The Eustace Diamonds Part 2: Hunting and Weighing

The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope

published as a serial 1871-72

"...and enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that she's about the handsomest girl out. As for me, I'd sooner have the widow. I beg your pardon, Mr. Greystock." Frank merely bowed. "Simply, I mean, because she rides about two stone lighter. It'll cost you something to mount Lady Tewett."

 [men chatting in the smoking-room]

 

There are two direct reasons for looking at this aspect of The Eustace Diamonds (first post on the book a few days ago ).

The first is that in a recent post on a Ross Macdonald book, The Underground Man

--and I do hope you are agog to know what connects Macdonald and Trollope –

I commented on the fact that in American books, someone describing someone else will estimate their weight, but this never happens in British books. Well, here we have the rare exception to this theory. Not an actual weight, but I did think it was a hilarious line. There is no element of judgement here, simple observation of fact: one of the women concerned is beautiful and of Amazonian build, the other is small and bird-like. But both well able to snap up a husband – even when the question of how much the horses cost is taken into consideration.

The second reason is a memory of last year’s extra post on The Small House at Allington, and the discussion in the comments - at great length, and with erudition from readers - the prospects for women, the appalling economic situation that even the most privileged were often in, their lack of agency and control, the fact that they were entirely subject to their husband’s wishes and whims.

In the circumstances, we were on the whole unable to blame women for doing whatever they could to achieve financial stability, which nearly always meant marriage. Even characters who were much-blamed by their creators may get a pass from modern women.

As I have said before, Trollope did see this more than many of his contemporaries. This is his cool view of Lizzie & marriage:

[She] was a witch whistling for a wind, and ready to take the first blast that would carry her and her broomstick somewhere into the sky.

Lizzie behaves unconsciably, but SOME of what she does is forgiveable – she is alone in the world and has to fight for herself. She is comparatively well-off, but life is expensive and her looks won’t last forever. Young women often had only their charms to achieve security: men are sneer-y about and shocked by this, but it is they, the men, who have created this world. Mrs Bennet was right, while Mr Bennet did nothing for his daughters.

There is another, lighter, economic theme in the book:

some great reform about to be introduced in monetary matters. Mr. Palliser, who was now Chancellor of the Exchequer, was intending to alter the value of the penny…the future penny was to be made to contain five farthings, and the shilling ten pennies. It was thought that if this could be accomplished, the arithmetic of the whole world would be so simplified that henceforward the name of Palliser would be blessed by all.

 

The problem with this is:

…those two extra farthings that could not be made to go into the shilling…

In those days there were 4 farthings to a penny, 12 pennies to a shilling, and 20 shillings to the pound. You can work out the problem for yourself.

[There is an old nursery song, Oranges and Lemons, where the bells peal:

You owe me five farthings say the bells of St Martin’s

-so that was ahead of its time.]

This brilliant idea winds its way through the rest of the book, popping up now and again – and with the clear contrast that no-one except Planty Pall is at all interested in the coinage, while all are completely fascinated by the scandal of the Eustace Diamonds.

A connection for me: In the early days of the blog, I did several posts on Arnold Bennett’s The Old Wives’ Tale – a great favourite of mine. (No-one was reading the blog in those days, so I have no hesitation in recommending the posts now.)

Bennett wanted to show how young women become old wives, but he also said he was fascinated to have overheard a comment from a woman who had lived through a busy time of history, including the Paris Commune and siege, apparently without noticing much. He put it straight into the book:

Sophia…noticed how much easier it was for attired women to sit in a carriage now that crinolines had gone. That was the sole impression made upon her by this glimpse of the last fete of the Napoleonic Empire.

A great Clothes in Books moment. The Eustace Diamonds was being written at the time of the Commune, and fair enough that it doesn’t feature, but Bennett and Trollope both had that trait I very much enjoy: understanding how people really operate in their less-admirable moments, without judging them.

Colour picture is actually riding in the Bois de Boulogne, NYPL, not hunting, but had such an air of Trollope that I couldn’t resist it.

Picture of woman on horseback from NYPL