We enter the season and the chapter of nuptials. The traditional comedy ends in a wedding, a symbolic union for the community. In Berkeley, blooming white roses remind me of weddings, and so do their thorns. In the ninth chapter, “The Wedding, 1843” Eliza is wed to Richard Fowler. This union was an arrangement that Eliza could not change. A mystery of the heart divides the sisters from one another, and the reason is revealed in this beautiful and painful chapter.
The traditional comedy ends in a wedding, a symbolic union for the community.
Property
In 1843, young women dressed and decorated for the wedding, then as now. They choose colors and designs, rent a carriage, prepare the house and the garden, and watch for guests. Expenses and worries balance hope and excitement. The women discuss the marriage of Jane Austin’s characters in Sense and Sensibility. Their accomplishments fade when they are unprotected. There are few illusions for young women without status or means who have worked and saved.
The home I loved and longed for could not be mine as long as common law favored white men. Otis, Eliza, and I were left scrambling for a place in the world now that Jebediah had a little boy by marriage. My best hope had been to marry George, who might get the land as enticement to take care of me. The fact that Pa took the deed back did not bode well.
The Compromise, “The Wedding, 1843”
Bitter and Sweet
Mariah realizes the hard truth; her marriage is going to be about property. The reader can see that she may have to set aside her precious and heard-won values. Education has given her a vision that will be difficult to realize. The second event in this chapter is the return to Cherry Hill where the siblings sing and mourn amid the flowers and their blooming youth.
“Black Cherry Hill,” said Otis. “Remember?”
“Mm-mm.” I said. “That lynching shook my soul, black fruit hanging in the tree of life.”
“Only the Almighty may uncouple life and death,” said Otis.
“And must my trembling spirit fly to see the flaming skies?” Eliza spoke part of Idumea, a song we learned in Stoneville....
We pushed those thoughts aside and loaded the wagon with branches of white plum and pink cherry blossoms, and stocks of daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, and wild lilies. Our sorrows drowned in the pleasure of the moment like any other day, but today we were decorating for holy matrimony. Our love for one another had never been sweeter. Now I know how bitter sweet can be.
The Compromise, “The Wedding, 1843”
Family Reputation
Things don’t go as planned. Their father Jebediah does not come to give Eliza away. Instead, a womanizing Frenchman arrives. He both charms and frightens the women with his elegant and licentious style.
“Charme rustique. Such American charm and patriotism!” His silver waxed mustache quivered as he spoke. His bow to Eliza seemed to lift her off her feet: “Quoi?—L’Eternité. The sea united with the sun?” Eliza lowered her eyes like a country girl before royalty.
The Compromise, “The Wedding, 1843”
The sisters begin to understand. André François is Eliza’s uncle on her mother’s side, and this relation is injurious to her. He will have expectations for Eliza, who has learned to be a lady of reputation. She leaves with her hapless husband to face those expectations without the family or social group that gave her strength and direction. Will she face or run away from them?
Betrayal
As the wedding begins, those who love the bride are moved by sincere passion. George, who was gone four years, has shaved his heavy beard for his brother’s wedding. He draws attention in his wedding kilt, but he does not acknowledge Mariah as his fiancée. The losses pile up. Mariah’s heart is broken on her sister’s wedding day.
Then the handsome groomsman looked at me with sharp blue eyes.... His gaze deflected from me and back to the beautiful woman who was glowing with excitement, my sister. Eliza, now Mrs. Richard Fowler, had spoken her vows. It was done in the eyes of God and the eyes of nearly everyone we knew, but George did not falter in his fixity upon his brother’s wife.
The Compromise, “The Wedding, 1843”
Do we all have a society of peers and mentors to help us through hard times? Grow up!
Locus of Control
Mariah, our heroine, is unable to act. In fact, she swoons! The heroes of youth are not to be weakened thus, so here my story breaks the rules of a young adult novel. Would a superhero give us temporary hope? Do we all have a society of peers and mentors to help us through hard times? Grow up!
Despite opportunities to access culture and ideas, the sisters are weak at the point of transition to adulthood. Their economic and family situation has eroded their locus of control, to use a popular term in psychology. Events to do not follow from their own actions. Their yearnings for both independence and love are dashed. They labor and watch, and cannot manage their lives. They wait or go with the flow. We have to wrap our minds around the emotional hardships women face. If the bonds among us are broken, we have little on which to rely.
The traditional union is broken, and apparently only a compromise will let them survive. That’s the story.
Self-efficacy and intergenerational support will determine how long the sisters labor and against what odds. Success will strengthen them, and some will come to Mariah. She will give to others, which may be a “good enough” ending. The traditional union is broken and apparently, only a compromise will let them survive. That’s the story.
Catharsis
Can a story inoculate us against unhappiness? I hope so. Catharsis releases pent up emotions, such as anxiety, fear, and sadness. The arts have been associated with catharsis since Aristotle. Tragedy heals. After purging excessive passion, a healthy balance returns. Reading about others’ lives could also provide intellectual clarification of psychological distress and self-doubt. (But maybe not at the point of sale or on in the first 10 pages.)
I think of this when depression, drug abuse, and suicide enter our personal or public discussions. Catharsis is a psychological tool to help a young person, or any person, regain balance and understanding. Without the arts and without tragedy, we could be left accepting blame for apparent failures, and the burden can be too great.
But The Compromise is a comedy laced through with tragedy. I might admit to the other way around, a tragedy laced with comedy. On some days I struggle to find my way there, dragging my apparent failures. They are not purged. They are spoken through on the page.