mind which of this couple had more to offer" (125). At an earlier "market, there also exists a competition for these commodities in that Widmerpool and Jenkins yearn for Barbara Goring. But after the "sugar incident", in which both of them completely lose interest in her, they acquire a "lesser" commodity - Gypsy Jones. Everyone is advancing sexually, scouting out partners for their sexual needs. The parties also serve as a way to increase social status. Milly tries to increase her status by having a party and inviting such people as Sir Magnus Donners and the Prince. Stringham, who is her current lover, is also invited, so this party serves as a reason for them to come together. The Stourwater party is one to which everyone wants to be invited because it is hosted by the influential Sir Magnus Donners. Stringham, on the other hand, when inviting Mr. Deacon, Jenkins, Widmerpool and Gypsy to Milly's party, says, "Do come. That is, if none of you mind low parties" (95). This reveals that parties appeal to a certain class depending on where they're held, and who's on the guest list. Everyone goes to these parties for different reasons, and certainly there is more than one commodity to buy and also certain other commodities that are in high demand The title A Buyer's Market is therefore an appropriate one that pulls together the different parties under one common theme. |
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Zachary Smotherman "This projection of himself as a 'dancing man', to use his own phrase, was an intimation - many more were necessary before the lesson was learnt - of how inadequate, as a rule, is one's own grasp of another's assessment of his particular role in life" (ABM,78). While walking with him after leaving the Huntercombes' dance, Jenkins wonders about Widmerpool's understanding of himself as a dancing man, compared to his own perception of him as a man who "had really no right to fall in love at all, far less have any success with girls - least of all a girl like Barbara" (ABM, 80). Jenkins is astounded at the revelation that Widmerpool not only has a relationship with Barbara but also considers himself to be a dancing man. He realizes that one's perception of another is not always consistent with the reality of that individual or even how that individual sees himself. This theme, of how Widmerpool contradicts the opinions that others have of him, is demonstrated first in the incident in which Widmerpool is struck in the face by a banana and later in his emotional and insightful statement at La Grenadiere, concerning a man's self-esteem. Stringham describes the banana incident to Jenkins and portrays Widmerpool as having "experienced some secret and awful pleasure" (11, AQOU), after he was unexpectedly struck in the face by Budd, Captain of the Eleven, with an over-ripe banana. The expression on Widmerpool's face is described as "slavish". Such groveling and submission suggests that Widmerpool has low self-esteem and thus thinks poorly of himself. In contrast to this perception, however, he turns a negative into a positive by apparently acknowledging to himself that Budd in fact knew who he was and was extending an apology at having accidentally hit him in the face with a ripe banana. Later on at La Grenadiere, Widmerpool demonstrates that he does not have low self-esteem. He says to Jenkins, "First, you are a great deal too fond of criticizing other people: secondly, when a man's self-esteem has been injured he is to be commiserated with--not blamed. You will find it helpful in life to remember those two points"(154, AQOU). Widmerpool has enough confidence in himself to confront Jenkins about how critical he is of other people and that it is to his advantage in life to be of assistance to those who have been emotionally injured. At this point Widmerpool is referring both to his dealings with the Scandinvians and his prior embarrassing experience of the banana incident. He thus contradicts the views of him as a servile and diminished man, surrounding his response to the banana incident, by explaining to Jenkins that he feels a man is not responsible for situations that injure his self-esteem and strongly advises him on what is an appropriate response to such an injury. This strong statement, made by Widmerpool, who has himself experienced a very humiliating situation in the banana incident, speaks to his strength of character in having learned and become stronger from this unfortunate experience. In A Buyers Market, Widmerpool encounters another humiliating experience when, Barbara, someone with whom he has been involved, dumps a bowl of sugar on his head at a dance. He leaves the scene of the incident to clean himself off and later returns briefly to the party before departing with Jenkins. Widmerpool's reaction to the incident is described by Jenkins in a fashion parallel to the banana incident. Jenkins says that Widmerpool showed, "almost the identically explicit satisfaction derived from groveling before someone he admired - though only for a flash" (72, ABM), as he did in before Budd. Contrary to the image Jenkins has