PS2: LESS THAN ANGELS - Journal #2

From pp. 76-148 of Less Than Angels

This novel has a broader canvas than Excellent Women. Where the latter work was narrated by Mildred and focused on her dealings with two other couples, the former has an omniscient third person narrator and jumps from character to character. The common thread seems to be pairing them all off or observing different pairs' interactions. Settings are mostly limited to academic social gatherings, dinner parties, teas, libraries/reading rooms, small city flats and suburban homes. Interestingly, stately country homes and fieldwork in Africa are two settings often referred to but never visited firsthand. They are the most misunderstood or misrepresented locales as a result; either characters romanticize them or find them tedious and dreary. Of the aforementioned social gatherings, many take place in or near a garden. Gardens are most frequently mentioned when Deirdre is around and seem to be used for their connection to a false paradise. All of this talk of settings makes me think of the small world that Pym creates. This world has an interconnectedness (among the many characters) that feels at once authentic and fictional. With Pym's many allusions (to Russian playwrights and novelists, to Romantic poets, to Shakespeare, etc.), it's hard not to wonder which - if any - provide models for the characters and plot. I mentioned Romeo and Juliet in my first post and am thinking more about Shakespearean comedies in this post (minor character Mark is at times Puckish). Pym has a reverence for these other writers, but she doesn't simply accept their vision and is able to subvert it at times.

"The small things in life were often so much bigger than the great things, she decided, wondering how many writers and philosophers had said this before her, the trivial pleasures like cooking, one's home, little poems especially sad ones, solitary walks, funny things seen and overheard. Tom's long absence abroad had turned her in upon herself and her own resources which had always been considerable." (Pym 85)

This paradox emphasizing the greatness of small things is in keeping with Pym's outlook in both novels. The interesting turn in this passage is that to appreciate these seemingly minor things, one must be able to self-reflect. Catherine's ability to turn "in upon herself" helps her make this realization and even admit to its already being widely known.

"'Aren't you still fond of me? No, I suppose I can't expect that now - and you said I'd never really understood you.'

'Oh, that doesn't really matter - people make a lot too much of it. Who understands anybody, if it comes to that?'" (Pym 107)

Catherine's response to Tom suggests that we know little of others and even, perhaps, of ourselves. The subtext here is that in a romantic relationship, people aren't really looking to understand their partner. This notion is perhaps ironic. It certainly goes against convention.

"'Yes, of course women do think the worst of each other, perhaps because only they can know what they are capable of. Men are regarded as being not quite responsible for their actions. Besides, they have other and more important things on their minds. Did you know that Tom was writing a thesis, for his Ph.D.?'" (Pym 113)

Catherine is talking to Tom's well-to-do and disapproving aunt. There's irony in the observation about men in general and Tom in particular. There's a link here between classism and sexism, suggesting that the conventions of one play into those of another.

"She had imagined that the presence of what she thought of as clever people would bring about some subtle change in the usual small talk. The sentences would be like bright jugglers' balls, spinning through the air and being deftly caught and thrown up again. But she saw now that conversation could also be compared to a series of incongruous objects, scrubbing-brushes, dish-cloths, knives, being flung or hurtling rather than spinning, which were sometimes not caught at all but fell to the ground with resounding thuds." (Pym 124)

Aunt Rhoda's realization here underscores the discrepancy between imagination and reality that Pym has addressed throughout the novel. The analogies for lively and dull conversation are in keeping with Catherine's voice as a writer; she is fond of such comparisons. The switch from colorful entertainment to drab domesticity gives further insight into Rhoda's desires and actual life. I wonder if Pym intentionally makes her narrator so similar to her protagonist for some reason?

"I think it's just the love of his work, though, of course, the women there are very attractive. I don't think we can ever hope to know all that goes on in a man's life or even to follow him with our loving thoughts, and perhaps that's just as well. You know how you say to yourself sometimes, 'I wonder what he's doing now?' You can't always know that." (Pym 148)

Catherine's advice to Deirdre begins as consoling but ends up existential. The subtext is in keeping with Catherine's self-reliant character. She suggests that the pining over a man and wondering what he's doing during an absence are detrimental activities.