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Nick Anschuetz The Peerage is a system of titles and rank in the United Kingdom conferred by the Sovereign. If one is neither royalty nor peer, then one is considered to be a commoner. Peers make up the Lords Temporal (as opposed to the Lords Spiritual, consisting of officials of the Church of England) of the House of Lords, one of two branches of Parliament. The Peerage system differs from others in Europe because instead of ennobling entire families, the Sovereign bestows rank only on individuals. In Anthony Powell's At Lady Molly's, a number of Peers are mentioned, including Erridge, also known as Lord Warminster, Lady Molly, and Lord Sleaford. However, Powell eschews any description of how the mechanics of the Peerage work. The Peerage was created after William of Normandy conquered England. To control the country efficiently, William split the land into numerous manors and appointed various people to watch over them. Initially, those holding many manors were termed "greater barons" and those holding fewer manors were called "lesser barons." When the King summoned these barons, the greater barons were summoned by the Sovereign, and the lesser barons by the sheriffs. Eventually, the King stopped summoning the lesser barons altogether, and the greater barons turned into the House of Lords. It wasn't until the 15th century that all the current titles were created. In descending order, the Peerage ranks are Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, and Baron. One's title is in either the form Rank + Name of Title or Rank + of + Name of Title. Viscounts and Barons almost always use the former, while Dukes always use the latter. Marquesses and Earls whose titles are based on the names of places use of, and those whose titles are based on surnames do not. However, when being addressed directly, any peer or peeress (except for Dukes and Duchesses) is called Lord Name or Lady Name. Members of the Peerage once enjoyed extensive privileges before the 20th century, but only three of those survived into the 20th century to which the various members of the Peerage in At Lady Molly's would be privy: the right to be tried by fellow peers in the Lord High Steward's Court and in the House of Lords (abolished 1948), the right to personally access the Sovereign (obsolete), and the right to be exempt from civil arrest. This last privilege has been used only twice since 1945. There are two ways in which one can become a member of the Peerage. One way is to become a hereditary peer either by appointment by the Sovereign or by inheritance. When the holder of a title dies, the title will stay within the family as long as there are direct descendents of the initial peer. If there are no surviving heirs, the title may be passed on through a letter patent, letter issued by a government granting office, right, monopoly, status, or title, to another person. A writ of summons, a document sent by the monarch demanding the attendance of the recipient at Parliament, used to be issued to people to give them hereditary titles, but that method is now long obsolete. The other way to become a member of the Peerage is to be named a life peer, whose titles cannot be inherited. Life peerages are created under letters patent. A small group of twelve life peers created under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act of 1876 perform the judicial functions of the House of Lords, and in fact their role is directly comparable to that of the United States Supreme Court. The House of Lords and House of Commons are alike in that members of the houses may become member of a political party. However, unlike the House of Commons, there are a number of members of the House of Lords who are not members of political parties. These people are called Crossbenchers. Also, no party has a majority in the House of Lords and no one gets paid a salary for their work. The House of Lords can reject laws, but can only delay them for one year, unlike the House of Commons, which can reject laws completely. In addition, the House of Lords is significantly constrained in terms of legislation regarding taxation and finance. This novel was written for an audience for which the Peerage was and still is an important part of daily life, so it is easy to understand why Powell does not go into much depth describing its mechanics. However, the system can prove confounding when trying to understand it for the first time. Powell's casual references to the Peerage are a reflection of the aristocratic world Powell has created. Bibliography "Hereditary Peer". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hereditary_peer "History of the Peerage". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Peerage "House of Lords". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_lords "Letter Patent". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_patent "Order of British Peerage". http://www.cftech.com/BrainBank/OTHERREFERENCE/FORMSOFADDRESS/OrdBritPeer.html "Parliament: What Parliament does". http://www.explore.parliament.uk/Parliament.aspx?id=133 "Peerage". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peerage Odrowaz-Sypniewska, Margaret. "Royalty and the Peerage". http://www.angelfire.com/mi4/polcrt/RoyalPeerage.html |
