This isn't due till tomorrow, but my internet connection has been playing up and I;m off to work early, so I'm going to post it now in the hope it will arrive, or that I can keep trying if it doesn't - hope that's ok, I suppose everyone can just not read it till tomorrow - assuming they can cope with the excitement...<g>
Lisa. ********************************************* Disability in EBD: Living Saints or Heretical Sinners? Physical appearance is extremely important in the world of the chalet school; heroines are invariably 'trig', 'trim', 'fresh', with 'clear-cut features' and 'fine skin', and many have even 'fairy-tale beauty'. Attractiveness is clearly associated with goodness in Elinor Brent Dyer's world (1), and healthy living ("routine, plenty of sleep, fresh milk and exercise") is what causes this attractiveness. Thus Lavender Leigh's looks as well as her temperament improve under the chalet school regime, and even Joey outgrows her earlier delicacy, marked by 'sallowness' and becomes attractive, with fine skin and clear eyes. The linkage between physical perfection and inherent goodness is constantly emphasized; but what happens when a character is not only not on this high level, but is even disabled physically in some way? How does such a character fit into EBD's world view? There are two main examples of such a situation, first the case of Phoebe Wychcote (later Peters), and secondly that of Naomi Elton, both of which are handled in very different ways. I will analyse each individually and then try and make some general remarks about EBD's attitude to disability. The portrayal of Phoebe Wychcote, is one of an almost saintly invalid battling against great hardship, whose physical imperfection is balanced by her spiritual beauty, a depiction which is highlighted and strengthened by contrast with improbably named villainess of the book, Zephyr Burthill. Phoebe Wychcote is first introduced in "Jo to the Rescue". In this book, Jo, Marie, Frieda and Simone and their young families spend a summer in a cottage opposite Phoebe's own in a village named Garnham. Phoebe herself is an invalid, as a result of rheumatic fever when she was twelve years old. This illness has left her confined to a wheelchair for the most part, although on good days she can hobble around on crutches, and in severe pain in her joints, particularly in her hands, when attacks recur. Despite this difficulty, Phoebe works to supplement her meagre income by making and selling beautiful embroidery. The pathos of the depiction is deepened by the fact that she is alone in the world, her father, a cellist, having died some eighteen months earlier, and her mother when Phoebe was only a baby of six months. Phoebe is cared for by her aged nurse, Debby, but has little other companionship at all, apart from the friendship of Reg Entwhistle, a young village lad. Thus her physical isolation is heightened by a spiritual and intellectual loneliness. It is into this scene that Joey Maynard enters. The first thing the reader learns about Phoebe is that she is frustrated by her own helplessness; as the visitors are arriving at the cottage, she is sitting knitting inside her own cottage and exclaims, "Oh, if only I could get out to see them!" and finishes "with a sigh and an impatient glance round". Despite this frustration, she is determined not to be 'selfish', a resolution engendered as a result of seeing another disabled woman who was extremely egocentric. She tells Reg in the first chapter: "It's awfully easy to be selfish when you're a cripple, Reg. Ever since I was at that hydro and saw that poor Miss Emery, I've tried so hard not to get like her. She didn't mean it, but she was horribly selfish. She wanted everything she could have for herself, and she never thought of anyone else. I should hate to get like that. And father would have hated it for me". This determination not to be self-centred, despite her dependency on others, is a key factor in EBD's portrayal of Phoebe, whose selflessness is portrayed almost as martyrdom in places. We are told that "there was real heroism in the way she tried to overcome her difficulties", as she struggles to work, "even when it was torture to hold her needle and the material". Such behaviour is contrasted directly with Zephyr Burthill, who is physically faultless, but whose character leaves much to be desired. Zephyr 's first arrival is described as follows: "Out stepped a Vision. She was tall and very slim, clad in the latest freak of fashion, a tiny hat perched on top of a head where the light flaxen hair had been swept up in stiff curls". The look is completed by clothes 'in the very latest mode' and heavy make-up [2]. This 'Vision' of physical perfection is also an extreme of selfishness, however, thinks only of herself: "Her chief god was Zephyr Burthill. Wealth came second. Nothing else mattered", and this egoism is symbolized and exemplified in her desire to own Phoebe's father's cello, which is Phoebe's most precious possession. Over the course of the book, Phoebe's medical condition improves, after admission to the San. We are told that in time she will be able to lead 'an almost normal life', and even that romance is in the air between her and her doctor, Dr. Peters [3]. By the end of the book that romance has evolved into an engagement to the doctor, and Phoebe is able to walk using only a stick, has put on weight and is generally healthier. This good fortune is the result of Jo's intervention, but it is clearly meant to be not only a happy ending, but also a reward for Phoebe's strength of character. Meanwhile Zephyr, as a result of Robin's friendship towards her begins to alter her values and gives up her obsession. It is repeatedly stressed throughout the book how fond the quartet are of Phoebe, because of her lovely nature, and this remains unchanged despite her physical improvement. Zephyr on the other hand progresses spiritually in the book, and becomes a better (though still not entirely good) person, as a result of being befriended by Robin, the first and only real friend she has ever had. Like Phoebe, Zephyr's 'disability', is caused by a form of isolation, but whereas Phoebe's disability and ensuing isolation are physical, and are cured by physical means, Zephyr's is caused by her own wrong-minded values, and must be cured spiritually. Both characters are maimed in some way, and both achieve a partial, although not complete, cure by the end of the book. In Phoebe's case this is marked by her restored health, and in Zephyr's by her renunciation of her former selfish desire to obtain Phoebe's cello. -- ________________________________________ Girlsown mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] For self-administration and access to archives see http://home.it.net.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/girlsown For FAQs see http://www.club-web.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/girlsown/faq-0.htm