Martha held
an idealized conception of Helena in her mind, an image that was both
fetishized and deified with the passage of time. Martha’s fetish is revealed by
her tracking Helena’s movements across Europe:
A worn old geography book often stood
open at the map of Europe on the light-stand in her room and a little
old-fashioned gilt button, set with a bit of glass like a ruby, that had broken
and fallen from the trimming of one Helena’s dresses, was used to mark the city
of her dwelling place. (885-886)
In essence,
during the forty years of her absence, Helena was accorded the status of a
Goddess in Martha’s mind and heart. That image was briefly disturbed but
quickly restored when the two women were reunited: “Martha gave a pitiful sob;
she had never dreamed it would be like this; this was the one thing she could
not bear” (888). After briefly losing her composure in the present, Martha
returns to a timeless (surreal) state of mind: “The young eyes were still there
in the changed face, and Miss Helena had come” (888). We are then told: “The
long years seemed like days” (888). Like a masterpiece of art, Martha’s love
for Helena existed outside of the realm of ordinary time and place. Helena had
been deified.
Charles, I think it may be difficult to disagree with you that Helena is deified by Martha. However, I think the question as to why Martha has deified her is interesting. Helena seems to have given Martha so much hope, without having to do anything overly generous. As readers, we know that Helena has a kind personality, but we also find out that she has a strangely close relationship with Martha when she tells Martha to kiss her. So, did Helena not only teach Martha how to hope, but also how to love?
ReplyDeleteCharles: I love this post and your reading of the story. Rachel: I think the story does indicate that Helena (perhaps quite unintentionally) gave Martha someone to love (not exactly the same as teaching her how to love). More importantly, though, she made Martha want to be worthy of being loved (or even just seen positively) and she gave Martha someone to love--religiously.
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