“You will not mind if I lend her another instead of that one”
Charles had sent her a gown as a present. But in it’s way it had reached Helena. So Sally wanted to give another instead and get it back. It tells us that Charles’s present was valuable for her and that’s the thing from which we know that she actually loved him.
“You inquire in an old note if I am sorry that I showed temper that night when I heard you talking to her. No, I am not sorry”
Sally had heard Charles talking to Helena. So she was angry why he talked to her and showed temper. This also gives us a clue about her love that she didn’t want him to talk to another lady.
(II) BETRAYAL: -
Betrayal is another common theme in these stories. In both stories a male character betrays a female character that loves him.
In “Turned” Mr.Marroner betrays his lover, also his wife, Mrs.Marroner and his servant Gerta. We know this from these quotes:-
“He deliberately took advantage”, “so easily a victim”, “he had done the same thing under the same roof with her, his wife”
Mr.Marroner made Gerta (he had called her his child first) pregnant which broke Mrs.Marroner’s trust. Because she believed that Gerta is a child of both of them. And now he had done the worst thing with her and had destroyed her innocent life.
Gerta’s trust upon him was also broken because she considered him as her father and her guard. But that guard himself destroyed her believe.
In “Interlopers at the Knap” Charles Darton betrays Sally Hall, his lover. The evidence for this is:-
“Why I have decided to marry her- is not only that I like her, but I can do no better”, “No more superior women for me”, “Showing thus that he had not been there long enough as yet to understand the situation”, “Mercenary little woman!” “Begad, I’ll try her again”, “Heaven knows that he didn’t promise, suggest, and tempt her with”
Charles Darton first wanted to marry Sally because Helena had refused him and he could find no better. He told Sally nothing about his past. Even when Sally found him talking to Helena first time he behaved to Helena like a stranger in front of Sally, which indicates that, he was a deceitful person and wanted to leave her in dark about his and Helena’s relation. But when Helena ‘s husband died, he left Sally and married her. When Helena died he went again to Sally and proposed her. He promised many things to make her agree to marry him. He didn’t actually loved her but wanted to marry because he could find no better which is the greatest insult of a woman.
(III) FRIENDSHIP: -
In both of the stories the theme of friendship is also common.
In “Turned” Mr.Marroner and Mrs.Marroner are friends. We know this from the following quotes: -
“Joked his wife about her laborious efforts to educate child”, “he wrote long, loving, frequent letters”, “deeply regretting his delay”, “perfect confidence which they had so long enjoyed”
They were married for a long time. They loved each other very much and were good friends also.
In “Interlopers at the Knap” Charles Darton and Japheth Johns were very good friends and did the business together. The evidence for this is:-
“The farmer’s friend”, “I am going to see your relations as they always seem to me”
They were good friends and shared every secret with one another.
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POWER AND WEALTH: -
In both of the stories the main male character has got a lot of power and wealth. He thinks that with his power and wealth he can use every powerless and poor woman for his own advantage and wants.
In “Turned” Mr.Marroner is very wealthy and therefore very powerful. Gerta is powerless and poor. So he thinks that Gerta is his occupy and he can do whatever he wants with her. That’s why he makes Gerta pregnant for his happiness and joy. He destroys the life of an innocent and helpless girl because of her poorness. And raps her of the best joys of her life for his pleasure for just a moment.
We become aware of his wealthiness by reading these quotes: -
“A business-man”, “superior, Boston-bred life”
Mr.Marroner was a successful businessman and had got a very reserved and superior life, while Gerta was his servant.
In “Interlopers at the Knap” Charles Darton is a rich farmer and has got large resources and wealth, while
Sally Hall belongs to a middle class family. That’s why he considers that she is a toy of no value and leaves her when he wants and proposes again when his first love dies and he can find no other woman. We know this from the following quotes: -
“He was a large farmer. His turnover was probably thirty thousand pounds a year. He had a great many draught horses, a great many milch cows, and of sheep a multitude”
He had got all the wealth from his father and had now got control over all of it.
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PARENTHOOD: -
The theme of parenthood is also shared by these two stories. In both of the stories a woman feels parenthood and pity for a child (ren) who is not her own.
In “Turned” Mrs.Marroner feels parenthood for Gerta.
We know this by reading these: -
“She thought of Gerta as a tall rosy cheeked baby”, “an ignorant child”
Gerta had got no parents with her and was an innocent and ignorant child. Mrs.Marroner felt pity on her and as having no child of her own, also a tendency of parenthood.
In “Interlopers at the Knap” when Helena’s husband dies and her children become helpless, Sally feels sorry for them.
“Poor little things”
And allows Helena to marry Charles so that they can find a father to take care of them.
Here the parenthood overcomes the “love”!!!
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FEMINISM: -
As well as the love, feminism is the second most important theme in both of the stories, which gives the two betrayed women the power of self-belief and independence to live a life without a man.
When the male character betrays the female character the feminism overcomes the love and they separate their ways from their lovers forever.
In “Turned” Mrs.Marroner’s love is overcome by feminism. The evidence for this is: -
“He deliberately took advantage”, “This was something else”, “The offence is against womanhood”, “What have you to say to us?”
Mr.Marroner loved and married Mrs.Marroner but when he saw Gerta’s beauty, he was startled and affected. At last he made Gerta pregnant for his own joy. This was a shock for Mrs.Marroner. Though she loved him from the very core of her heart but as a woman she couldn’t bear that her husband had done the thing with another lady, which was only her right. And as a woman she could not bear that a man has raped another woman only for his pleasure and has destroyed her whole life. She felt this a big insult of womanhood and therefore separated her ways from his for the entire life.
In “Interlopers at the Knap” Sally is aimed at by feminism. We know this from the following quotations: -“I would never have married the man in the midst of such a hitch as that was”, “I am as sensible as any woman can be of the goodness that leads you to make
me this offer a second time. Better women than I would be proud of the honour”, “Friends as long as you like but lovers and married never”, “I will never, never marry you, --- I would have done it once, but now I never can”
When Darton marries Helena instead of Sally, her heart is broken. But when Helena dies, Darton proposes Sally again. This hurts her feminism. She thinks that he considers her a little toy, which has no thoughts of its own and no emotions. With which he can play whenever he wants and throw it away when he finds another of his own heart. So thinking like a woman
she decides that she will never marry a man who only wants to marry you and doesn’t love you.
CONCLUSION:
Both the writers try to pass the same massage that women always trust men but they deceive them. This is a usual thought that women always require men’s support and they can’t live without them.
These two stories were written in the 19th century. So they wholly enlighten the women’s deprival by men in the society with no equal rights at that time.
The writers also try to convey the message that men always think that they are dominants in all the aspects and that the women are weak creatures who can never live without them. The men have got complete control over women’s lives and they can do whatever they want to, with them.
At the end of the stories we find a conclusion that women can run their own lives independently. They can do what they want and not tolerate the unrespectfull behaviour of men any more. That’s what Mrs.Marroner and Sally do.
