Wednesday, June 28, 2006
March and Marmee
One of the things that really struck me was the way March and Marmee seemed to know each other so well, embraced each other's faults as well as virtues, anticipated each other's thoughts. And yet, when it mattered most, they misread each other completely. March believed Marmee held her abolitionist principles above all else, including her own material comfort and keeping her family together. And Marmee had no idea that March was making these rash decisions not out of a selfish passion for the cause, but out of a desire to please her and win her admiration and love. Such a tragic misunderstanding.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Hello-oo?
I like how March isn't quite sure what to make of Marmee, even after they've been married forever. She can still surprise him with an upswell of passion. The "Bread and Shelter" chapter is an awesome look at their marriage. He is torn. He wants a smart, passionate, opinionated wife (they did it on the first "date" - hehe), but she scares the hell out of him sometimes.
"At such times I thought I would rather live in the midst of a crashing thunderhead than with this Fury of a wife."
And: "I could see that Brown ignited the very part of my wife's spirit I wished to quench; the lawless, gypsy elements of her nature."
Bullshit! March would wither and die if anything about her was "quenched."
At the beginning of the chapter he says "My mission was to provide Marmee with complete liberty of mind ..."
That's his true passion, as Erin said, and tragic. That's the thing he lovest well. The rest is dross.
Really what struck me about their relationship was how clueless March was to their situation. He squandered his fortune, but seemed to figure his family was mostly fine. He didn't seem to notice how Marmee was having to borrow money here and there, nor that she often had to "go hungry so that he and the girls might eat."
You can really tell how bitter she is when she talks about how people will praise him for tending the garden or chopping wood when they need some extra money to make ends meet, but with her: "No one thought to attach such a label to me, though I might wear myself to a raveling with the hundred little shifts necessary to sustain us all."
And kc, you're right on about how March would wither and die if anything about her was "quenched." He almost did, as he was receiving hardly any care at Blank Hospital until Marmee opened a can o' whupass on Nurse Flynn. That's when others took notice of March's condition and made sure he got better care.
I don't like how he silenced Marmee during the scene with the aunt. He should have stood by her, temper or not.
Post a Comment