The Good Soldier: Comedy or Tragedy?
Author(s): Barry D. Bort
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Twentieth Century Literature, Vol. 12, No. 4 (Jan., 1967), pp. 194-202
Published by: Hofstra University
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/440668 .
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THE GOOD SOLDIER: COMEDY OR TRAGEDY?
BARRY D. BORT
If the reputationof Ford Madox At the novel's end, Dowell blandly
Ford suffered
long because of un- contemplateshis bleak prospectsas
deservedneglect,the last few years the ownerof theAshburnham
estate,
have broughta genuinerenewalof chargedwith the keepingof the ininterest.Both Parades End and The curablyinsaneNancy.
Good Soldierhave been the subject
in hisperceptive
MarkSchorer,
essay
of appreciative
of theKnopf
and intensecriticism. printedat thebeginning
The latternovel especiallyhas pro- edition,emphasizes
thenovel'sparodic
voked a stimulating
of
comvariety
quality."For, finally,The Good Solto
dierdescribes
a worldthatis without
It
seems
however,
me,
mentary.
that criticism
who suffers
of thisnovelhas failed a moralpoint,a narrator
to explainsufficiently
the significancefromthe madnessof moralinertia."x
of the centralfigurein this novel,
Since Schorer'sessay praisingthe
As a result,the comicgeniusof thenovel,criticshave
EdwardAshburnham.
novel'suniqueimportance
what theytake to be theseras an anat- stressed
of
omy of the worldof Englishsociety ious and even tragicimplications
an
can
war
has
not
world
the
Such
before
the
first
only
just
emphasis
story.
been brought clearly enough into be managedby takingDowell as a
narrator.Elliott B. Gose,
focus.
responsible
The novelconcernsthelivesof four Jr.for instance,says,". .. he is an
characters
and theirwanderings
honestif not verypassionamong essentially
the elegantresortsof Europein the ate personwhoseattitudestowardthe
and eventswith whichhe
earlyyearsof thiscentury.A wealthy characters
in
constantevolutionas the
narrates
the
frienddeals
is
American,
Dowell,
2
ship he and his wife strikeup with novelprogresses."
But John A. Meixnermakes the
FlorenceandEdwardAshburnham
and
on Ashburn- mostcloselyarguedcase forthenovel
concentrate
particularly
ham's uncontrollable
need for other as a tragedywith Ashburnham
as a
women.The narrator's
wife,Florence tragicfigure.
"The Good Soldierarousesin the
as wellas Mrs.BasilandMrs.
Hurlbird,
his
the catharticemotionsof pity
succumb
reader
all
to
charm.
Maidan,
Only the innocent,convent-raisedand awe at the spectacleof its adNancy Rufford
managesto retainher mirable,greatlysuffering
protagonist
to overwhelmed
chastity,althoughher attachment
by hard crueltyin so
Ashburnham
is so strongthat,upon terribleand unfeeling
a way."a
In viewof thedisagreement
between
hearingof his suicide,she goes mad.
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Schorer'sessayand later commentaries his troubles with women stem from
it is importantto state the case for an emotion that Dowell approvingly
Ashburnham.Seen in this light, Ash- terms "sentimental." "Sentimentality
burnhamappearsto be the novel's only in fact is Edward's basic humanweakvigorous and positive figure.He be- ness,his fatal flaw--evenas, ironically,
comes the moral nucleus, ministering it is the sourceof much of his virtue."
to others,always willing to give them (p. 184) The tragic flaw, in other
somethingof himself.Compared with circumstances, might be a virtue.
the sexless Dowell, the unprincipled Hamlet, informedby lago of his wife's
Florence,and the icy Leonora,he mani- guilt, would have delayed until her
festsan abundance of warmthwhich innocencewas clear. Othello, after an
magnifieshis importance,and the oc- interviewwith the ghost,would have
casional appearancehe givesof cruelty quickly dispatched Cladius. By the
or foolishnessis simply the natural same token,Ashburnham,in the peroutcome of his firm adherence to a missive world of the eighteenthcencode which has begun to seem out of tury, blessedwith a secure estate and
date.
