A Lost Lady
A Lost Lady is a novel by Willa Cather that was published in 1923. It is a pure classic by all means at it captured the dynamics of a vastly changing society. The period between the late 19th century and early 20th century was characterized by tussles for power, World War I and a serious redefinition of gender roles and culture. For the first time, the debate about slave trade was reaching a climax, with a new rejuvenation of the blacks and a hope that they will be able to vote within a very short time. The changes were not limited to the divisions between whites and blacks. Even in white societies, there were increasing cases of departures from norms, and the rise of the modern woman, presented in the novel as Mrs. Forrester. Practically, it is a story of a person who came to the world before their time.
She had met the captain in the mountain after he rescued her on her run from home where trouble was brewing. Her fiancé had been killed in a love triangle that included a married woman. Mrs. Forrester had met Fred Harney, who helped her through the mountains in search of solace and a place to live. However, Fred got injured and died, and Madam Forrester was rescued by Captain Forrester, who later married her.
Hell broke loose when Captain Forrester suffered a stroke, and his job went up in the air with his savings. Their fortunes dwindled over time, and the visitors became few by the day. Mrs. Forrester felt yoked by the need to live and nurse Captain. She had affairs with several lovers who were friends of her husband, including Frank Ellinger and Ivy Peters. She was distressed by the stroke that had affected her husband, but, arguably, her biggest loss was the money and the class, as she tells Niel, “Money is a very important thing. Realize that in the beginning; face it, and don’t be ridiculous in the end, like so many of us” (p.96).
Captain Forrester had confidence that his wife represented a good mind, and she would take care of the estate and keep the home thriving. That was not going to be the case, though. After he had died from his illness, Mrs. Forrester became a man-eater of a sort, a heavy drinker and wild. She could not be satisfied by one man, and every man who tried found himself in a chase game, as she changed from ‘one boy to the next.'
As a sure way to say goodbye to the house at Sweet Water where she had lived with Captain before his death, she used her ex-lover, Ivy Peters, to sell the house. She had been used to parties, liquor, and constant entertainment. She later on settled by an English man called Henry Collins, and they got married.
Obstacles and Struggles of Mrs. Forrester
How does a young girl without children deal with death? She had escaped the first one, and that flight brought her to Sweet Water. At a time that she was still young and beautiful, she lost her second, actually, the third lover Fred Harney is counted. When she ran away from home, Fred Harney was there to help her with the escape over the mountains, and when Fred died, she got lucky, and Captain rescued and nursed her.
The illness of Captain, then, served as the last draw on the nail. She escaped, only that this round she did not run away. Rather, she indulged herself in alcohol, perhaps, in an attempt to drown her sorrows. That she was young and at the brightest point of her life made men come to her, and her charm and beauty pulled the men in droves. At this moment, she had little incentive to stay faithful, even before Captain died.
Her struggles to remain relevant in the shadow of Captain pushed her farther to changing men frequently, like a child looking for her flavor of ice cream in a fast shop. They taste each of them until they find the perfect one. Contrary to what people judged her for, she loved Captain Forrester even when he was sick. She stood by him by feeding and nursing him on his deathbed. Probably, the sexual flares with the likes of Peters were just normal conjugal demands that need to be satisfied in every man. About her husband, after he suffered a stroke, she says, “He isn’t childish as some people say, but he will sit and watch that thing hour after hour. How can anybody like to see time visibly devoured?” (p.94).
Her fondness on Captain outlived their marriage. In the latter years, while narrating her first encounter with Mr. Forrester as he carried her in the mountains through the rocks, she said, ‘I knew even if he fell, we'd go down together, he'd never drop me.' In the light of her love for him, and the subsequent sinking into the binge and partying and sex, it could be explained as a reaction to the frustration that had caught her after she became a widow, first, technically, and, later, practically.
The tone of the story is very compassionate, despite the humorous way it is told to lighten the reading experience. Willa Cather is calling upon all people in the society to refrain from dishing out judgments without walking in someone’s shoes. It is true that Mrs. Forrester went against the society expectations of women, but the question should not be that of judgment, but one that tries to understand the reasons for her behavior. In the end, the writer validates his tone by giving Mrs. Forrester, the lost lady, a new marriage in the form of an English man. As Niel notes in the last chapter, "It was remarkable, how she'd come up again" (p. 183). Ideally, that means that people should avoid becoming prisoners of customs. The changes in civilization started with just one person doing things differently.
Works Cited
Cather, Willa. A Lost Lady. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1923. Print.
