Masaryk University Faculty of Arts
Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Lucie Hartigová British Society from the 1960s to the 1990s in Four Novels by Margaret Drabble Master’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: prof. Mgr. Milada Franková, CSc., M.A. 2009
I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.
…………………………………………..
I would like to thank my supervisor, prof. Mgr. Milada Franková, CSc., M.A.,
for her kind help and valuable assistance with my diploma thesis.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction 1
1.1. The Life of Margaret Drabble 2
1.2. Social Background of Great Britain from the 1960s to the 1990s 5
1.3. The Characters on the Stage 8
2. The Importance of the Gender of the Main Characters 13
2.1. Different Roles of Female Characters 13
2.2. Aspects of the Male World 17
2.3. The Restrictive Conditions of Gender 21
3. Social Consciousness in the Second Half of the 20th Century 25
3.1. Social Class Belonging 26
3.2. Socio economic Aspects in the Novels 29
3.3. Negative Britishness 33
4. Success and Failure 38
4.1. Career as a Cause and Reason 39
4.2. Blame and Innocence 42
4.3. Imprisonment of the Characters 45
5. Interdependence of Fate and Setting 50
5.1. Fate and Determinism 51
5.2. Housing and Living, Town and City Life 54
5.3. North South Clash 58
6. Conclusion 63
Bibliography 66
1. Introduction
Mentioning the name of Margaret Drabble in the literary world generally evokes
associations of one of the most accomplished British authors because this novelist has won
respect since her successfully started career in the 1960s. Her novels, traditional in style,
display the allegiance to realism which is depicted through the eyes of various protagonists
set in different times and places. Drabble’s early writing seems to concentrate solely on
young, educated women reflecting a conflict between their family life and career (Stringer
178). Her later books, however, are marked by a certain deviation from such an attitude, for
the author includes male characters as well. Most importantly, in both seemingly different
phases of her career, the writer portrays a disappointment with the state of contemporary
England and expresses her critical attitude by describing the changes and development of the
country.
The unpleasant state of affairs of the nation consequently also has a negative impact
on the main protagonists who then seem to be imprisoned in their situations with little
chance of improvement. The bad conditions of the country restrict the people and mirror
their limited degree of freedom. Moreover, Drabble uses the characters as examples of her
own interest in social and political issues confronting British society, together with social
consciousness shown on stories of middle class people facing moral dilemmas. In general,
her novels represent a search for answers of social responsibility, the polarization of rich and
poor or universal themes such as the nature of human relationships (Stringer 179). For these very reasons I decided to examine and compare the works of Margaret Drabble and analyse
four of her novels published in decade succession.
This thesis focuses on one of the early books with a female heroine, The Millstone ,
published in 1966. The second book is a male centred novel which appeared in 1977 under
the title The Ice Age . The third work is the first volume of Drabble’s trilogy known as The
Radiant Way which comes out in print for the first time in 1987. The fourth book compared
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is Drabble’s last fiction of the twentieth century as it was put on the market in 1997 and it
bears the title The Witch Of Exmoor . The principal aim of the thesis is to interpret these
novels mainly from two perspectives. First, it pays attention to the novels’ background as it
illustrates the social and political changes in Great Britain throughout the second half of the
20th century. Second, it lays emphasis upon individuals who reflect the author’s concerns
and her overall grasp of reality.
Therefore, the most convenient methodological and theoretical approach to the
selected books is comparative and diachronic study. With regard to the nature of Drabble’s
novels that are described as “suburban, domestic, preoccupied with middle class mores
[where] the conflict between instinct and morality, the rough intrusion of accident into our
lives, the weakness of human will […] has been [the] subject,” the central themes can be
traced as a unifying feature of the majority of the works (Mackenzie). The author repeatedly,
and deliberately, follows certain topics but these result from different times, hence, cover
different spheres. On that account, I consider the diachronic approach as the most suitable while putting the four novels of Margaret Drabble’s oeuvre in comparison.
1.1. The Life of Margaret Drabble
Margaret Drabble, born in 1939 in Sheffield (Hanford), has become a distinguished
British writer almost immediately after the publication of her first novel in 1962. Though
many critics think of her works as feminist orientated on the basis of the variety of her
female characters and highly female centred topics, she herself denies such classification. In
fact, she “does not see herself as a trumpet for feminism and has refuted any connection with the feminist movement other than a kinder, rational concern for the problems women
face” (Hanford). Drabble does depict the dilemmas of young women and sets them in
problematic context in which matters of maternity, pregnancy, sister relationship or
education play a significant role and arise many a question. But apart from this focus, the
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themes come to be inseparably interconnected with social attitudes in Great Britain with
regard to particular decades. Therefore, the grasp of Drabble’s novels lies in a very wide
scope, including her personal life and experience.
The family background definitely created a profound literary and intellectual impact on
the author herself as well as on her three siblings, because their parents were an English
teacher, Margaret Bloor Drabble, and a barrister, part time novelist, John Federick Drabble
(Sendler 7). The eldest child Antonia, known as A. S. Byatt, achieved great respect in the
literary world, too, but she admits that she “always felt very threatened by [Margaret] who
always made [her] feel very temporary somehow” (Stout). Hence, the writing ambitions of
both sisters instigated bitter rivalry between them which even deteriorated after the
publication of Drabble’s novel The Peppered Moth (2001), “based on the tormented and
tormenting life of her mother, the most ‘enraged housewife’ ever” (Gerrard). Byatt strongly
disagreed for she “would rather people didn’t read someone else’s version of [her] mother,” while Drabble, on the other hand, “felt compelled to express herself and find some peace”
(Gerrard). This public skirmish, hence, may lead to a conclusion that Margaret Bloor
Drabble was a touchy subject for both sisters.
Parents’ love in general penetrates Drabble’s novels to a large degree, but it is rather
the relationship of children and their mothers which predominantly helps to shape the plots
– a fact that might have resulted from the author’s own affinity with her mother. Drabble
herself has some doubts about whether she loved her mother or not and the effort to
describe her in the novel simply becomes an attempt to reclaim her. The writer states that by
going back she wished to “understand what [her mother] was really like”. She hoped “that
some emotional blockage would be released, [and thus, she] would feel more love”
(Mackenzie). Actually, Margaret Bloor, who was forced to give up teaching for her children,
felt deep dissatisfaction with being a housewife and cast a terrible pall over all of her children
(Stout). In spite of this, Antonia claims that their mother “liked Maggie much better” (Stout).
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These elements, therefore, also occur in the works of Drabble as a part of her personal
experience through which she, as well as her heroines, solves the question of how much
daughters eventually become like their mothers.
As far as Drabble’s further life is concerned, aged 13, she left Sheffield in order to
study at Quaker Mount School in York which she loved. Always top of the class, Margaret won a scholarship to Newnham, and left with a first class degree. She says that at school she worked, but at university, she ‘played’ (Gerrard). She spent the undergraduate years
performing in many a production, specializing in ‘tragic heroines’, and as a consequence, she
planned on an acting career, not a literary one (Moran 3). For that reason she left for
Stratford after Cambridge and here “she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company as an
actress” (Bussow). At the same time, the author made another significant change in her life.
In 1960, Margaret married an actor Clive Swift and soon afterwards she discovered she was pregnant. In her own words, “it was a passionate love affair, and that’s important […]
for the children to know that they came from passion” (Mackenzie). Nevertheless, Drabble’s
condition radically curtailed the range of roles available to her, and consequently,
sitting backstage as an understudy, she turned her energies to writing a novel.
[Soon,] Drabble found writing to be so much more compatible with
motherhood, that she dropped her plans for acting and stuck with her new
found career. (Moran 3)
In 1975, the passionate falling out of love ended in divorce. After that, Drabble was not
sure that she would be able to write again. A magazine commented on her status and
suggested that “women could only write because their husbands’ incomes supported them”
(Poland). Drabble nearly sued them. In 1982, however, the writer remarried, this time a
biographer Michael Holroyd (Stringer 179). They “lived in separate houses for the first 15
years of their marriage and live, now presumably together, in London” (Hanford).
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Though mostly renowned for her novels, Drabble’s literary career embraces a number
of other activities as well. She wrote several plays, a biography of Arnold Bennett, a scholarly
book on Wordsworth, essays on Virginia Woolf and Hardy, also a children’s book about the
Victorian Age and a screenplay for the movie version of her work The Millstone . Apart from
that, she served as editor of the Oxford Companion to English Literature . Furthermore, the
author has done a good bit of journalism, publishing articles in the New York Times , and a variety of women’s magazines (Moran 6). Last but not least, Margaret Drabble keeps herself
busy by commenting on global political issues, participating in demonstrations, protesting
against the U.S. army in Iraq (Sendler 16 17) or supporting the British Stammering
Association (Drabble, My Stammer ).
1.2. Socio-political Background of Great Britain from the 1960s to the 1990s
As already mentioned, Drabble draws frequently on the social and economic vicissitudes of Great Britain, and together with her powers of keen observation, she gives the
novels a vivid sense of accuracy and detail. In such fiction, therefore, the readers may
appreciate a realistic portrayal of London, the north south division, social stratification or
economic development of the country while the author contemplates on its existing features.
She derives inspiration from the chain of events that took place throughout the 20th century.
But what did Great Britain look like at that particular time? Margaret Drabble answers
eloquently in all of the four novels compared by describing the interrelationship among the
social, political and economic aspects.
To focus on Drabble’s beginnings, the 1960s, means to start with the highly acclaimed
novel The Millstone . Here, the author prefers to depict British society and family life in which
marriage and maternity plays the most significant role. She repeatedly emphasizes the
importance of social boundaries, but rather avoids topics discussed in her consequent works,
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such as economy or politics. Hence, in The Millstone , Drabble makes few comments on the
considerable changes of the decade and she does not describe
the determined efforts by governments of both parties to modernize
Britain, […] the declining allegiance to religious authority and observance
[…] connected with long running changes in western societies, [the]
government’s decision in 1961 to supply the contraceptive pill through the
National Health Service, [and it does not include] Britain’s displacement
by the Soviet Union and the United States, and the challenges to its
empire. ( Britain )
However, the novel reveals much about the social networks developing as a result of social
class determinism together with the historically pursued prejudices, in this case prejudices
concerning sex, marriage and illegitimacy.
Drabble opens the book with a scene where an unmarried couple demands a hotel
room to have sex in, which becomes threatened after an accidental disclosure of the truth
about their unmarried status. The receptionist’s complaint “oh well, I’ll have to go and ask”
proves that the morals were not very free at this period (Millstone 7). Furthermore, despite
the heroine does not believe that “the handicap of one small illegitimate baby would make a
scrap of difference to [her] career,” a strong sense of special treatment in the case of
unmarried mothers marks the story (Millstone 129). The protagonist, for example, opposed to being addressed “Mrs” but a nurse “coldly and sweetly” explained they “call everyone Mrs
[there]. As a courtesy title” ( Millstone 67). Numerous similar situations underline the exceptionality of single mothers’ status, among others, Rosamund’s stay in hospital where she had to “withstand various irritations, such as having a label at the end of [her] bed with the initial U, which stood […] for Unmarried” ( Millstone 120).
The second novel, The Ice Age , reflects the 1970s and though it includes family relationships as well, it additionally covers other levels – the political and economic scope.
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Drabble illuminates contemporary British society through the eyes of a male protagonist who works as a businessman and therefore takes interest in the economy of the country. The
“title of the novel is a metaphor for the economic and social ‘freeze’ of 1974–75, during which most of its events take place” (Ginding) and Drabble thus “presumably [makes] her
ice age symbolise the current period of economic stagnation” (Barker). The author puts in
contrast England, “a safe, shabby, mangy old lion” (76), its “consumer throw away flush
away advertising society” (93), its “new kind of architecture” (24) and foreign countries, such
as “New York, the most beautiful city in the world” with buildings made of “steel, glass,
concrete, Art Nouveau, Art Deco” ( Ice Age 41). All the themes actually came to be inspired
by reading for the author states that “there was an enormous amount of economic analysis
in the papers, but nothing on the subject of declining Britain in fiction at all” (Milton). On
this account, Drabble decided to write a novel devoted to unemployment, shocking prices,
critical conditions of property market, cutback in marriages and consequent widespread
hardship.
The third novel, The Radiant Way , introduces the main characters gathered at one place
on New Year’s Eve in order to bid farewell to the 1970s, thus setting the novel into the
consequent period. This work represents a combination of inner conflicts and wider
background of the protagonists, where reasons and results happen to be mutually
interconnected. The readers can ascertain all the important details, for example, by Drabble’s
simple symbolic analogy when
such a basic activity as lunch to link the lives of the three women and those
related to them within a global context further revises the feminist linear plot of
oppression and resistance. Here, the diversity of female experiences in particular
and human experiences in general is demonstrated by means of food and by the
manners in which it is consumed. Both shed light on a variety of personalities
and lifestyles, male and female, rural and cosmopolitan. (Lin 64)
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By juxtaposing the lunches of several individuals, the author comprehensibly illuminates which social class they belong to, possibly what geographical part of the country they come
from. Apart from these themes, the complex picture of the heroines and their immediate
families also reveal the British economic system under which they live, or the attempts “to
serve the community” with consequent disillusionment that “there is no point in it” ( The
Radiant 392). In general, this book deals with the socio political debate which unfolds –
through multiple parallel plots and voices – the change of entire society.