an understandingwife, would have
If this is so, then his shortcomings made a successof his life.
derive from a genuine expressionof
If understandingAshburnham in
emotion,at times dammed up behind this way is valid, it is possibleto agree
the reserveof an English gentleman. with Meixner that ". . . he is an exAlthoughhis affairsof the heart turn tremelyimpressive,noblefigure.By no
out, at times,to be disastrousfor the means a perfectman-the tragic prowomen involved,thishappensthrough tagonist never is--he is a good man
no fault of his, but because of some who has never been guided by base
weaknessin the woman,intensified
by motives." (p. 184)
the hostilityof Leonora. In the tradiThe public Ashburnham makes a
tion of his class, he values generosity striking and admirable figure. His
above solvency. He believes in com- largesse,his senseof noblesseoblige
fortingthe troubled,aiding the needy, are emphasized.Dowell seems full of
and solacingthe womenwho aredrawn unqualifiedadmirationfor him:
to him. He fails because Florence,
"Edward Ashburnhamwas thecleanMaisie Maidan, Leonora, and Nancy est-lookingsort of chap; an excellent
Ruffordall demandmorethan any one magistrate,a first-ratesoldier,one of
man can give. Pure of heart and re- the best landlords, so they said, in
sponsive to appeals, he finds no one Hampshire,England. To the poor and
who understands the depths of his to hopelessdrunkards,as I myselfhave
selflessness
exceptDowell, and Dowell's witnessed,he was like a painstaking
reservekeeps him from communicat- guardian." His purityof mind is eming his sympathy.
phasized. "And he never more than
Ashburnham'sfaults, then,may be once or twice in all the nine years of
seen as the excessesof his virtues.His my knowing him told a story that
generosityto his tenants threatensto couldn't have gone into the Field. He
underminethe securityof his estate; didn't even like hearingthem." "Was
hiswillingnessto rescuesoldiers,crazed it the importantpoint about Edward
by the heat of the Red Sea and intent that he was very well built, carried
upon suicide, endangershis own life; himself well, was moderate at the
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table, and led a regularlife--that he nonethelessthe maintainence of the
had, in fact, all the virtues that are propertiesis his goal. And only when
these are disturbed does he become
usually accounted English?" (p.151)
But such a view of Ashburnham uneasy.
leaves too many problemsunresolved.
Taken at face value Dowell appears
The case against Ashburnhamis at
to be comically obtuse, but he is a
least as strong as the case for the
His interpretation
defensebecausetheshadowof ambigu- complex character.5
of the events of the story (which is
ousness lingersabout his everyaction.
beliedby the eventsthemselves)comes
Dowell insists his story has wide
fromhis pathologicalneed fora "shock
ramificationsas a chronicle of the
world undisturbedby conflict.
destructionof a way of life."Perman- proof"
This ideal world he compares to a
ence? Stability! I can't believe its
minuet. "The mob may sack Vergone." (p. 6) And an accidentof his- sailles; the Trianon
may fall, but
tory-the novel's compositionon the
the minuet-the minuet itself
surely
eve of the FirstWorld War--seems to
is dancingitselfaway into the furthest
reinforcesuch claims.
even as our minuetof the Hes"Someonehas said that the death of stars,
sian bathing places must be stepping
a mouse fromcancer is the whole sack
itself still?" (p. 6) And he, like Edof Rome by the Goths,and I swear to
ward, is a victim of self-delusion,inyou that the breakingup of our little
on the wonderful serenityof
sisting
four-squarecoterie was such another their foursome,
yet still aware too of
unthinkableevent. Supposingthat you
its actual horror. The result is an
should come upon us sitting together
evaluation of his experience in two
at one of the little tables in frontof
utterly
contradictoryways. "My wife
the club house,let us say,at Homburg
and I knew Captain and Mrs. Ash.
would have said that, as
burnhamas well as it was possibleto
. . you
human affairsgo, we were an extraknow anybody, and yet, in another
ordinarilysafe castle." (pp. 5-6)
we knew nothing at all about
Dowell is a man whose conception sense,
them."