of Widmerpool as groveling before Barbara, he "was upset - very upset - by what happened tonight"(79, ABM). He then says to Jenkins increasing the volume of his voice with each statement, "It was more than silly. It was a cruel thing to do. I shall stop seeing her. I shall certainly take it seriously" (79, ABM). This display of aggression exemplifies the fact that he is not groveling, contrary to Jenkin's perception, and clarifies the fact he chooses to no longer pursue his relationship with Barbara. Widmerpool has now for a second time disproved the image of a man who is subservient to those around him. Throughout the first two books, he disproves the opinions expressed by Stringham and Jenkins. He proves that he has a positive outlook towards his own life when he puts a positive spin on Budd's recognition of him and also when he reveals to Jenkins that he thinks of himself as a dancing man. He shocks Jenkins when he shares that he is truly a player in the social arena as well as the game of love. Widmerpool also demonstrates that he can overcome adversity by recognizing what a man needs to do to maintain a positive self-esteem, including ending a relationship that is unhealthy. As the novel progresses and we learn more about Widmerpool, his character grows from the early perception of a groveling, slave-like man into a character who develops strength under adversity. |
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Jason Myung Throughout A Buyer's Market, the second installment of the novel A Dance to the Music of Time, we see Jenkins' social life take a new beginning. Up until this book, we perceive him as socially naïve. He really isn't that aware of how things truly are in the world and naturally overlooks many things. Sex becomes a major issue in this book, starting with Jenkins' first splashes of the concept with Barbara and ending with the loss of his virginity to Gypsy in the last chapter, along with some interesting fetishes and sexual orientations we encounter along the way. The first chapter shows Jenkins attending a fairly upscale social party. There, Jenkins spends a fair amount of his time with "that noisy" Barbara Goring, his new love interest. However, later in the chapter, we discover, much to Jenkins's surprise as well as our own, that Widmerpool has an interest in Barbara as well and is in fact, ahead of the game since he has been courting Barbara for quite some time. However, Barbara embarrasses Widmerpool in front countless people by pouring sugar all over him because she thinks that he is acting sour: "Why are you so sour tonight? You need some sweetening" (70). While this action effectively ends Widmerpool's interest in Barbara, it finishes Jenkins's interest in her as well. With Widmerpool embarrassed and angry and Jenkins unenthusiastic about the party, the two depart together. Here, we re-encounter one of the most interesting characters in A Buyer's Market and a significant figure in Jenkins's maturation, Mr. Deacon. Jenkins, as well as his parents, with whom Mr. Deacon has had a long relationship, describes Deacon as eccentric but intellectual. The most significant fact about Deacon is unstated but understood in the text, and that is that Deacon is a homosexual. Deacon keeps himself firmly in the closet, defending himself and others vigorously when he reprimands Max Pilgrim, the homosexual entertainer present at the party, for singing a song revealing Max's sexual orientation, "There are always leering eyes on the lookout. Besides, you song puts a weapon in the hands of the puritans." When Pilgrim remonstrates, Mr. Deacon says something that clearly shows his personal position on his homosexuality, " I can give you an assurance that you have no cause to worry about my principles. Such a situation could never arise - I can assure you of that"(149). One of the most irregular moments in the book comes in the third chapter, when we finally meet the famous Sir Magnus Donners. Immediately, we notice something about Sir Magnus that seems to stand out. Observing his home, Jenkins discovers sexual themes throughout the house, as shown by the tapestry "Luxuria" hanging on the wall. The most interesting comment that Sir Magnus makes basically gives away an issue that has been growing since the beginning of the chapter. While giving a tour of his castle, Sir Magnus comments, "I sometimes think that is where we should put the girls that don't behave," when the group sees the dungeon. This comment draws a mixed reaction from the crowd as they tour the castle. Stringham is highly amused, suppressing a great burst of laughter, and Truscott seems to understand the joke as well, while Jenkins seems to understand, noticing Baby Wentworth's discomfort, but never acknowledging it in the text: "What perverse refinements, verbal or otherwise, were actually implied by Sir Magnus's words could only be guessed"(202). The real implication is that Sir Magnus is a sadomasochist with a bondage fetish. The third character that Jenkins meets is the sluttish Gypsy Jones, a friend of Mr. Deacon's and the seductress of both Widmerpool and Jenkins. A