The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion
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Basil
Wilkie Collins Collection
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Basil - Week 2
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One of my GR groups has a theme for the month and members try to read at least one book from that theme (for instance animals, family drama, England, etc.) The theme for this month is Gothic. I thought, "I won't be reading anything Gothic this month" - Wrong! Nothing is more Gothic than the scene at Mr. Mannion's house with the thunderstorm and his odd emotionless face lit up garishly by lightning to resemble a devil or skeleton.
What we know - Margaret isn't all sweetness and light. She is shallow, materialistic, short-tempered, even cruel. But she is a decent actress in order to get her way. She's not at all the blank slate Basil thinks her. If anything, Basil is the one who is naive and immature.
Mannion reminds me of a robot or cyborg, the way he never shows emotion and speaks in evasive ways. I wondered if he knows a lot about the business and could ruin the Sherwins if he ever snitched on them. Wilkie was a friend of Dickens and Mannion has some of Uriah Heep (David Copperfield) or Mr. Carker (Dombey and Son), who have power over their employers.
The shocking conclusion of this section is very dramatic, but I don't understand the motives of Margaret, Mannion, or the Sherwins. If the idea was to get hold of Basil's money and property or insurance payments, they could have had him killed anytime after the wedding. No one seems bothered by morality! If they wanted to make sure Basil's father didn't disown him, wouldn't they have encouraged him to talk to his father rather than keeping the secret? (Or - spooky music - was the wedding one of those fake ones?) I assume all this will be revealed eventually.
I have more sympathy for Basil now that he is revealed to be a dupe. In a way, it serves him right. And his poor sister as always is left aside.
Mod
The thunderstorm scene was amazing, and when Basil came back to find both Mannion and Margaret with unnaturally cold hands, I started wondering if there was something supernatural about Mannion. (Collins has written scary stories, but this book doesn't seem to be marketed as one.)
But I suppose Mannion is just a very human sort of creep. Let's see... at the beginning of the year, Margaret has just turned 17, though we find that she appears older. It has just occurred to me that Mr. Sherwin could have lied about Margaret's age, but if he's telling the truth, there must have been something "odd" in her relationship with Mannion (judging from her and Mrs. Sherwin's reactions when he reappeared after his trip) when she was 16, if not earlier. Is this a case of grooming? Was Margaret an immoral person on her own and he just latched on to that, or did he groom her to be this way from a young age?
Margaret definitely seems to be more interested in Basil's money than in him, and, from her questions about his family, it seems like she is looking forward to a life as a rich woman of high status. Was it always her intention to have an affair with Mannion, or did he pressure her? It seems all of them regard Basil as an easy-to-fool walking bank. Mrs. Sherwin seems to be the only one of the family with a moral compass, and she's unable to give much information (due to fear, mental instability, or probably a combination of both, possibly with the mental instability caused by fear of her husband - and, possibly, of Mannion, depending on what power he has over the family. Has he threatened her?).
At this point, Basil might have killed Mannion, Margaret may or may not have returned home safely, and Basil is home with his family, ill. People saw him in the area. The Sherwins will be angry. At the end of the book, is he running from the Sherwins, Mannion, or the police, I wonder? As we're only halfway through, I wonder what he'll do between now and when he starts writing.
How will Margaret justify coming home late without an escort? Had Mr. Sherwin known how bad Margaret was and wanted to secure a fortune for her in case anything happened during that year? I can't see any father allowing a man inside his house who had dishonorable intentions toward his young daughter, but perhaps Mannion didn't give him a choice. Was Sherwin using Basil as a tool to keep Mannion from claiming Margaret? If so, why didn't he send her to live with Basil and why did he let Mannion take her to the party? How did Mannion and Margaret even arrange the "escapade" and how much choice did she have in the matter? It appears she consented, but how much coercion and grooming went on beforehand? Is it possible she actually loves Mannion or is it simply a carnal thing? Had they planned to continue the affair throughout her marriage or did Mannion just want to have her first (and, if Margaret loved Mannion, did she just want a night with him before she started living with Basil, and would it have been enough)? Too many questions!
I'm looking forward to the rest of the book. So far, Collins does not disappoint!
Mod
The thunderstorm scene was amazing, and when Basil came back to find both Manni..."
Collins typical excels at building suspense with so many pieces you aren’t sure which way it will go. He’s a favorite of mine, and I’ve yet to be disappointed by any of his books.
The first section was a bit meh as it mainly involved an introduction of the characters, including a main character with overly romantic instincts, the expression of which got on my nerves. However, in this section the novel truly becomes a "sensation" novel. Good to see that Collins chooses to show Basil as having been overly romantic, naïve and stupid enough to be duped. I prefer Basil as the suspicious and revengefully murderous person he turned into than the stupidly romantic dupe he had been. Deborah wrote: "1. What do we know about Margaret?
2. What do we know about Mannion?
3. Why does Mannion seem to have power over the Sherwins?.."
As Lori notes, at this point there are still 'reveals' left. We know a bit of what has happened but, as we don't have all the answers yet, we are free to presume and speculate, which is always fun.
I expect to get more clarification to these questions in the next sections. I now look forward to seeing how it plays out. I am also glad we are half-way through and the story won't drag out too long.
