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Cousin Henry
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Cousin Henry: Week 2: Chapters IV-VI
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I think that she is silly to be turning down Owen again. Of course, I’m look at it in today’s terms. But when it comes to the rest of your life’s happiness I would not stand on ceremony. Accept this guy, if you really love him. Just tell him the truth and marry him. As for Cousin Henry, I do feel a bit bad for him. Everyone there hates him, and it’s kind of without cause; at least at this point. He hadn’t done anything wrong that anyone knows if. And now he feels so unwelcome that he doesn’t even want to live there,
This is not going well
Ad for the will, he should have sent for the lawyer if he wanted to change it again. Just to make sure everything was settled and completely legal and entered in the record with no question.
He really fowled up there!
Lady Clementina wrote: "Did anyone feel sorry for Henry this week? I did very much for everyone seems unnecessarily harsh on him while he conducted himself fairly well regarding the will and Isabel, I thought"I felt sorry for the fact that no one seems to like or trust him, they are all fond of Isabel and want her to succeed to the property. But I am beginning not to trust Henry myself, the references to him not being able to eat and to sweating when they talk about the Will suggest a guilty conscience, or worrying about something. He didn’t know Indefer well enough to be upset by his death. Mr Apjohn thinks he is just upset by being the object of suspicion, but I don’t believe it’s that simple.
Lady Clementina wrote: "Did Uncle Indefer create even more trouble with his cryptic messages and doings than the dilemma he was stuck in before?"Agree with Beda, he should have swallowed his pride and dealt with Mr Apjohn to make sure everything was straightforward. A lawyer would have followed proper procedure and made sure the Will was to hand, especially as Indefer was in such poor health.
'Good principles taken too far' was exactly what I noted down after reading chapter IV. I think Isabel is foolish in refusing William Owen when both are obviously in love with each other and there aren't any material obstacles to the match. I feel that Trollope was stretching it a little to make sure that everything is as he needed it to be in order to create the dilemma: Isabel being from home at a crucial time, the quarrel with and absence of the lawyer, Isabel's scruples about accepting William Owen, the interrupted proposal scene, Uncle Indefer's cryptic words and Isabel connecting them to the will, the last will being lost when everything else is in perfect order.
I wish we had got a chapter from Cousin Henry's point of view. I cannot form an opinion of him, but I cannot pity him either. Knowing what we know, he has every reason to feel uncomfortable. It might have been better not to read the blurb for this one...
This week's section stops in the middle of the search for the last will. No way that I will wait until next week!
Great discussion questions, Lady Clementina. I was very disappointed that Isabel turned William Owen down for the second time and agree with Lindenblatt that she has taken good principles too far. Ultimately I do think that Isabel is causing needless pain for them both. She believes herself unworthy of William and because of that denies his happiness as well as her own. However, by withholding herself and concealing the truth of her feeling, Isabel is in a way being dishonest. Admittedly I see something of myself in her, as I myself have felt at times that I couldn't rely on others and had to bear everything alone. I hope she evolves from this and comes to understand that righteous suffering, at least in this scenario, is completely unnecessary. Yet again I found myself feeling sorry for Henry, who in these chapters is described as "wan" "pallid" and "spiritless" due to certain anxieties (or certain guilt). Uncle Indefer's indecision up until the last moment has put them all in a mess that could have been avoided had he taken other people's wishes into account. Isabel does not want Llanfeare, Henry does. But the tenants of Llanfeare prefer Isabel to Henry, which complicates the mess even further. An outsider in this tight-knit community, Henry is ignored at all turns or elsewise borne with difficulty. It feels as though they've judged him without getting to know him, but perhaps they know more than we as readers do? At any rate, he's been made to feel so uncomfortable and miserable that he regrets ever having come to Llanfeare and resolves to "take himself away" directly after acquiring it. Can't blame the guy. I wouldn't want to stay in any place where people "struggle to be courteous" to me either.
Some lines I enjoyed:
"Perhaps there was present to [Isabel's] mind something of the pride of a martyr. Perhaps she gloried a little in the hardship of her position. But she was determined to have her glory and her martyrdom all to herself."
(!)
"It is all right. It is done." -Uncle Indefer
(Reminiscent of some other famous last words...John 19:30)
"Henry Jones at this time...seemed to be so much awe-struck by his position as to be incapable of action. To his Cousin Isabel he was almost servile in his obedience."
