Fatherhood in the Forest

[tabouli.livejournal.com]

Reading through people's comments on the last post, I found myself musing on the fathers depicted in the Marlow series. Even though none of them play a major role, there's quite a range.

The omniabsent Commander Marlow seems the kind of father who sees putting an expensively framed cabinet portrait of the family in his room as a substitute for taking leave to see them (see also Nicola's preference for a photo of Giles' ship and Nelson over photos of her family members?), but otherwise appears a friendly, no-nonsense sort of fellow. You have to smile at his pragmatic military preference for Nicola's crew cut in Falconer's Lure.

Arguably the most negative depiction of a father in the series is Mr Hopkins. When Berenice proclaims Meg's tormented family life to the masses, Meg shifts from being a workaholic nonentity to a disturbing reflection of her father's abuse, reinforced by his brief, dour cameo near the end of The Cricket Term (in which Forest hints that he also abuses his wife). On the subject of pastoral care at Kingscote, it's faintly reassuring that the school did attempt to intervene on Meg's behalf, even though it didn't succeed.

Mr West is warm and engaging; Mr Merrick is wry and genial, and seems to have a pretty healthy relationship with his son, where Patrick respects the boundaries he sets and wants his approval without fearing him. Our fleeting glimpse of Mr Todd suggests to me a conservative pillar of community type who indulges and secretly enjoys the eccentricities of his wife. Then, of course, there's Edwin, who is the only father whose parenting we see centre stage in the series.

There was a very interesting discussion of Edwin on Girl's Own in 1998 or so, which revealed a divide among Forest fans. Some would have happily had him locked up for the riding crop scene; others agreed that this was appalling behaviour, but allowed him more leeway. He is certainly a stern and authoritarian parent, though when he see him he is under a lot of stress and seems used to being the disciplinarian half of the parental team: see Rose's appeal to Mrs Marlow when he pushes her to stop reading and go outside. I'm not sure what I think of him as a parent, but he's certainly an interesting and complex character.

What do other people think about Edwin, and Forest fathers in general?

Comments

Re: From the horse's mouth...

[widgetfox.livejournal.com]

I always get confused about AF and external world timing (cf. glorious "Marlows & Doctor") but I wonder if part of this is the 'marriage is the only option' factor - that they can either get married or part, but just spending time together & seeing where it goes is not a possibility for cultural reasons?

Re: From the horse's mouth...

[ankaret.livejournal.com]

How shatteringly possible. I do think there's much more of a sudden divide between Still At School and not even allowed to visit a charity shop without permission, and Grown Up and therefore able to make huge decisions like 'marry old, old man with three tiny, tiny tots' (or, for that matter, 'start breeding New Forest ponies'), in the books than there is for their present-day readers. There's that bit in Run Away Home where someone, probably either Patrick or Peter, says that Rowan is obviously a grown-up, and Karen looks parent-like enough for Judith Oeschli to ask which is her child, which presumably means she looks at least twenty-three.

As for the 'Because she fancies him' / 'Because he fancies her' I actually do think Edwin must have some kind of animal magnetism or at least slow-burning charm, because it's clearly not his looks or his outgoing nature that have attracted two wives. Perhaps he's quite genuinely Mr Rochester-like to those inclined that way.

Re: From the horse's mouth...

[widgetfox.livejournal.com]

Yes, and of course a lot of women are attracted by academic achievement, intelligence and / or men who need looking after.

Re: From the horse's mouth...

[oursin.livejournal.com]

As I recall, TRMF came out at a date just before it would have been plausible for Kay to pop along to the student health centre, get fixed up with the Pill, and have an affair with Edwin. Whether either of them would have done this even if this was historically a possibility, I'm far from sure. Also, the fact of the children seems fairly central to their decision to marry.