(p 3) Having seen the imof the ideal life is one in which the
between husband and
tension
surfaceof social decorumis unruffled, possible
wife that drove Edward to suicide he
a world in which trains never miss
nonethelesscan say, "For I swear to
connections.4He recalls the happiness
that theywere the model couple."
you
of two couples: "Upon my word, yes,
"You would have said that he
our intimacywas like a minuet,simply (p. 8)
was just exactly the sort of chap that
because on every possible occasion
could have trustedyourwifewith.
and in every possible circumstance you
And I trustedmine---andit was madwe knew where to go, where to sit,
which table we unanimouslyshould ness." (p. 11)
choose . . ." His great joy is developEdward is not a hypocrite,for if
ing plans "for a shock-proofworld" hypocrisy is, as La Rochefoucauld
(p. 49). This order of the surface is said, the homage that vice pays to
immenselysoothingto him: it is his virtue, such a definitionimplies evil
goal in life and though he can be makinga formalobeisanceto the good.
deceivedfor a time about the relations But Edward, in his bumblingway, is
betweenhis wife and his ideal,Edward, never reallyaware of the cleavage be-
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tweenwhathe wantsto be and what climbingto occupyus much,and dehe is.
cent people do not take interestin
The ludricrousmisapplicationof politicsor elderlypeoplein sport.So
generous
impulseis comic.Speakingof thattherewererealtearsshedby both
the fine genialityof Ashburnham,Miss Hurlbirdand Miss FlorencebeDowell says,"He was so presentable foreI leftthatcity." (p. 200)
and quitereadyto lendyou his cigarDowell'scareforFlorenceis another
puncher-thatsortof thing."(p. 62) exampleof misappliedcharity.FlorAshburnham's
impulsesare immediate ence, carryingon an affairwith a
and oftenamusingly
He young man namedJimmy,is interinopportune.
impulsively
givesa youngmana horse estedin Dowell only for his position
whosekeepingis beyondthe young and money.As a resultshedenieshim
man'smeans.The charitableimpulses anyintimacies,
pleadinghearttrouble.
of the othercharacters
or insight,
may be more Dowell,bereftof initiative
calculated,but theytoo vergeupon willinglybecomesher nurse."For I
the ridiculous.Florence'suncle, for was solemnlyinformedthat if she
instanceset out for a voyageto the becameexcitedover anythingor if
South Seas and felt the necessityof her emotionswere reallystirredher
withwhichto make littleheartmightcease to beat. For
havingsomething
smallpresents.
He took"I don'tknow twelve yearsI had to watch every
how manycasesof oranges."(p. 18) wordthat any personutteredin any
and I had to head off
"For, to everypersonon boardthe conversation
severalsteamersthat theyemployed, what the Englishcall 'things'- off
to everypersonwithwhomhe had so love,poverty,
and the
crime,religion,
much as a noddingacquaintance,he restof it." (p. 16) The idea of caregave an orangeeverymorning. . . fullyshieldinga wifewho carrieson
Whentheywereat NorthCape,even, themosttorridaffairs
is surelyhumorhe saw on thehorizon,poordearthin ous.Dowellperforms
hisduties,catches
manthathe was,a lighthouse.
'Hello,' trains,is presentat the correctmo'thesefellowsmust mentand,afterthedeathof Florence,
sayshe to himself,
be verylonely.Let's take themsome is even ready to proposefor convenience'ssaketo anotherwoman.All
oranges'."(p. 19)
His deathraiseseven morecharit- this he does out of admirationfor
ableproblems,
forit had beenthought Ashburnham
and the way of life he
from standsfor. But he is also pleased,as
that,like his niece,he suffered
hearttrouble.Insteadhe diedof bron- he says,to be "offduty."
chitis.Shouldthe moneyhe planned
on thatafternoon
"WhyI remember
for the reliefof heartpatientsin his I saw a browncow hitch its horns
will now go to thoseafflicted
with under the stomachof a black and
of
the
The
whole
whiteanimaland theblack and white
complaints
lungs?
questioncausesa good deal of argu- one was thrownrightintothe middle
mentin the Hurlbirdmansion.And of a narrowstream.I burstout laughDowell explains that althoughthis ing.ButFlorencewas imparting
informay seem amusingto the European, mationso hardandLeonorawaslistenin mycoun- ing so intentlythat no one noticed
"theseareseriousmatters
me. As forme I was pleasedto be off
try."