The only reason I see that Mannion has power over Mr Sherwin is his efficiency at managing Sherwin's business affairs so that they make money. He has also pointed out some of his unscrupulous employees and eliminated them from their employment. Because of his coolness and lack of emotion, perhaps Sherwin also has some fearfulness of his power.I do not see anything that explains his power over Margaret unless she is simply an oversexed teenage girl who is susceptible to an unscrupulous, leacherous, controlling older man. She certainly is described as rather simple minded and selfish, at times having what could be described as tantrums.
Interesting developments in this section. The novel really took off into a sensational story. I think, we will find other reasons why Mannion has power over Margaret. Basil finally acted, a bit violently. But that can be explained by his naïveté in the previous sections. In retrospect he apparently saw some flaws with Margaret, but he seemed to have been blinded by his infatuation with Margaret. Not very mature. That he agreed to the very strange arrangements to begin with does not speak well for his ability to judge people. Initially, it was mentioned by Margaret’s father that he wanted to “finish” her education. But there seemed to have very little happened on that account. So after his realization of what is going on Basil (over)reacted pretty violently. He certainly does not seem to have a very grounded personality.I am looking forward to the rest of it. It certainly has gotten better.
Mod
I have to finish this section yet, but at this point (chapter 5) I have made some theories.What if Mr. Mannion is the father of Margaret? He accomplished this by seduction or rape? He is much dedicated to raise her, he even says that he consider her as a daughter (not with this words). Mrs. Sherwin always get afraid when he is present. It is caused by fear or shame?
Side note. I thought interesting that at some point someone said that italian is the language of love. Nowadays french is considered as such.
Mod
What if Mr. Mannion is the father of Margaret? He accomplished this by seduction or rape? He is much ded..."
Interesting theory and one I had not thought of
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Basil is unstable. He is passive a lot of the time but has sudden outbursts. We saw this with his father and then at the end of this section. He is obsessive about Margaret, and he rarely doubts his own judgment.
Margaret is much more interesting as a villain/manipulator than she was as an adored icon. Clara continues to be saintly, but we don't see a lot of her.
If only Mrs. Sherwin could openly talk, I'm sure we would find out a lot!
Deborah wrote: "Since we are half way, how have your opinions changed about the characters?"At first I thought Basil's character changed as he first was a wimpy overly romantic person and then morphed into a revengeful maniac person. My opinion has changed as I now think both indicate the same personality trait - that Basil just lets any of his emotions go to the extreme. When he experiences physical attraction that inspires a lust or love emotion, he takes it to such a dramatic level that he acts irrationally - he is willing to marry someone he barely knows under ridiculous conditions with possible ridiculous consequences, When he experiences jealousy and anger on discovering he has been duped, he takes it to such a dramatic level that he acts irrationally - he is willing to immediately murder Mannion, an act likely to result in his execution, without much thought or planning.
As Robin says - Basil is unstable.
Mod
Yep, that's our Basil in a nutshell!
Lori wrote: "that's our Basil...!"Good title for a half hour sitcom based on the title character.
(Sorry, I must have been thinking about Fawlty Towers)
Mod
At first I thought Basil's character changed as he first was a wimpy overly romantic person and then mo..."
It's very representative of the Romantic era in literature - all or nothing, lots of drama and suffering. This story could make a good opera, with the love at first sight, heightened emotions, sudden changes, etc.
Brian wrote: "Lori wrote: "that's our Basil...!"Good title for a half hour sitcom based on the title character.
(Sorry, I must have been thinking about Fawlty Towers)"
haha Indeed.
Mod
The scene with the thunderstorm is very dramatic!
As for that final chapter. One of the people that saw Basil staggering around took one look at the expression on his face and said that Basil wasn't drunk, he was Mad!
What an ending to Part 2!
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Yes sensationalism at it’s best in those scenes
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I haven't decided what to think of Margaret-pawn or active participant? The Sherwin's strange behaviour-Mrs Sherwin all along and Mr Sherwin in sending Basil out after Mannion and Margaret-makes me wonder if they have also been manipulated in some way through this episode? Or has Mannion wrested control of the whole situation away from Mr Sherwin, and he is exacting revenge?
I also wondered if in fact Margaret was already married to Mannion, and then this was a grand plot to arrange the false marriage and then arrange his death so they could secure at minimum Basil's life insurance, at most whatever he might inherit/already own from his family, without ever having to consummate the false marriage.
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I haven't decided what to think of Margaret-pawn or active participant? ..."
I also wondered whether Margaret was already married to Mannion
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The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910
Books mentioned in this topic
David Copperfield (other topics)Dombey and Son (other topics)
Basil waits the year stipulated by Margaret’s father by spending evenings with her and a guardian. Margaret is put “on show” by her father requesting she show off her language capabilities. Yet, Basil finds trying to read with her and educate her to be less than successful,. Instead she seems more interested in learning about Basil’s household- including servants, how his sister dresses, and the like.
Mr. Mannion seems to spend quite a bit of time with the family, and something about him makes Mrs. Sherwin uneasy. Mannion proposes to Basil to act as an intermediary to assist Basil in obtaining the time he wants with Margaret.
Basil goes to the country for one week to try to bridge a growing gap between himself and his father. Upon his return, Margaret seems different. On the last day of the awaited year, Margaret and Mannion attend a party. Basil follows them to see they have entered a hotel.
1. What do we know about Margaret?
2. What do we know about Mannion?
3. Why does Mannion seem to have power over the Sherwins?
4. Why does Mrs. Sherwin warn Basil to keep Margaret away from bad people? (Part 2, section 6)?
5. Discuss the foreshadowing show in this segment.