(Here we see Henry deferring to Isabel's charge and initiative. I feel that these lines paint her as the rightful heir of Llanfeare)
"There was nothing to hinder her from searching, should she wish to search. But she never touched the drawer."
(I found it interesting that Isabel seems to intuitively know that her uncle made the will out to be in her favor at the last minute)
I finished these three chapters not very happy with anything, really!I entirely lost patience with both Isabel and Uncle Indefer. Isabel planned to make both herself and William Owen miserable because of some absurd principle that is meaningless to both of them. As for Uncle Indefer, he's dead, but he was screwing things up and mismanaging things until the very end. Wouldn't send for his lawyer because he was embarrassed or resentful? Thus risking having his intentions dishonored? As it seems they will be in the event. Truly, Isabel and Indefer deserved each other, because they're barking mad.
As for Henry, it's obvious that he spent the time until the funeral looking for the latest will. I have to assume that his guilty demeanor, sweaty forehead, palled complexion and so forth reflected this. Did he find it and suppress it? Trollope is coy about this, not entirely successfully. He can't choose to reveal some of Henry's thoughts but suppress any thoughts regarding the new will.
And as for Trollope.... I really enjoyed the first three chapters when we plunged in medias res. A departure for Trollope and lots of fun. But in these three chapters it seemed to me that the whole action was too rushed, an insufficiently fleshed out narrative. Now I'm a little fearful it's going to be one of his novels where it's unfortunately obvious he was grinding it out for the paycheck. Don't get me wrong; there are always things to delight and reward in Trollope even the also-rans; I hope that now Indefer's dead he adopts a more leisurely pace in this one.
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Henry is definitely acting squirrelly, which is exasperating the general opinion of him as heir. We’ve already seen that he can’t imagine any impulse that isn’t motivated by self interest.
Yes, Indefer and Isabel are making things more difficult, but that’s going to keep the plot boiling.
Nancy wrote: "I have to assume that his guilty demeanor, sweaty forehead, palled complexion and so forth reflected this. Did he find it and suppress it? Trollope is coy about this, not entirely successfully...."I too found these chapters irritating. It's so obvious that Henry is lying and very distressed with his lies. I have been writing my talk introducing Dr. Wortle's School, another 2 volume standalone written shortly after Cousin Henry. Was Trollope losing capacity, or was he experimenting with something new? Both these novels puzzle me with the very moralizing direction they are taking. Perhaps at the expense of entertainment value.
Needless to say, there have been books written on this. One I consulted was Trollope & Victorian Moral Philosophy. She suggests “Trollope may have focused upon moral issues in several of the novels he wrote during the 1870s and 1880s because he disliked the way contemporary philosophers had formulated them. [...] mission: to defend common morality against the well-meaning efforts of Victorian philosophers to improve upon it.”
As I get deeper into this novel, I am liking it more.
Lady Clementina wrote: "Did Uncle Indefer create even more trouble with his cryptic messages and doings than the dilemma he was stuck in before?"If a moral dilemma always come from wrong doing, the guy that creates all the problems is Uncle Indefer. There are many hints that he has been mismanaging the property. Isabel has made serious life decisions on the assumption that she would be responsible for holding the property together. I would say Indefer Jones has done pretty much everything wrong.
Francis Mosely, illustrator for the Folio Edition, did two illustrations for this set of chapters, both of them referring to Indefer's death. Why focus on this?
I don't know what to think about Henry - he's not very likeable. I agree though that he is caught in a bad situation. I'm interested to see how Trollope fleshes out his character as we continue.
I often feel the concern over propriety and what station people are gets in the way of feelings in this time. I suppose Isabel is not doing anything more than any woman in her place would do. When I come to it with modern eyes I think just marry the person you love the rest be damned. But that wasn’t the way for Isabel and she seems to be acting like anyone would. I don’t really feel sorry for Henry generally. I think he doesn’t really seem too concerned for others. Perhaps that isn’t a fair assessment so I’m willing to change my mind on him.
Indefer’s flip flopping which seemingly continued to his last words is causing quite a lot of chaos. I feel for Isabel and even a little Henry in that neither can feel settled until the will has been carried out.
So far I find the writing very engaging. I’ve never read Trollope before and I’m enjoying my first taste.