"We haven'tgot peerages
and social duty.. ." "I supposeI oughtto have
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pitied the poor animal; but I just
didn't. I was out for enjoyment.And
I enjoyed myself." (p. 42) This distinction between public duties and
private amusementsruns throughthe
book and is the key to understanding
Ashburnham.In his public role, the
figurehe cuts at his club, the treatment of his tenants and people who
have sufferedmisfortune,he is admirable,if sometimesmisguided.But
his private life is wholly unsuccessful
for his supposedlygenerous impulses
are usually directed toward young
ladies and are really concerned with
self-satisfaction.
Dowell's physicaldescriptionof Edward is hardly one to
justify the qualities of heroism that
criticsof the novel have attributedto
him. "So well set up, with such honest
blue eyes, such a touch of stupidity,
such a warm goodheartedness!""His
face hithertohad, in the wonderful
English fashion, expressed nothing
whatever. Nothing. There was in it
neitherjoy nor despair; neitherhope
nor fear; neitherboredom nor satisfaction." (p. 25) "And yetI must add
thatpoor Edward was a greatreader-he would pass hours lost in novels of
a sentimentaltype-novels in which
typewritergirlsmarriedmarquisesand
governessesearls .. . And he was fond
of poetry,of a certain type--and he
could even read a perfectlysad love
story.I have seen his eyes filled with
tears at readingof a hopelessparting.
And he loved, with a sentimental
yearning,all children,puppies,and the
feeble generally. . ." (p. 27) "I had
forgottenhis eyes. They were as blue
as the sidesof a certaintypeof box of
matches." (p. 28) The choice of details-the hint of stupidity,the empty
face, the willing lender of his cigar
puncher,the sentimentalist's
inability
to relate his emotions effectivelyto
the reality of his own life: all this
undercutsDowell's admiration.Critics
have cited Ashburnham'ssentimentality as a positive quality, but this is
what makes him ridiculous,for sentimentalityis emotion separated from
meaningfulaction. It may be enjoyment of emotion in itself or, as in
Ashburnham'scase, the misjudgingof
a situationwith actions that resultin
a calamitous outcome. Ashburnham
quixoticallyinsiststhat "salvation can
only be found in true love and the
feudal system."(p. 161)
Edward's goal is the preservationof
"virginityof his wife's thoughts..."
(p. 57) Leonora in turn continually
tries to keep up appearances in the
hope of winninghim back to demonstrate "that in an unfaithful world
one Catholic woman had succeededin
retainingthe fidelityof her husband."
(187) She admits to Dowell that he
is a "splendid fellow-along at least
the lines of his public functions."
(p. 96)
Everythingabout Edward is faintly
ludicrous.His gallantryaboard a troop
ship in the Red Sea leads him to jump
off to save a soldier attempting to
commit suicide in the heat. Leonora
complimentshim on it but when he
jumps a second time and "the private
soldiers seemed to develop suicidal
craze . . ." she cannot get him to
promise to stop jumping. (p. 171)
And when Dowell recalls they are on
the ship only because of Leonora's
penchant for economy,the whole situation tumbles into absurdity.So too
Ashburnham's words when Leonora
has finallydisposedof Nancy Rufford,
and Dowell catches his faint words,
"Thou hast conquered, O pale Galilean," and remarks,"It was like his
sentimentalityto quote Swinburne."
(p. 251) Or even his final words just
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beforehis suicide:"So long,old man, cult of technicalproblems.
