What?!!! She died?! Oh, man . . .

I think it would be instructive to look back over this blog and see how we all speculated on the end of this novel. No one, I'm sure, expected this! I admit it is a little cruel to make you spend so much time with a story that has no ending, but I wanted you to feel, as much as possible, how it might have felt to Gaskell's readers in 1866 when part 18 was not followed by part 19. This is certainly an interesting way to study serial fiction--and maybe wonder why its popularity waned.

Sure, we can speculate, but we can never know for sure, how Gaskell intended this to end.

Now that the whole class knows how the novel ends--and I do want to thank those of you who DID know for keeping it to yourselves, because I see that some of you were surprised--I want to know how you feel about it. How much of reading a novel is connected with the closure that ending provides? Think about all the other novels we have read in this class. Do they all aim for the last pages to be a conclusion rather than an end?

This discussion has been excellent, even when the prompts have been pretty lame. You faked interest well, if you were faking it! I think that you all got invested in the characters and story and the reading of this novel required much more of you, perhaps, than the others.

What about Roger?

Roger has been gone for a great deal in this novel. How is he still present? And. . . on another tack, what do you think will happen to Osborne, as now we have positive proof that he is unwell?



I got to admit, I am having a hard time coming up with new things to ask you to discuss.

". . . and he gets all his gloves from Houbigant!"

We found out, finally, the "power" Preston has over Cynthia. Do you find her a more sympathetic character? Does your opinion change in the passage where she brushes off Roger's accounts of his travels as she is packing to go back to London. And what of Mr. Henderson?? Oh, and what do you think will come of Mr. Sheepshanks seeing Molly?

High Society?

How does the narrator emphasize the changes that Mrs. Gibson has brought to the Gibson home in this installment? Have Molly, Mr. Gibson, and the residents of Hollingford been reconciled to the change? What does Molly and Mr. Gibson's behavior when Cynthia and Hyacinth are in London reveal about their characters?

Oops--late again, and I don't have the "no computer" excuse this time. I do have the "no my own computer" excuse! Want to hear it??

Why such a secret?

We all know that Cynthia wants to keep her engagement to Roger a secret? Do you think she ever gives a good reason for it? What does she tell Roger? Why does she react as she does when Mr. Gibson says he will tell the squire? Are you convinced by her answer? Why will it cause her "a great deal of distress if it gets known"(407)?

So many questions . . . but it is time to speculate again!

I have the same apology for the late post on this blog as the last. Do you know there are places in this country with no cell service??????

Let's predict . . .

Okay, it may have been the time change, or the class after spring break syndrome, but I sensed a little weariness with our old friends at Hollingford. So, in the spirit of the serial, let's do a little predicting.

1. We know there is something ominous and almost sinister about Mr. Preston. What do you think is his deal? What power might he have over Cynthia and why would his moving to the neighborhood make her want to go out to work as a governess? That throwing the flowers into the fire was perhaps the most passionate and spontaneous thing we've seen in the novel (well, Osborne's pursuit of Aimee is pretty sponaneous, but we hear about that via the narrator). Does the text give us any more clues to his personality that we didn't discuss in class?

2. Back to Osborne. What do you think will happen with the little French wife especially after two more references to French-bashing? What might (or should!) make a milque-toast like Osborne stand up for his family??

Another Shoe Drops

The mystery surrounding Osborne Hamley deepens and Cynthia arrives. How do the dynamics of the Hamley home and the Gibson home change in this installment of the novel? What is your first impression of Cynthia? Do you find her sympathetic or not? What specifically makes you respond to her the way you do?