Part III
Leaving the place,
leave it forever...
The third part of the
novel is mostly based on the relationships between Irene, her
husband and Bosinney. The love affair that was developing in the
second part is coming to its end. Irene's adultery becomes obvious
not only for all the Forsytes and her husband but for their
neighbours and acquaintances. Bosinney is on the verge of bankruptcy.
Soames is overwhelmed with jealousy. The third part of the book tells us
what the consequences of this love-affair were and how they influenced the
Forsytes' usual life-style.
The Forsytes, this noble
family, prefer not to pay attention to the situation, which will
definitely lead to a scandal one day ("My dear, it is a subject
we do not talk about!”). Actually, all the members
of this family sympathize with Soames but at the same time do almost
nothing to prevent the end of his marriage. They prefer to stay
aside, silently watching how Soames' marriage is collapsing. "It
was not a subject which the Forsytes could talk about even among
themselves—to use the word Soames had invented to characterize to
himself the situation, it was ‘subterranean’.” So,
this is the behaviour of the Forsytes. But what do those who are
involved in this love-story do?
June
has come back from the seaside, she's not a naïve and timid young
lady she used to be a couple of months ago. During her travelling,
she's met an ill girl, took care of her and then watched her die.
This emotional experience has changed her attitude towards the
situation with her fiancé – June is still mournful, but now she's
ready to act, to fight for her love and even to forgive Irene and
Bosinney. Poor girl, her generosity is in vain.
Soames
is the only person I am in sympathy with. A loving husband, selfless
and devoted is rejected and humiliated by his own wife. And, even
being left and betrayed he found himself able to forgive Irene.
"Nothing that she could have done, nothing that she had
done, brought home to him like this the inner significance of her
act. For the moment, perhaps, he understood nearly all there was to
understand—understood that she loathed him, that she had loathed
him for years, that for all intents and purposes they were like
people living in different worlds, that there was no hope for him,
never had been; even, that she had suffered—that she was to be
pitied. In that moment of emotion he betrayed the Forsyte in
him—forgot himself, his interests, his property—was capable of
almost anything; was lifted into the pure ether of the selfless and
unpractical”. A strong man
with a generous nature.
And what does his wife do
then? When she understood that her lover is dead and she has no place
to go and no money to live on, Irene prefers to come back to Soames.
Like a pitiful dog that had left its master and then, when it became
hungry and cold, came back whimpering and miserable. "She had
come back like an animal wounded to death, not knowing where to turn,
not knowing what she was doing”. May be one will try to justify
her, regarding her as a victim of the cruel life of English
aristocrats, but I see no lame excuses. Irene is a women who has
married a man she hated and that's why she lacks for self-respect and
pride. Irene is a woman who has betrayed the man who loved her and
that's why she is stone-hearted. Irene is a woman who has allured her
friend's fiancé and that's why she's egoistic and vain. Irene is a
woman who has left her husband not caring about the shame her action
causes and that's why she's reckless and imprudent. Irene is a woman
who has come back to her husband after her lover's death and that's
why she is weak and despicable.
"Women are the devil”
- said Bosinney. His amourette
caused his death. "Women are the devil” - repeated
Soames and he was betrayed by his own wife. "A man of property” -
a book where one woman caused so many troubles.
(by Rina)
Now let’s pass to book 3. This is the final part of "The man of
property”. To my mind, here we should focus mainly on the idea of the whole
first part of "The Forsyte saga” rather than on the idea of Book 3. It would be
quite logical. Mainly, because the idea of Book 3 adds to the understanding of
the whole saga.
One major event taking place here is the death of Bosinney. It leads to
some other important events though. As we all know, Irene left Soames for
Bosinney. But when Bosinney is dead she is at a loss. She understands that her
life is now ruined. She returns to Soames, but he rejects her.
So, as we see the resolution of the novel gives us food for thought.
Bosinney dies. Irene is in despair. She returns to Soames. And it seems that
the Forsytes have won again. But is it really so?! It turns out that this
victory is a false, a seem-to-be victory. When thinking over Bosinney’s death
and its consequences, young Jolyon comes to a conclusion that "this death would break up the Forsyte
family. The stroke had indeed slipped past their defences into the wood of
their tree. They might flourish to all appearance as before, preserving a brave
show before the eyes of London,
but the trunk was dead, withered by the same flash that had stricken down
Bosinney.” So, this death has its certain consequences. It will influence
not only Soamse’s life. It will cause more serious problems. Like the end of
the well-being of the whole Forsyte family.
I suppose, now it is high time we
spoke about the main conflict of "The man of property”. The Forsytes are no
creators. They are only consumers. They try to achieve what the others have
produced, to get as much as possible. And this causes the main conflict of the
novel "The man of property”: withstanding of two worlds, the world of beauty
and freedom being opposed to the world of property. Irene and Bosinney versus
the Forsytes.