I had to ask myself after reading these three chapters if Trollope was deliberately creating a messy situation or if it was just the way I was perceiving it. I can’t say I enjoyed reading them because too much of what happened was exasperating to the extreme. Indefer’s last actions just added more confusion to what had already become a confusing and upsetting situation to all those concerned. His obstinate refusal to use a lawyer and those cryptic words to Isabel turned muddied waters almost black.
If I wanted Indefer to stop ‘messing about,’ I felt much the same about Isabel. I don’t believe any sensible Victorian woman would have acted in the way she did towards William. Her argument was spurious. It was her haughty pride, ’the pride of a martyr’ that led her to believe that she couldn’t say ‘yes’ because of her change from heiress to relative pauper. The fact that most of her family in Hereford were afraid of her spoke volumes about her character.
’ And yet she was in love with him, and had now acknowledged to herself that it was so. Her position in this as in all things seemed to be so cruel! Had she been the heiress of Llanfeare she could not have married him, because it would then have been her duty to comply with the wishes of her uncle. No such duty would now be imposed upon her, at any rate after her uncle's death. As simple Isabel Brodrick she might marry whom she would without bringing discredit upon the Indefer Joneses. But that which she had been constrained to do before her uncle had changed his purpose now tied her hands.
It did seem to her cruel; but she told herself that it was peculiarly her duty to bear such cruelty without complaint
(Sorry Isabel, that was absolute rubbish!)
I admired William for his bravery in not accepting that refusal. He seemed the only sensible character in the story so far. Even Isabel herself didn’t really believe it, as evidenced by the fact that her argument was crumbling in front of her during William’s second proposal, before she was ‘rescued’ by news of her uncle’s grave illness.
As for Henry, he is either an absolute scoundrel who has found and burnt the last will or his character has been totally ‘assassinated’ by everyone in Llanfeare. He did seem to be acting furtively during the funeral and will reading, but, with everyone around you hating your guts it is difficult not to act otherwise.
Isabel might have helped him but she joined in with the rest, increasing her hatred of him, apparently without any personal justification.
’ Her dislike to him grew in bitterness, though she failed to explain even to herself the cause of her dislike. She did know that her uncle had been in truth as little disposed to love him as herself, and that knowledge seemed to justify her.’
Someone sensible, someone like William, needs to step in and sort out the mess.
I am starting to get a little alarmed about the way this novel is going. It seems a popular belief that Henry is actually a bad man who was hiding away the new will (or destroyed it). if that’s the case we already know what’s going to happen - He’s going to get found out, disgraced, and eventually his cousin Isabel will inherit. However, it will be a good twist if Henry actually didn’t interfere with the will, inherited the estate and then stumbled upon it. He would then be left with a dilemma - does he own up and make matters right? The idea of Isabel marrying a boring clergyman would not be an ideal ending for me, I would rather have a twist in the tail whereby Isabel marries her cousin which resolves everything - will have to wait and see.
A bit soapy for me. As if he just needed to write a quick story. Hopefully, it will get more interesting.
Jules wrote: "A bit soapy for me. As if he just needed to write a quick story. Hopefully, it will get more interesting."Yes, it is a bit soapy, but I am finding it interesting already. The soapiness is in aid of Trollope creating a mystery, or intentional mess, that needs to be sorted out. Some of the soapiness is in the characters of Indefer and Isabel making some unusual frustrating choices in order to create plot dilemma. I accept these as helping to create a plot that I am finding intriguing. I prefer that Trollope doesn't go inside Henry's brain as it leaves the reader to wonder if he is scoundrel or not. I like having that left to figure out. At this point I'm of two minds on both Henry and Isabel and I appreciate the ambiguity Trollope has created.
I don't mind this in a Trollope, especially in such a short one. (mine works out be be just over 200 pages.) Jules is right in that it helps move a story along faster than one gets in the usually more leisurely paced Trollope novel. I've learned to accept and even enjoy Trollope's often pragmatic approach to writing.
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Yes, it doesn't seem as simple either. Yet, with everyone in a way predisposed to hating him, one can see him being very comfortable in the situation he is in.
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Yes, it is a bit soapy, but I am finding it interesting already. The soapin..."
I think these shorter works of his (this is only the second I'm reading after Doctor Wortle's School which I rather liked--the rest have been mostly the doorstopper kind), both focus on fewer characters and limited facets of their character which reflect on the main theme at hand--which seems the case here too; the will and the attitudes of its maker and the two possible heirs are front and centre--other aspects are simply gone into so far as they affect these.