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Matthew Cranney Four books into Dance, Nick finally comes face to face with that fascinating institution known as marriage. By the end of At Lady Molly's Nick has settled down with Lady Isobel Tolland, but is he ready for the commitment? How does his marriage stack up with others encountered thus far, and will he be able to learn from his friends' failures and successes? If marriage was a simple matter of the heart than perhaps things would be easy for Nick, but in British society marriage is a potent mixture of love, money, class, social standing, and sex. When people become married, they accept the responsibility of supporting their new family. In the most basic sense this means financially. Marriages in this book have been started and terminated because of the spouses' financial situations. Women like Bijou Ardglass and Mona Templer have a tendency to burn holes in their husbands' pockets. Even Widmerpool's fiancé has a taste for fine things, he "life on the Riviera had no doubt left its mark" (46). Shallow materialistic marriages have not faired well so far in A Dance. Nick does not have a high tolerance for shallow, unintelligent people, and over the course of the story Nick's taste in women has become more refined. He has gotten past the Barbara Goring's of the world. Chip describes Isobel as being "a bit of a highbrow when she isn't going to night clubs" (19). Hopefully her intellect will be able to see Nick's benefits if he cannot provide the money necessary for a night club lifestyle. Fortunately, money should not be a big hurdle for the young couple due to the Tollands peerage and Nick's steady contract work with the Quota in place. Lady Isobel is connected to the aristocracy through her brother Lord Warminster, while Nick comes from a much lower military background. This class difference could possibly create friction in the marriage, but two of the most successful marriages witnessed thus far have also been cross-class. The Conyers are an example of a military man getting married to a woman of the court. Mr. Conyers shifted successfully from military life to that of a courtier, and the Conyers' marriage shows no signs of unhappiness. Even more impressive is the marriage of Ted Jeavons and Lady Molly. Molly's first husband was Lord Sleaford, but after she was widowed she settled for a young soldier and car polisher named Jeavons. Class-wise this was a big step down from Lady Molly's Dogdene days. Ted earns "not a cent. I think he feels pretty ill most of the time. He often looks like death itself. Besides, he is quite unemployable" (18). While at Umfraville's club, Jeavons reveals that when he first came to London he "didn't know a soul there. Not a single cat" (175). Obviously Molly's marriage was not motivated by social or economic advancement, yet she has not kept the marriage from allowing her to "get some fun out of life" by throwing her many parties (18). Nick and Isobel should not have difficulty adjusting to the class difference, and Nick is already familiar to many of the Tolland's, including the radical Lord Warminster, fellow Old Boy Uncle Alfred, and the lesbian Norah. Another area of marriage that has presented itself as a problem for Nick's contemporaries has been sex. Widmerpool in particular seems to be struggling. It is debatable that he has ever had a sexual experience, and his failed attempts at love seem to suggest that if he does have any sexual experience it is rather limited. Widmerpool's engagement falls apart when he and his fiancé visit Dogdene. Widmerpool attempts to have sex with his fiancé and after an altercation they wind up breaking off the engagement that same night and Widmerpool hastily flees for London. Although the details are never revealed, it is easy quite possible that Widmerpool suffers from impotency, and is not able to satisfy the experienced Mrs. Haycock. Once again the Jeavon's marriage demonstrates its vitality; they prove that even dull sex life cannot sink a marriage. Jeavons is described as one "one of those men…who are at the same time peculiarly attractive to some women" (179). Despite being a man with a history of intriguing sexual adventures he admits that Molly is "not a great one for bed" (179). Despite their difference in sexual aptitude Molly and Jeavons continue their relationship, albeit with Jeavons occasionally mixing in a pub crawl that ends with