Deerbrook
is a novel that paints a picture for readers of the reality of small-town life
and of the inner workings of social circles and familial relationships.
Exploring these deeply imbedded social norms and practices was a niche of Harriet
Martineau’s, and her interests are typically reflected in her writing in both
subtle and blatant ways. Martineau frames Deerbrook around a few
different plotlines – the romance plots between the Ibbotsons and their
bachelors, the mistrusted country doctor, and the varying relationships
occurring in the small town. Doing this allows Martineau to intimately explore
the relationships of spouses, acquaintances, neighbors, and siblings, but most
importantly, Martineau explores friendship in the novel and displays the
reality of friendships affected by Victorian-era gender and social norms. In
the town of Deerbrook, there is a surprising lack of what appears to be strong
and healthy friendships – many of them are tainted by mistrust and gossip even
without mention of it being so. There is, however, one friendship in the town
of Deerbrook which appears far less susceptible to the drama surrounding it –
and that is Maria and Margaret’s budding-to-bloomed female intimacy that marks
the most important plot points, interrogating its placement as a “secondary”
plot to the story. By placing the movement of the plot, the exposure to
thematic content, and the bulk of friendly dialogue in the mouths of Margaret
and Maria, Martineau has insinuated that the key plot to Deerbrook is in
their friendship rather than in the romance plots that were popular in the era.
Maria and Margaret are portrayed as
having a very close and honest friendship. Maria Young, prior to her
relationship with Margaret, seems to lack true friends. As their friendship
grows, it is suggested so, “For a fortnight Margaret has spent some hours of
each day with Miss Young . . . a strong regard had sprung between them. This
new friendship was a great event to Miss Young; -- how great, she herself could
scarcely have believed beforehand” (55). Maria is a character that is very
lonely prior to the arrival of the Ibbotsons, and she apparently gained the
most from their arrival considering the state of her relationships prior to it.
Overtime, Margaret and Maria find confidence in one another, much as close
friends would. As Dr. Hope and Hester marry, Margaret is left to get their home
in order and on her final night invites Maria to stay. Martineau, here, spends
time building their relationship for the audience – their friendship is finally
shown rather than told to the reader as we get pages of dialogue between the
two discussing marriage and love in a girl-like and fun manner (157 – 68). This
friendship begins to mean as much to Margaret as to Maria – her sister has just
been married and she is staring a very lonely life in the face, with only Maria
as a true confidant. This alliance in the novel is key to the unveiling of
other plot points and allows Martineau to utilize these two characters as
focalizing agents.
Harriet Martineau was a woman who
had ideas about society and how it could and should change to bring about
political, economic, and social paradise. As known, from Martineau’s work on Society
in America, and in her female characters in Illustrations of a Political
Economy, that she cares about the status of women in western culture. In “The
Political Non-Existence of Women” from Society in America the economic
issues with women and work deeply perturbed her. Socially, Martineau had
interest in female relationships and, according to Valerie Sanders’, a deep
“respect for female friendship” (“Introduction”). Friendship, over time, has
been considered an important phenomenon; however, in the Victorian era,
friendship was still seen as being “ethical, public, exclusively masculine, and
elite” (Schweitzer 338). The fact that friendship was once viewed as being
“exclusively masculine” speaks to the dissidence in Martineau’s attempts to subvert
this narrative by placing friendship exclusively in the hands of female
characters.
The
friendship between Margaret Ibbotson and Maria Young in Deerbrook is an
example of trust and love for one another in a town fueled by gossip, but it is
also is a tool used to provide plot-thickening dialogue for the novel. This technique
is also used in “Weal and Woe in Garveloch” from Illustrations of a
Political Economy. Katie and Ella’s friendship leads to dialogue that not
only propels the plot but also displays thematic content in a way that is
typically done by male characters. Katie and Ella are marked by the reader as
women who are doing something outside of societal expectations, especially
considering the era from which Martineau was working from. Martineau, who was a
sort of social butterfly herself, was mainly friends with men. However, the
friendship between Martineau and Charlotte Bronte echoes Martineau’s ode to the
power of female friendships. Though truly brief, Martineau’s attachment to
Bronte was long-lasting. After a falling out between the two, Martineau worked
with Elizabeth Gaskell on The Life of Charlotte Brontë after Brontë’s
death (Sanders 71), showing the same consideration towards Bronte as Maria has
towards Margaret by faithfully helping to continue on the legacy of Miss Brontë.
This is strengthened by speculation that Martineau is self-embodied in Deerbrook
as Maria Young. As discussed in Martineau’s Autobiography, Martineau
was deaf from a young age and was thus considered unmarriable by Victorian
standards (14). This is reflected directly in Maria’s character, who was
lamed by an accident which killed her father. Martineau’s biography and place
in history, alongside her art, portrays her as a rebel, breaking social norms
in favor of her own views and opinions. Likewise, Margaret and Maria discuss
matters prevalent in Deerbrook thoroughly. Through their dialogue, the reader
is exposed to the thematic ideas in Deerbrook such as faith, the reality
of love and marriages, as well as an awareness and investment into the
friendship unfolding between the young women. The purpose of moving Deerbrook’s
plot through the dialogue between Margaret and Maria is to put important
conversation into the mouths of female characters for the sake of showing
complex female thought, crafting characters whom women could relate to and/or
be inspired by, and to crush the social norms that shun the importance and
power of female friendships.
