Jaffey’s theory, as I understand it, relates to North and
South in that Margaret is sympathetic to the poor workers because she is afraid of poverty and afraid of becoming poor herself. According to Jaffey, this would mark Margaret as middle class. However, Mr. and Mrs. Thornton, who are middle class economically (though their status is questionable by other markers), do not have such sympathy for the workers. Therefore, by Jaffey's theory, they would not be middle class. Perhaps because they have been poor and have risen, they do not have the fear of the unknown that Margaret and her family might have. However, one would think they would have fear of returning to poverty after having wealth. I think this fear is expressed through anger rather than sympathy, however, for the Thorntons. Margaret is also sympathetic toward the illnesses and deaths among the workers because she no doubt fears illness and death in her own family, which, as it turns out, is a very real fear.
Again, though, Mrs. Thornton is not very sympathetic to Mrs. Hale's illness and believes this is typical of Mrs. Hale's delicate upper class breeding. Which, in reference to Jaffey, would be a masculine behavior since sympathy is equated with women. And if she sees herself as middle class and the Hales as upper class, she may be eager to see them fall a notch or to climb to their level; therefore, she has no fear about her own fall and thus no sympathy.
But Jaffey's theory is complicated by the lower classes, specifically the Higgins'. When Mr. Hale dies, Higgins comes to show his respects and sympathizes with Margaret. So is this because he has recently lost Bessie and can therefore relate to Margaret's pain. Or, as I understand Jaffey, is it that Higgins doesn't see class distinctions applied to himself. Has he taken on middle class airs because of the strike and sees himself equal to his masters, and doesn't fear replacement? If sympathy means that middle class people see the poor and are reminded of their potential to fall, can we see Higgins sympathy to Margaret as a reminder to the impoverished that they can rise to middle class? (I hope that makes sense).
Michelle,
ReplyDeleteI think you bring up a good point about the emotions displayed by Higgins towards Margaret at the death of each of her parents and the question of financial class status versus performed class status is also important. As you bring up, the Thornton’s are financially middle class, but do not necessarily behave or exhibit status markers of the middle class (excepting Miss Thornton). On the other side, the Hales class status financially speaking is questionable. It is noted several times how Margaret’s dresses from her life in the South (when she was absolutely middle class) are beginning to look less fine than they used to. Despite this, the Hales perform middle class status for the entire, or for nearly the entire, novel. In summary then, I think you point out some interesting complications of Jaffe at least in regards to North and South.
Michelle,
ReplyDeleteI think you bring up a very interesting point commenting on the apparent masculinizing effect that the lack of sympathy has for Mrs. Thornton. As you note, sympathy is often equated with femininity, with Mrs. Thornton's lack of sympathy seeming to set her apart from the other female characters in the novel. Margaret's most visible act of sympathy, for instance, of placing herself between Thornton and the crowd of workers, she attributes to her status as woman. One question, among others, I think this brings up is the status of Mr. Hale, given this dynamic. Mr. Hale is depicted throughout the novel as moved by sympathy, be it in the performance of his duties as pastor, or merely the sympathy he is willing to show the workers. Does this render him a feminized character? If so, his friendship with Mr. Thornton offers an interesting contrast, particularly in the ways they justify their respective positions toward the workers. Mr. Hale is sympathetic, as he is called to by his religious learning. Mr. Thornton is less so, largely due to what he thinks the laws of economics tell him about what will happen. Does this lead to a feminization of the past, and a masculinization of the future? I think your post leads us to many interesting questions and avenues related to the novel and to sympathy as a cultural notion.
I don't think Jaffe is saying that characters must engage in scenes of sympathy to qualify as middle class -- more that, in such scenes, the middle class figure relates to the object of sympathy as a sign of the instability of class identity that is managed by the dynamic of sympathy, which seems to fix each character in his or her class position. But the points you raise about how sympathy is gendered, and how it complicates the gender of Mr. Hale & Mrs. Thornton, is perceptive, as are the two comments here.
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