a tart. Nick has already had his own lustful adventures with Gypsy Jones and Jean Templer, so he need not worry about Widmerpool's problem. If Isobel is not a "great one for bed" it seems likely that Nick is more of a romantic and will learn to live with it rather than destroy the relationship. The most important trait that Nick and Isobel's relationship possesses is that it is founded on love. When Nick first encounters Isobel, the reader is given the deepest insight into Nick's personal feelings than anywhere else in the novel. "Would it be too explicit, too exaggerated, to say that when I set eyes on Isobel Tolland, I knew at once that I should marry her? Something like that is the truth; certainly nearer the truth than merely to record those vague, inchoate sentiments of interest which I was so immediately conscious. It was as if I had known her for many years already; enjoyed happiness with her and suffered sadness. I was conscious of that, as of another life, nostalgically remembered" (136). It is cliché and incorrect to state that true love conquers all and can save any marriage, but it is most certainly the best foundation for a successful marriage. Marriages that are based off of lust, money, and social status continually collapse in this novel when faced with minor problems. Templer's marriage dissolves due to Mona's boredom. Stringham's is affected by his alcoholism. Widmerpool's engagement crumples under physical intimacy. Yet the Jeavon's marriage seems to be raised up as the golden standard; Ted and Molly have weathered tight economic times, Ted's bouts of heavy drinking and his occasional extramarital affairs, and Molly's cravings for social interaction. And what lies at the core of their union? As Ted sublimely puts it, "Molly and I are very fond of each other" (179). The successful marriages have two things in common in A Dance: they are based off of love, and the spouses are flexible. The successful spouses adjust to each others needs, and forgive each others mistakes. Nick's marriage certainly possesses the first trait, and his passive personality seems to suggest flexibility. Since Powell lived a happily married life, it seems likely that Nick's marriage will follow the same trajectory, but it will be interesting to see how his marriage guides and influences his life. As long as Nick doesn't follow Widmerpool's marital advice he should be fine. |
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Jacob Bean In cosmology, antimatter is defined as matter composed of antiparticles that, upon colliding with a matching particle of normal matter, annihilate and convert the mass of both particles into energy. In Anthony Powell's Dance to the Music of Time a similar reaction might be expected in a collision between Uncle Giles and General Conyers. Conyers is worldly and unpredictable while Uncle Giles remains bitter and unchanging. Just as an antiproton is the opposite of a proton and a positron is the opposite of an electron so General Conyers is the opposite of Uncle Giles. The first description of General Conyers in the opening pages of At Lady Molly's highlights many of the differences between him and Uncle Giles. Nick describes General Conyers as "a man of the world always `abreast of the times,'" with a "taste for being in fashion and giving his opinion on every subject"(1) - a reputation "held against him by…Uncle Giles"(1). Already a clear distinction is apparent between the two characters: Conyers a "man of the world" and Giles "no friend of up-to-date thought, and on principal suspicious of worldly success"(1). Contrary to Uncle Giles, Conyers "always knew the right people"(1). He was "fond of dressing himself up to the nines"(1) and was known to "chase the women a bit"(3) during the war. He had a successful military career reaching the rank of "brigadier-general"(3) and was "expected to go much further"(3) before he "married a woman nearly twenty years younger than himself"(3). Although he wasn't very good, "he had always loved playing the `cello"(4) and occupied much of his time "experimenting with a favorite theory that poodles, owning to their keen natural intelligence, could profitably be trained as gun dogs"(4). Married life didn't slow him down and he maintained a "rather social life"(4). The first descriptions of Uncle Giles are quite contrary to those of General Conyers. Uncle Giles is described as "neat, and still slightly military in appearance"(16), in spite of the fact that he "had not help a commission for at least twenty years"(16). Contrary to General Conyers', Uncle Giles has a lack luster military career and "Capitan was probably a more or less honorary rank"(16). He didn't particularly enjoy his time in the military and in fact it was one of his "chief complaints that he had been `put' into the army"(64) a position "for which he possessed neither Mrs. Foxe's