The first article inspired by Rachel Ferguson's 1931 novel The Brontës Went to Woolworths features some miscellaneous material of interest from the book.
This one has something to say about the ongoing game played by the eccentric and bohemian Carne family. It was the unexpectedly positive results of this game and the possibility that Rachel Ferguson was writing from her own experience of imaginary relationships that inspired these articles.
The Brontës Went to Woolworths is primarily about the game the Carnes play. They live in a fantasy world of their own creation in which their toys, their dog, people they have never met and even ghosts of the Brontës have starring roles.
The three girls and their mother mentally appropriate real-life people who appeal to their imaginations and incorporate them into their lives. They invent stories about them; they have imaginary conversations with them; they behave and talk about them as if they were part of the family circle. They even sometimes pretend to be them, acting out the parts with each other.
The Carnes are high-spirited and playful; they are sometimes rather silly. They love to joke, imitate people and make up stories about the toys, the dog and people of interest and their activities. They sing and dance; they also like acting: they pretend to be a variety of characters.
While they do all this mainly for their own amusement, they may also do it to distract themselves from a painful family situation.
The exercising of their imaginations and talents and having fun is enough to explain why they all enjoy performing, creating stories and role-playing, but the Carnes may also be trying to distract themselves from the grief caused by the death of the girls' father. Their obsession with the elderly and illustrious Lord Justice Toddington may be an attempt to compensate for their loss.
The Carnes sometimes go a little too far. For example, they give each other cards and presents from their toys and people they have never even met!
The girls go to great lengths to learn about people who capture their interest; they also practice something that comes close to stalking.
Deirdre, the oldest girl, says this:
“...all three of us (for I am certain that Sheil is going that way, too) learn everything there is to learn about people we love. We get their papers, and follow their careers, and pick up gossip, and memorise anecdotes, and study paragraphs, and follow their moves about the country, and, as usually happens if you really mean business, often get into personal touch with their friends or business associates, all with some fresh item or atom of knowledge to add to the heap.“
They try to find out as much as possible about Judge Toddington and his life:
“Since then, we must have walked past his house a dozen times. It didn’t tell one much. I kept tally of when his window-boxes were renewed, and wished that he (or Mildred) hadn’t such a passion for privet and calceolarias, but through the dining-room window I could see a very decent oak dresser, and the warming-pan on the wall looked well polished.”
“Photographs of him were, of course, easy to come by (two of my editors gave me three)...”
This does sound rather sinister and obsessive, although many fans of celebrities collect all the information they can about their idols in similar ways.
I wonder whether Rachel Ferguson ever did anything like that.
As I have learned from investigating unseen influences, imaginary relationships can be damaging to both sides; they can cause trouble for everyone involved; they can sabotage people's lives.
People who invent imaginary activities and relationships may find them becoming more and more a substitute for real life; their ability to deal with real people and the real world may be impaired.
People who unwittingly star in someone else's scenarios may become drained and ill from the constant and intrusive mental pressure; they may also experience bad luck or even disaster.
There may also be problems when fantasy meets reality.
The person who is obsessed with someone may find that they cannot do justice to themselves or the occasion if they do meet their idol. The object of the fantasies may be distant, avoidant, hostile, uncooperative or just disconcertingly different from what was expected. Disappointment and disillusionment may set in; dreams may even turn into nightmares.
These negative aspects do not on the whole apply to the Carnes and their objects of interest. The possible reasons for this will be covered in a future article.
This edition of The Brontës Went to Woolworths has a new introduction by A. S. Byatt in which she calls the book 'whimsical and fey':