problem that we become aware of in the second chapter is that Gypsy is pregnant and needs to find an abortionist. Needing the money as well, she sleeps with Widmerpool to get the money, instantly earning Jenkins's dislike, but oddly enough also his desire. In the fourth chapter, after the funeral of Mr. Deacon, we find Jenkins visiting Mr. Deacon's house only to find Gypsy there clad scantily, dressed as Eve. Here, Gypsy seduces Jenkins as well and gives him his first introduction into the world of sex. So in the span of four chapters, we see Jenkins go from an innocent little pup to young adult, becoming more aware and experienced with this seemingly new concept. Despite this dramatic change, Jenkins doesn't display any sort of satisfaction or sense of accomplishment. However, one can't really blame him for feeling this way, as his first sexual encounter seems to lack any sort of meaning. |
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Luke Spears In the first two books of A Dance to the Music of Time, we see depicted a narrator struggling with the concept of love. Nick's initially reserved and reflective approach to relationships amounts to little in A Question of Upbringing, and is perhaps overshadowed by the increasing number of "conquests" made by Stringham and Templer (106). In A Buyer's Market, Nick takes a step beyond the almost completely one-sided love affairs he has had with Jean Templer and Suzette, and into a relationship with the vivacious Barbara Goring. With Barbara, Nick comes close to experiencing true mutual love, and though this is fulfilling for a time, its shortcomings eventually give rise to an emotional conflict within Nick. Ultimately, he finds flaws in Barbara, including her disapproval of "sentimentality" and her occasional (habitual?) carelessness, and he ends the affair (23). Not soon after this, driven perhaps by a desire to balance out his previous experience with love, or by a sense of falling behind his contemporaries, Nick engages in a rather awkward one-night stand with the "sluttish" Gypsy Jones. By the end of A Buyer's Market, Nick has a fuller, if somewhat unusual, experience with the world of love, and seems prepared to venture further into it with greater success. In A Question of Upbringing, Nick's attitude toward love, sex, and relationships, perhaps because it is addressed only in limited terms, seems hesitant. He is timid about voicing his feelings for both Jean and Suzette, and this results not only in no real relationship developing with either girl, but also in a feeling of regret. He is hurt when Jean doesn't pay him much attention and associates with other men at the Horabins' dance, but he also realizes that he has never had any "prescriptive rights" to her, and that she hasn't had any way of knowing how he felt (94). With Suzette, Nick at least attempts to make known his feelings - he holds her hand at one point, and later attempts to verbally express his love to her. Unfortunately, he not only waits until his last day at La Grenadière to do the latter, but ends up conveying his feelings to the wrong woman! In contrast with Nick's immature love life in A Question of Upbringing is that of Templer. Templer is easy-going and successful in the game of love, as demonstrated by his fling with a "tart" while at Eton, and his affair with Lady McReith. It is difficult to say whether or not Nick approves of Templer's approach, but he does comment on it: "anyone who is prepared to pretend that love is a simple, straightforward business is always in a strong position for making conquests" (106). It is clear that Nick is not prepared to pretend this, and by the end of A Question of Upbringing, we have little sense of what he is prepared to do with regard to love. At the start of A Buyer's Market, however, we see that Nick has developed with Barbara Goring a relationship more mature than those with Jean and Suzette. Because it is his closest experience with reciprocal love, Nick views the relationship initially with optimism and enthusiasm. It is possible that he does not bother describing the best moments of his relationship with Barbara, but from what we see in Chapter One, there are several distinctly negative aspects to it. For one thing, Barbara does not seem committed, or even especially interested in Nick. When inviting him to dinner at the Walpole-Wilsons' she gives the impression that Nick was not the first person she asked, and at the dinner and subsequent dance she pays him barely any heed (25). In addition, she "crook[s] her finger" at Tompsitt when he enters the room, and is involved - we can only guess how intimately - with Widmerpool (42). Barbara also possesses several personal characteristics that appear to irritate Nick, including egotism, capriciousness, and an excessive exuberance. These qualities prompt Nick to wonder if he "so far from loving [Barbara], [does] not actually hate her," and ultimately they play a part in his decision, made after she pours sugar over Widmerpool's head, that she is not and never was right for him (64, 73). Nick also learns a lesson about the difference between "emotional" and "venal" attraction in A Buyer's Market (249). Barbara's aversion to "sentimentality" - and the general lack of any physical side to the relationship between Barbara and Nick - beside probably playing a role in Nick's decision to no longer pursue her, also gives Nick a somewhat one-sided experience with love, as was the case with his earlier adventures. Nick's exclusion from the world of sexual love with Barbara, coupled with the fact that Stringham, Templer, and Widmerpool seem to have outpaced him with respect to the number and maturity of their love affairs, drives him to "not lightly pass by" the opportunity to sleep with Gypsy Jones (256). Nick himself remarks on the similarities between Gypsy and Barbara: they seem to share both a slightly annoying exuberance and a certain egotism (258). It seems to me that the two girls each embody a different side of love; Barbara represents emotional love, and Gypsy sexual, or "venal" love. Combining his experiences with Barbara and Gypsy, Nick completes his introduction into the world of love. However, while he may have once professed to be "in love" with Barbara, and did commit the physical act of love with Gypsy, whether he truly loves either of them is questionable. His comment that Barbara "was not - and had never been - for [him]," plus his feelings of "alienation," "inadequacy," and even "shock" directly after lying with Gypsy, suggest that Nick, at least as he looks back, feels no great fondness for either woman. Overall, though Nick's initiation into the world of love is not altogether positive, he has crossed a meaningful threshold, and is ready to attempt further "conquests" by merging his experiences with Barbara and his experiences with Gypsy. |
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Doug Presley In A Buyer's Market, the castle of Stourwater seems one big façade. From the decorations within it, to the very castle itself, everything is pristine and without flaw, yet Jenkins still feels an eerie chill as he tours the ancient building. The perfection that the castle and its owner, Sir Magnus Donners, strives for, however, fails to mask the deeper problems that each one harbors below the surface. Though the characters are aware of the flaws, they choose not to face them, and instead simply carry on, regardless of what the consequences may eventually turn out to be. As the group approaches the castle for the first time, Jenkins describes the scene as "The Middle Ages ... at its most elegant: all the sordid and painful elements subtly removed" (185). While this opening view is rather serene, it is not true to life: the bad parts have been removed or covered up, and while their removal was "subtle," it was not so inconspicuous as to be unnoticed by Nick. The very purpose of a castle, to keep safe what is inside, only serves to enhance the sense that Sir Magnus is protecting something from the outside. Once they enter the castle itself, the feeling that something lies concealed behind the "Hollywood film set" of the interior swells within Nick (186). He describes the decorations as evoking a sense of an "overly elaborate solicitude," and then flat out describes "Sir Gavin's strictures on Stourwater as 'too perfect'" being "inadequate as a delineation to the extent of being almost beside the point" (186). Nick, and even Sir Gavin, realizes that the castle is unnecessarily perfect, though at the time they do not offer any idea of what Donners might be covering up. The actual building is not all that appears overly perfect, for Sir Magnus himself is portrayed as harboring certain aspects of flawlessness. Donners is described as looking "young for his age, and immensely, almost unnaturally, healthy" (197), his health evoking the image of perfection again. Yet it is his appearance, his exterior, that present the sense that all is well; something malignant could very well lurk behind the screen of his good looks. The characters realize that something is amiss, yet they choose to do nothing about it. Sir Gavin seems to understand that Stourwater is not entirely as it seems, and during the dungeon tour Miss Walpole Wilson also comments on the disparity between the appearances of the castle and its actual function, "explaining that the supposed dungeon was almost certainly a kind of cellar, granary, or storehouse" (211). "No one took any notice of her" however, and the characters willingly let themselves be deceived by Sir Magnus(211). In addition to recognizing the cracks in the would-be perfect image of Stourwater, the characters have begun to see the faults in Sir Magnus as well. His haunting statement about "where [he] should put the girls who don't behave" gives Nick a deeper insight into Donners than perhaps he had been hoping for (202). Yet the characters do not completely understand the "perverse refinements" (202) of Donners, like the image of Stourwater itself. Jenkins interprets Stringham's and Truscott's outlooks on the situation as it being "an enormous hidden joke." Yet at the same time, Nick realizes just how much "a girl often seen in [Donners'] company might reasonably prefer [that side of his character] to remain unemphasized" (202). The castle of Stourwater, like its owner, is just a bit too perfect to be true. From the tapestries of the Seven Deadly Sins that adorn its walls to Donners' private dungeon, the rotten undercurrents of Stourwater, and Sir Magnus himself, manage to show through the gleaming exterior that the castle presents. Despite Donners' best efforts, neither his health nor his mighty castle can protect him from the truth, and from the decay of his interior led on by his questionable sexual habits. |