The fourth novel concerned takes place in the 1990s and the title, The Witch of Exmoor ,
stands for Frieda Haxby Palmer who becomes an influential, incomprehensible and puzzling
element in her children’s lives. This novel, however, discusses much more than mother child
relationships. As Drabble claims, it “is in a way a more multi cultural novel than any of [her]
others, which partly reflects the way England is”. In fact, her chief aim was “to display
people from different backgrounds set against [the] very traditional Anglo Saxon, self
satisfied tradition and ask the question, ‘Which society would you rather live in?’” (Scherry).
Furthermore, even though Drabble’s novels “address contemporary social concerns and are
not as rooted, as is much of [her sister’s] work, in the world of academia, the author
frequently uses dialogues peppered with literary and historical allusions,” mentioning many a
famous name, e.g. Goethe, Dickens, Shakespeare, Coleridge, Larkin or Ben Johnson
(Basbanes, Unveiling ). Nevertheless, the social concerns still remain to lie at the heart of
Drabble’s novel as ever.
1.3. The Characters on the Stage
Margaret Drabble always tends to place her characters in delicate settings where they
act under the profound influence of their immediate surroundings which force them to make
binding decisions. These consequently become the key aspects of all the protagonists’ fates,
thereby striking features of Drabble’s fiction as well. The free choice of the heroes and
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heroines, hence, reflects each individual’s ability to cope with problematic, desperate
situations, but their personal attitudes also indicate how restricted such behaviour is –
primarily by determinism that is shaped by the position within the society. Therefore,
complete and deep comprehension of the main characters can only be reached when they
are analysed separately as human beings, and at the same time, as a part of the whole social
set up in which they live.
The heroine of The Millstone , Rosamund Stacey, grew up in a well situated family,
studied at Cambridge, and became a young academic. However, in spite of the idyllic
background, she shares a kind of burden with those who belong to a lower social class.
Rosamund’s statement “it took me a very long time to piece together an economic view of
my own, owing partly to the anomalies of my upbringing, which had made me believe in the
poor without being one of them” indicates her confusion and persuasion of being someone
else (Millstone 97). Later on, she starts to live in her parents’ flat at a very attractive, highly
regarded location in London which leads people to false assumptions that the young woman
indisputably must be wealthy, even though she actually lives on “the starvation line”
(Millstone 10). On the whole, Rosamund represents the general opinion that “the twentieth
century witnessed an enormous improvement in the status of women” (Urschel et al.). In
addition, Hell adds that “women and girls in the 1960s already formulated their demand for
a personal self assertion [and] in order to find their new identity they sometimes leave their
husbands and children” (Hell). These utterances prove the impossibility to ignore the issues
of political, financial and domestic emancipation of women such as Rosamund.
Drabble’s The Ice Age is “a novel centred not on a woman exploring the process of her
social liberation, but on a series of interlinked relationships” where the author introduces a
male hero Anthony Keating who represents the male world and the male psyche (Sanders).
This principal character decides to give up class and family tradition in order to succeed in
the business world as a property developer. Drabble opens the book in the 1970s: a period
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marked by economic recession and a period in which Anthony faces not only commercial
problems but also the effects of a recent heart attack (Franková, Britské spis. 66). After “his
own heart had complained,” his life suddenly undergoes a radical change for Anthony has
“the satisfaction of knowing that it was all his own fault” (Ice Age 10). However, apart from
the male figure, Drabble introduces ten of other characters, e.g. Anthony’s partner Alison who used to be an actress but left the stage so as to be able to take care of her handicapped
daughter Molly and thus perhaps neglected the older daughter Jane. Among others, readers
learn about Kitty who “was a living proof of the possibility of good nature” (6) for despite
she lost her foot, “she would be finding it hard […] to blame the I.R.A.” ( Ice Age 5). Anyway,
by showing the contrasting characteristics of all the protagonists, Drabble examines the
adversity of their lives, potential (in)justice and individual way of coping with such realities.
As far as The Radiant Way is concerned, the protagonists “are affluent, middle aged
British intellectuals, eager to do the right thing, if only they knew what it was” (Simon). Liz
Headleand, Alix Bown and Esther Breuer are bound by close friendship since the Cambridge
days and they represent more than just a female point of view. In fact, Drabble avoids
showing her characters as beautiful princesses but rather prefers to highlight the bright
moments of the heroines’ lives and puts them in contrast with previous or consequent
troublesome events. For example Liz, a successful psychotherapist, lives in a modern
marriage with her second husband Charles until she discovers his affair. Suddenly, the
strong, much admired Liz alters into a hurt woman who “need[s] comfort, reassurance
[because] Charles had made her ill” ( The Radiant 69). Naturally, she decides to search for help
at one of her friends and chooses Alix to alleviate her unbearable suffering. Yet Alix herself
experiences harsh reality, for her first, only a few months lasting marriage leaves her widowed with a son, triggering thus her long, demanding existential struggle, before she
finds peace in the second marriage. As for Esther, Drabble depicts her as a single, modest woman, enjoying a life “filled with her obsession with medieval European vegetation and
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with her love of Italy” (Lin 59). The author, therefore, sketches in the picture of life variety
and offers another angle of observation.
Still another perspective seems to be delineated in The Witch of Exmoor which slightly
differs from the previous books. Frieda Haxby Palmer becomes a witch in her own
children’s eyes, though she “is not an evil sorcerer by any means, but a once powerful
feminist writer in her 60s who has grown disgusted with the state of the world, withdrawn to
a dilapidated Victorian castle” (Hunter). The ‘witch’ title indicates how powerfully Frieda
influences her children, and their immediate family, despite the distance between them
because she controls them overwhelmingly through their major concern, the money.
Generally speaking, “the Palmers reflect contemporary society’s mores and values […] and
its ethnic diversity. Rosemary is married to the Jewish Nathan Herz and Gogo to the
Guyanese David D’Anger” (Basbanes, Unveiling ). Drabble also points out the Palmers’
hidden awfulness, their racism and greed. But more importantly, her attitude suggests that
she “does not believe that her characters will ever change [for] they are all of them […]
halfway up to their necks in the mud of the past of their own lives [and] not even a
mechanical digger could get them out alive now” (Basbanes, Unveiling ).
In summary, Margaret Drabble skilfully pictures Englishness as seen through the eyes
of many protagonists, their relatives or friends. They stand for different genders, come from
diverse social classes, therefore also form a complex network of human relationships that
frequently work on the basis of social prejudices. As Franková claims, Drabble’s female
protagonists often attempt to handle their new position gained in the 1960s, as well as they
struggle against the social expectations that are often in contradiction with the incoming
possibilities enabling the young women to gain individual autonomy ( Britské spis. 62).
However, owing to the fact that most of Drabble’s works are “filled with […] a mixture of
extraordinary people,” these cover male voices as well (Plante). They play significant roles in
the books, too, because they belong to the realistic vision of England and therefore
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marvellously reveal the dramatic political, economic and social changes in the country through decades.
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2. The Importance of the Gender of the Main Characters
As the first chapter already pointed out, Margaret Drabble cannot be generally
considered a feminist novelist. Even though she touches upon feminist concepts, it is
necessary to understand her characters in the context of the complex reality and network of
human relationships depicted in particular works. Mostly, the author prefers to unfold her
stories through multiple parallel plots and voices which primarily belong to women indeed,
but these represent more than just a feminist point of view. Thus, the gender of every
individual plays a significant role since in Drabble’s books, male and female protagonists do
not emphasize a sexual dichotomy but rather make a whole, complement one another and
form a relationship in the given context. In addition, the novelist herself states:
…my books are I think mainly concerned with privilege, justice, and
salvation. Equality and egalitarianism preoccupy me constantly, and not
very hopefully. None of my books is about feminism, because my belief in
the necessity for justice for women (which they don’t get at the moment)
is so basic that I never think of using it as a subject. (Stevenson 153)
Therefore, on the basis of the prevailing conviction and Drabble’s own attitude I reached the
conclusion that the question of gender, which strongly predetermines readers’ perception of
the novels in general, should not be ignored, but taken into account and analysed instead.
2.1. Different Roles of Female Characters
This chapter focuses on Drabble’s novels from an angle which takes particular interest
in various characters, including male heroes. However, since the books concentrate more on
the heroines, I prefer to analyse their roles first. The author manages to create an overall
picture by describing minor details of the protagonists’ divergent social, financial and family
backgrounds that form their ideas which they either consciously or unconsciously mirror.
Moreover, the heroines generally confirm the existence of new women since they undergo
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processes through which they gain much greater freedom than women used to have several
decades ago. Lin confirms this fact when she suggests that “one important change is the
availability to women of equal opportunity for higher education and scholarships, a reality
simply unimaginable for Austen and merely a dream for Virginia Woolf” (60). Thus, owing
to the changes portrayed by Drabble, the readers may fully appreciate the female characters
in their new positions.
Throughout the novels compared, the heroines present themselves in the roles of
daughters, sisters, lovers, wives, grandmothers, but most frequently, they occupy the roles of
mothers and of women in general. The Millstone , for instance, shows Rosamund to experience
the pros and cons of most of these stages, while she struggles against “many difficulties and
counter attractions in an attempt to achieve a full independence. She succeeds partly through
the stability created by a love for her baby daughter Octavia,” hence satisfactorily fulfils the
role of a mother (Stevenson 153). More importantly, the decision to have an illegitimate
child and live as a single mother represents struggle for the right to do so, struggle for the
right to act independently, and struggle against the still existing puritan Victorian morals
(Franková, Britské spis. 63).
Apart from that, Rosamund also marginally occupies the role of a teacher and though
she “saw no reason why [her] proposed career of thesis, assistant lectureship, lectureship and
so on should be interrupted” on the basis of her gravidity, she “distrusted the value of [her]
own teaching” ( Millstone 56 57). Furthermore, the novel deals with the role of a daughter which appears to be unaccomplished since Rosamund states “[my parents] are pleased in a way that I did so well, but they think I’m a dilettante. […] They wanted me to read
Economics at Cambridge, or at least History. They never said so, but I could tell” ( Millstone
32). This indicates her inner feeling of disappointment and failure. But above all, it
characterizes the decade with regard to the female position within it which proves to be
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strong, recently new, enabling self dependence and liberation on the basis of contemporary
emancipation.
In The Ice Age Drabble depicts a variety of new, pioneering women as well, such as Kity
Friedmann. Kity “has the greatest difficulty in believing in the existence of ill luck” (49).
Even when she is widowed and has her leg amputated after a bomb attack, she still worries
about other people first. More important, however, is the role of Alison Murray. The author
unfolds her many faces step by step. One of them mirrors Alison as a once successful
actress, for whom “beauty had for years been identity”(79). Another face shows her as
Anthony Keating’s intimate partner and support. Besides, she carries out her duties of a
mother to two girls: handicapped Molly, lucky enough “to go to an expensive private
school” (132), and older Jane, “just Jane, as cross and perverse as she had ever been” (36).
The mother role in particular densely interweaves throughout the whole novel because
many characters think “Alison is the perfect mother”. Nevertheless, Anthony realizes that it
is impossible, and claims that Alison “was right, she could not divide herself in two. She
could save Jane, or Molly, but not both. So she had committed herself to saving the one that
could not be saved” (171). Thus, Alison’s lifelong effort to serve as a good mother to her
daughters only seems to result in the inability of appreciation on one side and embitterment
on the other. What is more, Jane’s persuasion that her mother “always put her [sister] first
[and] never gave a fuck about [her]” fully blinds her and consequently leads her to the wrong
conclusion that the sole person responsible for her own situation, the imprisonment in
Wallacia, is her mother Alison (127). The female gender therefore confirms the significance
of motherhood again and furthermore, it suggests its deep interrelationship with emotivity
and family bonds that affect virtually all women.
Similarly, in The Radint Way readers learn about the deep complexity of the female
psyche. The three middle aged main protagonists portrayed here, offer a picture of
completely believable, real human beings. They have to cope with everydayness and trivial
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issues, through which Drabble stresses “the variety of personalities and lifestyles” (Lin 64).
This fact, however, partly emerges as a direct outcome of the women’s occupations, too, for
“touching on questions of social responsibility, the polarization of rich and poor, and [the
importance of] the educated middle class in contemporary Britain” undoubtedly
predetermine the new roles of the heroines as well (Stringer 179). Moreover, the book gives
many an example of situations when a mother suddenly finds herself in the role of a
daughter, like Liz and Shirley, for whom the mother figure appears to be one of the most
(negatively) influential figures of their childhood. Thus, Liz looks back and feels like “the
real mother had been there, solidly absent, a constant and insoluble distress, a damaged
being, a victim, a mystery. […] Maybe her mother would be revealed, after her convenient
death, […] not to have been Liz’s mother at all” (138 139). So, in this novel readers do not
learn so much about Liz as a mother but still, they are given a vivid image of a mother
daughter relationship which enables them to understand other features ascribed to the
female gender, such as vulnerability, responsibility for own children or the comprehension of
one’s mother’s mistakes.
