Problematic Favorites: A Little Princess – Part 35 Comeuppance

[hrj]

In the second half of Chapter 18, we finally have the satisfaction of seeing Miss Minchin receive her just desserts, though it's a very self-inflicted and forgiving comeuppance. Miss Minchin, having heard from one of the housemaids that Sara had gone into Mr. Carrisford's house, comes in high dudgeon to fetch her back, only to find her worst nightmare has come true: Sara has turned out to be a "princess" after all, with a wealthy benefactor who knows the whole sad story of Sara's degradation. We see Miss Minchin's worldviews come crashing into each other. She tries to lay claim to being Sara's friend--after all, she didn't throw her out on the street when she could have!--and attempts to slip back into the role of flattering wealth and power. But Sara is having none of it, and Carrisford has no reason to follow any lead but Sara's. (Though this is, perhaps, less believable in the real world, where adults often reflexively support each other against the testimony of children.) When Sara holds fast to her own truth, Miss Minchin tries to turn and bite, threatening Sara with the loss of access to her friends and telling Carrisford that his new ward is "neither truthful nor grateful." It's a last stab and falls short.

And now we see Miss Minchin's edifice of control tumble down. Just as she failed to maintain her chosen narrative against Sara, she now fails to maintain control over her household. Miss Amelia challenges her version of the truth and makes it clear that she won't subordinate her conscience to her sister's lead in the future. The pupils are in an uncomtrolled uproard, knowing only that something is up, until Sara resolves their confusion in the form of a letter to Ermengarde, explaining the whole matter. There is an intimation that Sara's sudden good fortune will rub off on Ermengarde, not only via access to Sara's fabulous new/restored life of privilege, but by conveying status as Sara's friend that will fortify Ermengarde in her relations with the other girls.

Now we get to the episode where the possible realities of the story seem utterly unfair to me. And where analysis by Moral Accounting indicates that the fact of being born into a life of hard labor and uncertainty is not treated as a "credit" (and therefore inherently worthy of being balanced by reward) in the same way that being born to a life of wealth and privilege is treated as a "debt" (and therefore a state that requires balance by going through trials.)

Becky realizes that Sara's escape and the restoration of her "princess" status means the loss of her own access to Sara's friendship and the pretend worlds that had made her own life worth enduring--as well as the loss of the magical transformed attic. For nobody would continue mysteriously providing food and heat and comfort for an ordinary scullery maid. And--to a certain extent--Becky's fears are correct. Recall that Becky was only given second-hand inclusion in The Magic, and only because Sara automatically included her in every part of the good fortune. If it had been left entirely to Mr. Carrisford, no doubt Becky would have been forgotten. But Sara didn't forget her. Sara sends Ram Dass across the attic roof one last time to give Becky reassurance. Becky is to come join her at Mr. Carrisford's house...as her personal maid.

Somehow it seems a betrayal. Sara could have continued to see Becky as "just another little girl like me". They had shared all their sorrows and small comforts for two years. Sara had made sure that Becky was included in every piece of fortune she received, whether it was sharing Ermengarde's food hamper or enjoying the gifts of her mysterious benefactor. But now, when Sara has the wealth and power and freedom to do pretty much anything she wants, the most she can find to offer Becky is a slightly higher position in service? It wouldn't occur to Becky to question the arrangement. She always knew that their apparent equality was an illusion. Sara never stopped being "miss" to her. But it seems an unexpected failure of Sara's imagination not to suggest adopting Becky as a sister and an equal, now that she has the power to do so.

To be sure, it might not be the kindest thing to do in the long run. It's unlikely that Becky would ever be comfortable being elevated to such a status. When I brought up this issue at the begining of this series, some commenters pointed out that raising a working class girl up to the middle class would have been a much less possible thing than a middle class girl falling nito poverty. But I wish Sara had thought to try, because it makes me think less of her.

Next week I'll look at the somewhat different fate of Anne, and how she demonstrates the lasting effects of Sara's example. And I'll do some sort of sum-up of why I've done this series. It's been an interesting project.

Comments

[legionseaglelj.livejournal.com]

I made the initial comments (unless you're thinking of other comments I haven't seen) but I'm not quite sure we're on the same page about them. You characterised the point of the remarks as "raising a working class girl up to the middle class would have been a much less possible thing than a middle class girl falling into poverty" which I think is true, but incomplete. My point was and is that Becky cannot be raised to the middle class as matters stand; it's something that Sara does not have power to do, any more than she can solve the problems of the racial discrimination Ram Dass suffers. The markers of accent, manners, literacy, lack of family, known history and so forth are class markers which mean that the oppressions Becky suffers as a result of them are structural oppressions. She can be raised to affluence but not to the middle class.

However, I do see the fact that both Ram Dass and later Miss Minchen use the term "attendant" when describing Becky's status as enormously loaded in class terms, and in a good way. If it had been "a slightly higher position in service" we were talking about, the term would have been "ladies' maid" (the position which Mariette had held). Particularly in the "princess" context "attendant" brings Becky conceptually closer to "lady in waiting" or perhaps "paid companion". "Paid companion" roles were typically given to poor relations (think of Mrs Annesley in Pride and Prejudice who carries out this role for Georgiana.)

I think Becky is meant to be in class transition at the end of the book, with the attendant role (and terminology) putting her into a hybrid position.

[zeborah]

I suppose you could head-canon it that Sara did try, just behind the scenes: raising it with Carrisford, who then points out the issues with it, and Sara sees reason, and together they come up with the compromise. But then the fact remains this is still left out because putting it in would require explicitly examining the irrevocable injustice of the class structures and the author isn't really interested in doing that (and/because/so) doing this would undermine the 'little princess' theme.

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

I've enjoyed this series of posts. Thank you. I always liked stories of kids cast down then rising up again. My favorite book in the third and fourth grade was "Oliver Twist".