Lessing succeeds in making me feel both exhausted/frustrated in wanting Kate to take some control in this section and also feeling protective of her. I haven’t read Mrs Palfrey but will check it out; the theme of generational transition is relatable. Men seem to get to hang on a bit longer than women, but again, only if they have money/power.
Oh, I hadn't really paid attention to the distinction between becoming visible again as Mrs. Brown, not as Kate--I'm so glad you pointed that out. I guess "Kate" is gone, maybe gone for good? Regarding the theater scene, I found that uncomfortable, yes, but it also struck me as pretty funny. Yelling "Nonsense!" etc.
Have you read Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont? Because this book, in this section, suddenly strongly reminded me of that book, in the tension between generations, the old giving way to the new. (I just read Mrs. P a couple months ago and very much wish I’d actually written it up when I did.)
Cari, I’m curious about Lessing’s writing style in other books. In week one, you wrote: “It feels that we’re at a remove in the narration because she is at a psychological remove from herself.” You also wrote: “We see here a central theme that she explored in depth in many of her novels both before and after this one: a woman wrestling with an identity that no longer fits her.”
Is there a similar remove in Lessing’s other novels, those highlighting “a woman wrestling with an identity that no longer fits her” and her other works?
When we got to Kate’s illness, the rich description seemed less removed. (“For Kate…felt the noise washing all about her, felt it crash on her, making her bones ache; a screech of brakes from the street hurt her backbone, and the voices in many languages from the corridor, the thudding of feet, vibrated and shook in a lake of sensation that filled her head.”) Perhaps this part is written more intensely because it is a turning point for Kate in orienting towards herself.
I love/hated the scene at the play and internally cringed at Kate’s outbursts, yet sensed her loss of filters was important in her progress.
The scene in Kate’s neighborhood intrigued me. She’s elated and feels a new freedom because the neighbors don’t recognize her. Maybe this foreshadows that, whoever she chooses to be, she will not return there. While reading that scene, I was curious if the neighbors’ lack of recognition was not just due to Kate’s changed appearance, but because the neighbors thought she was missing or dead. (She’s not responded to Michael’s letters.) On reflection now, however, I don’t think the neighbors would know she was out of contact. They only know her in her role as mother of the household, and she doesn’t fit that image now.
But what ARE her family members thinking has become of her? Are they worried, or are they not thinking about her at all, because she’s not serving them at present?
I appreciated this comment, Cari: “She isn’t invisible in her ill-fitting clothes and undyed, untamed hair because she’s middle-aged. She’s invisible because when she presents herself like that, she doesn’t conform to societal norms.” And oh, how many of us, still today, are “held upright by an invisible fluid, the notice of other people.” Disturbing thought.
I’m looking forward to some clarity and resolution for Kate as we come to the end of the book!
Lessing succeeds in making me feel both exhausted/frustrated in wanting Kate to take some control in this section and also feeling protective of her. I haven’t read Mrs Palfrey but will check it out; the theme of generational transition is relatable. Men seem to get to hang on a bit longer than women, but again, only if they have money/power.
I'm a little late to this discussion too but man this book belongs on a great menopause novels list
Oh, I hadn't really paid attention to the distinction between becoming visible again as Mrs. Brown, not as Kate--I'm so glad you pointed that out. I guess "Kate" is gone, maybe gone for good? Regarding the theater scene, I found that uncomfortable, yes, but it also struck me as pretty funny. Yelling "Nonsense!" etc.
Have you read Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont? Because this book, in this section, suddenly strongly reminded me of that book, in the tension between generations, the old giving way to the new. (I just read Mrs. P a couple months ago and very much wish I’d actually written it up when I did.)
Cari, I’m curious about Lessing’s writing style in other books. In week one, you wrote: “It feels that we’re at a remove in the narration because she is at a psychological remove from herself.” You also wrote: “We see here a central theme that she explored in depth in many of her novels both before and after this one: a woman wrestling with an identity that no longer fits her.”
Is there a similar remove in Lessing’s other novels, those highlighting “a woman wrestling with an identity that no longer fits her” and her other works?
When we got to Kate’s illness, the rich description seemed less removed. (“For Kate…felt the noise washing all about her, felt it crash on her, making her bones ache; a screech of brakes from the street hurt her backbone, and the voices in many languages from the corridor, the thudding of feet, vibrated and shook in a lake of sensation that filled her head.”) Perhaps this part is written more intensely because it is a turning point for Kate in orienting towards herself.
I love/hated the scene at the play and internally cringed at Kate’s outbursts, yet sensed her loss of filters was important in her progress.
The scene in Kate’s neighborhood intrigued me. She’s elated and feels a new freedom because the neighbors don’t recognize her. Maybe this foreshadows that, whoever she chooses to be, she will not return there. While reading that scene, I was curious if the neighbors’ lack of recognition was not just due to Kate’s changed appearance, but because the neighbors thought she was missing or dead. (She’s not responded to Michael’s letters.) On reflection now, however, I don’t think the neighbors would know she was out of contact. They only know her in her role as mother of the household, and she doesn’t fit that image now.
But what ARE her family members thinking has become of her? Are they worried, or are they not thinking about her at all, because she’s not serving them at present?
I appreciated this comment, Cari: “She isn’t invisible in her ill-fitting clothes and undyed, untamed hair because she’s middle-aged. She’s invisible because when she presents herself like that, she doesn’t conform to societal norms.” And oh, how many of us, still today, are “held upright by an invisible fluid, the notice of other people.” Disturbing thought.
I’m looking forward to some clarity and resolution for Kate as we come to the end of the book!
A great exposure of expectations: clothing, style, etc. as social armor and how it holds up and keeps out judgment even as it imprisons and conforms.