The title of the fourth book, The Witch of Exmoor , “is rendered with a light touch.
Frieda Haxby Palmer, the eponymous ‘witch’,” prolongs the list of Drabble’s mother figures
(Basbanes, I Had ). But compared to the previous main characters, Frieda’s great age stands
out in contrast, and perhaps even indicates that the author herself has got older.
Interestingly, the novel parallels Drabble’s life in other aspects, since the author admits: “the
funny thing is that my mother was very nice to my children. She used to let them get into
bed with her in the morning, which is more than she ever did with us” (Mackenzie).
Similarly, Frieda is fond of her grandchild Benjamin whom she loves and calls “the divine
child” (50), while her own children usually ask “is she in her right mind?” (40), because it was Frieda who “has forced them into the role of Bad Children” (86). The novel then shows
the heroine as a successful, acknowledged writer, a loving grandmother, but at the same
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time, also as a mother who failed to fulfil her children’s expectations. Nevertheless, Drabble explains more about her work:
it was quite fun sounding off against all the things that had annoyed or irritated
me and I sort got rid of a lot of irritation. But the new novel is largely about the
grandmother/mother/daughter relationship and it is largely about my mother’s
childhood and some of it is quite depressing”. (Cardwell et al.)
The Witch thus reveals a lot about Frieda’s childhood as well, seeing her in the role of a sister, and a daughter. She describes her life in the memoirs, where she confesses that to her mother she was only a Little Mouse, while her sister Everhilda was called Little Swan (113).
Frieda’s narration of her early life adds another perspective hence and emphasizes the interdependence of people’s lives within the family in particular.
Altogether, Margaret Drabble chooses different, complex settings for her main characters, hence, it is necessary to bear in mind, that all the roles, first and foremost, form the whole – the novel. The concept of motherhood definitely reappears in the four books as one of the most important themes narrowly tied with the female gender. However, the novels also indicate that the concept undergoes radical changes. In Greer’s point of view,
“English literature had never interested itself in mothers or motherhood. The only good mother was a mother who died young, leaving a shining after image against which all other mothering figures could be measured and found waiting” (249). Perhaps that is why
Drabble’s books do not treat this topic as the crucial one, but rather as a part which helps us comprehend the wider socio political background and interpersonal relationships with respect to the female gender.
2.2. Aspects of the Male World
As far as the male characters are concerned, Margaret Drabble seems to focus repeatedly on the most widespread models. Her heroes embody the set of practices which
17
generally endure over time and space, thus they represent typical male roles where the
traditional becomes very rarely replaced by an unusual perspective. Such a tendency proves
right Connell who defines masculinity as characteristically hegemonic – exerting power over women, often “controlling the major corporations and the great private fortunes,”
connected with heterosexuality, White race, preferring Christianity as a form of religion,
unavoidably involved with other social structures, such as class (74). All these distinctive
features reappear in the novels more often than any uncommon aspects while Drabble
unfolds her stories by involving male protagonists.
Therefore, the male gender frequently represents male authority who has high
powered, highly paid or interesting job: Rosamund’s lover George “stayed on with the BBC,
moving round the Middle East” ( Millstone 30); Anthony, a property developer, “was the
Chosen Son” ( Ice Age 170); Charles Headeland “produced a television series [because he has
ambition] to speak to the whole nation” (Connor 67); “Daniel is a successful barrister” (19),
David works as a politician and journalist, “he is a parliamentary candidate for a marginal
constituency in West Yorkshire” ( The Witch 21). In most cases, hence, the male characters
occupy the roles of well off breadwinners, husbands or lovers, brothers or sons and not so
importantly, they find themselves in the position of fathers. The mother figure remains to
have much greater impact on men than fathers owing to the process of upbringing, during which fathers pose themselves as present, but predominantly metaphorically rather than
physically. As a result, the children mention their father marginally, as in The Radiant Way where a child book demonstrates the reality: “And where was Father? Ah, there he was,
coming home from work. […] A weak con man. No match for ever present, smartly
frocked, even smiling, competent Mother. A shadowy figure, Father” (386). Such grasp of
the male role definitely becomes another fundamental characteristic of Drabble’s novels.
But like anyone else, Margaret Drabble as an author develops and matures which is
reflected by the comparison of the four novels published in successive decades in particular.
18
Though the writer largely concentrates on the human mind, especially that of women, on the
changing stereotypes, scepticism towards post war tendencies in Great Britain and socio
economic state of affairs, she also opens new themes as well (Franková, Britské spis. 68). Such
an attitude becomes a tendency arising out of the frustration of that period, which not only
Drabble senses, but also her contemporaries. Because “English fiction since the war has veered uncomfortably between coarse social satire and narrow estheticism, [and because] no
novelist of penetration is really content, any longer, with the punctuation of traditional
realism,” writers search for new methods or fields, use original narrative styles and combine
their inherited burden, existing technique, and present knowledge with recent trends
(Wood). Thus, not even Drabble manages (or attempts) to eschew the mood of her time and
copes with it in a variety of ways.
Therefore, The Witch mirrors the male position within the society in a new way as the
author ascribes the heroes characteristics not used in her previous works. She introduces
David D’Anger, and makes him a man of colour: “I’m black. Well, I’m Indian Guyanese”
(55). He takes interest in national economy, wishes to become a Member of Parliament. But
“like most men of politics, David D’Anger is not very good at taking a holiday and forgetting
his work” which makes him rather a bad father (91). Together with his wife Gogo, they
“chose careers [that] do not demand any excessive investment in bourgeois décor, […] so
they live in a mess” (122). Besides, the readers also witness David’s infidelity which the
author describes with a sense of commonplace. Another character, Nathan Herz, stands out
as an outsider from the very beginning. The author does not surprise us, hence, when she
shows him as an old drinker, “not a criminal: just [a] bloody stupid” man who got himself
into trouble by forgetting to send a bill of £120,000 to a client (225). This precarious
situation, the death of his secret love and his persuasion that “he had never been a real
achiever” make him consider suicide as a solution (225). Despite he decides not to, he dies
shortly afterwards of a heart attack.
19
Nevertheless, in The Witch , Drabble concentrates on other serious topics neglected in her previous books. Her depiction of teenager Simon Palmer, a drug addict, symbolizes parents’ overwork, indifference and their lack of time to worry about their offsprings. They are too preoccupied with their own concerns to solve the problems of their children, even if they observe certain dangerous symptoms. Simon is thus doomed to failure because, not mature enough, he is weak, without male powers and physical strength. In the case of Will
Paine, however, overcoming the obstacles becomes a bit easier. He is described as “a lost boy, looking for a good cause” (77), half coloured, and “too nice looking to be pure bred
English” (78). Will was sentenced for peddling grass to the middle classes, but despite the criminal past, he finally “apprentices to a landscape gardener [and] is healthier and stronger than he has ever been” (266). Drabble lets him succeed as one of few, regardless of his former experience and anticipated unfortunate turn of events, presumably because of his courage to face the contemporary conditions and his will power which makes him look stronger.
Thus, Drabble’s male world generally reflects problems of middle aged white men, exclusively heterosexual, ergo usually married, with a promising, high ranking career. In accordance with such state of living, they primarily belong to the middle class, which determines other aspects of their lives, including their most favoured subjects: money, education and social expectation. But as Drabble’s works mature over time, they naturally adopt a new style and composition as well as they show the author’s scepticism about today’s society, its loss of belief in social justice, the greed of postmodern cynicism and last but not least, the racism of British multiculturalism (Franková, Britské spis. 74). All these aspects then demonstrate the author’s changing grasp of gender which is reflected by the replacement of the former mother oriented themes with topics consequently focused on bad fathers, failing husbands, men of colour, criminal figures or drug addicts.
20
2.3. The Limits of Gender in Drabble’s Novels
As far as gender is concerned, the status of women, needless to say, has always been a
more widely discussed matter than the male position within society. Women fought for
certain changes and in the 1960s, as The Millstone portrays, they “already formulated their
demand for a personal self assertion [because] they feel they no longer can live a full life as
merely wives and mothers; they seek full satisfaction in education, work, career and sex as well. In order to find their new identity they sometimes leave their husbands and children”
(Hell). Thus Rosamund, the heroine of that particular decade, represents the newly achieved
status of women because she not only becomes an educated young woman, but also decides
to live on her own despite the fact she is pregnant. Furthermore, “from the 60s onwards, an
exchange of roles between the sexes has taken place in modern societies,” and that is also why Drabble shows her heroines to be bound to a lesser degree (Hell). Actually, her female
protagonists represent independent, successful women challenging the black and white
feminist concept which regards the female gender as women oppressed within the male world (qtd. in Aitkenhead). However, the author still occasionally points out that her
heroines partly live under the male impact and dominance, for they are attached to men
emotionally, financially, morally or as a result of upbringing. Besides, both genders happen
to be tied by social relations, too.
Another restrictive feature binding the gender is definitely that one connected with
sexuality. Drabble mirrors the loosening morals of the 1960s while she lets Rosamund date with Joe and Roger at once. The heroine obviates any harm for, without having sex with
either of them, “Joe thought [she] was sleeping with Roger and Roger thought [she] was
sleeping with Joe”. Rosamund herself supposes that “both were sleeping with other girls”
and following the newly established modern pattern, she does not spend time on worrying
about it (21 22). In this respect, the equality in sexual opportunities is obvious, hence,
Drabble does not bring it into the central focus in her novels, but only marks it as a change.
21
Therefore, compared to other British women writers, one of the most widely debated literary
topics, sexuality and sexual freedom, seems to be of marginal interest for Drabble (Franková,
Britské spis. 75).
However, sometimes the author puts emphasis on this aspect, usually when meant as
deviant and perverse, such as in The Radiant Way . Here, Liz Headland realizes under the weight of evidence that she was sexually abused by her father Alfred who “had been arrested
in 1939 for a minor sexual offence (exposing himself on a railway bridge to primary school
children)” (389). In this case, sexuality becomes a tool through which men attempt to
demonstrate their power and strength, and at the same time, they hope to achieve their
masculinity. Moreover, sexuality as a tool can transform these men into murderers like Paul
Whitmore who chooses abandoned streets to attack lonely female walkers, and whose
“crimes had driven Esther out of London and […] out of the country” (390). So, sexuality
becomes of interest for Drabble but only under specifically defined circumstances which also
seem to serve as a proof of negative tendencies towards social corruptness. More
importantly, this attitude is almost entirely attributed to men and women become its victims,
like Liz to whom her father’s actions mean an eternal burden that limits her. In this sense,
the male gender negatively influences women who, as a consequence, suddenly find
themselves to be living under the restrictive conditions set by men.
Young Rosamund Stacey also describes negative impact on her personality caused by
her parents. She considers them to be responsible for many an obstacle in her life. She does
not appreciate her father’s socialist principles, not even his political and moral attitudes – just
the contrary. Though Rosamund thinks of Mr Stacey as “so nice, so kind, so gentle,” (31)
she blames him for inculcating an idea into her mind that she must rely solely on herself so
as she “had not had to ask a favour” (85). Thus, Rosamund inescapably follows a motto “I
could not pay anyone to do dirty work that I could do myself. I had my upbringing to thank
for this attitude,” which reveals the consequences of former educational influence (82).
22
Besides, she feels imprisoned in a circle of social prejudices, for once raised to become a
self reliant person, she cannot stand taking any advantage of her father’s name and his good
reputation, but simultaneously, she fails to escape it. For example, when doctor Protheroe
learns about the kinship of Rosamund and Herbert Stacey, “a change immediately passes
over the whole demeanour of this man” (142). So, Rosamund keeps struggling against the
emotional and moral standards that eternally bind her with her father, the representative
figure of the male gender.
Other restrictions unravel in the context of father rights or financial bond. The former
emerges in The Ice Age where the author seems to suggest that raising a child still belongs to
mother duties. Despite moments in which a male character proves his claim “I’m good with
kids” and Anthony splendidly looks after autistic Molly, men usually have very few
opportunities to bring up children (125). Apart from being busy at work, men are also
denied this right by women claiming it to be their own and considering it to be a matter of
the female gender. That is why Alison returns home hurriedly as soon as she learns about the
situation of Molly, her handicapped daughter, and Anthony realizes “she is coming for
Molly, not for him” (126). In The Witch , the ties are more or less a matter of money. The
Palmers repeatedly worry about Frieda’s fortune, though “they are all doing nicely at the
moment”. The greed makes them ask: “was she intent on squandering her money? What […]
of their rightful inheritance?” (28) and when they get an answer in Frieda’s will “leaving
everything […] in trust to her grandson Benjamin,” (179) jealousy comes upon the family.
The money that binds them first, drives a wedge between them later. Thus, both the
relational and financial aspects tie the characters and simultaneously force them to act
unusually and unpredictably.
On the whole, Drabble’s protagonists seem to embody intelligence, strength,
ambitions, career success, and active social life regardless of their gender. But as Shurbutt
claims, the
23
characters operate in a universe over which they have little rational control […].
