WillaCather has created an artistic ending to A Lost Lady that Marian Forrester is a survivor. Irony is a powerful tool because it allows readers to question the origin of the novel’s title. This leads to the revelation that Marian was not a lost lady, but a man looking in. It becomes clear that Neil is placing a double standard on Marian. This is evident when we look beyond the male eye and see Marian’s true character. Neil’s perspective makes Mrs. Forrester lose in her own compartmentalization. But to see her true nature, one must acknowledge her many characteristics and traits. When you look at the many perspectives presented throughout the novel, you will see that Marian isn’t lost. This irony serves a thematic statement on women as whole, complex beings instead of characters who are merely a collection of ideals.
Neil struggles with Mrs. Forrester’s ideas throughout the novel. Neil immediately places Mrs. Forrester at the top of his list: “He’d never seen a woman so charming and distinguished like Mrs. Forrester.” She was a lot more attractive than other women. Neil romanticized Marian as a boy and creates an idealized picture of her. She admits that she most admires her for her relationship with her husband (65). Neil is particularly proud of Mrs. Forrester’s devotion to her husband. He depicts her as a central part of his image, emphasizing this characteristic as central to his identity. He later discovers she is in a relationship with Frank Ellinger, which ultimately leads to his heartbreak. Morris Dickstien says that Neil’s reaction is filled with childish petulance. It also reveals how high he places Mrs. Forrester on a pedestal. This observation clarifies that Neil’s “disenchantment”, while a result his own ignorance, is not a degrading of Marian. Neil is shocked to see Marian’s affair and realizes that Marian has polarized his ideal. “In that second…he had lost one his most precious things in this life” (72). Marian was Neil’s ideal, but Marian remains there and is the same Marian that she was. It is not something Marian suffers, but Neil is the only one who feels it. This is also evident in the expression “Neil had to hear again from his long-lost wife (147).” The possessive pronouns “his” and “lost ladies” indicate that Neil’s perspective is the only one that exists. It is clear to see that Marian was a remarried, successful woman who fulfilled her dream of traveling. Neil’s perspective would have made Marian look like a lost lady. Instead, this irony opens a dialogue on the male gaze that invites readers into Marian’s world through the eyes of Cather or the narrator. Cather’s powerful narration of Neil’s dissonance with Marian’s character, in his frustration, makes Cather’s thematic claim strong. “It was not an outraged moral scruple but an aesthetic ideal. Beautiful women whose beauty was more important than they thought…was their brilliance always fuelled by something dark and hidden? Is this their secret? (72). The question is very interesting and asks the listener to consider how Mrs. Forrester could have behaved in ways that conflict with Neil’s “aesthetic idea” of her. This question explores how Neil could have fed this ideal from the very thing he detested in her. Chopin is emphasizing the “secret” to women’s lives: their humanity in all its complexity, and their “magic of contradictions”. Chopin raises awareness of the unrealistic expectations that society places on women. Marian Forrester, a charismatic woman like her, shows how a woman can be both “elegant and wild”; they can feel both joyous laughter or deep despair. Rosowski states, “There is a person with two selves, Cather suggests. One is the worldly, personal self, which is shared with family members and friends; and another, more imaginative self, which is displayed in creative work.” (162). Cather points out that the dichotomy is not as surprising to Neil as it seems to be if one views women as complex and fully human. Marian is made up of the same essence. She doesn’t exist in separate parts. Rosowski also explains, “The ideal human state, as Cather described it in her early novels,” (162). Neil says that the charm of her conversation wasn’t in her words, although she was often very witty. But in her quick recognition of her eyes and the live quality of her voice (58). Neil has a keen understanding of Mrs. Forrester’s character and is able to recognize a deeper, more personal quality. Neil is a huge fan of this quality. (58) It makes sense, then, that this same quality could also be a factor in her attraction to Frank Elinger. Neil wonders what she did with her beauty when she was with Elinger. “Where did she put it?” (84). Cather is ridiculing the notion of one being able to “put aside” their exquisiteness. Cather wants the reader not to forget that Marian’s “desirables” moments are only a small part of her “undesirables” self. To truly appreciate Marian’s exquisiteness and accept her whole being is a product of that deeper essence, it is necessary to love her.
