Individualism In The Millstone

The Heavy Stone of Politics Do you ever feel weighed down by the prospects for you? Do you ever witness discrimination among others? Do you ever observe exploitation and extortion in your society? All of these questions pertain to the life of Rosamund Stacey, a young woman who faces trials and tribulations due to her single sexual rendezvous and subsequent illegitimate child. Stacey is the main character of Margaret Drabble's novel The Millstone, which can be examined through the political lens explained in Thomas C. Foster's How to Read Literature Like a Professor. The underlying presence of Drabble's own political agenda, regarding the expectations, prejudice, and corruption of 1960s English society, is a fundamental literary element of
Foster also brought up the notion of characters that "… keep refusing to behave, to submit to convention, to act in a way that conforms to expectations, even expectations of other nonconformists" (Foster 118). Drabble uses the concepts of radical individualism and a nonconformist in her characterization of Stacey, as she deals with judgments from her outer and inner circle. In Stacey's outer circle, she faces moments like when she visits Dr. Motaff and "…[she] [says] that [she] [thinks] [she] [is] pregnant, and he [says] how long [have] [you] been married, and [she] [says] that [she] [is] not married…" (Drabble 44). Stacey also notices that the midwife's "…profession prevented her from inquiring why [she] [has] not done the sensible and expected thing and gone and had an expensive abortion" (Drabble 66). It does not take much for this society to pass judgment when it comes to Stacey's unusual circumstances. Stacey also faces criticism, even more brutally, from her inner circle. This is
As How to Read Literature Like a Professor presents, "… [Edgar Allen] Poe offers criticism of the European class system, which privileges the unworthy and the unhealthy, where the entire atmosphere is corrupt and decaying, where the results are madness and death" (Foster 119). Similarly to Poe's work, Drabble offers criticism of European systems also, but with a much more recent time period in mind. Drabble's corruption logic centers around the National Health Service and marital values. An example of the National Health's Service's corruption is shown through the doctors behavior at Stacey's maternity clinic, "[f]rom the way in which he [tells] [her], [she] could see that he [expects] gratitude and that he [considers] he [has] done more for [her] than might have been expected of him" (Drabble 62). Another example of their corrupt conduct is during Stacey's hospital stay where, "[she] was able to withstand various irritations, such as having a label at the end of [her] bed with the initial U, which [stands], [she] was told for Unmarried…" (Drabble 116). These quotes from the novel both express disregard and inconsistent treatment of patients based on their marital status. Speaking of marriage, the values behind the institution itself were also quite corrupt. This is shown through the fact that, despite spending much time with Stacey and other women," Joe was reputed to have a wife somehwere…" (Drabble 23). This less