Though her characters are decidedly not free, Drabble has said that they
paradoxically operate with a limited freedom to make choices, and through the
quality of those choices comes the possibility of redemption or grace – grace that
comes from choosing to submit to those social bonds and obligations that afford
one wisdom, strength, and, as Wordsworth wrote, “the philosophic mind”.
(Shurbutt)
So, in spite of all the limits, the characters do face the possibility to cope with the troublesome events of both their public and private lives, ergo they can achieve what in their eyes might be viewed as victory. The author therefore sets limit within an already uncontrollable unit, the universe, but on the basis of personal choices, anyone has chance to succeed. However, Drabble’s novels also stress that the free choices radically differ between the genders sometimes, since women still do not have the same powers as men and thus the male gender may affect women more than vice versa.
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3. British Consciousness in the Second Half of the 20th Century
In addition to the already discussed topics, Margaret Drabble also traditionally focuses
on distinct kinds of Britishness which seems to be generally imbedded in the historical
development of the country’s economy, policy and social organization. In this respect,
Drabble’s books reflect matters that are especially connected with national changes
characteristic of each particular decade. Moran points out that the author “examines the various social, political, economic, and legal issues which affect and inform the existence of
contemporary people,” (5) thus making the author an avowed realist who does not “want to write an experimental novel,” but who opts for the beauty and complexity of realism instead
(6). More importantly, Drabble “is unapologetic about her uncompromising realism”
because she claims: “I’d rather be at the end of a dying tradition, which I admire, than at the
beginning of a tradition which I deplore” (Gerrard). That ranks her “among the few living writers who continue to embrace the style of nineteenth century novelists such as Austen,
James, and Thomas Hardy” (Hunter).
Hence, on the basis of her aptitude for realistic portrayal, Drabble is hailed as “an
uncorrupted and unswerving writer standing for stalwart, old fashioned, northern values;
Old Labour, not New; traditional literature, not modernist or postmodernist” (Gerrard).
Mary critics consider her to be “the author one should read to get a clear view of what it’s
like to live in England,” since through her compulsive novels, “we receive a wonderfully
moving vision of the hard pressed England of today” (Sadler). Generally, Drabble is thus viewed as an author “once acclaimed for writing about women’s lives, later labelled a middle
class ‘Hampstead novelist’,” (Gerrard) who especially “reflects the interest in the social
upheavals of the post war era” ( Oxford ). On these accounts, Margaret Drabble’s incisive
criticism mirrors all absorbing themes of social class awareness, recent economic lay out or
politically centred stage, which all together provide the mutually interconnected parallels
broadly debated under the label The Britishness.
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3.1. Social Class Belonging
Social stratification undoubtedly counts among the most widely discussed matters, either in scientific disciplines or in popular science fields, because “the social differences and inequalities in contemporary British society still represent complex and controversial topic”
(Reid 1). Thus, the social stratification forms a significant part of the Britishness where the social classes are centred on the view through and from which people principally comprehend the differences and disparity of their milieu. At the everyday level, it means
“that social class membership remains an important determinant of life chances,” since the identification with one of the classes gives rise to prejudices and assumptions about people in general (Abercrombie 111). At the same time, Reid claims that the class disparities are also
“recognized in people’s appearance and speech, where they live and come from, what they do for a living, how they spend time and money and what their interests are” (2 3). Broadly speaking, all these features imply a form of differentiation among people which ranks them into various groups within the society – in other words, one’s accent, house location, leisure activities or job position indicate one’s social class and vice versa.
This social class belonging and its characteristic aspects are certainly rooted in
Drabble’s novels, too, for her “most recent fiction is heavily salted with social consciousness,
[…] expanded from the concerns of middle class, educated women to a variety of political and moral dilemmas” (Hunter). Indeed, the author becomes preoccupied with the fates of middle class characters whose interconnection unfolds a wider scope of social layers. It becomes evident in the very first novel, The Millstone , where Rosamund “shares her author’s tendency to envisage society in terms of ‘justice, guilt and innocence… sociological pity’: her narrative is critically observant of class distinction” (Stevenson 153). The middle class heroine hence expresses her disapproval with the general social set up of that time and considers England unjust society responsible for the inequality of opportunities among the social classes. In addition, Rosamund also emphasizes her disapproval by describing a
26
number of situations from which she benefits simply on the basis of her higher social status, which is a matter of fact she regards absolutely critically.
Connor observes that the post war mood and the social disparities appear in The
Radiant Way as well. In his view, this novel reveals “a period of renewed class and cultural
division which seemed to many to be not merely a byproduct of Thatcherism but also the
systematic effect of a top down class antagonism” (65). Among others, however, the
conditions referring to social hierarchy form the heart of Drabble’s novels, so they do not
take a back seat in The Ice Age and The Witch either. The latter debates the subject to a larger
degree and the readers learn about the social clashes during many seemingly minor affairs, as
in the case of Patsy Palmer. She is a well off, middle aged, confident woman, always
interested in the problems of the others, denying hers – in short, a superficial person. Patsy
proves this fact when she allows a used to be criminal Will Paine to share her house.
Though she claims she likes Will, Patsy also admits “she fears his category. […] He cannot
be contained in her frame,” because Will violated law, has no money, and due to his
Guyanese origin, he is definitely not a Britisher (The Witch 59). Such moments emphasize
Drabble’s critical view of the established social system and the continuing class membership
in England which immediately classify every individual and ascribe them particular
characteristics.
The social awareness of the British, therefore, appears to be embedded in their deep
subconscious and regardless many a historical change, the social stratification and class
consciousness still remain to be of high significance. Thus, the attempts to record the turn of
events in order to understand the social background to a greater extent only confirm Reid’s
assertion that “the term ‘social class’ has a good deal of currency among the population at
large and that people are prepared to use it of themselves” (34). Furthermore, he observes
that the “conception of social class has been found among young people aged between
fifteen and twenty one, […] since most of these young people were classed according to
27
their parents’ or head of household’s occupation” (36 37). Actually, many scholars agree on the fact that the “occupational position does not encompass all aspects of the concept of class, but it is probably the best indicator of it [because] the hierarchy of prestige strata and the hierarchy of economic classes have their roots in the occupational structure”
(Abercrombie 112). As a result, people act according to such persuasions and make conclusions about social class belongingness on the basis of one’s job and vice versa – jobs automatically classify people into particular class.
Drabble gives evidence of such a tendency in The Ice Age where she portrays Mike
Morgan, “an intellectual, a working class intellectual, son of a Welsh miner, […] extremely left wing, even by university standards, but that, in view of his origins, had surprised nobody” ( Ice Age 178). This brief description uncovers Mike’s potential enhanced by university education which opens many an opportunity for him. However, the descent must still be taken into consideration since it explains causes of his behaviour, and at the same time, serves as a clue for the general public. The fact that Mike’s father works as a miner indicates the economic background of the family and also the political preference which other people understand as the lower class membership. Nevertheless, though Drabble puts the binding conditions in comparison with bright prospects, she finally does not enable Mike to escape his past and tells the readers “that Mike had worked in a brothel,” which symbolizes the fatality of destiny that is beyond our control (185). Besides, moments like that reveal the author’s critical attitude towards the social class predetermination.
A similar pattern is depicted in The Radiant Way as well. Though the three protagonists tread separate paths, they are united through the past, because despite the fact that “each left her childhood home in the provincial North and made her way to a more sophisticated life in London, […] each is still tied to her past in startling but ineluctable ways” (Sadler).
Moreover, as far as the social classes are concerned, Drabble uses her characters to stress the divergence of class thinking, the intentional nourishing of segregation, or sometimes the
28
attempts to move upwards on the social hierarchy ladder. So, e.g. the writer dwells on the
serious problems of miners in the 1980s to which Esther responds: “what any of this has got
to do with you. Or with me. It’s simply not our problem,” and thus dissociates herself
strictly from the working class (343). Liz’s mother, Rita Ablewhite’s lifelong endeavours
confirm the class separation, too. Rita “did not want her daughters to sound like common
Yorkshire schoolgirls, [so] they had to learn to speak correctly, to speak like the voices on
the wireless to which Rita so tirelessly attended” ( The Radiant 149). In fact, Drabble
experienced such efforts to avoid lower social class belonging personally.
Her mother Margaret Bloor came from a working class, Yorkshire background, but
she was “so clever that she got a scholarship to Newnham”. Here, the principal held her in
contempt and “put her firmly in her place”. She suddenly realized that people judged her
according to another standard “by which she felt she was being judged for the rest of her
life”. Therefore Margaret’s best intentions urged her to protect her offsprings and “they were all taught to speak ‘proper English, not Yorkshire’, though [Margaret] spoke with a
Yorkshire accent to the end of her life” (Mackenzie). The acting of Drabble’s mother, hence,
supports the rooted conventions that rule over the country and demonstrate the power of
social class belongingness. In addition to that, she also left deep imprint in her daughter’s
mind, thus being the very person who influenced Margaret Drabble and her universal
perception of social equilibrium. It is then no surprise that the writer herself interests in the
issues associated with social classes because she has faced and experienced its power since
her early childhood.
3.2. Socio-economic Aspects in the Novels
As already pointed out, British society widely expresses its opinion about class
distinctions – not in terms of denial, but rather as a debate of the existence of classes. Reid
sums it up by stating that “class is so deeply embedded in [the] national sub conscious it is
29
poisoning every aspect of [people’s] lives. Not just industrial relations and politics, but [their]
choice of districts to live in, jobs, schools, friends – even which bar to drink in at [their]
local” (52). Hence, many critics lay great emphasis on the importance of job position, for
example, since “for most people in modern Britain their occupation and the occupations of
their household of family, determine the resources available to them. Occupational position
is a central determinant of inequalities in income and life style” because it influences the
financial status, thus also the status within social hierarchy and frequently the political
preferences of an individual, too (Abercrombie 112). The main interest, therefore, lies within
the economic realm which primarily untangles further key issues of this field, such as the
socio political problems. On these accounts, my thesis cannot but show the lives of men and women described from Drabble’s point of view with regard to the socio economic relations
and its overall impact as well.
The author clarifies the socio economically oriented motivations and economic
background of her writing on the example of The Witch of Exmoor in particular. Here she
speaks about the desire to create a novel of contrasting political societies, which she could
not fulfil. She believes that “you always have to cut your cloth according to your talent. You
can have a brilliant political novel in your head, which you don’t have the capacity to write”
(Cardwell et al.). Furthermore, she explains:
[The Witch ] was about social justice and it was about the extraordinary disparities
and the self satisfaction of the British middle classes about that the fact that they
all live in such a wonderful country. So it is political in that sense. But the novel
is a means of exploring those inequalities. We’re all individuals and what I like to
write about is the way social events affect the individual; it can go the other way
too. I like to write about interaction of the public and the private, and the social
and the personal. The stuff of the novel is how people behave. I suppose I finally
just find that endlessly interesting, so I write about it. (Cardwell et al.)
30
As a result, Drabble offers a complex picture of British society, because the description of
social events and development that occur in England throughout the century reveals the
sources of social conflicts, illustrates basic points that foster the illusion of class boundaries,
and gives abundant evidence of the economic sphere and its undoubted effect on class
distinctions.
More importantly, however, as the characters of The Witch live in Hampshire at the end
of the 20th century, they are forced to face the results of a long lasting epoch which Reid
summarizes decade by decade. In his opinion, the sixties reflect the weak British economy,
exuberant life styles and technological advances. The seventies indicate general sense of
pessimism and gloom, partly because “both inflation and unemployment rose menacingly,
[which], in the early eighties, rose catastrophically” (289). Moreover, the eighties are marked with the re election of the Conservative Party whose “policy reflected the will of Mrs
Thatcher, quite the most commanding figure seen in British domestic politics for nearly a
century”. Thus, “in explaining the changes of the eighties, more weight must be allocated to
the accidents and contingencies of politics, and to the vagaries of personality” (279).
Consequently, it is no surprise that Drabble, reflecting all these events in her novels,
comments on the development and changes within the country with a sense of
disappointment and criticism. The nineties, during which The Witch of Exmoor was published,
then mirror the author’s overall pessimistic attitude defining the last decade of the 20th
century as “the post Thatcher period when politics in Britain had become so shabby and
despairing that even the people who were in power had lost all faith in themselves”
(Cardwell et al.).
Actually, except for the first novel compared, government policy tends to reappear in
Drabble’s novels regularly. The Ice Age concentrates largely on the economic decline of that
time in which “all over the country, people blamed other people for all the things that were
going wrong—the trades unions, the present government, the miners, the car workers, the
31
Arabs, The Irish” (50). The writer is disillusioned with the current state of affairs, therefore,
repeatedly points out that England changed into a shabby country. Such persuasion even
deepens in her later work, The Radiant Way , which characterizes mainly the events of the
1980s. It mentions that in this period, “unemployment rises steadily, but the Tory Party is
not yet often reminded of its election poster which portrayed a long dole queue with the
slogan ‘Labour isn’t working’” (172). Also, in the nineties “the word ‘Socialist’ sounded
somehow more acceptable, more intellectual, than the dreadful word ‘Labour’, with its
connotations of manual toil and prison routine” (80). These quotations prove Drabble’s
dissatisfaction with the political efforts, consequent brought about changes and
simultaneously, it offers criticism of contemporary Britain and its forward moving, class
divisive society.
