The Not-So-Hypothetical Victorian Literature Course #VicLit discussion
Lecture 6: Money
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Our Mutual Friend and The Way We Live Now comparison (spoilers)
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Katie
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Feb 04, 2018 12:39PM
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Very different I thought. They are much more obsessed with it in TWWLN. The amounts they gambled were eye-watering, if you multiply by 100, which is what I do for Victorian books. For example, Mr Boffin gives the Lammles £100 for their information, which was disappointing but not nothing. Sir Felix would gamble away more than that in a single night. The Harmon fortune was fairly earned, unlike any of the fortunes in TWWLN.
It's pretty clear Trollope regarded the young aristocrats' gambling as the same as speculating on the stock market. I suppose there is a bit of that with the Veneerings. The characters in TWWLN were in general from a higher social class than Our Mutual Friend. In TWWLN they were largely aristocrats or gentry. In Our Mutual Friend they were working class, lower middle class or upper middle class.
In Our Mutual Friend, winning money by good fortune is fine, but wanting to be rich is not. Bella Wilfer is only rewarded with a big house and lots of money once she has renounced it all by marrying a relatively poor man. She marries for love not money, but she does not lose out for doing so. Felix cynically tries to marry Marie Melmotte for her money, although thankfully he does not succeed.
It's pretty clear Trollope regarded the young aristocrats' gambling as the same as speculating on the stock market. I suppose there is a bit of that with the Veneerings. The characters in TWWLN were in general from a higher social class than Our Mutual Friend. In TWWLN they were largely aristocrats or gentry. In Our Mutual Friend they were working class, lower middle class or upper middle class.
In Our Mutual Friend, winning money by good fortune is fine, but wanting to be rich is not. Bella Wilfer is only rewarded with a big house and lots of money once she has renounced it all by marrying a relatively poor man. She marries for love not money, but she does not lose out for doing so. Felix cynically tries to marry Marie Melmotte for her money, although thankfully he does not succeed.