The reader is drawn to the Deerbrook
gossip in novel the as much as a townsperson themselves might be. The reader is
exposed to the drama through the conversations with Margaret and Maria – as
well as given moments with each character’s opinions. This is again the case as
Maria interrogates Margaret’s affections for Mr. Enderby – the conversation
exposes the reader to the tension between the characters as Maria is also able
to confess her previous attachments to him (165-67). Harriet Martineau presents
key pieces of the story which the reader could otherwise not be exposed to
through the friendship between Margaret and Maria. Maria, who is keenly aware
of the politics and sociology of Deerbrook, presents at once to both the reader
and Margaret. Without this interaction, it is reasonable to assume that other
characters may not ever acknowledge or discuss the nature of the town’s gossip,
due to the parts they play within it. If the most urgent concern of the novel
is gossip (Pond 177), and Maria and Margaret discuss and, thus, relay the
gossip to the reader, then Maria and Margaret serve as the most important
characters in Deerbrook– as they motivate the plot in ways which most other
characters do not.
In
a novel that is supposedly most forwardly about love, it is to be considered
that Martineau concludes the novel with the parting of the friends rather than
a marriage or something more romantic. Much as the dialogue between the friends
from previous instances in the novel, this dialogue seems to leave the reader with
parting thoughts about their friendship and friendship in general. Margaret
admits that she is afraid for Maria’s impending loneliness. Maria, the type of
character who relishes in independence and “little gifts of leisure” (32) early
in the novel, admits that Margaret is likely right. Maria, in some senses,
faces the coldest ending of the entire cast. Because of Maria’s friendship with
Margaret, she is forced to come to terms with her hard-feelings about her
previous relationship with Enderby. Margaret, a gentle and sensible character, trapezes
the difficult situation with love and grace, showing her respect for Maria and
her feelings while also pursuing love. In addition, Maria is noble in her
support, showing the value she places in her relationship with Margaret. Not
only is she sucking up her prior affections, but she is also forced to accept
the loss of her confidant’s presence, proving her love for Margaret. Ending the
novel on this note speaks to the importance of the friendship plot, and placing
it even above the romance and gossip plots. The romances and the antagonistic
gossip are more or less settled by the end of the novel, but Martineau spends
the final few pages assessing the nature of the friendship, which leaves the
audience to ponder what will come of it and to mourn Maria’s resuming solitude
– thus placing importance and emphasis on this moment and again holding up the
friendship as the primary plot.
Margaret Ibbotson and Maria Young
develop a strong connection with one another throughout Deerbrook, from
which an intense friendship blooms. The young women propel the plot’s gossip
and unveils the political and sociological significance of the rumor mill and
social workings of the town of Deerbrook. With these facts in mind, the primary
plot, it turns out, is the friendship between Maria and Margaret, rather than
the most outward (yet unmotivating) romance plot. The significance of a strong,
bold female friendship may seem unimportant to a modern reader, but the
rebellious nature of such a thing present in Martineau’s work defies the social
norm of friendships being “exclusively masculine” (Schweitzer). Deerbrook, which
was known by male critics and peers as being a work by Martineau “more fitting
of a woman” (Sanders), is actually packed with political dissidence and themes that
antagonize the oppressive political society which Martineau lived in. In an
unassuming nature, Martineau exploits the friendship between the young women to
make a statement against sexist assumptions regarding friendship in the
Victorian era, while still giving readers the relief of a loving friendship
they felt invested in – giving more power to the women, who are friends outside
of, as well as because of, the fraught environment they are existing in.
Works
C983ited
Martin, Robert B. “Charlotte Bronte
and Harriet Martineau.” Nineteenth-Century Fiction, vol. 7, no. 3, 1952,
pp. 198 – 201.
Martineau,
Harriet. Autobiography, Nineteenth-Century British Biographies, 2007.
---. Deerbrook.
Edited by Gaby Weiner. Virago, 1983.
---. Illustrations of a Political
Economy: Selected Tales. Edited by Deborah A. Logan. Broadview, 2004.
---. “Section VII: Political
Non-Existence of Women,” Society in America. 1837, pp 71-75.
Pond, Kristen A. “Harriet Martineau’s
Epistemology of Gossip.” Nineteenth-Century Literature, vol. 69, no. 2,
2014, pp. 175 – 207.
Sanders, Valerie. “Harriet Martineau
and Elizabeth Gaskell.” The Gaskell Society Journal, vol. 16, 2002, pp.
64 – 75.
---. Introduction. Deerbrook,
by Harriet Martineau, Kindle ed., Penguin, 2004.
Schweitzer, Ivy. “Making Equals:
Classic Philia and Women’s Friendship.” Feminist Studies, vol. 42, no.
2, 2016, pp. 337 – 64.