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Will Story In Anthony Powell's generation, writers used a sort of code of sexual innuendo to avoid saying too explicitly what they wanted to express. Powell masterfully uses sexual innuendoes throughout A Buyer's Market. The innuendoes used are so subtle that they are sometimes hard to appreciate. This book not only deals with heterosexuals, but also deals with homosexuals. Back in 1953 when Powell published this book this subject was taboo. The issue of homosexuality comes up with two characters, Mr. Deacon and Max Pilgrim. Mr. Deacon painted, "exclusively male figure compositions" (2). At Mrs. Andriadis' party in chapter two Pilgrim sings a song pertaining to his feminine side. This song includes silly phrases like Even the fairies Say how sweet my hair is; They mess my mascara and pinch the peroxide ... (118). Deacon argues with Pilgrim about Pilgrim's behavior. Deacon says, "There are always leering eyes on the look-out.... Besides, your song puts a weapon in the hands of the puritans." Deacon's principles are that it is important to be more of a closet homosexual than an open homosexual. Pilgrim's principles are opposite of that. The phrase "puts a weapon ... the puritans," makes Deacon and Pilgrim's sexual orientations even more obvious to the reader. Powell never directly says that Deacon or Pilgrim is homosexual, but he implies it strongly in the book. Powell also adds a kinky side to others of his characters. When Nick visits Stourwater, Sir Magnus Donners' castle, he and the others present are given a tour of the castle. Sir Magnus narrates the tour, and as they enter the dungeon he says, "We are now descending to the dungeons. I sometimes think that is where we should put the girls who don't behave" (202). Powell implies that Sir Magnus is somewhat of a sadist in this chapter. At this time Sir Magnus is involved with Baby Wentworth and Truscott says that she "doesn't like it," referring to Sir Magnus's sadistic tendencies (199). Powell never clearly says that Sir Magnus is a sadist, but it becomes readily apparent to the reader that Powell is making that point. Nick is always comparing his sexual experiences with his friends through the first two volumes of The Dance. If a reader does not carefully read page 257 it would be easy to totally overlook Nick's first real sexual encounter. Powell is so subtle with this revelation in Nick's life that it can easily be missed. Nick doesn't talk about actually having sexual intercourse with Gypsy; instead he talks about "the awareness of a sense of inadequacy" (257) that he felt. There is no sense of triumph felt by Nick after this event for which he has been eagerly awaiting for years. It seems to Nick that Gypsy feels as if nothing, "even relatively momentous, [has] occurred, " (257). Powell uses innuendoes throughout his book, but these innuendoes aren't easy to pick up on. Because of this A Buyer's Market demands a very close reading. His writing doesn't make his reader's confront the facts of his writing, but the ideas behind them. |
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Madeleine Fawcett Throughout Anthony Powell's novel, A Dance to the Music of Time, the question of whether one is in fact at ease with his life or whether he is simply putting on a façade to mask his own discontent arises frequently. People crave what the next person has, and don't want to do what the next person doesn't have to. In A Buyer's Market, Jenkins says: "There is a strong disposition in youth, from which some individuals never escape, to suppose that everyone else is having a more enjoyable time than we are ourselves; and for some reason, as I moved southwards across London, I was that evening particularly convinced that I had not yet succeeded in striking a satisfactory balance in my manner of conducting life" (260). With this statement, Jenkins unintentionally admits that he is not satisfied. There are many occurrences in his life that have caused him feelings of sadness and discomfort. Mr. Deacon's death and funeral leaves him at a loss. Also, despite the recent encounter he has had with Gypsy - a happening that normally would have left one quite pleased with himself - he complains about having to go to the Widmerpools' for dinner. The comment about others seeming to have "a more enjoyable time" is one that most people would make in response to something good happening to someone else as opposed to themselves; consequently, the fact that Jenkins says this after his special moment with Gypsy