Furthermore, in The Radiant Way , the largest number of illustrative examples of social
stratification intertwined with the economic status emerges. As already touched on in the
first chapter, here Drabble juxtaposes the lunches of several individuals in order to highlight
their social and economic backgrounds as well as the general determinism of social class
belonging. The comparison of Liz and Alix, for instance, contrasts not only different ways of
living, but also different concerns. Both arouse from the lunch depiction which Drabble uses
as symbols of various, unequal conditions. Therefore, while Liz Headland, living in a
mansion in the heart of London, “eats her lunch of cottage cheese, anticipating a better meal
that evening” (137), she thinks about the death of her mother who may be “revealed not to
have been [her] mother at all” in the end (139), and asks herself “what had her real father
done ” to her (144)? In the mean time, Alix Bowen “spends most of her lunch hour shopping
for the dinner she is to present to Liz and Stephen Cox”, then she “buys herself a piece of
pie to eat in her office” where she “heads a research unit into the care and control of women
offenders” (152 3).
32
The everyday event demonstrates that Liz can afford the luxury to be ‘only and mostly’
preoccupied with her inner emotions and her search for identity because her psychiatric
private practice ensures her good living. Also the four storeyed house she shares with
Charles “would be worth, [her] friends enviously muttered, perhaps a million,” partly owing
to the good neighbour hood which means no social fear (18). Such seemingly banal facts
therefore indicate that Liz lives beyond the common standards, and it ranks her among the
upper middle class. Alix, on the other hand, not a master of her own, acts according to the
instructions given. She takes interest in the social structure and her urge to assist the weak
makes her concentrate on the lower classes. Nevertheless, at the end of the novel, Alix
serves as an example of Drabble’s own disappointment with society because she is sent to
Northam where she gets a new job which “is, at least, not socially useful” (392). Drabble
suggests that there is no point in serving the community, shows her loss of belief in the
present social system and pins her only hope on its change in the future.
All in all, the novel characters often embody particular social class narrowly tied with
economic views, and they are influenced by the political context of each decade. In this way,
the books unravel the spirit of the age, frequently marked with Drabble’s bitter criticism which has roots in the socio economic arrangements and the political development of the
country. The disenchanted author leaves but a shred of hope of change for her protagonists, which often gives impression of only the lesser of two evils, since she implies that letting
them live the same lives means indifference, apathy and long waiting indeed, but still a more
seemingly secure way than no change at all.
3.3. Negative Britishness
Drabble’s dedication to social realism has been reflected from many points of view so
far. Her attitude generally expresses the sense of outrage and dissatisfaction with several
themes to which she repeatedly returns. Mostly, the author uses her novels to give evidence
33
about the negative impact on several concerns in particular: the changing social and political
trends, the underlying problem of determinism and fate, and the North South division of the
country. She does so by attacking a wide scope of touchy issues, which ensures that “no
aspect of contemporary Britain escapes the swivel eye of Drabble’s promiscuous revulsion”
(Wood). It is necessary to emphasise that the author analyses the most topical events against
the historical background since it enables to understand the processes Britain passed through
in the last decades. The works offer many a statement, e.g. “Britain’s past has been greater
than its future,” which represent Drabble’s negative approach towards the developments in
the historical context, thus they simply form a part of the whole picture (The Witch 58).
To start with the first point mentioned, the social trends, these considerably deal with
the class system, new freedoms bringing new morals and multiculturalism. Reid claims that
“class is a product of history. [Moreover], the nature of class relationships in Britain during
the Second World War was probably to her advantage; in the 1970s they were very much to
her disadvantage” (215). As Drabble starts her literary career in the post war era, she rather witnesses and records the latter, the class disadvantages of her native land. Therefore, in The
Millstone , she stresses many an opportunity that opens owing to the greater degree of
freedom in the 1960s, but still only within the limits of a particular class. The Ice Age
continues to depict the new civil liberties – but in inseparable association with loose morals.
The Radiant Way confirms the existing forms of classes and considers them to be deeply
entrenched in British society. In The Witch of Exmoor , all these aspects combine with
multicultural problems and all together, present the model of Britishness.
Though “Drabble also celebrates the many positive changes,” by and large, she offers
her readers an overall criticism of the undesirable features that have significant impact on the
protagonists in every single novel (Lin 60). An illustrative example is provided in The
Millstone where Drabble emphasises the negative, highly influential powers of the social
stratification. She shows the possible confusion when the boundaries of social classes start to
34
interweave, as in the case of Rosamund, whose “upbringing made [her] believe in the poor without being of them, [for her parents] were among the poshest and most well known of
all” (97). As a result of these contradictory facts, it took Rosamund a long time to put
together the picture of the rest of the world and of her own. Besides, people judged her
according to her renowned, well thought of parents (in other words with bias), while
Rosamund ranked herself among the lower classes on account of her inner identification with them. Consequently, the uncertainty of who she actually is brings about her identity
crisis.
The second point that is subjected to accurate description in the novels pursues the
political trends which might be better understood in terms of historical development.
Connor observes close connection between the novel and history, since
novels are ways of making history; they belong to the history of events and they
contribute to the historical narrative of those events. [Moreover], most accounts
of the relationship between history and the novel have concentrated on […] the
question of truth. History, it is conventionally claimed, deals with things as they
were; fiction with things as they might, or even should, have been. (128 130)
Thus we can also consider Drabble’s books to be a kind of commitment to the
representation of the past, subjectively interpreted on the themes of political amorality or widespread loss of faith in better future. The author makes impression that the sense of
bitter disappointment accompanies the political milieu over time and space. In the end,
hence, the novels may leave the readers with a feeling that the political stage in Britain is
inconsolably negative.
As far as politics is concerned, the author goes back in history in order to compare the
old days, the seemingly best times, with a later changeover. Drabble mentions how “the
Indians imprisoned schoolteachers and writers [or] how the Ugandans threatened to execute
British offenders,” and she agrees because she thinks the country deserved it (Ice Age 77). In
35
her opinion, “malice and justice united to persecute the once so prosperous, once so
arrogant, once so powerful of nations, the nation on whose empire the sun had never set”
(Ice Age 77). What Drabble fears for is the future because she believes that the past political
events are likely to haunt the country for ages. In The Witch , written some twenty years later,
the principal character Frieda Haxby explains “I look to the past because I have no future”
and, among others, she is resolved to “never harass another politician [for] it is not worth
her attention” (118). Drabble, thus, seems to reduce her political opinions, but she does not
cease criticizing politics wholly. The politician David D’Anger in The Witch , possessed with a vision of a just society, therefore serves as another example only to give Drabble chance to
ridicule politically naïve ideas and show her disbelief in politics and its “possibility in the late
twentieth century” (47). So, the writer proves to be strong and determined in her contempt
for English politics.
The North South division of England is also among the hottest issues playing a
significant role when defining Britishness and for this reason no one certainly expects that
such a socially focused novelist as Drabble would omit it from her works. The North South
clash, so frequently put in comparison, describes the elements that divide the country
because
besides and beyond the political, economic and cultural issues, it has a life of its
own. The sense of North and South differences, or rather, distinct kinds of
Englishness, even if unsolicited by the politician or the sociologist, seems to lie
deeply imbedded in the mind, at least in the minds of the characters of some
recent English fiction (Franková, Divided 1).
Drabble, too, points out the differences which characterize the two geographical parts, since
she sets many of her protagonists in the North and ordinarily prefers to depict it in a worse
light than its ‘southern counterpart’. However, I will touch upon these negative aspects of
Britishness dividing the country and demonstrating the problems of unequal conditions, job
36
opportunities, economic perspective, political interests or boredom in more detail in one of
the following chapters.
Determinism and fate, the last points to be emphasised, may become a reason and a
cause in one’s life at the same time. These two elements constitute a substantial part in the
dense network of possibly negative features with direct impact on the conception of
Britishness, because they are interwoven, in Drabble’s case, with social background,
economic forces, political milieu or cultural heritage. We can certainly claim that “Drabble well understands the institutional bias that traps women in post war British society,” but this
bias does not appear on its own accord (Lin 60). It either emerges as a result of the class
system, inseparably tied with social prejudice and determinism, or becomes the outcome of
socio political lay out and its associated expectations. Determinism and fate, thus, seem to be
rooted in British minds as strongly as any aspect of social stratification, go hand in hand with
success or failure, and with a pursuit of change of one’s destiny in order to move higher in
the social hierarchy. But since determinism and fate deserve a thorough examination, I deal with this topic to a greater extent in another chapter as well.
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4. Success and Failure
All the themes analysed in the previous chapters symbolize Drabble’s characteristic sceptical attitude towards England, which, attended by fierce criticism, reappears with a high degree of regularity in all the novels. More importantly, however, most of the topics discussed emerge as a part of the multiple parallel plots which dramatize the experiences of
Drabble’s protagonists and “provide an inclusive network of human relationships” (Lin 51).
Such a network mainly stresses the contrasting living standards which Marwick defines as
“social welfare and material conditions” and under which the characters live (224). These living standards consequently mirror the life style embedded in the British class ridden society. Moreover, they also indicate that the deeply rooted hierarchical concept strongly determines the lives of the characters, including their possible success and failure, or life chances in general.
The lives of Drabble’s protagonists, mostly of middle class origin, are often shown from an angle of prosperity and achievement. But being a traditional realist, Drabble always contrasts the success of the middle (or upper) classes with some disappointment, dissatisfaction or failure. Though the suffering of these characters does not reach such a degree as that of the lower classes, it surely refers to them, too. Additionally, another important indicator suggesting success or suffering, in other words, prosperity or financial difficulty, is the job position. The significance of this fact lies in the career structure which may either ensure good living, or cause a downfall, if someone is suddenly made redundant, like Alix Bowen in The Radiant Way . That is the reason why this thesis is preoccupied with the matter of career and takes it into consideration as well.
Furthermore, the readers witness that in most cases the characters do not hesitate to blame the others for their own mistakes and failures. Most frequently, the blame is placed on the immediate family, or on the overall turn of events and the temporary state of the nation and society. Many an occasion in the novels thus mainly implies the limited opportunities of
38
the characters, and the author’s unwillingness to let them break free from the ties of the
established system. The protagonists hence seem to be imprisoned in inescapable
circumstances beyond their control.
4.1. Career as a Cause and Reason
The job position and the career structure, as already suggested, are connected with a
key feature that strongly influences one’s living. A large number of academic researchers and writers mention occupation as a key aspect which may bring about a radical change since it
affects every person. Marwick grasps ‘work’ from dualistic point of view:
on the one hand it is the curse by which almost all human beings are afflicted; on
the other it is the activity through which most people establish their identity, feel
pride, and perhaps, find fruition. […] On the whole upper class (top professional
and business) and middle class (other business and professional) occupations
offered most scope for personal satisfaction; lower middle class and working
class occupations least. Yet, obviously, the critical significance of work at all
levels cannot be ignored. (115)
Judit Hell sets this element into modern terms in order to show that even though women do
“have same rights and opportunities in public life as men,” it is only a result of the
emancipation of the last few decades, not a commonplace (Hell). Connor then adds that work possibilities are narrowly tied with educational access which was restricted to many, women in particular, till the “late 1960s when the number of universities in Britain doubled”
(46).
Drabble naturally reflects this profound change of the state of affairs of that time and
enables some of her heroines to reach higher education, e.g. Liz, Alix and Esther, who all
enjoyed plenty of opportunities at Cambridge University. Moreover, “for Drabble, they
emerge as the elite, the chosen, the garlanded of the great social dream, more empowered
39
than their 19th century predecessors, who, in Austen’s day, would never have met in …
Cambridge” (Lin 61). This fact on its own becomes success, for it constitutes the
improvement of the time. In addition, it signifies more chances, open possibilities or, one is
tempted to say, doom to success as far the working conditions are concerned. All the three women came from divergent backgrounds, in fact, “lived on the margins of English life [as]
outsiders,” and education allowed them to move into the heart of London and carry out
yearned for occupations (Lin 60). More importantly, they left the North of the country and
overcame the gap between the two geographical parts in search of personal success which a
cosmopolitan city seems to guarantee by its wider range of possibilities.
Nevertheless, Drabble’s comparison of Liz and Alix portrays the differences even within the city. Liz represents a wealthy psychiatrist with a flourishing career, while Alix
devotes herself to social work and is so thrifty that it “has nearly killed her on several
occasions” ( The Radiant 2). The author thereby suggests that Liz and Alix have “different
financial status, [but still] remain close friends” (Lin 56). Nevertheless, in both cases it is the
career that becomes one of the main causes of many a change in their lives. Alix, on the one
hand, “grew up with a strong commitment to socialist ideals and spent her holidays working
for no pay” (Lin 59). Later on, she started to work in a female prison “where she taught one
day a week” ( The Radiant 70). Here, Alix befriedens a woman, Jilly Fox, who she decides to visit in her damp smelling flat in a disreputable neighbourhood in order to be of help.