Cather gives the perspective Captain Forrester. She sees the character of Mrs. Forrester differently from Neil, who is limited to seeing Marian as separate components. Captain Forrester recounts his life’s accomplishments. “I wanted to build a house my friends could visit, with a wife such as Mrs. Forrester making it attractive to them” (43). Captain Forrester admires the charm and liveliness of his wife, which he believes is a key attribute to his success. This is why he may accept Marian’s affairs. He can also accept that Marian is the source of his “contradictions”. “The Captain knew his wife more than she did; and that he knew her well enough to value her.” (122). Because Captain Forrester sees her as complex, he can accept her and still appreciate her for what she creates. Charlotte Goodman claims that “Cather does not want the reader to be harsher on Marian’s sexual misadventures during Daniel’s fall…Cather describes him to be, without apparent anger or jealousy, as he examines a letter his wife addressed to Frank Ellinger” (159). Captain Forrester’s character was described with great maturity. His incredibly stable emotional state is illustrated in the mountain simile, which contrasts with Neil’s boyish romanticizing. These character illustrations suggest that Captain Forrester’s perspective on Marian is more trustworthy and wiser than Neil’s.
Ivy Peters’ scene with the woodpecker gives a final perspective by metaphor. This helps Marian to see herself as a survivor and further illustrates Cather’s theme statement. The symbolic role of the female birds can be played by women in society. The society has prevented Marian from participating in the world as she did when her eyes were blinded. The bird’s eyes are mutilated and she reacts in desperate desperation. She eventually “crept along the branch” and disappears into her hole (18). Marian, who is intoxicated, calls Frank Ellinger in a similar desperate state. She retreats to her home after Captain Forester’s death. It seems that the bird survived the trauma and is able to navigate blindly back home. However, this scene leaves one wanting to see the bird again and wondering if she will ever re-emerge. Marian’s endless struggle proves her to be resilient. However, she also succeeds in her ability make her financial and personal decisions within the limitations society has allowed her to use. Marian says that she has been trying to escape the hole …[w for many months. She plans and plots her way out. Marian can leave the “hole” to re-emerge with a new husband, in a new location, and with more money, all things she had been planning.
Marian Forrester appears to have an effervescent spirit as her root quality. Marian is able to see this through others eyes and through her own words and actions. Her eyes are often described by others as “lively”. She says she also feels the power to live within her. This widow, with her wild spirit and love for running in the snow, can navigate the world networking with young men and investing with Ivy Peters. She loves her husband deeply and is passionate about relationships. This woman is not a woman who takes pride in her own vanity. She is the woman who humblely brings cookies to the boys. She loves laughter and mimicry, but also feels deep grief. These complex character traits are part of Cather’s humanity. Cather thematically refers to the human experience that women have and the society’s expectations that they must conform to. Marian’s determination to live her life shines through, challenging the male gaze that tried to dim Marian’s light and portraying her as an idealized lost woman.
Work Cite
Cather, Willa. A lost lady. New York: Vintage Books, 1990. Print. Dickstein, Morris. “The Magic of Consequences: WillaCather’s Lost Lady.” New Criterion. 17, no. 6, Feb. 1999, p. 20. EBSCOhost, proxy.lib.csus.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=1512282.
Goodman C. M. “Constance Fenimore Woolson and Willa Catherine’s For the Major.” American Literary Realism vol. 41 no. 2, 2009, pp. 154-162. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/alr.0.0013
Rosowski, S. J. “WillaCather’s Women.” Studies in American Fiction. Vol. 9 no. 2, 1981, pp. 261-275. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/saf.1981.0019
