The previous article in the series inspired by The Brontës Went to Woolworths contains material that suggests that Rachel Ferguson was well aware of the smaller problems experienced by people who live in fantasy worlds and have imaginary relationships; this article contains material to support the case that she also knew about some of the greater dangers.
While the family game is mostly just fun and mutually beneficial for the Carne family and the Toddingtons when they eventually get together in the real world, it isn't all good: Rachel Ferguson describes some rather alarming undercurrents and sinister side effects.
After first reading about the unexpectedly positive and successful outcome of the Carne family's fantasies, it occurred to me that the book was another example of what I think of as white magic in writing, similar in that respect to Stella Gibbons's novel My American.
It is very common for example for people who have fantasies about someone to feel great disappointment and disillusionment for one reason or another when they first meet them, but the opposite happens in The Brontës Went to Woolworths. This gave me the idea that Rachel Ferguson wrote her book partly to counteract some beliefs about the negative effects of living in the imagination.
While a closer look at the story did reveal some difficulties, Rachel Ferguson describes how Deirdre dealt with them successfully. While on balance the messages in the book still seemed to be positive, a further, deeper, reading uncovered some elements that tell a different story. While no inner worlds may come crashing down, some of the characters suffer in other ways. There is a dark side to the game the Carnes play.
Deirdre Carne uses the word 'obsession'; she says this about the effects of being compelled to collect information about a target:
“And while it’s ‘on’ it’s no joke. I resent it awfully, sometimes. It takes it out of one so. Katrine once said to me, helplessly, ‘Why has one got to do it?'”
Deirdre says this when she sees that Katrine has found another interest in the real world:
“I think Katrine is working clear of it all, but I don’t believe I shall ever be free.”
Exhaustion, compulsion and being trapped in a fantasy world certainly are no joke. The mental logistics, the revisions of the scenario and the minor adjustments that Deirdre makes to deal with the small problems are of no use here.
I suspect that all this happened to Rachel Ferguson. How else would she have known of these dangers? I think that she is describing her own painful experiences and giving some subtle warnings via Deirdre.
Just as readers of this novel can't always be sure what is real and what happens only in people's imaginations, the Carnes themselves and others around them can't always tell what is real and what is not.
Another possible victim of the game is a popular entertainer called Dion Saffyn, a member of a pierrot troupe who dies suddenly. He was another major target: although they never met him in real life and Sheil never even saw him perform, he was a major player in the game and part of the Carne family.
Medical reasons are given for his death, but there could be another explanation.
There may be a clue in something that Deirdre says earlier:
“...we both suffered a frenzy of desire to join the resident pierrot troupe, and almost projected ourselves into it by sheer concentration.”
Using concentrated will power to try to obtain something is psychological black magic. Something Carole Angier says about the witchlike Jean Rhys willing reality to fit her dreams comes to mind here.
It may be significant that while the Carnes had made up stories about the Toddingtons for a relatively short time before actually meeting them, Dion Saffyn had been the subject of their imaginings for over ten years. This is a long time to be the target of intense concentration.
I am wondering whether his death can be taken as internal evidence that Rachel Ferguson knew about the bad effect that being the object of someone's fantasies can have. On the other hand, perhaps it really was just the influenza and heart trouble that killed Dion Saffyn.
Deirdre and Katrine both feel deeply depressed from time to time, and Deirdre mentions feeling extremely tired and drained. Perhaps this is a side effect of putting too much energy into their obsessions and a consequence of misusing their willpower.
These bad effects must be offset against the benefits that come to the Carnes from their association with the Toddingtons. Only they could say if the game was worth the candle.
The cover of this edition shows Judge Toddington and Sheil with the family dog:
