The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion

LV. AN ABSENT LOVER RETURNS.
LVI. "OFF WITH THE OLD LOVE, AND ON WITH THE NEW."
LVII. BRIDAL VISITS AND ADIEUX.
LVIII. REVIVING HOPES AND BRIGHTENING PROSPECTS.
LIX. MOLLY GIBSON AT HAMLEY HALL.
LX. ROGER HAMLEY'S CONFESSION.

What a shame Elizabeth Gaskell never finished the book. Am I imagining it, or is there a slight loss of focus in the last couple of chapters? I guess she can't have been in good health by that time.

In my (old Penguin) edition there is a conclusion written by her editor, based on what she had told her family about the ending. In case it's not in everybody's copy, this is what he says, in brief, about what she intended:

Roger marries Molly, although at first he fears she will think him fickle and so finds it difficult to ask her until he thinks of showing her the flower plucked from the nosegay. He becomes a professor at "some great scientific institution" and the Squire is happy.
Mr Gibson takes a partner and goes up to London now and then to stay with Molly and get away from Mrs Gibson.
As for Cynthia, "of what was to happen to her after her marriage the author was not heard to say much."
I would rather have read Mrs Gaskell's ending than heard of it second-hand, but it's nice to know that Molly got her man!

Yes, I agree. The last few chapters read like Gaskell had a bit more editing to do.

I knew from the beginning that Molly would get her man. It was just a question of what the other characters were going to have to do to get her to that conclusion.

I was not aware of Gaskell never having finished the novel before the end of it. SO I was a little disappointed that it did not end as smoothly as the rest.

Cynthia is marrying Mr Henderson and I thought it funny that she realized herself in the end that she never seems to be off with the old lover before being on with the new one and that Mr Henderson seems a little afraid of her slipping off again. Will there marriage survive?

Molly is getting into a rather emotional rollercoaster ride with Roger and even if we learn that they in the end should get together, I was missing this rounding off of the novel.

In these chapters, Mrs Gibson is again caricaturized as this hypocritical, inconsistent person, e.g.:
- She is talking of Cynthia being spoiled by her husband with diamonds, at the same time she is disappointed of her not going off with a maid.
- When she is talking of her not matchmaking towards Mrs Goodenough
- She is calling Roger an inconstant man due to his getting over Cynthia, but it was Cynthia who was the inconstant one, but she does not want to see that any more.
- when she is (once again) lecturing about understanding the wishes of other people


So, what did you all think of the novel as a whole?
As irritating as Mrs. Gibson was, I think she caricaturizes a certain type of mothers of that time similar to Mrs. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. She symbolizes a certain desperation and need for security and dependence. She is not strong enough herself to make a good living for herself and her daughter and she is far too much concerned about herself than anyone else including her daughter. Was that also a feature of that time?
Mr Gibson on the other hand is the quiet, rather sarcastic and enduring person and also reminded me a little of Mr. Bennet. In contrast to the people around him, he faces the consequences of his action of marrying Mrs. Gibson. Or what do you think?

And what about the Hamleys and the Cunmors? Lady Harriet and maybe also Lord Hollingford might represent a new generation of aristocrats opening up to the "common" people.

I think I have read too many Dickens with his finales of all his major characters that I was disappointed about the ending, but on the other hand Gaskell was never able to finish it. Would she have mentioned anything about the future of Mr and Mrs Gibson without their daughters?

Just some thoughts from my side ...

The BBC version ended with a scene of Molly and Roger together exploring Africa or something like that, kind of modern wishful thinking.

I have seen that as well, Robin. Molly looked so modern with her pants and her casual blouse on top. :-)

Movie makers like to add touches of their own, even when they are working with finished novels. I'm thinking of a similar scene at the end of Persuasion, where we see Anne on the deck of Frederick's ship. You could well imagine it being the eventual outcome, but that scene was not in the book.

I was also a little disappointed that the novel needed to be ended so abruptly-even though one knows that Molly and Roger are destined to end up together, it would have been more satisfying to have that ending fully fleshed out.

Overall I really enjoyed the novel-I find Gaskell's portraits to be true to life while still celebrating the goodness in people-her women are more realistic than Dickens', and she shows the whole gamut of types that might be found in a typical country town of the time.

An interesting conjecture-did Mr. Gibson's choosing to marry for Molly's sake end up benefitting her in the end? She certainly had trials to bear with her new mother-in-law but she gained a sister with whom she became very close and she did, in the end, marry her heart's desire. Would Roger have been able to visit so freely if Molly had been a single young woman alone in her home? Would he have wanted to without the charms of Cynthia to attract him initially?

I think Mr. Gibson's marriage was, at best, a mixed blessing for Molly. The question I find more interesting was whether the marriage was a good thing or a bad thing, overall, for Mr. Gibson himself. It certainly did not work out the way he hoped, and caused many trials for him. I am inclined to think Roger and Molly would have wound up together eventually either way, but once that happens, and Mr. Gibson is left with spending the rest of his life with Mrs. Gibson, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

I think that really depends on the person-for some people almost any company is better than no company at all, for others they can be quite happy living a solitary life. I suspect their marriage would evolve into one of those where she spends most of her time in the drawing room, he in the library (a la the Collins in Pride and Prejudice). Also, given that Mrs Gibson is somewhere in her early 40's, there could still be a baby to come...

Phew! Finally finished and not too long after I should have been. Rodger Hamley! What a dish! He's my new fictional crush.

Finally finished the novel, and feel sad that I wasn't able to keep up the group's reading schedule.

Now I know why everyone loves Gaskell! I enjoyed the film versions of both W&D and N&S, but never had read the books.

I will miss Molly, Roger, and Lady Harriet. But can't say that I will miss that annoying Mrs. Gibson or even Cynthia.

As everyone has said, disappointed that it was never completed. Not knowing that it was never completed until I reached the end, as I was reading it, I couldn't see the ending that the mini-series producers thought up. The Molly of the novel was far too "delicate," and would never wear pants travelling the world. :-)

I know Molly is supposed to have been "delicate" after her illness, but I think being married to Roger would cause her rally, and she would be up for accompanying him on any adventure on which he would take her.

Even though Mrs Gaskell died, I still have always believed that this novel ended rightly--i.e., Molly and Roger ended up together. How could it be anything else?