He begins
I musthave a bit of restyou know." with a narratorwhose outstanding
Dowell's reactioncaps the anticlimax quality is a doglike admirationfor
of thosewords:"I wantedto say:'God EdwardAshburnham,
a man who is
blessyou,'forI alsoam a sentimental-responsible
forthedeathof twowomen
ist. But I thoughtthatwouldnot be (includingDowell's wife) and the
quite Englishgood form,so I trotted madnessof the third.All the major
off... to Leonora."(p. 256)
characters
haveaffection
forAshburnThe toneof Dowell's narration
in- ham.And yettheeventsof thenovel
tensifiesthe anticlimax. Edward's showhimto be themostbunglingand
choiceof instrument
for thissuicide casuallydestructive
of men,concerned
is a penknife(recalling the letter -at least in his privatelife--only
thatlays
openerthatMr.Merdleof LittleDorrit witha personalgratification
choseto end his life with in another waste the littlesocietyof thosewho
mock-heroic
suicide).Aftertellingus trust and depend upon him. (Edof Edward'sidealconceptionof love, ward'snameindicateshis destructive
he comments,
"So you see, he would character-Ashburnham:
Burn-Homehave plenty to gurgle about to a Ashes.)
woman..." (myitalics). (p. 27)
Even werea manlessself-deceiving
Nancy Ruffordis the fittingcat- to tell thisstory,it could hardlyasalystforthefinalscenesof thenovel sume the cosmic proportionsthat
are in Dowellinsistsupon.His sheltered
for,althoughall thecharacters
view
some way naive,Nancy is the most of realityprecludesany scaling of
naive.She has smallunderstanding
of tragic heights.In his hands Othello
themeaningof marriage,
divorce,and would be transformed
into a comedy
no awarenessof sex. She innocently of muddle.People are constantlydioffers
Leonoraa tributeto herhusband minishedin importanceby Dowell's
by saying,"If I marriedanyone,I language.MaisieMaidan,one of Edshouldlike him to be like Edward." ward'sdisappointed
is comic
mistresses,
(p. 222) This sendsLeonoraintoa fit in death."She had diedso grotesquely
whichNancy interprets
as a sudden thatherlittlebodyhad fallenforward
manifestation
of ill health. Later, intothetrunk,and it had closedupon
whenshe does perceivesomething
of her,like the jaws of a giganticallithesituation,
sheis bulliedbyLeonora gator." (p. 75) He recallsEdward
(who wants Edward to get the girl callingMaisiea "poor littlerat". (p.
out of hissystem)intooffering
herself 75) Leonorain turn is "sound as a
to him.
roach" (p. 100). Her marriageto
"She didn'tin the leastknowwhat RodneyBayhamafterEdward'sdeath
is meant-to belongto a man.But at (for the firsttime she is going to
that,Edwardpulledhimselftogether. have a child and this suggestsEdHe spokein his normaltones; gruff, ward'sphysicalsterility)
makesDowell
as he wouldhave speak of Rodney as "ratherlike a
husky,overbearing,
doneto a servant
or to a horse.
rabbit"(p. 239) and recallsan earlier
"Go back to yourroom,"he said. statement
attributed
to Leonora:"'Ed"Go back to your room and go to wardhas beendeadonlytendaysand
sleep.This is all nonsense."(p. 243) yet thereare rabbitson the lawn.'"
Fordhas set himselfthemostdilfi- The constantuse of "poor" appliedto
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Florence (masking a deep-seatedantipathy) and used at timesfor Edward,
drains both of all tragic pretensions.
(Imagine "poor' Orestes or "poor"
Lear. Shakespeare reserves the word
for someonelike Yorick.)
"In my fainterway I seem to perceive myself following the lines of
Edward Ashburnham.I supposethat I
should really like to be a polygamist;
with Nancy and with Leonora, and
with Maisie Maidan, and possiblyeven
with Florence. I am fainter. At the
same timeI am able to assureyou that
I am a strictly respectable person."
(p. 237) He sees conflictbetweenhis
rectitude and his unfulfilled desire
because he lacks "... the courage and
the virilityand possiblyalso the physique of Edward Ashburnham. .."
