As
shifts occur over the course of the novel, I will be discussing the question of
Esther and Felix’s class as presented in the first half of the novel.
Esther’s
class position in Felix Holt would,
likely, be classified as Middle Class in standing if not in income, although
certain elements of her life—such as being the daughter of a Dissenter—place her
decidedly on the periphery of the Class. Furthermore, Esther, unlike Margaret Hale
in North and South, has bourgeoisie
tendencies which further ostracize her from the other arguably Middle Class
characters in the novel such as Jermyn’s daughters because such luxuries—her
watch, her gloves, her candle preferences—are viewed as ridiculous in light of “the
conditions of her lot,” (76) which is something Esther acknowledges: “Esther’s
own mind was not free from a sense of irreconcilableness between the objects of
her taste and the conditions of her lot” (76). This irreconcilableness is
further accented because of her education in France where “the best-born and handsomest
girls at school had always said that she might be taken for a born lady” (77).
Felix
Holt, on the other hand, appears to be working-class by birth and by choice,
although his education and work ethic, as we see, could easily move him into
the Middle Class if he so desired. It is this move into the Middle Class which
his mother desires and which is a source of tension between mother and son, a
very different tension from that which exists between Harold Transome and Mrs.
Transome. “Felix was heir to nothing better than a quack medicine” (51) the
narrator relates before Felix Holt ever appears in the novel. His physical appearance,
commented on various times by the narrator is also noticed by other characters due
to his lack of subscription (submission?) to accepted/expected standards of
dress: “that is young Holt leaning forward now without a cravat” (238).
However, as indicated in various scenes throughout the novel, Felix Holt
remains working-class by choice, saying he would prefer to make an honest
living with his hands and barely get by, than be “a demagogue all tongue and
stomach” (65).
Esther
though her self-representation is deemed superior to Felix Holt who is considered
“quite below her” (239) according to some of the town folk. It is this
self-presentation of the two that makes them appear to be of very different
classes although financially they are similar in station. They are also
similarly marginalized within the community, Felix Holt for his radical
politics and chosen association with
the working class and Esther for her status as a Dissenter preacher’s daughter
with bourgeois desires. Education and reading preferences aside, Felix Holt and
Esther have a great deal in common when it comes to status. Their chosen markers of status, however, set
them into two very separate categories with Esther being placed above Felix.
Deirdre, I see things exactly as you do. It seems in Felix Holt as well as North and South middle class seems to be as much about perception (self perception and the perception of others) as any real material accumulation. And, as you say, education plays a great role in the definition of middle class too, especially for Felix. Women, as we know, weren't expected to be well-educated to be perceived as middle class;their distinction came about through material and behavioral markers. However, it's interesting that Felix wants her to be educated--a marker of his radical politics. So I wonder to what extent radical politics are markers of the middle class since it would be people with some money who would have the "luxury" of education and bold opinions.
ReplyDeleteThis is a careful and accurate delineation of where Felix and Esther stand in their community. Do you think their positions change by the end of the novel? Do the criteria for class membership change? Where do you think Eliot stands?
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