However, because of slashed tyres, Alix has to come back for her car the next day, only to
find Jill’s head on the back seat. Thus, her job, the cause and ground of her behaviour,
becomes a reason to give up in the end because she suddenly realizes that she ceases to care
for the community and abandons all hope and faith in the aid of socially weak classes. Alix
does not perceive it as a personal failure; she rather thinks the society is to blame.
Liz, on the other hand, meets the upper middle classes. It is represented by her New
Year’s Party (at the turn of the 1980s) in her mansion where a “few publishers and poets and
40
novelists, an actress or two, a clutch of psychologists and psychotherapists and art historians
and […] extremely quarrelsome politicians” gather ( The Radiant 8). Actually, Liz’s living
standards indicate success in every respect except for matrimony, since she failed as a wife
twice, the second time because of her professional life. However, although the marriage
crisis was brought about by her career, Liz “manage[s] not to let marital relationships control
[her] fate,” pulls herself together and concentrates on her successful career again (Lin 61). In
other words, she makes full use of the cause of her misery and transforms it into a reason to
continue and get over that demanding period.
So, the author demonstrates, too, that triumph lies in “the force of individual will
[against] the bounds of circumstance” (Libby 176) because the readers witness that both
Liz’s and Alix’s “path to academic success is paved precisely by good education and hard work” (Lin 61). Besides, Drabble chooses to contrast their achievements not only with “the
lives of the inhabitants of tower blocks and squats or the men who sit on benches with
bottles,” but also with the lives of family members (Duguid). In this way, Liz is compared to
her younger sister Shirley who used to prefer cosmetics, fun and boys while “Liz struck
grimly to her books […] and long term plans” ( The Radiant 49). No sooner than in adulthood
does Shirley realize that sex “had betrayed her, had deceived her, had left her sitting here, a
middle aged housewife, mother of three, playing cards, with nothing before her but old age”
(61). Drabble thus emphasizes Shirley’s lot, her doom to failure, the consequences of
previously ill considered acting, because without education she is only preoccupied with the
household where safety means repetition. This, of course, leads to boredom,
underemployment and dissatisfaction, but above all, to a no win situation which offers no
chance of escape or promise of a change for the better, let alone any success.
On the whole, Drabble discusses the pros and cons of education in terms of
professional life or personal defeat. She points out that “in the 1950s, one of the surest ways
forward for an intellectual young woman from the provinces, for a socially disadvantaged
41
young woman from the provinces, was through Oxford, through Cambridge”, therefore the writer permits her heroines to be educated, and thus, perhaps, compensates the other of
their ‘handicaps’ (The Radiant 86). Rosamund’s career achievements, for instance, make up
for her uneasy single mother status when we realize that her “name would in the near future
be Dr. Rosamund Stacey” (Sendler 67). Although having a baby certainly cannot be
considered a failure, the carelessness, which caused that Rosamund “became pregnant after a
casual sexual encounter” and which endangered her successful career, can (Stringer 178). On
the basis of these examples we can then conclude that Drabble balances success with failure
in every respect without exception, and only alters the causes and reasons from one life story
to another, in accordance with the career structure predetermining one’s position within the
society.
4.2. Blame and Innocence
As much as success and failure run throughout Drabble’s body of work, blame and
innocence similarly represent a ubiquitous element – though certainly not in such balance.
The author herself was once accused of “misrepresenting Britain in her novels” which
shocked her because “she had never before thought that she wrote in her novels anything
but the truth. […] Being the daughter of a judge, she was brought up to tell the truth”
(Plante). Hence, her point of view always takes into account justice, and some characters are
able to see the world only “in terms of justice, guilt and innocence” ( Millstone 97). However,
the author deals with these matters mainly on the family level or in association with the
social consciousness. It means that the largest number of blame innocence examples
concern the relationships within the family circle and accusations of society for the
contemporary state of the world.
Actually, it can be illustrated on many a character in every book. To start with The
Millstone , Rosamund lays the blame for the course of events in her life both on her parents
42
and on the egalitarianism together with some mixture of socialism and puritanism prevailing
in the country (Franková, Britské spis. 63). For example, Rosamund meditates on “whether it
is not [her] parents to blame, totally blame, for [her] inability to see anything in human terms
of like and dislike, love and hate,” and that is also why she views the form of her upbringing
by her parents very critically (Millstone 97). In her opinion, it was them who induced her to
feel to be a nuisance when forced to ask even a small favour. Apart from this, Rosamund
gives evidence of the polarization of the rich and the poor to emphasize the inequality of the world in which she lived from the early childhood. She highlights one millstone of her life when a few boys, after finding that her family employs a maid, replied in the words: “Blimey
then, are you rich?” ( Millstone 99). Though Rosamund hotly denies it, she realizes that the
financial situation of her family plays an important role because it places barriers between
her and the others. So, all in all, Rosamund perceives her conduct as her parents’ fault, which
made it just harder to live in an already hard world.
Blame strongly affects the protagonists of The Ice Age as well. The nineteen year old
Jane is arrested for causing an accident in Wallacia, a fictitious Balkan country. Then, during
her mother’s visit in the prison, Jane accuses her of neglect, of discriminating her against the
younger sister Molly, of not caring enough about her. Her speech and behaviour condemn
Alison as the person fully responsible for everything, especially for Jane’s jail sentence,
because “how could anyone not forgive anything to a person who has a mother like [her]”
(96). In this way, Drabble illustrates how easily anyone gets rid of the responsibility for their
life by posing themselves into the role of the Innocent: the Blamed simply lay their blame on
someone else.
Therefore Alison, aged thirty, “a mean, embittered, angry, contemptuous woman, did
not much blame herself. She blamed others” (27). Without any hope in the future and belief
in her own work, marriage or life, she has no strength to struggle against the omnipresent
obstacles. Though everything seems to improve after meeting her lover Anthony, a few years
43
later, the readers witness Alison to slide into depression again. She starts to blame her
partner to
have got a completely artificial way of life. [She speaks] about the folly of
Anthony’s brand of escapism, […] about the monstrous mess that the developers
had made of Northam, and the naïve folly of Anthony’s getting mixed up in such
a money grabbing immoral corrupt line of business. […] She speaks of the state
of the nation [and asks:] what people like you have done to the face, to the very
face of the country. (150 151)
Alison’s anger represents the hopelessness of that time, because she points out that she has
no faith “in the future, either her own, or the country’s,” and her way of coping with this
fact means blaming the closest friends (195). Besides, owing to such comments the whole
novel, as Connor observes, consequently becomes “an anatomy of the malaise of the
nation” (59).
In The Witch , Frieda similarly criticises the face of the nation and blames it, largely in
terms of society, for what it turned into. Here, Drabble seems to be predominantly
preoccupied with the loss of vision of social justice at the expense of the hedonism and the
greed of the postmodern cynicism (Franková, Britské spis. 74). Frieda thus ridicules the
existence of commercial advertising, the meaning of shopping, the subject of vegetarianism –
becoming so very modish and all the consumer traps that intensify her disappointment with what she sees (The Witch 35). However, her resentment also arises from the relationships with the immediate family who made her suffer. Frieda missed the maternal affection since
her mother preferred and “loved her pretty older daughter Everhilda,” but it was mainly the
sister, Everhilda, who Frieda hated (113). Hilda manipulated her, envied her, placed barriers
into her life. She even persuaded a man, Andrew, to seduce and marry Frieda; but secretly,
Hilda had not only a sexual intercourse with him as well, but also a baby. In addition, when
Frieda gave birth to three children, Andrew decided to be a homosexual and ran away.
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Frieda consequently accused her sister of all her sorrows and never forgave her. More
importantly, such experience remained imprinted in her mind and influenced the
relationships with her own children. That is perhaps why she serves as the prototype of a
‘Bad mother’ in the novel (Franková, Britské spis. 75), and why her children call her “the
Witch of Exmoor” (9).
Evidently, none of Drabble’s novels omits the theme of guilt indeed. There rather
remains a question whether the author introduces any innocent characters at all. On the basis
of Drabble’s urge to depict every scene in accordance with her truth telling subconscious
mind, however, several innocent characters do exist. Sendler points out that the painful life
and world’s injustice are most strongly illustrated “upon those who are thought of as
innocent, such as children. […] Children are an obvious choice for Drabble because they
remind us not only of innocence, but vulnerability as well” (27). Hence, every book brings
into focus a child who does not judge and is not being judged. In The Millstone , for instance,
neonate Octavia “shone with a faint, constant and pearly brightness quite strong enough to
eclipse any more garish future blaze” which imbued Rosamund with feelings she failed to
offer to anyone else (Millstone 198). Another example can be identified in The Witch where the
bright, obedient, good Benji inherits all of Frieda’s fortune. This fact unexpectedly alters into
a burden the young boy has to carry upon his shoulders since his blamelessness and purity
make him ill because of the pressure on the relatives’ side and due to his strong sense of
responsibility to handle the money properly. These examples thus prove that Drabble does
deal with both blame and innocence in her works, but she seems to divide them strictly,
ascribing guilt to the characteristics of adults, and depicting children as the innocent.
4.3. Imprisonment of the Characters
Evidently, Drabble’s interest in the social concerns and the tenor of contemporary
Britain is also interconnected with the matters of success and failure, or guilt and innocence.
45
The author in general “explores a range of moral issues and ideas that shape those who came
of age in the second half of the Twentieth Century” (Shurbutt). Besides, Drabble focuses on
the reasons “why human beings fail themselves [and asks:] Does the failure originate in some
lack within the individual or some equally destructive lack in the culture?” (Higdon). All
these aspects then form the basis of her analysis of British society which is depicted through
the eyes of her characters in terms of personal freedom, free choices, and thereby, in the
context of the characters’ possible imprisonment, too.
Drabble’s traditional approach to personal freedom becomes the source of discussion
in academic criticism. Shurbutt points out that in Drabble’s stories, the “characters operate
in a universe over which they have little rational control. [And though they] are decidedly not
free, [they do] operate with a limited freedom to make choices” (Shurbutt). Schäffner
supports this statement when he comments on every individual’s ability to influence his or
her own life and fate. In his opinion, Drabble does not
fall for the Thatcherite claim that the Victorian values of individual effort, hard
work, and thrift alone guarantee success. On the contrary, she qualifies the
opinion that it is completely up to the individual to make the best of his or her
choices and leaves no doubt that Liz was a beneficiary of the educational reforms
introduced by the Butler Education Act of 1944, which was meant to increase
social opportunities and advancement for working people through giving their
children access to grammar schools and opening the door to higher education.
(Schäffner 84)
These two quotations hence suggest that the characters’ entrapment might lie in the universe
determination from which the only way to liberation, and success, leads through well
considered steps. Such a well judged step, as already indicated, is education, because it may
indisputably bring about a welcome change.
46
Education frequently proves to give options to all individuals strongly tied with the
social class system which might, otherwise, fundamentally influence the course of their life.
Drabble underlines that the worlds of different social classes “are not completely separate
and the barrier between [them] can be crossed, upward as well as downward” (Schäffner 83).
She illustrates this belief on the example of Liz, who “was born into a lower class family,
[but due to her] enormous willpower, self discipline, and hard work, [she] gained access to
the University of Cambridge” (Schäffner 83). Later on, her endeavours resulted in a
successful psychotherapeutic career which enabled her to move upward, to the upper class.
Liz’s positive achievements become even more evident in confrontation with her sister
Shirley “who has a completely different personality structure and of her own choice decided
to indulge in sexual experience, which then forced her into early marriage and entrapment in
Northam” (Schäffner 84). Hence, this comparison reveals Drabble’s proposition of the
importance of education, since it functions as a tool which raises one’s possibilities of
overcoming the obstacles set by the class structure. Besides, education undoubtedly
enhances every individual’s chances of more free choices, too.
However, Drabble adds another angle to the theme of personal imprisonment. She
states that “we are not free from our past, we are never free of the claims of others, and we
ought to not wish to be… We are all part of a long inheritance, a human community in which we must play our proper part” (Moran 15). This quotation connects the question of
imprisonment with the historical background and cultural heritage and, at the same time, it
unravels the concept of freedom in another way. The heroine of The Radiant Way , Esther
Breuer, takes interest neither in politics nor in life outside London. The probable explanation
of such indifference lies in her “Austrian Jewish descent [that] has always made her an
outsider and prevented her from putting down roots in England, which she leaves for Italy
at the end of [the novel]” (Schäffner 83). Esther’s family origin, thus, seems to limit her, but
only in Britain, as if she felt imprisoned in the British Isles. Nevertheless, since she is an
47
educated, independent, successful woman, she decides to make full use of her free choices
and leaves the country for good, leaving the limiting ties behind.
Apart from that, Drabble’s representation of British life and its effects on society are
closely connected with the political and economic realm of those days, too, which defines
further limits of the protagonists. The author frequently associates the time between the
1960s and 1990s with lost hope, from which her characters definitely do not benefit.