romantic admiration or her hard-headed grasp of military realities"(64). His departure from the Army was a dishonorable affair and while there was never a court-martial "the necessity for [him] to turn in his papers was unquestioned"(65). While General Conyers "always knew the right people"(1), Uncle Giles suffered from what he called a "lack of influence"(66). Influence was an attribute "which he invested, to a greater or lesser degree, every human being on earth except himself"(66). When he did seem to know people they often turned out to be "undesirable friends"(65). While both Conyers and Giles chase women, Conyers is the only one who seems to have had success. One of the most evident differences between the two characters is Conyers ability to change unexpectedly while Uncle Giles remains fixed, a constant to which Nick can draw comparisons. After meeting his soon-to-be wife, General Conyers promptly, and "much to the surprise of his friends- married a woman nearly twenty years younger than himself; sending in his papers about eighteen months later"(3). This was a rather unexpected change which nevertheless General Conyers accepted without missing a beat. Uncle Giles on the other hand, seems incapable of making such a radical change and seems doomed to forever squabble over his share of the trust. Antimatter, while admittedly strange, does serve a purpose. When it collides with its counter part it creates energy, energy that is used to fuel production. So if General Conyers is the foil to Uncle Giles, then what is his purpose? It seems that the consistency of Uncle Giles has allowed him to become a meter-stick, a tool to be used by Nick in the measurement of others. General Conyers' role is a little less clear. At the end of the fourth book he provides useful information regarding the break up of Widmerpool and Mildred, information we might not have encountered otherwise. However, whether he will take a larger role in Nick's life in the subsequent novels remains to be seen. Citation Seeds, Michael A. Horizons Exploring the Universe. 8th ed. Brooks/Cole, 2004. |
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Michael Donelan Love, the perception of being in love, and relationships play a special and important role in each of the novels we have read in A Dance to the Music of Time. Powell does not reveal a lot about Nick Jenkin's character and we find it difficult to learn about Nick because he himself divulges little of his personal life. We do not hear about his working environment, we never meet his parents, he says little about his studies at school, but as Nick grows older, we do learn more about his different love interests. As he matures so does his idea of the meaning of love graduating from his brief infatuation with Barbara Goring building to his engagement with Isobel Tolland. His relationships are the only window we have as a reader into the Nick's personal life. Nick's maturation and mood coincide with the increased seriousness of relationships throughout the novels. Barbara Goring is the first woman who Nick has feelings for, but throughout A Buyer's Market, he gradually becomes less and less interested in her. This comes at a time when Nick is young and excited and does not know what he is looking for in life. He is keen on attending parties which function as prime social environments for those seeking the companionship of the opposite gender. At the beginning of this novel Nick's feelings for Barbara can be summarized by him saying: "When I said good-bye [to Barbara] at the gates I experienced a sense of unaccountable loss..." (18 BM) continuing later with "...dances seemed pointless unless Barbara was present" (24 BM). He is jumpy and does not know what he is getting himself into. As an immature young adult he finds himself lost in the world of grown up ideas. His feelings completely dissipate for Barbara when she dumps an entire castor of sugar over Widmerpool's head, leading Nick to conclude he "had made an egregious mistake in falling in love with Barbara" (73 BM). Some time later when he is at a party at Stourwater, he further shows he has finished with his juvenile love for Barbara by repeating that he "was ... conscious suddenly that being on love with Barbara ... now seemed a rather amateurish affair" (192 BM). Nick does not show any signs of being interested in another woman until his unexpected sexual encounter with Gypsy Jones. This "relationship" comes at a time of frustration in Nick's life and one of general somberness in the book. Jenkins has just attended a series of parties with his mind set on closing on Barbara only to come to the realization that this pursuit has been fruitless. He finds himself leaving the last party in disgust after Barbara's infamously childish display of "sweetening" Widmerpool. He then unexpectedly runs into Mr. Deacon and Gypsy on his way