takes place is odd. Who is having a better time than he is? It is clear that Jenkins is not pleased with himself - a characteristic which causes him to be unhappy with life at the same time. It's particularly evident to the reader that, upon hearing of Barbara's engagement to Pardoe, Widmerpool is completely and utterly shocked but embarrassed to show it to the people around him. Jenkins feels bitter towards Widmerpool because his relationships with most women are closely paralleled to Widmerpool's misfortune with Barbara. Jenkins says "the news went to dispel his air of self-satisfaction...." (267) "The manner in which jealousy operates is, indeed, curious enough: having perhaps relatively little bearing in the practical menace offered by a rival" (268). The jealousy Widmerpool feels keeps him from maintaining a sane frame of mind, and it is clear that he is not completely pleased with his life either. This is one more aspect of Jenkins's and Widmerpool's lives that are in close conjunction with each other. The desire to get to the next level, which is in part due to jealousy, is the driving force that motivates people to attain the particular stature that they strive for. Yet for others, it creates jealous bitterness, rendering certain people incapable of moving forward and succeeding in life. Widmerpool is clearly not happy with himself; he feels that he should have been the one engaged to Barbara. This sentiment hinders him from moving forward in his normal, "self-satisfied" manner. Many times, similarly, Jenkins's journey comes to a halt because of love. Is anyone ever so content with his status that he does not strive to be at the next level in life? Is it out of the ordinary to compare one's life to another's? Throughout the first movement of The Dance, the majority of the characters show signs of discontentment with themselves, and their lives - in comparison to others'. The grass always seems to be greener on the other side for Powell's characters. |
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Ash Verdery Powell uses the plot of A Dance to the Music of Time to tie his narrator with other characters in the readers' minds. For instance, the repeated appearance of Widmerpool betrays a great deal about the possible direction of Jenkins's life. Widmerpool seems to be a chronic figure, as Jenkins says "a recurrent factor ... I did not, however, as yet see him as one of those symbolic figures, of whom most people possess at least one example, if not more, round whom the past and future have a way of assembling" (29). Powell's method - using the plot to connect characters - becomes clear in A Buyer's Market, but it is not the only way that the author creates a link between Widmerpool and Jenkins. Powell also uses a decided motif of decay to group these two for the readers. He comments on Widmerpool's "own somewhat decaying youth," a remark that evokes Jenkins's present residence in Shepherd's Market (263). Powell describes their worlds- literally their surroundings but also symbolically their youths and the idealisms of their youths- as decaying. This simple evocation of similarity is a conscious motif of Powell's, designed to create a subconscious link for the readers between Jenkins and Widmerpool by linking them against the decaying world around them. Powell does not use the motif of decay to describe the characters; he describes Widmerpool as a "piscine" creature, and he never describes Jenkins as anything. This is intentional, because Powell is not trying to say that Widmerpool and Jenkins are decaying; he is instead trying to link them as characters that live through the decaying of their surroundings together. The first hint of the decaying motif as it relates to Widmerpool appears in a roundabout description of Widmerpool's preoccupation, or "the interest he had always taken, even while still a schoolboy, in his own health" (31). Widmerpool characterizes this absorption by saying, "I don't really get enough air and exercise-without which one can never be truly robust" (31). This indirectly states that Widmerpool lacks sturdiness. This passage does not convey the same sense of decay that Powell later uses to describe Widmerpool, but it does set up the possibility of his later decaying. The motif later becomes more evident in chapter four, where Powell uses words like "decrepit" and "decaying" to describe Widmerpool's surroundings. On page 261, Jenkins describes the elevator up to the Widmerpools' flat as "an ominously creaking funicular" and on page 273 as "still groaning precariously". He also describes their maid as a "decrepit house-parlourmaid" (266). Both of these descriptions accentuate the failing or decaying nature of Widmerpool's proximate world. Another place that Powell describes the decaying around Widmerpool is when he contrasts him and "his somewhat decaying youth" to his mother and her "well preserved appearance" (263). He says, "Her eyes were brighter than his" (263), a description that highlights the early deterioration of Widmerpool's youth. All of these descriptions contribute to the motif of decay that surrounds