still working

I'm still working on Wives and Daughters; about half way through now. I'm thoroughly enjoying it, but Elizabeth Gaskell is a member of the Dickensian group of writers who feel the need to describe the exact shade of purple in the hair ribbon of the second cousin of the earl seated to the right of the main character's sister at the dinner party. It makes for a rather long novel. The writing is beautiful, but I can't help but think how different this book would be if written today. Do modern readers and writers have less patience, or are authors simply more concise? Or are there simply fewer hair ribbons to describe?

I have one nit pick with this novel thus far, aside from the Hyacinth/Cynthia business mentioned previously. I cannot get past the paternalistic nature of the relationship between the heroine Molly Gibson and Roger Hamley. Molly is not a mouse, and expresses her opinion quite frankly to women who outrank her, but she takes Roger's word as law and goes on and on at length in her own mind about how much she wants to learn from Roger in all things. I do appreciate that a scientist like Roger is expanding her horizons and getting her to read more widely. But if a friend of mine were in a relationship like this, I would think she was just parroting the man's interests to keep him around. I'd probably find it insipid, in fact.

I'm sure the context makes a huge difference. Perhaps Mrs. Gaskell felt the need to highlight Roger's learning and Molly's interest in it as justifications for the natural sciences. I just wish Molly had some more personal agency in her scientific pursuits. For heaven's sake, could she at least make up her own reading list?! Roger is constantly giving her books to read on subjects which end up interesting her, but why can't she once say "we spoke of X previously, do you have any books on that?" And another thing, an entire book on the different shapes of bee hives and wasp nests? Seriously, Mrs. Gaskell, that is your great example of scientific literature?!

Hopefully all this will be resolved in the next 300 pages. If not, Molly Gibson might end up categorized in my mind with Fanny Price, the dull and demure heroine of Mansfield Park. Yes world, be shocked... there is a Jane Austen novel I don't adore.