(p. 253) Virtue that flowsfrom impotence is hardly praiseworthyand
Dowell is only a "'faint" echo of a
spurious original. Yet the society in
which these figuresmove is nothing
like the world of Laclos' Les Liaisons
Dangereuses. That society permitted
all mannerof indulgenceas long as the
conventionswere maintained.Laclos'
depravedcharactersunlikeFord's have
no illusionsabout themselves.None of
the charactersin The Good Soldierare
irredeemablyreprobatehoweverselfish
theiraims; the novel is rathera comedy of charactersgropingabout in the
darknessof misapprehension.
The one
who tells the storyis the blindestand
he throwsup his hands in despairnear
the end of his telling. "I am only an
ageing American with very little
knowledgeof life." (p. 244) "I don't
know. I know nothing. I am very
tired." (p. 245)
These charactersconstantlydeceive
themselves.Edward can think of his
infidelitiesas a noble search for the
ideal love; Florenceworksunceasingly
to save her marriagein the hope of
Catholicwomanhood;and
vindicating
Dowell insistsalmosthysterically
on
of what seethes
good formregardless
beneaththe surface.In the midstof
themostdevastating
familyinfighting
he can clingto thethoughtthat"durin the
ing my stayforthatfortnight
fine old house,I never so much as
noticeda singlethingthatcouldhave
affectedgood opinion." (p. 246)
Nancy Ruffordin her madnessrepeatingover and over again "Credo
in unumDeum Omnipotentum".
(p.
234) remindsone of Dowell's similar
faith in his omnipotentdeity,that
of goodformand thefeudal
exemplar
order,EdwardAshburnham.
Dowell is blind,at leastin part,by
his own choice. He says that after
"forty-five
yearsof mixingwithone's
kind,one oughtto have acquiredthe
habitof beingableto knowsomething
about one's fellow beings.But one
doesn't." (p. 36) Only a singularly
obtuse man would be deceived by
Florence'sritualof a lockedbedroom
door to protecther heart.Dowell is
deceivedbecausehe wantsto be, because he acquiesesin the fabrications
of those around him. Mr. Meixner
suggeststhat his name comes from
"dowel" and implieshis functionas a
but the
peg holdingthestorytogether
namealso suggest(do-well) thathis
ethicaldiscernment
is middlingand
insufficient.
If thereis something
amusing--and
not at all sad-about thespectacleof
man whomanagesnot to be awareof
his wife'sunfaitnfulness
and charges
his wifeand not her loverthe whole
burdenof guilt afterher death, it
wouldbe wrongto thinkthatDowell
cannot see the darkerside of Ashburnham'scharactertoo. But he has
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no way of reconciling the contradiction.
There is in both Dowell and Edward a disparitybetweenideal understanding of life and its inescapable
actuality. Edward plays lord-of-themanor role with generosityand compassion while his private life is a
shamblesof thoughtlesscruelty. The
Kilsyte affairis the one place in the
novel where the public and private
Edward meet.Edward,travellingthirdclass carriage (again in orderto please
Lenora by economizing) attempts to
comfort a girl of nineteen who believes her young man unfaithful.
"That was his job in life." (p. 150)
"And he assured me that he felt at
least quite half-fatherlywhen he put
his arm around her waist and kissed
her." The girl,"by the whole tradition
of her class had been warned against
gentlemen... She screamed,toreherself away; sprang up and pulled a
communicationcord." (p. 150) The
magnanimouslord of the manor and
pursuerof private pleasure meet her
in a combination of lust and sentimentality.
The Good Soldier is not a tragedy,
but a savage comedyof manners (its
material is suicide, madness,and unrealized happiness) in which people
are unable to cope with the world
because they have never learnedto
it. Leonora'sconventeduunderstand
inflatedadmiration
Dowell's
cation;
for the abstractidea of the English
gentleman;Edward'sblind certainty
thathe can live the roleof the magnanimouslandholderwhile pursuing
his futilequest forthe ideal woman:
this is a combinationthat ends in
disaster.But none of the characters
attains a tragic-likeknowledgeof
himself
or of theothersfromthisexperience.
