Wideacre
| Author | Philippa Gregory |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
Publication date | 1987 |
| Publication place | England |
| Preceded by | N/A |
| Followed by | The Favored Child |
Wideacre is a novel written by Philippa Gregory. This novel is her debut and the first in the Wideacre Trilogy that includes, The Favored Child and Meridon.
Plot Summary
The novel is set in the second part of the eighteenth century, during the time of the enclosure acts. Beatrice Lacey is the daughter of the Squire of Wideacre, an estate situated on the South Downs, centred around Wideacre Hall. Most of the novel is narrated in her voice. She is five years-old when her father takes her around the estate for the first time, and falls in love with the estate. Wideacre is Beatrice's first and most enduring love. For the rest of her life, Beatrice makes one attempt after another to claim it, directly or indirectly, for herself. She spends her childhood accompanying her father around the estate, becoming an excellent horsewoman, learning the land and becoming a favourite of the villagers who live in Wide, the estate village. She is uninterested in her mother's attempts to make her more ladylike and is completely devoted to her father. Her brother, Harry, is away at a private school and Beatrice rarely sees him. But at the age of eleven, her dreams are shattered when her father tells her that Harry will inherit the estate and she will make a good marriage and leave. This is the way of the world. Beatrice is stunned by this pronouncement as she believed she would live on Wideacre forever; she is also shocked that the estate will go to Harry, who has no idea how to run it and no interest in rural pursuits. She immediately decides that "if that was the way of the world, the world would have to change; I would never change".
Now rapidly blossoming into a beautiful young woman, Beatrice is attracted to Ralph Megson, who lives with his mother in a cottage on the estate. They become lovers, but their private world is shattered by the return of Harry, who discovers them together. Harry tries to punish Ralph for 'spoiling' his sister but Ralph easily disarms him. Seeing the whip in his hand, Harry suddenly becomes craven and submissive, begging Ralph to beat him. Beatrice realises that the private school has somehow warped her brother's mind, turning him into a masochist. Beatrice and Ralph are estranged for a time, until Beatrice sees that her father is taking Harry out on the estate, teaching him the ways of the land. Threatened by this, Beatrice arranges a meeting with Ralph and they plot to take the estate for their own, with Ralph becoming the new squire. Ralph scares the Squire's horse so it rears and throws him. The fall kills him and it looks completely accidental. But now Ralph knows too much, and Beatrice cannot allow him to continue living on Wideacre. She never intended to marry him or let him take her father's place: she is too much of her time. After meeting Ralph one evening, she deliberately takes a path that leads her over a gin trap, then screams for Ralph's help. Running to help her, Ralph's legs are crushed by the gin trap. Beatrice listens as his screams die away and then hurries back to the Hall. With Ralph's death, something inside Beatrice dies, too. She becomes more callous, more manipulative.
Although all is peaceful for a time on the estate, as Beatrice teaches Harry how to run Wideacre, her position is threatened by Harry's attraction to their neighbour's stepdaugher, Lady Celia Havering. Beatrice quickly convinces Harry that Ralph raped her and sets about seducing him to make her position more secure. It is not hard for her to overcome Harry's doubts about their sexual relationship, as she is the stronger of the two, and says she will kill him if he continues to hold back. Meanwhile, Beatrice befriends Celia, casting herself as the understanding sister-in-law who can protect her from the "brutish" Harry. Celia, who is sweet and innocent, quickly warms to Beatrice and confides in her. Harry marries Celia with Beatrice's blessing and Beatrice accompanies them on their honeymoon to France, where Harry spends his days with Celia and his nights with Beatrice. Celia is so scared and ignorant that she is actually grateful for this arrangement. Then Beatrice discovers she is pregnant with Harry's child. She lies to Celia, saying the child is the product of a rape, and Celia decides that she will pass the child off as her own. She sends Harry back to England, then writes to him with the 'good news'. This marks the beginning of Celia's growth, as her impending motherhood gives her strength and determination. Still in France, Beatrice gives birth to a girl, who is immediately given to Celia. Celia names the baby Julia, and the two women return to Wideacre as proud mother and aunt. Beatrice suppresses her maternal instincts with ease while Celia develops a mental strength and determination that she did not formerly possess. She takes a very firm stand in everything concerning Julia, especially taking the baby out on the estate. Beatrice is slightly disconcerted by this new Celia, but does not take action until she discovers that Harry and Celia have started sleeping together and that Celia is moving into Harry's room and symbolically taking her place as the Lady of Wideacre. Desperate, Beatrice tricks Harry into meeting her alone and physically abuses him until he is completely under her thumb. They resume sexual relations, with Beatrice completely dominant and secure.