home. This meeting sparks a relationship with Mr. Deacon, one that ends tragically when Mr. Deacon dies during a drunken accident. This sorrow adds to Nick's frustration with life and culminates in having sex with Gypsy. The darkness of these times leads Nick to act outside of his normally reserved interactions with women. Jean Templer comes into Nick's life during a time when he is beginning to settle down. We find him attending fewer parties and the one where he meets Jean at again is entirely upper class. It is apparent that at this time in life Nick is doing better for himself. Nick has a brighter outlook on life is willing to be involved in a more established, adult relationship with a woman. He notes that Jean "seemed to express none of the qualities I had liked in Barbara" (191 BM). This signifies that he is mature enough to step back and analyze his curiosity with Barbara and notice the things about her that in the end made him detest her so much. At the end of A Buyer's Market Nick reveals one of the few gems of his social life to us saying "Certain stages of experience might be compared to a game of Russian billiards, played (as I used to play with Jean, when the time came) on those small green tables..." (274 BM). This is a very optimistic quote and it tells the reader that Nick has been able to capitalize on the buyer's market by finding Jean Templer. In the books to come Nick and Jean have a love affair while Jean and her husband Bob Duport are separated. Though this primarily sexual relationship is still immature, it is a still progress in Nick's series of relationships. Isobel Tolland is the last of Nick's love interests we meet and the last one Nick will need. Nick is older and he is beginning to realize that his window to procure a spouse is closing. The manner in which Nick introduces Isobel is remarkable: "Would it be too explicit, too exaggerated, to say to say that when I set eyes on Isobel Tolland, I knew at once that I should marry her?" (136 ALM) He goes on to open his mind a little in what is the first case of Nick exhibiting any introspection whatsoever:
This shows us that he is profoundly more mature because he is truly trying to understand what this relationship with Isobel will bring. He is ready to finally let go of everything else he has experienced in his past relationships for it is unlike what he has experienced with Isobel even in the first moments of meeting her. Nick's transformation from a young man whose immaturity and mood kept him from having a serious relationship into a smarter more astute man shows us there will be many more changes to come. Hopefully this development will allow us to learn more about Nick's character as he continues to develop and evolve. |
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Nicole Lee Widmerpool is a unique character who can be described as a "recurrent factor" (page 29 book #2) that crops up in the novels many times. We watch him evolve from a college student to an engaged man. Despite his apparent increase in level of maturity, as A Dance To The Music of Time progresses, Widmerpool's insecurities never seem to completely disappear and some of the first impressions he made in his time at Eton never seem to be erased. We are first introduced to Widmerpool in A Question of Upbringing as "wearing a sweater once white and a cap at least a size too small, hobbling unevenly, though with determination, on the flat heels of spiked running shoes. (3)" We get the initial idea that he has a slightly awkward way about him and has not completely matured yet. He did not fit in with the boys at school and "most of the time he was alone; even when he walked with other boys he seemed in some way separate from them. (4)" Along with his lack of social skills, he also lacked athletic talent. Jenkins noted that "so far as I know he never reached even the semi-finals of the events for which he used to enter. (4)" He was always the odd one out and easily made fun of. For example, when Stringham, Templer, and Jenkins run into him on the day of the `Braddock alias Thorne' incident, "(they) walked behind him for a time, with Stringham imitating the way Widmerpool put his feet to the ground. (37)" Overall, his experience at Eton could be described by the following quote: "He had no colours, and, although far from being a dunce, there was nothing notable about his work. (4)" Widmerpool tried to keep to his own business, but always managed to stick out or somehow happen to get a banana thrown in his face. Jenkins encounters Widmerpool later in A Question of Upbringing at La Grenadiere in France. At this point, the `legend' of Widmerpool has been passed on through time. "So much as five or six years later (after Eton) (some) still occasionally hear an obtrusive or inappropriate garment referred to as `a Widmerpool.'" Jenkins' first impression of this