Therehas not beena novelso full
intentions
of misunderstood
leadingto
desiressinceTristamShandy.
thwarted
The comedyarisesfromthe incongruityof thingsas Dowell and the
want themto be and
othercharacters
between
as theyreallyare.A disparity
theidealandunpleasant
realitycan,of
but
of tragedy,
course,be thematerial
confuses
whena character
consistently
the sordidrealitywiththe ideal,then
thetragicthemebecomescomic.
The Good Soldieris a novelof retold by the
peatedmisunderstanding.
person least equipped in point of
and intelligence
to graspits
maturity
and theeffectof this
realimportance,
raisesthenovelto an
addeddimension
almost cosmic level of miscomprehension.
StateUniversity
College
New Paltz,New York
1The Good Soldier (New York 1951), p.
xiii. All page referencesthat follow are from
this text.
2 "The Strange Irregular Rhythm: An Analysis of The Good Soldier," PMLA, LXXII
(June, 1957), 495.
SFord Madox Ford's Novels (Minneapolis,
1962), p. 184. Richard Cassell, in his book
on Ford also approves of Edward when he
says that the "plot revolves around the end
of a line of good soldiers and gentlemen of
honor . . . and his destruction
the women
bit
who seek to possisshim." At the conclusion of
his treatmentof the novel only Ashburnham
stands, in his judgment,above the havoc. He
is the "only one to meet a test of moral
courage, he refuses to let passion overthrow
social order and remains a sentimentalistand
a gentleman."
Ford Madox Ford: A Study of His Novels
(Balitmore, 1961), 201.
4 The most
lengthy analysis of Dowell is
that of Carol Ohmann, and she places the
novel somewhere between the estimates of
201
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Meixnerand Schorer."Ford sympathizes
with
his charactersin The Good Soldier,but he
has learnedto judge themfortheirimmaturity, their egoism,their foolishrejectionof
thingsas theyare,and theirheadlongpursuit
of an impossible
of themselves."
conception
Ford Madox Ford: From Apprestice to
sightlesslywhile making only the most formal
obeisance to the convention of that world of
tradition.
Joseph Wiesenfarthin "Criticism and Semiosis of The Good Soldier," deals with some
of these difficulties.(MFS, IX (Spring, 1963)
39-49). It seemsclear to me that any coherent
view of the novel demands that we accept the
Craftsman (Middletown, Connecticut, 1964),
111.
facts Dowell gives-however mixed up he may
5 The problemof how muchthe readercan be about dates--but always be ready to chalknow about what reallyhappened--assuminglenge his interpretationsof these facts.
- is
the limitationsof Dowell as narrator
There is an additional concern which might
raisedby SamuelHynesin "The Epistemology be mentionedhere-the problemof the novel's
of The Good Soldier",SewaneeReviewLXIX relation to Ford's personal life. This will re(Spring,1951), 225-235. For instanceJames main unclear until there is an adequate biogof The Good raphy. Violet Hunt, who probably knew Ford
Hafleyin "The MoralStructure
Soldier",MFS, V, (Summer,1959), says,"It as well as anyone said that "Edward Ashis vital to notethatAshburnham
can be con- burnhamand Mr. Dowell-are JosephLeopold's
victedof only one act of adultery-theone [Ford's] Jekyll and Hyde . . ." Quoted in
nighthe spendswith La Dolciquita." (122)
James Trammell Cox's essay, "The Finest
In additionHafley finds the novel reflects French Novel in the English Language", MFS,
as IX (Spring, 1963), 92. V. S. Pritchett in a
". .. a world as surprisingly
traditional,
orthodox,in its values and meaningsas any review of the novel upon its reprintingmakes
to be foundin modernfiction."(128) The the fascinatingsuggestionthat Dowell is Henry
noveldoes implysuch a worldbut in reality James.New York TimesBook Review (Sepshows its inhabitantseverywhere
blundering tember 16, 1951), 5.
202
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