Sunday, October 7, 2012

A Brief Analysis of Gabriel Betteredge


A Brief Analysis of the Humble Gabriel Betteredge
I wish I had a Betteredge, he makes me laugh. Wilkie Collins has created a wonderfully entertaining character in Gabriel Betteredge; he is the perfect person to set the scene and introduce us to the characters in The Moonstone. I would say that he is an unreliable narrator, but not to the point that the reader cannot trust him. For example, when we first meet him he is talking about being asked to write what he remembers and he says, “I modestly declared myself to be quite unequal to the task imposed upon me – and I privately felt, all the time, that I was quite clever enough to perform it.” He lets us in on the secret and in doing so, encourages us to trust him. It also lets us see a glimpse of his character; he knows how is expected to act in this situation and acts accordingly. This gives the reader an idea of the phoniness of social propriety.
Betteredge seems to be fooling himself more than the audience in many of the places where what he says contradicts what the reader sees. One place where this happens is after he loses his temper with Sergeant Cuff; he says, “For the moment, I suppose I must have gone clean out of my senses. I seized the Sergeant by the collar of the coat and pinned him against the wall.” This is completely out of character for Betteredge. He prides himself on his level-headedness and his good manners; yet in this scene we see him act before he thinks – which is exactly what he accuses women of doing just a few pages later. When Penelope comes to him about Rosanna’s behavior, he explains why he needs to calm Penelope down in order to “improve” her state of femaleness. He says that when a woman wants him to do anything, he makes them “rummage their own minds for a reason”; he then says “it isn’t their fault (poor wretches!) that they act first, and think afterwards; it’s the fault of the fools who humour them.”  I think Collins puts these scenes so closely together so that the reader can see the blind male chauvinism that was prevalent in Victorian society. Betteredge accuses all women of being guilty of doing what he (a superior creature) just did with Sergeant Cuff.
Of course, I could be way off base with my assertion. Maybe Collins does not sympathize with the wrongly stereotyped female; perhaps this is just my twenty-first century pro-female mentality speaking. But I doubt it. I think that Collins wants us to see the way that women were oppressed, but he still wants us to like Betteredge; we are supposed to see him as a genuinely kind, appropriately proud man in Victorian England.
I like Betteredge, he makes me laugh. In particular, I like his take on marriage. He chooses to marry Selina Goby, as a decision based on “economy – with a dash of love”; of course, she also “chews her food well, and sets her foot down properly when she steps.” As amusing as this view of marriage is to me, I think it highlights the unimportance of love and romance in a society that viewed marriage as a social and economic contract rather than a bond of love. As Betteredge says, “it will be cheaper to marry her than to keep her.” Just as Lady Verinder does, I too, think that this statement is funny…sad…but funny – an appropriate contradiction coming from a man full of contradictions. Such is the Great Humble Betteredge! 

4 comments:

  1. A very thoughtful and entertaining take on Betteredge! :) I especially like how you point him out as being humble and likeable, yet still hypocritical in some aspects. The take on his view of women was quite insightful! Good job.

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  2. Good observation about Betteredge acting as he accuses women of doing. I think he's sort of torn between writing his account of events and his unquestioning loyalty to the family he has spent his whole life serving. He's not prepared to have to change his opinion of them, becuse indirectly that might undermine his whole sense of self and purpose.

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  3. Spot on with Betteredge! So funny, I couldn't really pinpoint what you seem to have said so well. After reading your blog, I couldn't agree more, he is more like a woman than he would ever like to admit. HA!!! There is little I enjoy more than proving a man is flawed and he is flawed in such a hypocrytical and funny way that he himself is oblivous to. Great irony and great blog!

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  4. I agree, I wish I had a Betteredge with me at all times! I like that you mention his hypocrisy about his view on women, and enjoy your connection with Sargent Cuff. I love how you describe his marriage, and why he had chose to marry her. It makes sense for him, which is why that makes me laugh. Oh Betteredge!

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