Miracky, for instance, stresses that The Radiant Way “end[s] with a sense of personal loss that
is directly related to the 1980s economic and social forces, and [the novel] points a finger at
Thatcherite policy for the disasters occurring within the novel and the decade” (Miracky). In
that way, Drabble’s heavy criticism of Thatcher’s policy mirrors the general mood of that
period and, by pinpointing several of its negative aspects, the author creates a vivid,
kaleidoscopic image of British society, showing its members as unfree. The author’s picture
of England, therefore, sets the main protagonists under the direct impact of the economic
ties, previously caused by the changes of the government. In practice it means that “the
Thatcherite agenda is epitomized not only in the loss of funding for Alix’s research unit, […]
but also for Esther’s public lecture series” (Miracky). Drabble, hence, obviously does not
overlook the steps and changes of the government which limit her characters; yet, she
usually “offer[s] no cure […] for the society’s ills” in her novels (Miracky).
All in all, the author depicts unfree protagonists whose success and failure depend upon
limited number of choices. The characters find themselves caught in a binding network of
the financial status, the class membership, the family relationships, the gained education, or
even by the house location, since “Drabble neither overstates nor underestimates
divergences [of] a north south rift” (Schäffner 80). The background depicted in the last
novel compared, The Witch , thus becomes a consequence of the author’s previous
experience, and disappointment. Here, Drabble emphasizes Frieda’s hostile bitterness to the world (Franková, Bristské spis. 75), because she is “fed up with the slowness of change, […]
48
and nothing happening at all” (Basbanes, I had ). In summary, Drabble seems to indicate that the only chance of success means to face the reality and come to terms with it. She illustrates it on Rosamund who, after finding out she is pregnant, says: “It seemed a shame… I was trapped in a human limit for the first time in my life, and I was going to have to learn how to live inside it” ( Millstone 66). This is exactly what all the characters have to do in the end: they must learn to live inside the world as it is created.
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5. Interdependence of Fate and Setting
Margaret Drabble proves that her novels’ interest in the close interconnection of all the
key issues is justified since one fundamentally influences the other and vice versa. The
financial situation thus determines the class membership, which has its origin in the
household income, in other words, the job position, which results from previously gained
education, and the adjusted education is usually shown as being conditioned by family
background. However, speaking in terms of a novel, the mutual interdependence of the most
significant social issues extends to other aspects as well. In Drabble’s novels, these aspects
concern the fate, determinism, free choices, but also the general setting, like house location
and differences among dwellings – either in the city and the countryside or in the North and
South of the country. On the basis of the frequent occurrence of these features in the novels
compared, the thesis must necessarily be preoccupied with their analysis and overall impact,
too.
The focus of this chapter particularly shifts towards fate and setting because these two
factors repeatedly emerge in the books and play an important role, as far as the main
characters’ lives are concerned. Drabble demonstrates on her own life how very influential
every setting is when she describes the process of her writing: “Naturally I was limited. […] I wrote my first four books in the evenings with three small children in the house unable to
move day and night. My limits were the limits of my own kitchen” (Clare). Drabble’s attitude
thus mirrors her personal experience with the restrictive conditions of a setting, and because
her novels “portray a bleak, often menacing universe, governed by a harsh supernatural force
that allows human beings very little free will,” it is essential to take both these topics into
consideration and attempt to explain their importance in confrontation with each other, as well as with other crucial aspects (Moran 18).
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5.1. Fate and Determinism
The notion of fate and determinism is apparent in the novels, since the author does
not seem to be willing to give her characters a significant amount of free will. She leaves
them tied by the fickleness of fate which might consequently become the cause of as well as
the reason for any individual’s success or failure. In fact, from Drabble’s point of view, “all
human activities are planned” (Moran 15) which she further explains in the following
statement:
Accidents are planned, and one’s fate is planned. It is going to contain certain
accidents. There’s nothing you can do about it. I was teaching Oedipus last week,
and indeed, the idea that whatever you do is all written up for you and that
accidents are simply part of some bigger plan made up at some other date by
somebody else is fascinating. (Hardin 183)
This quotation thus suggests that the interconnection of fate, determinism and free will play
a significant part in Drabble’s books. These aspects form the basis of her novel plots and
decisively affect the course of the human lives in them.
The main protagonists, therefore, face the threat of fatalism and that forces them to
make up their minds whether to fight against it or not. Nevertheless, Drabble seems to be
rather hesitant in giving her characters too many chances and their fights are thus usually not
allowed full play. The author expresses the reasons for her attitude in the utterance below:
…as a writer I’m showing that you can’t control things. But then you can control
them; they all go fighting back and restore order as soon as chaos has broken
out. If chaos never broke out, there’d never be any action, would there? No one
would ever do anything. They’d just think about it. Events have to dominate
characters from time to time. I don’t like events to dominate them too much. I
like a degree of self control and self propulsion, but that may be a deep
psychological flaw in me. (qtd. in Parker 170)
51
So, it follows that despite the characters’ attempts to resist their fate, the events still might
overwhelmingly dominate them because the people do not have very large degree of
freedom and free choice. In other words, determinism runs throughout the books and
confirms its power to influence wider surroundings. The human being, then, is only “a cog
in the universe, an instrument of nature, and a link in the family chain” (Moran 15 16).
Furthermore, Moran compares Drabble and her notion of fatalism with Thomas
Hardy, mainly in order to point out the role of the divine intervention within the novels.
Moran claims that “both novelists emphasize the way fate usually works against the
individual’s earthly happiness, a situation which causes them to suspect the existence of a
malicious deity who delights in thwarting and playing tricks on human beings” (19). The
occurrence of this topic might be a result of the religious influences of Drabble’s childhood,
and the author’s attitude towards determinism, shaped mainly by deity, is illustrated in The
Millstone , too. Here, Rosamund contemplates on the subject and declares:
I thought for some time about life’s little ironies, for the truth was … that they
always moved me out of all proportion to their significance in any respectable
philosophic scheme. I have always been stirred, sometimes profoundly, by
newspaper comments such as Killed While Adjusting Safety Belt, or Collapsed
Night before Wedding. (Millstone 75 6)
Though Rosamund, like many other Drabble’s heroines, is a rational being, she does not understand her interest in these events. So, she concludes that it most probably “sprang from some absurd belief in a malicious deity” which indicates uncertainty: she neither believes in the will of God nor does she deny it (Millstone 76). All in all, she then decides not to tempt fate “by making plans or harbouring hopes that could be down by the whim of such a deity” (Moran 19).
However, fate and determinism are still closely connected with some other conditions in which the characters live. The state of dwelling, the location and the regional setting also
52
rank among the determining issues because these are indicators of one’s financial situation and thus of the social class membership – which gives rise to peoples’ expectations or prejudices. Living in a mansion in the heart of London, for instance, guarantees certainty and safety, as in the case of Liz’s home in Harley Street (The Radiant ). Liz seems to take the security and good neighbourhood for granted, but only till the moment of realization that a serial killer Paul Whitmore, whose acting deluged all the national mass medias, was finally arrested in the nearby house of her friend Esther in Harrow Road. This unexpected event somehow violates the unwritten rules and Liz is shocked since she would never expect a thing like that to happen in her closeness. One of the reasons of this shock might be Liz’s persuasion that on the basis of fate and determinism, such accidents are supposed to avoid people like her, that means people from the upper class.
Apart from that, Drabble stresses the social divisions within the regions, mainly in terms of the North South divide, and describes its most characteristic features which doom the protagonists to be either lucky fated or ill fated. Their lives thus necessarily become influenced by the surroundings because the place of their living puts a limit to their free choices and opportunities. In addition, owing to the fact that “it became general practice to contrast the traditional rural way of life, values, customs, and habits of a civilized, idyllic south with the harsh realities of a primitive, industrial north,” the ascribed characteristics consequently indicate what to expect further (Schäffner 78). The typical regional aspects give information about which political party is more likely to win the national election, they reveal any individual’s chances of a good job position, or they predetermine in what kind of housing people may expect to live.
However, some people depict the North South differences from another angle.
Schäffner, for instance, views the regional division, its development and impact in the following way:
53
The descriptions of those parts of London where Esther, Alix, and Brian live and
work demonstrate that anonymous housing estates; unemployment; poverty;
inner city decay; urban desolation; social, sexual, and political violence; social
isolation and fear; privatisations; humiliations; xenophobia; and lack of prospects
for the future are not restricted to the north, but have reached terrifying
proportions so that regional and national experiences converge. (81)
As this quotation proves, even though the listed features are more characteristic of the
North of the country, they might penetrate the lives of people living in the South as well.
They universally represent the complexity of Drabble’s reality in which all the protagonists
face restrictive conditions and limitations. But as The Radiant Way shows, “an individual’s willingness to struggle against the limitations of circumstances and fate is yet another
element enabling the independence” (Lin 61). On the whole, hence, the life (and fate) of
every individual must be considered also with regard to the general conditions, as well as with the effort to fight them.
5.2. Housing and Living, Town and City Life
The North South division definitely runs through the novels to a large degree, but it
does not present the only form of setting with the decisive impact on the destinies of the
main characters. The books usually reveal a wider scope of the traditional living of the
British, which serves to illustrate people’s financial situation and their social status. Thus,
Drabble pays lots of attention to the description of their houses, their location,
neighbourhood or their (dis)advantages within the particular region. Frequently, a large
number of the protagonists occupy dwellings in London, and a much lower number of
people live in the countryside. Besides, the author makes differences between the towns of
the North and the South in order to highlight the typical features ascribed to the particular
locality.
54
As far as the city of London is concerned, Drabble occasionally implies that this
location is unsuitable for some of her characters because of their inability to adapt to the
local conditions. As for her own living here, she admits: “I don’t feel I can get inside, either.
I’m not from London, I’m from Yorkshire, and that makes me a foreigner in London”
(Plante). The author thus expresses a belief that she does not belong in the capital city;
Plante then adds that “it occurred to [him] that almost all her characters feel this also”
(Plante). One character of The Radiant Way proves this fact indeed. It is Alix’s husband Brian who is portrayed “as a solid northern working class socialist and a gentleman of the Left,
[who] feels more at home in northern society than in alien London, as in the north, the Left
has deeper roots; greater confidence; and a strong sense of history, tradition, community,
and place” (87). An individual’s descent thus seems to shape the actual perception of his or
her setting. This tendency might be consequently understood in terms of personal ties which
arise from the lack of free choices and possible existence of fate.
Nevertheless, the books, as already mentioned, put emphasis also on the housing and
living in general since these factors enable the readers to make a complex picture of an
individual’s background. Every piece of work, therefore, deals with various types of
dwellings which then represent certain social class, and at the same time, raise expectations
or stir up prejudices. In The Millstone , for instance, Rosamund lives “in a flat that belong[s] to
[her] parents, which dangerously misrepresent[s] [her] status” (9). Though she profits from
that flat situated in “a large block of an early twentieth century building, and in very easy
reach of Regent’s Park, Oxford Circus, Marylebone High Street, Harley Street, and anywhere
else useful that one can think of,” people consider (and treat) her as if she was rather rich
(10). That leads to embarrassing situations both for Rosamund, who is aware of the
opposite, and for the others, who realize their mistake when she informs them about her
income from research grants and endowments.
55
In The Ice Age , Drabble depicts the changing state of both public and private properties
through the eyes of Anthony, who owns a house in London and in the country, and his
partner Alison, who is a witness of Anthony’s acting in the field of real estates. The novel
reveals that Anthony moves (after a heart attack) from the capital to a provincial town where
he lives in a new house which he praises, for “the structure was good. In fact, fine. Beautiful.
It was a fine house [and] he was proud of it” (61). Afterwards, however, Anthony also
revisits London to inspect his local house so as to make sure nothing changed, and he finds
a woman delivering a baby in there. But he does not seem to be astonished at all; in fact, he
thinks “it was not really surprising that young girls were reduced to having babies on other
people’s uncarpeted floors, for how could anyone without a wealthy father of an enormous
income ever afford to buy a floor of his own, these days” (175)? Such situations, hence,
demonstrate the soothing atmosphere of the provinces, where the lack of stress and
different way of living help to heal Anthony’s wounds. Besides, it confirms the difficulty of
some people to find a proper real estate in the city, while the rich, in contrast, do not even
live there if they wish not to.
The new face of England, however, troubles more Alison rather than her partner
Anthony. When she returns from Communist Wallacia, she sees the “vast quantity of
garbage and newspaper and plastic bags, [the] sea of rubbish,” and feels disgusted (142). On
her way home, the sadness and sorrow from the actual state of being even deepens because
she becomes aware that “the scenery outside the window altered, slowly, to the derelict
Northern wastes and dump sites that nobody could now afford to landscape” (143). She
suddenly perceives what people complained about: it was “the ruination of the city [which]
became monstrous, inhuman, ludicrous” (144). But above all, she comes to realize that
everything was a result of property developers – which means of people like Anthony and
his friends. They supported and produced the “modern architecture, brutal architecture,
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concrete and cement,” therefore Alison blames them for creating the new, ugly face of the towns and cities (39).
Nevertheless, it must be emphasized, that Anthony and Alison live in the 1970s which is “a great modern decade of inflation, and […] also the worst decade of unemployment since the 1930s” ( How to Ruin ). Therefore many people face the fundamental housing problem and do not have lots of options to solve it. As Marwick declares, at that time, “in every region there existed more dwellings than families to fill them, though in London the margin was very narrow indeed. Yet many people seeking homes were unable to find them,” because many dwellings were being modernized or they belonged to wealthy people who owned them as second homes (232). For most of the British people, hence, “the gigantic inflation in house prices through the 1970s” entails a crucial problem of actual existence
(234). The working classes in particular suffer from the problems of that decade and their only solution seems to be a removal.
Though the housing trouble improves a bit during the 1980s, the readers still marginally learn about it in The Radiant Way . Here, Alix’s son Nicholas “moves out of his squat” and shares a flat with his girlfriend Ilse in a condemned building awaiting demolition
(238). They equip the rooms with some junk furniture and redecorate everything, so they live pretty “comfortabl[y] in the heart of urban desolation” (240). Nicholas’s acting proves that due to free will anyone may live in a squat, as well as in a beautiful flat. Moreover, his example illustrates that young couples experience the difficulty of finding some permanent dwelling at that time in particular. Nicholas and Ilse’s home was really demolished in the end, but their fate developed in a more optimistic way, for they took advantage of Nicholas’s family background and moved to his grandmother in Sussex. Nevertheless, without this opportunity readers may only guess where the couple would leave ended. The family background thus gives evidence of its essential influence again and shows the fatal interconnection with determinism.
57
Drabble’s notion of housing emerges also in The Witch where Frieda isolates herself in
a “Victorian castle by the sea” (11). She withdraws to the countryside because she prefers to
be alone. Here, she “does not miss London” (72) because, in her point of view, the
environment is diseased, and because she “had grown to hate London. She had come to hate
the human race,” too (44). So, the contrasts of town and city life appear to determine
Frieda’s behaviour while she apparently finds more comfort in the provincial region than in
the turmoil of the cities. All Drabble’s novels thus evidently concentrate on the wide scope
of housing tied with the characteristics of particular locality as well as with fate. The setting
reveals many particular features connected with the main protagonists’ lives and it explains why certain accidents are more probable than others. In summary, the setting plays an
important role in discussing the future turn of events since it radically circumscribes the
possible choices of an individual.
5.3. North-South Clash
As for the regional differences, mentioned in the context of housing and living, these
tend to reappear not only in the novels of Margaret Drabble, but they also regularly become
the focus of wider debate. The notion of the English North South divide has deeper roots in
the British history, and, as Franková claims, it
is an old concept and one that does not want to go away. [Moreover], besides
and beyond the political, economic and cultural issues, it has a life of its own.
The sense of North and South differences, or rather, distinct kinds of
Englishness, even if unsolicited by the politician or the sociologist, seems to lie
deeply imbedded in the mind, at least in the minds of the characters of some
recent English fictions. (Divided 1)
Drabble’s works undoubtedly belong to the list of English fiction devoted to the theme of
the North South divide, too. The reason for that lies in her urge to “give us a sweeping,
58
incisive view of England today and of how, over the past quarter century, it has changed,
declined, and survived” (Sadler). In accordance with this driving force, Drabble is not able to
omit such an influential subject as the English North South divide from the topics of her
novels.
The setting thus, closely interconnected with the general thinking of the British people,
is inevitably affected by the existing regional disparities between the North and the South of
the country. More importantly, owing to the fact that “this dichotomy has been a crucial
determinant of English culture and politics ever since and played an important role in
shaping the collective mentality and in defining Englishness,” the background of Drabble’s
central characters thus also mirrors the development, changes and overall conditions of
England (Schäffner 78). Yet, the interest in the background can be shown from another
angle as well. Sage notices that Drabble’s “heroines too usually have their roots in the
English provinces, like Drabble herself, who was born in Yorkshire, and questions of
people’s relations with places from the past are, surprisingly perhaps, quite […] important to
her” (90 1). Hence, any chosen setting might have the origin in the personal experience as well, and it reflects the author’s disbelief in possibility of breaking the bonds with one’s past.
Universally, however, the setting, and that connected with the North South divide in
particular, definitely ranks among the most significant aspects which take part in shaping the
individuals’ minds and their limits.
The two nations problem, related to the topics of Englishness, traditionalism or even
social class division, emerges most noticeably in two of Drabble’s works: in The Ice Age and
in The Radiant Way . Schäffner analyses the latter and declares that “the regional division
manifests itself in the novel’s spatial structure, plot, and the characters’ politico ideological
orientations. The place of the action switches back and forth from the southern metropolis
of London to the fictional city of Northam (alias Sheffield) at the heartland of industrial
Yorkshire” (80). Drabble is thus preoccupied with shifting between the two regional areas in
59
order to depict the different ways of life, the most determining causes of the differences and its direct consequences. As a result, the readers learn about the “optimism of London and the poverty and depression of the ‘figurative’ provincial town of Northam and […] the sharp differences between the haves and have nots of Thatcherite Britain” (Miracky). The juxtaposing of multiple scenes, hence, serves to create a complex picture of Britain as
Drabble views it.
In The Radiant Way , one scene in particular illustrates the attitudes of some of the main characters, the Londoners, that is to say, towards the North of the country. During their stay in Northam, they express various opinions, astonishments or expectations. Charles, Liz’s husband, for instance, voices his fear after parking a hired car: “They’ll strip it, […] they’ll siphon off the petrol and nick the tyres” (309). Alix, on the other hand, defends the town manners claiming “this is Northam, not the Harrow Road. They haven’t learnt bad habits yet, up here,” by which she admits the city life is more dangerous (309). Liz, considering her being in the North a trip, tells the others to “look at the view” and admires the surroundings
(309). But the others rather observe there are no other cars within view, which Brian explains by two reasons: “people don’t need cars because public transport is so cheap in
Northam [and, more importantly,] unemployment in these flats is something like eighty five per cent” (309). These situations therefore indicate the clash between London and the visited northern region, which the characters do not really realize until they happen to be there. But the novel emphasizes the different notions of the two regional parts by using more examples than this one.
The North South divide, represented also by the comparison of London and country life, gets into focus with the description of Charles’s life. He confesses that it gives him
“pleasure to invite all [the people] round to his Harley Street home” because he is proud of his residence and its locality (176). Besides, he proves his snobbery when he compares his mistress, Lady Henrietta, and his aunt. The former represents the upper class, the glamorous
60
dressing, the parties of the crème of the society and the lack of interest in the others at the
same time. Charles’s aunt, on the other hand, works as “a sub postmistress in a small village
in Norfolk [where] she runs the village shop” (171 2). These facts actually imply why Charles
“is ashamed of his aunt [and] why he would not like Lady Henrietta to meet his aunt” (171
2). He thus rather seems to identify with the upper class and the superficial character of his
mistress. So, his attitude generally confirms the existence of the social classes and,
additionally, it also demonstrates the awareness of deliberate encouraging of the boundaries
among them.
The interrelationship of the social classes and the regional division therefore becomes
one of the central themes of Drabble’s novel as well. Schäffner then adds that “Drabble not
only firmly believes that the individual must be connected to a region, to its past, to shared values, to a community, but is also convinced that personal contacts, relationships, and
mobility across regional and class barriers are possible” (94). The Radiant Way really proves
so, since the readers witness Liz to move upward to the upper class, as already discussed in
the fourth chapter; Alix and Brian move to the north of the country because of Brian’s
unemployment; Esther leaves for Italy due to her inability to identify with England; Ilse and
Nicholas search a new home in the countryside owing to the impossibility to find a
satisfactory dwelling in London. In short, all these examples support Raid’s statement that in
the 1980s, “the most popular general reasons for considering moving were: insufficient
accommodation, dissatisfaction with present environment, reasons connected with
employment or education” (270). As for these reasons, it is possible to claim that Drabble
draws upon her life experience, while Raid refers to statistics and gleans information from
other sources.
So, the characterization of particular regions does not cease to be discussed since “the
concept of the two nations is of continuing topical interest and relevance to the present day”
(Schäffner 93). Though the debate on the North South divide often highlights the notion of
61
“a prospering innovative South […] and a backward, depressed North,” it sometimes puts this problem into new perspectives and leads to new conclusions (Marwick 198). Some authors then offer other points of view which open up new discussions. Schäffner, for instance, deals with the scenes depicted in The Radiant Way and declares: “A detailed comparison between London and Northam […] brings to light astonishing similarities that disprove the rhetoric of a clear cut dichotomy of an impoverished north and an affluent south as the symbol of freedom and opportunity” (80). The North South concept thus generally emphasizes the importance of the setting since the characteristics of particular regions seem to predetermine the possible development of the main characters’ lives, the degree of their freedom and the number of their choices. In short, Drabble points out that the interdependence of setting and fate plays such an important role in British society that she cannot but include these into her novels.
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6. Conclusion
In summary, the primary focus of this thesis is on the comparative and diachronic analysis of four selected novels written by the English woman novelist, Margaret Drabble. It principally aims to examine the themes that Drabble is preoccupied with, to define the degree of the interrelations among these themes, and to demonstrate the development and changes against the particular times of the novels, which means to depict the period from the 1960s to the 1990s. The thesis generally reflects that the author’s main interest lies in topics such as “the effect of immediate environment, determinism, chance, class, family, social issues [or] a hatred of hypocrisy” within each decade (Elliott). Drabble expresses her attitude towards the mentioned problems through the multiple voices which are particularly
British and which belong not only to female, the most usual narrators of Drabble’s stories, but also to male characters.
Drabble frequently debates ordinary subjects in order to point out the parallels between the male and female narratives. However, she does not put them in contrast, but rather uses them as two parts of the whole. Hence, though “Drabble explores gender differences in her [stories,] she shows more interest in conflicts between disparate elements of the human personality than she does in trouble between men and women” (Fiander). The reason of this approach can be explained on the basis of Drabble’s “belief in interconnectedness and wholeness of human experience” which indicates that constituent elements of human soul play a more important role than problems between the genders in general (Lin 65). That is also why the author does not consider herself a feminist writer because she claims that despite the fact she “shares feminist novelists’ notions of female solidarity as an inspiring source of support,” these notions never become the exclusive purpose of her novels (Lin 62). They rather represent minor features emerging within an inclusive network of human relationships where even the most common things should be taken into account as possibly very influential aspects of the whole.
63
Nevertheless, as the thesis proves, the concerns of Margaret Drabble extend much
further. Her “sense of history as a shaping force of her female characters’ destiny echoes
Woolf’s conviction that the novel is never written by the author, but by the combined
determinants of class, gender, and historical moment” (Lin 60). It is therefore no wonder
that the author pays a lot of attention to the matters closely interwoven with the class
structure deeply embedded in British society. The emphasis of the novels is thus
predominantly put on the negative features of the class ridden society which leads, for
instance, to the polarization of the rich and the poor, to the deepening separation among the
regions within England, and to the predetermination of people’s lives. In addition, Drabble
associates the social issues with the government policy which she blames to be responsible
for many of the problems of the nation. That is why her novels, e.g. The Radiant Way , often
result in “a bleak., omniscient account[s] of lost hope in the Thatcher years” (Miracky).
Drabble’s picture of England during the four decades thus suggests that all the changes
relate to the British people indeed, and what is more, they by and large shape the nature of
their minds. The comparison of the four books then serves to mirror that the main
characters abandon the Victorian values because they identify with new morals: they are
interested more in the quest for success and money, furthering their careers, worshipping
material values and pursuing their own personal happiness. They consequently create a new
society which displays that “humane values such as a sense of fellow feeling, fairness,
kindness to other people, and the ideal of cooperation between all social groups are replaced
by a glorification of competition and the Hobbesian struggle of all against all” (Schäffner 84
5). The novel The Witch of Exmoor , published in the late nineties, proves this tendency the
most since here, the protagonists either comment on the contemporary society’s mores and values or reflect them through their greed centred upon the family money. In short, it is
possible to claim that this novel represents Drabble’s general attitude and overall
disappointment with the turn of events of the second half of the twentieth century.
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In summary, the thesis submits four selected books to the analysis of British society
from the 1960s to the 1990s and at the same time, it is preoccupied with the wider
background of the male and female characters of these books. It primarily defines the
opinions and attitudes of the author and presents her as a novelist dedicated to a
combination of “realism with some degree of psychological experimentation, often in the
service of social criticism” (Schellinger). Her use of the socio political issues, the
characteristics of the setting, and the portrayal of the most important aspects of the
protagonists’ lives altogether not only mirror the state of affairs in England, but also confirm
that “Drabble has a dour world view” (Elliott). She often leaves her heroes and heroines
imprisoned in their situations in order to point out the seriousness of the contemporary world and its development. Consequently, using her intelligence and arguments, the author
raises many a rhetoric question concerning mainly the fate of the British nation which forces
the readers to think hard about the answers. Most frequently, however, it is the writer
herself, who decides whether to punish the characters or whether to let them off, because –
in accordance with her sense of justice – everyone has to get what they deserve. So, all these
facts actually become the very reasons why Margaret Drabble is much praised for her
courage to deal with touchy issues and wins the worldwide respect.
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