old schoolmate at La Grenadiere was that "he tidied himself up a little since leaving school, though there was still a kind of exotic drabness about his appearance that seemed to mark him out from the rest of mankind. (118)" Once again, there was this unidentifiable characteristic about Widmerpool that made him stand out. Although he had become an "accepted, if not specially popular, figure and was no longer looked upon as an oddity (as he had been at school), (127), he still had "an air of uneasiness (118)" about him. He was still easily embarrassed at mention of Akworth scandal and easily upset about the "Braddock alias Thorne" affair. Widmerpool clearly matured in his years after Eton, but still possessed many insecurities which stayed with him through all the books we have read so far. In A Buyer's Market, Jenkins reunites with Widmerpool at the Walpole-Wilson's dinner party. Jenkins' first mentions him as examining Lavery's portrait of Lady Walpole-Wilson with "the air of one trying to fill in the seconds before introductions begin to take place, rather than on account of deep interest in art. (28)" This description suggests that he is still socially awkward, just as in A Question of Upbringing, and unsure of how to handle himself in some situations. His `air of uneasiness' is also shown when Jenkins casually says that their paths have probably never crossed before because they must be asked to different parties. Widmerpool "went red in the face, and made one of those awkward jerks of the body which Stringham used to imitate so deftly. (31)" This seems to be an overreaction to a small, insignificant comment. Throughout the night, and as they moved onto the dance at the Huntercombes', Widmerpool involves himself maturely in conversations, but still manages to fulfill the role of the one who girls, namely Barbara, manage to blow off dances with. He also finds himself once again in an awkward situation- this time with Barbara pouring sugar on his head as "a literal application of her theory that he `needed sweetening'. (70)" Also in A Buyer's Market, Jenkins admits that he has never been able to picture Jenkins "as an adult" and that he imagines him "forever floundering towards the tape in races never won. (30) The image Widmerpool created for himself in school will probably always stick in other character's minds. In The Acceptance World, a major event was the Old Boy Dinner for members of Les Bas' house. Some may argue that at this point in his life, Widmerpool had completely transformed and was now a confident working man for the Donners-Brebner company. However, Jenkins mentions, "yet Widmerpool had never entirely overcome his innate oddness; one might almost say, his monstrosity.(178)" Once again, there was an unidentifiable characteristic about him that just stood out. At this dinner, it was also shown that he would forever carry with him the impressions he created at Eton. "However successful Widmerpool might have become in his own eyes, he was not yet important in the eyes of the present.. Remembered only because he had once worn the wrong kind of overcoat. (191)" Many of Widmerpool's insecurities many come from the fact that people only remember these odd things about him. In the fourth book, At Lady Molly's, Widmerpool was introduced as the fiancé to Mildred Haycock. Jenkins described him as "scarlet in the face, grinning agitatedly through the thick lenses of his spectacles… he advanced into the room like a huge fish swimming in a hitherto unexplored and unexpectedly exciting aquarium. (43)" This suggests he is feeling a little uncomfortable and nervous about this meeting with Mildred's family, which is understandable. However, he seemed to have many other worries about marriage as well. "There seemed more here than the traditionally highly-strung state of a man who has only lately proposed and been accepted. (56)" Although this may largely be due to the fact that Mildred's financial affairs are in an "appalling mess," his insecurities may be contributing to his uneasiness about marriage. He has never married before and was not always been successful in his interactions with girls. He was also worried about "the question of what name should cover the identity of Mrs. Haycock and himself when first appearing as husband and wife. (61)" Widmerpool seemed to unnecessarily make small issues into larger issues. Throughout the four books we have read, Widmerpool pops up in many different places. Although he matures throughout the years, he proves to be sufficiently awkward in many situations. The image he created for himself at Eton also continues to pop up. In At Lady Molly's, Miss Weedon mentions that she was "familiar with Stringham's mimicracy of Widmerpool"(from Eton). (166) In this same book, Jenkins notes that Widmerpool`s "reappearance throughout his life helped to prove, somehow rather consolingly, that life continued its mysterious, patterned way. (44 #4)" Similarly, Widmerpool's personality somewhat stays the same in a "patterned way" as he keeps proving to still possess the insecurities of the young university student inside of him. |