Now at the peak of her power, Beatrice's life is complicated by the new doctor, a young Scotsman called John MacAndrew, who has been prescribing her laudanum for her nightmares (which usually involve Ralph coming to kill her in revenge). He is intelligent and provocative, challenging Beatrice to a horse race around the estate, which he wins. After this, Beatrice begins to seriously respect and admire John, but she is not sure how to proceed, as this is the first time she has been properly courted by someone of her own class, and refuses his marriage proposal. Then she discovers she is pregnant by Harry once more. She tries to induce a miscarriage but fails. Alone and afraid, knowing she cannot give this baby to Celia, she breaks down. John finds her crying in the library and comforts her, though she will not tell him why she is so upset. After they make love, Beatrice agrees to marry him, knowing she can pass the baby off as John's. The marriage satisfies everyone: Beatrice's mother is happy that her daughter is finally married to a respectable man; Harry and Celia are happy that Beatrice will know their 'happiness'; Beatrice is happy because John has no problem with living on Wideacre. When Beatrice goes into labour, she tries to make it look like the birth was brought on by a fall, and gives birth to a healthy boy. Although the midwife can see that the baby is full-term, she is happy to keep the secret for her. Beatrice names the boy Richard, and almost pulls off her deception, but John arrives back early from his journey. As a doctor, he can see immediately that the baby is not premature. Disillusioned, he asks Beatrice why she lied to him. Devastated by this turn of events, Beatrice lies again, telling him that she was raped but that her love for him is not a lie. John does not believe her. He begins to drink in order to forget her betrayal. Beatrice and Harry resume their liaisons but they grow more and more careless. One night, they end up having sex in the living room, and their mother walks in and sees them. She faints from the shock and falls unconscious. Beatrice and Harry quickly take her to her room and summon the new doctor. Meanwhile, their mother mutters over and over "I only came to get my book... Harry, Beatrice, no!" She dies without regaining consciousness or revealing what she saw, though John MacAndrew suspects the truth from what she kept repeating. He tells Beatrice that he could ruin her, but she scorns him, saying that his medical reputation is in shreds from his drinking and nobody will believe anything he says.
Beatrice and Harry decide to make Julia and Richard joint heirs to the Wideacre estate. However, the estate is entailed, meaning that only male heirs can inherit, and changing the entail requires a lot of money. In order to gain the money needed for the change, Beatrice and Harry mortgage the estate and begin to enclose the common land, meaning the villagers have nowher to graze their pigs or raise their own vegetables. This creates a lot of anger and resentment on the estate but Beatrice no longer cares, she is so focused on her children inheriting the estate. Celia manages to restore John's medical reputation by calling on him when Richard chokes on a stone from his rattle. John performs an emergency tracheotomy, cutting Richard's throat open in order to allow air into his windpipe. Richard starts breathing and John is able to remove the stone and bandage the wound. Celia and John do their best to help alleviate the villagers' poverty and depravation, in contrast to the increasingly corrupt Beatrice and Harry. Beatrice is no longer working in rhythm with Wideacre and the estate is suffering under her "maximum profit" mentality as every spare piece of land is devoted to more crops in order to produce more money. Then they hear the Culler, a shadowy outlaw who is against enclosure and the aristocracy, is heading for Wideacre. Beatrice has no support from the village and Wideacre is vulnerable to attack. Celia and John discover that the estate is mortgaged. Harry discovers that Julia is Beatrice's daughter (he never discovers that he is Julia's father, or Richard's). Disgusted by Beatrice's selfishness and lack of humanity, Celia calls Beatrice a "wrecker", telling her that she ruins everything she touches, including her beloved Wideacre. She then leaves, taking a blubbering Harry with her. John does not bother to stay, as Beatrice stopped being his wife a long time ago.
Beatrice is left alone in the Hall, a scene exactly like her nightmare, hinting that she has some sort of sixth sense. (This is also a nod to Gone With The Wind, where the protagonist's nightmare comes true at the end of the novel.) She dreams of Ralph and being together with him again, a new start away from all the violence and deceit. When she wakes, she can sense that he has been in the room with her, as the window is open. She sees the torches of the villagers glowing outside. She knows they have to come to burn down the Hall and kill her, but she does not care, she only longs to see Ralph. She runs outside and sees him, sitting on his horse. Everything about him is the same, except that both his legs end at the knee. Overjoyed, Beatrice goes to him and holds up her arms. He bends down as if to embrace her. The last thing Beatrice sees is the knife in his hand.
In the epilogue, which is the only part written in the third person, Wideacre Hall is a burnt out shell. The estate is ruined and bankrupt. Julia Havering and Richard MacAndrew play as children in the overgrown garden. Despite this image of innocence in paradise, The novel ends on an ambiguous note, stating that sometimes Julia looks at the ruined Hall and smiles "as if it were very lovely to her".
Characters
Beatrice Lacey: Daughter of the Squire of Wideacre and sister to Harry Lacey. She is considered by the villagers as the true master of Wideacre after her father's death. Unable to retain Wideacre, Beatrice stops at nothing to achieve her goal of staying on the land forever.
Harry Lacey: Beatrice's brother who is the new Squire of Wideacre. He is easily persuaded by Beatrice and although knowing what they're doing is wrong, succumbs to pressure.
Ralph Megson: The gamekeeper's son who falls in love with Beatrice. Together they plot to seize Wideacre for themselves. Their plan does not come into fruition, however, because Beatrice turns on Ralph and attempts to murder him. He later returns as 'The Culler' who revolts against the Quality.
Dr. John MacAndrew: A bright and quick witted doctor from Edinburgh, Scotland who marries Beatrice. They become estranged after he discovers the truth about Beatrice and Harry and later starts plotting their downfall.
Celia Lacey: Harry's wife who later becomes the moral force for good against Beatrice's manipulative schemes.
Further Reading
External Links