Walsingham is interesting in that he is a bratty, selfish
coward, in my opinion. As mentioned in class Tuesday, the novel unfolds like a Spanish novella,
and the beginning of volume two effectively portrays this statement. With
Walsingham having witness the exchange between Isabella and Sir Sidney, he “…rushed
forward, as if bourne of supernatural power; [he] passed through the churchyard—the
grave of [his] mother received [his] last agonized tear; [he] threw [himself]
on [his] knees…” (page 160). I must applaud the descriptive, and extensive,
word choices used by Robinson. It portrays part of Walsingham’s character; him
sounding like an over dramatic child because he did not receive the toy he
wanted, in this case, Isabella being stolen away from him.
When Walsingham attempts to take Isabella back using a gun,
he runs, later saying in his letter to Sir Sydney, “I have resigned every prospect
of bliss; I have relinquished every hope of consolation that fancy formed, or
ripening reason cherished; I have condemned my proud and aspiring heart to an
eternal penance” (page 168). Walsingham
is upset over the loss of fortune now that he surrendered Isabella to Sir
Sidney. Walsingham found comfort in luxury, but he later contradicts his decision
to live in self-punishment.
Chapter 32 (p. 186) the first paragraph, Walsingham says “Now,
thought I, if Isabella had not been the victim of Sir Sydney’s passions, with
this little sum I might have looked forward to the acquirement of a splendid
fortune”. I feel as though he is an unreliable character in that he tends to
contradict himself between what he says, what he does, and what he wants.
He is extremely dramatic. Everything he does is overzealous. It makes him hard to take seriously.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though Walsingham is an unreliable character and the narrator is unreliable because they're playing off of his drama and caving into his constant need for attention.
ReplyDeleteWalsingham is so desperate to prove himself pathetic to the reader that it's entirely too easy for us to read his character and realize he is trying to manipulate the reader to feel sorry for him. The second we realize he is being insincere, we abandon our sympathies. I think Robinson wanted this response to Walsingham.
ReplyDeleteThis has not been one of my favorite readings because his character is so overly dramatic. I even find myself shaking my head as I am reading. I don't find him a reliable character, because as we discussed in class, he I overly sensible. You can't take him seriously because of this. I actually find him quite annoying. I love how you compared him to a child that had his toy taken away, made me giggle because it is true.
ReplyDeleteThough I found that I enjoy this novel, I agree that Walsingham is an unreliable character in how just about everything he does contradicts themselves. I had brought up in discussion on Tuesday that on page 131, his argument with Sir Sidney reveals things of both their characters. For our main character, we see the effects of not just what he was taught but by who he was taught. It seems, I think, that the people he was surrounded by in his childhood framed him to be like this. It could be why he is insulting women in front of Isabella who is someone he supposedly loves. But overall, I also enjoyed the phrase that resembles Walsingham to a child because he lets his emotions drive him to do and say such ridiculous things and it paints him in such an undesirable light.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, Walsingham reminded me of people I know: way too caught up in their own pity party while simultaneously being pretty self-righteous. This made it really hard to like, much less trust him and his narrative. While I agree that Robinson almost certainly portrayed Walsingham this way on purpose, I can't help but wonder why she wanted to more or less pit the audience against her main character from the get-go. I cant figure out what that suspicion does for the narrative.
ReplyDelete