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Jimmy Yang In the first four books of A Dance to the Music of Time, certain parts of Nick's life are absent. Most notably we do not meet members of Nick's family. Yet, throughout the books, we meet a whole host of father figures, men that are older than Nick, whom he befriends, and perhaps even looks up to. In The Acceptance World, for example, we met Ted Jeavons and General Conyers, but in previous books, we have also met similar characters, most notably Uncle Giles and Edgar Deacon. If we focus on these three examples, Nick seems to grow much closer to these father figures than with his contemporaries, and they impart to Nick, and us, lessons, and views of Nick himself. Ted Jeavons is the newest of these old men that Nick has met. Most people, upon meeting him for the first time are given a strange impression of him. Mark Members, for example, is described as watching him "with absolute horror." (LM, 224) Compared to Lady Molly's last husband, he is a relative nobody. He engages in habits such as his occasional pub crawl, or activities such as bringing a tart home, which are looked down upon by others. But Nick finds Jeavons strangely intriguing, and he is interested in exploring the "mysterious avenues" of his life. (LM, 157) His life does show some interesting similarities to Nick's. For example, he is a common man, with an acceptable, but by no means grand, living, who has married into a noble family. Just as Nick seems to find himself bumping into people from his past, so too does Jeavons bump into past acquaintances like Mildred Haycock. Also, while Jeavons does attend Lady Molly's parties, he seems to stay in the background of them, in a manner similar to Nick's in A Buyer's Market. We might perhaps consider Jeavons a glimpse into Nick's future, and a lesson to Nick about how he might live his life later on. General Conyers is the other father figure introduced to us in At Lady Molly's, and he is quite different from Jeavons. He has lived a successful life, and is, perhaps in a word, cool. He is well up to date in material like psychoanalysis and Virginia Woolf's Orlando, to the point at which he can keep a conversation with Nick. In fact, after his discussion about the breakup of Widmerpool's engagement, we see a bit of Nick in Conyers' psychoanalysis. "You are an introvert of course…Introverted intuitive type, do you think?" (LM, 235-236) General Conyers also, like Jeavons, gives us a look into Nick's future. Up to this point, Powell has given us examples of many marriages that have failed. Stringham, Templer, Quiggin, and Widmerpool, are all left in the wakes of failed marriages, and it seems that, as Nick moves into married life, he has no positive example to draw on (as we have not heard about his own parents' marriage). In Conyers, however, Nick has a positive example of strong, lasting marriages. The Conyers family is living quite happily, despite the great difference in their ages. We met Edgar Deacon earlier in the series, in A Buyer's Market. He, like General Conyers, is a figure from Nick's past. The two are even introduced in similar fashion: their introductions make up the few flashbacks that we see in Powell's novel. While Conyers is married though, Deacon is acknowledged as being queer (in both senses of the word), and seems to get himself into trouble, such as the scene he causes at Milly Andriadis' party. Nick, however, holds the man quite dear in his heart, attending both his birthday party and his funeral. The most ubiquitous of Nick's father figures by far is Uncle Giles, who we have seen in every book so far. Uncle Giles is perhaps less of a positive example than Nick's other father figures. He is looked down upon by the other members of the family, and is seen perhaps as somewhat of a nuisance for his constant attempts at "squeezing out a few pounds more than his agreed portion" from the family trust. (QU, 22) He is, however, the only true member of Nick's family that we have seen with any frequency in the books, and Nick is quite close to him. Even though they usually only talk about the trust, Nick is "glad to have remembered Uncle Giles" during rough times, such as when Stringham cuts the dinner with him for other commitments. (QU, 229) While less noticeable than Mr. Deacon, Uncle Giles, and General Conyers and Ted Jeavons, Nick has met several other older men that have made an impression on him, such as Sunny Farebrother, Le Bas, and Alfred Tolland. Many of these men share uncanny resemblances, which indicate their shared role in Nick's life. The scene in which Jeavons