Widmerpool. Powell also uses this motif to depict Jenkins' world, specifically through a description of his tenement. Because Powell narrates through Jenkins, who never describes himself in relation to his surroundings but instead his surroundings' relation to him, this description of his residence is a symbolic description of his world. He relates Shepherd Market, his place of residence, as "scarcely touched by rebuilding", meaning that it is decaying (153). He also compares it to "one of those tumble-down dwellings depicted by Canaletto or Piranesi, habitations from amongst which arches, obelisks and viaducts, ruined and overgrown with ivy, arise from the mean houses huddled together below them" (153), another way of saying that it is decaying. These descriptions of his residence are symbolic descriptions the world surrounding him. Powell uses the same motif to describe both Widmerpool's and Jenkins's worlds. The result is a subliminal bond between the two in the reader's mind; the reader pictures both characters swimming upstream while the world floats away beside them. This link aids Powell's goal of making Widmerpool a symbolically important figure in Jenkins's life. There are three parts to the worlds that decay around Widmerpool and Jenkins: the literal part of their surroundings - Jenkins' tenement and Widmerpool's elevator; the figurative part of their "somewhat decaying youth[s]", which implies the end of their youthful idealism - the end of both Jenkins' and Widmerpool's feelings for Barbara; and the symbolic part of their "age". This last part is not directly pointed at by the text, but the temporal setting of the book, the Twenties, implies it. |
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Travis Pantin During the first and second books of Anthony Powell's series A Dance to the Music of Time, the contrasting emotional and professional lives of Nick Jenkins, the narrator, and Kenneth Widmerpool, the sometimes antagonist--sometimes protagonist, reveal one of their deep-rooted differences. The emotional and professional schism forming between Jenkins and Widmerpool originates from a fundamental contrast in their usage of the will. During these books, Widmerpool seems to be acting in accordance with some sort of premeditated design, while Jenkins, the observer, usually steps back from his immediate surroundings letting the eddies and flows of Dance carry him where they will. Throughout the first two books, the pursuit of the opposite sex seems to be a race; one in which Jenkins has fallen far behind his friends. These friends, Stringham and Templer, provide a reference frame for the reader to clearly see Jenkins' inability to progress emotionally or physically with women. Jenkins, trailing further and further behind, accepts his estrangement from most of society by admitting even "Widmerpool capable of possessing a vigorous emotional life of his own" (169). At this point, Widmerpool--who had earlier been portrayed as barely human--enters the race with relative success. Suddenly, Jenkins finds himself contending with Widmerpool for women, and soon notices that if either of them has the upper hand, it is Widmerpool. At the Walpole-Wilson's party, after witnessing Widmerpool's "vigorous and instantaneous assertion of the will" (69) towards Barbara Goring, Nick feels an "emancipation from regarding Barbara as [his] own especial concern" (69). This instance applies to almost all of Widmerpool's and Jenkins' relationships with women. Widmerpool usually takes deliberate action towards a defined end; While Jenkins', emotions "take place" (112), and he follows them not deliberately, but "somnambulistic[ally]", only when he encounters a "lack of demur"(256). In comparison to Widmerpool, Jenkins also has little professional motivation so far. Throughout the book, Widmerpool tries to give pep-talks to Jenkins about the importance of one's work and professional standing. Their contrasting views appear clearly when Widmerpool says he "can't see [Jenkins' job] leading to much", and Jenkins replies, "what ought it to lead to?" (79) However, Jenkins soon becomes bitter towards people like Quiggin and Widmerpool, people he defines as those "who have decided to live by the force of the will" (239). By admitting to himself that "this matter of making headway in life was one to which I felt I... ought to devote greater consideration in the future," (133) Jenkins not only demonstrates envy for the benefits Widmerpool is beginning to reap, but shows a conscious ideological separation from him. By the end of the second book, we find Jenkins, a bachelor of relatively weak professional standing, alone and estranged from many of his childhood acquaintances. Perhaps, Jenkins' sudden affinity towards Mr. Deacon's social circle results from a discomfort in the awareness that his older friends, many now married and well-employed, are beginning to alienate him. At the closing of A Buyer's Market, Jenkins stands to be irreparably separated from many of those with whom he grew up if he does not soon manage to muster some sort of emotional or professional momentum. |