Dave's Book Blog: "A Father and His Fate" by Ivy Compton-Burnett

Monday, 25 November 2024

"A Father and His Fate" by Ivy Compton-Burnett

A study in domestic tyranny, told almost entirely in dialogue.

It is set in a large house inhabited by a family. Nobody (except the servants) need work, except to administer the household and the estate. They are utterly dependent upon the patriarch whose rule is arbitrary and self-serving. The story is told almost entirely in formal dialogue in which thoughts are spoken aloud.

In other words, this is classic ICB both in its traditionalist content and its modernist form. It requires careful reading: skim over a line and you're likely to need to go back. It feels stilted and yet somehow the characters build themselves and inhabit the reader's mind.

Miles Mowbray, who is more or less the only character to speak in paragraphs rather than single lines, has three adult daughters but an 'entail' (a legal device now mostly defunct) means that it must be inherited by a male; therefore Malcolm, the adult son of Miles's brother, lives with them, learning to administer the estate. There is an unspoken assumption that Miles's daughters will remain (unmarried) in the house and be supported by Malcolm when he inherits. The future of Malcolm's mother and brothers, who live nearby, also depends upon Malcolm's inheritance.

What could go wrong? The plot, more heavily contrived than a Shakespearean comedy, extracts every drop of potential drama and double-dealing from this set-up. Almost every plot twist was foreshadowed with heavy signposting.

Miles is the central monster. He sees himself as the master of the universe, repeatedly using the possessive 'my': my daughters, my wife, my nephew ... He is sexist: when he inadvertently quotes Christina Rossetti he denies it: “Naturally I should not quote a woman. What man would?” (Ch 15) He is bullying and demanding: “You will obey me in the matter. I impose my command upon you. You are one of the women of my family and owe me obedience at its head. And you will not question it.” (Ch 8) He slanders those who would oppose him: “A set of poor, little people without perception or pity!" When it comes to his own behaviour, he finds every excuse for selfishness and is self-pitying: “I think it is time I was spared something. I think it is indeed.” (Ch 13). Even when shown up for the man he is, he still refuses to accept any blame: "Oh, I have not so much fault to find with myself.” (Ch 13) He is what King Lear might have become had he refused to give up his Kingdom.

His wife, Ellen, tries to talk reason to him but she is ignored. He has three daughters who act as a sort of chorus commenting upon Miles's behaviour: one is highly critical, one forgiving and one tries to ignore it and get on with her own, hugely restricted life. Malcolm, the heir presumptive, is the main antagonist, sometimes abetted by redundant governess, Miss Gibbon.

There is another Greek chorus in Malcolm's possessive mother, Eliza, who sweeps in from time to time to comment upon the situation, followed by her sons Rudolf and Nigel who do a comedy double-act of acerbic asides. Eliza, is another domestic tyrant only limited by her lack of any real power. As Miles seeks to command even the thoughts of hius daughters, Eliza thinks she can speak for Malcolm, her son: “He would like his mother to be next to him ... We are not used to being separated.” (Ch 4) She insists on being told the little asides, like a teacher insisting on a note being read aloud after it has been furtively passed around the class. Malcolm resents being constantly belittled and often defies her. He is rude about her: “No one who thinks she is a goddess, can be happy ... she must always be finding that people do not agree.” (Ch 4) Ursula agrees: “I grant her superhuman qualities. Her self-esteem and insistence on support for it are above the human scale.” (Ch 4) But if those living in Miles’s household can see Eliza as a bit of a nuisance, she has destroyed the lives of her other sons, Rudolf and Nigel, turning them into non-entities. And when it comes down to it, Eliza's self-satisfied tyranny is a shadowy imitation of Miles's.

There is plenty of humour. ICB likes to question conversational cliches. For example, when Eliza is described as 'good at heart', Audrey responds: “How I should like to meet someone who was bad at heart!” (Ch 4)

Selected quotes:

“Most of us have two views of ourselves. One our own, and one to share with other people.” (Ch 1)
“I am awkward with women. ... Whether I fall in love with her or not, she will not with me.” (Ch 2)
“We show the selves we are accustomed to show, and other people to expect.” (Ch 5)
“‘We ought not to grudge anyone his happiness, least of all our own father.’ ‘We can grudge him selfishness and folly and the indulgence of them.’” (Ch 7)
“Things are so easy for people who have the power and must be obeyed.” (Ch 12)

November 2024; 205 pages

Originally published by Victor Gollancz in 1957

My edition the 1984 Oxford University press paperback.