tries to convince Nick to buy an "atomiser," for example, mirrors the scene in which Sunny Farebrother tries to convince Jimmy Stripling to buy a collar turner. Furthermore, these men, along with the previous four, have shared one quality: while seen much differently by other people, Nick has his own impressions of them, and those impressions are generally positive. He cannot understand, for example, why the Templers treat such an agreeable person as Sunny Farebrother with "so little consideration." (QU, 79) Four books have shown us a lot about Nick's life, and we have seen many forces that have changed him. We have not been introduced to Nick's father, but indeed, we have met many of his father figures. These father figures each define a part of Nick in their own way. In many ways, he is closer to these men than to his other friends, like Stringham, Templer, and Widmerpool. We will undoubtedly meet more of them as Nick's life continues. |
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Alex Svec The fourth installment in Anthony Powell's Dance to the Music of Time, At Lady Molly's. takes us in a direction we have never been in before, with the engagement of Nick and Isobel Tolland. Somewhat surprisingly, this is the event least talked about in the whole book, with only the rare line here or there. Nick has never been one to analyze himself, at least not to our knowledge, and now that Isobel has become much more than a friend, he perhaps is simply not willing to give us his insight on the matter. It is simply unexpected that we do not hear in great detail of everything Isobel related, seeing as he has talked for chapters about previous women. The only retrievable notion of Nick's feelings is buried in one of Powell's signature beginning of chapters, a confusing monologue of reflection. I can almost count the number of times Isobel is mentioned on one hand, and there are only two occasions of real importance, Nick's declaration of love and desire for marriage, and his short speech on fate. The latter proves to be the most interesting. "A background of other events largely obscured the steps leading up to my engagement to Isobel Tolland. Of this crisis in my life, I remember chiefly a sense of tremendous inevitability, a feeling that fate was settling its own problems, and too much reflection would be out of place. Marriage, as I have said, is a form of action, of violence almost: an assertion of the will" The word that jumps out at me most in that quote is `crisis.' Crisis is simply a stage in a sequence of events at which the trend of all future events is determined, essentially a turning point. Nick's engagement very literally is a turning point in his life. Crisis, though, usually contains negative connotations. One thinks of destruction, death, and damage, not of engagements. Following this peculiar word, Nick states, "I remember chiefly a sense of tremendous inevitability." Death is inevitable, taxes are inevitable, war is inevitable, poverty is inevitable, and hunger is inevitable. Engagements are not inevitable. They might be fate, they might be destiny or they might be providence, but they are certainly not inevitable. Nick's use of that word implies that he feels trapped, sucked into something he cannot control or understand. He next says, "Fate was settling its own problems." Seeing as he considers fate to be settling his engagement, problems and engagement are, intentionally or not, synonyms. "Marriage, as I have said, is a form of action, of violence almost." Since when are `violence' and `marriage' used in conjuncture? Honeymoons? Yes, those can be violent, divorce can be violent, but marriage? And finally, "an assertion of the will." Assertion, noun: a positive statement or declaration, often without support or reason. I truly hope that one day when I get married, I feel support and at least some reason behind my decision. Without support or reason I might as well just pick up a phone book, pick a name at random, and decide to marry that person. With Powell's massive vocabulary it is hard to believe that the words highlighted were unintentional or consequences. Instead, they show that subconsciously, Nick is not ready for this engagement and marriage. Starting as a mere whim "would it be too explicit, too exaggerated, to say that when I set eyes on Isobel Tolland, I knew at once that I should marry her?" Nick's desire for Isobel has finally come full circle. In less than one hundred pages, he moves from wanting to having, and when he finally confronts himself about it, the words he chooses illustrate how worried and unprepared he really is. Exclaiming that fate is behind everything is only a means for him to feel better about his decision. We rarely are able to see into Nick's heart and understand his emotions; this passage is as close as he will come to telling us how scared he is. |