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The nature of his dilemma reveals itself in the next instalment--but it is interesting to see the course things will take.
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Isabel is starting to seem more and more self centered as the story proceeds. It's how she will/should appear in deciding this or that, but the other person isn't being given as much consideration. It seems the same with Henry when even when he is friendly in terms of asking her to stay on at Llanfeare as long as she needs. Though she did give him some good advice on how to deal with Uncle Indefer.
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Henry is definitely acting squirrelly, which is exasperating the general opinion of him as heir. We’ve already seen t..."
Very true, Renee. If everyone had acted reasonably, there'd be no story :)
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She seems to be following in Uncle Indefer's footsteps creating messes of her own.
Although Henry appears to have a guilty conscience about something, the possibility exists that he just a graceless young man, wanting to please but not knowing how, and ill at ease with his position in the family. I wonder how Indefer and Isabel would feel about him if he were not the heir. I am somewhat frustrated with Isabel’s reluctance to marry the man she loves, although it did seem she was on the brink of accepting him when news came of Indefer’s illness. As for Indefer, while I agree that he made a mess of things by not relying on his lawyer, I can also feel some sympathy for a very ill elderly man who might not be thinking with perfect logic.
There are three characters with flaws:Isabel is stubborn and full of pride. She reminds me of Lily Dale, from one of the Barsetshire series, even though Isabel's past history is different from Lily's.
Indefer is stubborn and a ditherer and that's a bad combination.
Henry is unappealing to everyone, but Trollope never does show us why in this section. He's definitely lacking in social skills.
This is a lot like a soap opera, I agree!
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As much as we might want a character to behave with complete practicality and in what we judge to be their own best interest, they will go their own way… Much as in life.
Lily was one of four heroines with similar situations written around the same time…
Rachel Ray (1863)
The Small House at Allington (1864)
Can You Forgive Her? (1864)
The Belton Estate (1865)
With each Trollope seemed to be exploring the possible outcomes for a woman who stuck to her own judgement/sense of honor in the choice of life partner, despite outside pressure. Perhaps Isabel is another one.
Renee wrote: "Lily Dale! I loved her! As much as we might want a character to behave with complete practicality and in what we judge to be their own best interest, they will go their own way… Much as in life..."
I too thought of Lily Dale when faced with Isabel's judgments. The following is part of a comment I made on Ms. Dale back in the Readers Review's Trollope Project 8 years ago:
... I enjoyed Lily Dale as a character since she causes both worship and disdain. Many here, including me, are more in the disdain camp. Trollope himself didn't quite understand why so many readers loved her, as he thought her to be a 'prig.'"
I have found that Trollope generally has a good handle on how he is portraying his characters. Trollope intends the reader to find Isabel frustrating.
Isabel certainly is frustrating!
Brian E wrote: "Renee wrote: "Lily Dale! I loved her! As much as we might want a character to behave with complete practicality and in what we judge to be their own best interest, they will go their own way… Much..."
Although I don’t enjoy reading about violence I did enjoy the fact that Lily’s ‘Apollo’ (The Small House at Allington spoiler)(view spoiler)
That said so much about Lily’s ability to judge people’s characters. When her Apollo was knocked off his pedestal she put herself on it as a replacement.
Isabel seemed to employ similar strategies when judging men in the way she idolised Indefer, despised Henry and built a wall between herself and the man she loved.
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As much as we might want a character to behave with complete practicality and in what we judge to be their own best interest, they will go their own way… Much as in life.
..."
Oh, yes, Lily Dale and Alice Vavasor; the latter I remember was quite frustrating too.
Victorians!
Books mentioned in this topic
The Small House at Allington (other topics)Doctor Wortle's School (other topics)
Dr. Wortle's School (other topics)
Trollope & Victorian Moral Philosophy (other topics)
Here is a new conundrum. Uncle Indefer dies but leaving a last cryptic message that he may have changed his will in Isabel’s favour. The housekeeper Mrs Griffiths seems to believe this too, as do Mr Apjohn the solicitor and Dr Powell, and the Cantor father–son duo seem to know this for sure but the father prevents his son from saying so. Henry has conducted himself pretty well through all this, where everyone around him only suspects him. The will that’s been found and read is the same as before—leaving all to Henry. But the atmosphere is naturally tense with these hints and possible evidence cropping up. How do things more forward?