When Bosinney first appears in the Forsyte family they give him a certain
characteristic. They do not like him. Galsworthy writes, ‘He was an architect, not in itself a sufficient reason for wearing such
a hat. None of the Forsytes happened to be architects, but one of them knew two
architects who would never have worn such a hat upon a call of ceremony in the London season”. It is
irony, of course. Galsworthy’s language is very ironical when it comes to the
Forsytes. But now we are not discussing stylistic devices. We are speaking
about the message of the novel. What does this quote tell us? None of the
Forsytes is a man of Art, Art being not sufficient for satisfying their pride.
The Forsytes can only exploit Art to get some profit. Here we should
speak about small Frances.
She is the only Forsyte being involved into the world of Art. She is a musician.
She writes songs. And the Forsytes use
these songs: sell them and get money. The only work of hers they do not like is
a sonata for the violin. it will not give them profit, it will not sell good.
The resolution of "The man of property” seems to be quite logical. Bosinney
could not fit in their world. Irene either. That is why they fell in love with
each other. But the Forsytes are like a devil machine that ruins everything it
faces. So, Bosinney is dead. And Irene’s life is ruined. But this time their victory
was questionable. It will influence their life. Their unshakable position has
finally been threatened!
(By Asya)
The final part probably reveals all the secrets of the Forsyte family. What does that
mean to be born and brought up in one of the most respectable families? In a
family whose social status is high and manners seem to be perfect? Does it
always lead to the happy end? Is it always the ace of trumps that finally can
help you to win the battle and get whatever you want?Obviously it is not true.
This strong family clan rots inside. To make this conclusion, it is enough to
look at the relationships in the family. Irene, Soames, Bosinney, June, Jolyon…
What is happening in lives of these characters?
June seems to accept the fact that she will never be with Bosinney
again. And
Bosinney believes that his happiness with Irene will last forever, but the
young lady breaks his heart. She comes back to Soames, she cherishes a hope
that her husband will forgive her one day and they will become a family again.
But is Soames ready to forget about everything what Irene did to him? Does he
really want his wife back? No. But what happens to Bosinney? What is his fate?
Poor man died in an accident. He had June, he had a family, he had money, but
one woman destroyed his happiness completely. But on the other hand, can we
call it happiness? If he was really satisfied with his life, would he leave
everything just for Irene? It is a very difficult situation a man could be in,
and maybe we can say that for some time Bosinney managed to be happy being with
Irene.
But Irene extremely needs someone who can support her, because her life
changes all the time, and in fact all these changes do not lead to the best
results. Communicating
with Jolyon she feels that he is a man who understands her very well. And it
does not matter that he is much older than her. She feels some spiritual
affection towards him. But what about Jolyon? For some time he believes that
Irene is a woman whom he needs and wants so much, but at the same time he
realizes that they simply can’t be together for many reasons: age, social
status, family relationships… And he tells about it to Irene. It does not
disappoint her so much though, because she is a sensible woman and she can
understand too why things can’t go further. She is a free woman now, and who
knows what life difficulties will she have to face?The book finishes with the
death of old Jolyon… It was a sunny day…and it seems that everything becomes
quiet with the death of its master.
(by Luck)
In generally the third part of this book is based on
the relationships between Soames, Irene and Bosinney. Soames left the court
happily because he had won the case in the court, but he then was afraid
because he found that his wife was not
at home. He was really afraid of the
disappearance of Irene. He went home again, went up stair, took Irene’s Jewel
box, and noticed that all the jewel he had given was still there.We can say
that are not many stylistic devises in this part but it is important to mention
that the feeling of growing suspense is
still present in a very high degree here. Next we completely can see all Soames’s
feelings and emotions. As the author
emphasizes the main character's inner sufferings the key words and sentences
must describe those feelings: ``the tears rushed up in his eyes, the inner
significance of her act, she loathed him, people living in different worlds,
she was to be pitied, he betrayed the Forsyte, the pure ether of the selfless
and unpractical''. Only after Iren’s leaving Soames begins to understand that all the time that they had been married she
had disgusted him and that they had been
living in different worlds: his was the world of property and hers was the
world of emotions. In this chapter we can see some stylistic devises which can characterize
Soames’s crises in his inner world, such as metaphors ("the tears rushed up in
his eyes and dropped upon them”). But suddenly everything extremely changes. The
information of the death of Bosinney came from the police who came to Jame’s
house. There were some talks that the death was caused by suicide. However, a
police man said that it was an accident in the fog. In elevated mood Soames goes home he knows that his wife had come back to his house. In
fact, in some parts of his feeling, he want to let his wife to leave him unlimited time. Soames
know that his wife will never be able to go away from home again. She will be
Soames’s own property again.
(By Tanya)