Little Molly Gibson

Caution: Contains SPOILERS!

The heroine of Wives and Daughters is Molly Gibson, who loves those around her with such a selfless love that she is willing to risk all and suffer all for their sakes. The main recipients of her love are her father, her step-sister Cynthia, and the Hamley family, particularly, the second son- Roger. Throughout the novel, Molly puts the comfort and happiness of these characters before her own, even when she must suffer because of it. Unlike Dicken’s angelic heroines, Molly still has her flaws, such as her temper, which she occasionally displays, but this just serves to make her a more realistic character.

When the story opens, Molly’s world revolves entirely around her beloved widowed father. Her greatest pleasure is helping to make his life easier in any way she can. She makes his tea, sees that his dinner is ready on time, and keeps him company when he is at home. But everything changes when Mr. Gibson tells her that he is going to marry again. Molly’s first reaction is anger, but it is soon followed by sadness, and she feels “as if the piece of solid ground on which she stood had broken from the shore, and she was drifting out to the infinite sea alone.” It is Roger Hamley who first comforts her and encourages her to “think of her father’s happiness before she thought of her own.” Molly takes these words to heart and spends much of the rest of the novel patiently putting up with the whims and foibles of her “very silly” stepmother.

Along with a step-mother, Molly also gains a step-sister, the lovely and lively Cynthia, whose winning ways tend to get her into trouble, and which Molly must help her out of. When Cynthia asks Molly to keep her secrets and help her find her way out of a secret engagement, Molly does so, even though it very nearly ruins her reputation, at a time when a woman’s reputation was everything. But while Molly is willing to forgive Cynthia of every wrong-doing, she also is brave enough to speak the truth to Cynthia when she needs to hear it. When she suspects the Cynthia is not truly in love with the young man she is engaged to, Molly rebukes her:

“Because I don’t think you value [him] as you ought, Cynthia!” said Molly stoutly, for it required a good deal of courage to force herself to say this, although she could not tell why she shrank so from speaking.

In some ways, Molly’s love for Cynthia is a motherly love, wishing to protect and shelter Cynthia from the harsh judgment of society, but also wishing to help her become a better person.

Molly spends much time at Hamley Hall, acting as a companion to the invalid Mrs. Hamley, and making herself generally useful:

Her days at Hamley were well filled up with the small duties that would have belonged to a daughter of the house had there been one. She made breakfast for the lonely Squire… She read the smaller print of the newspapers aloud to him…She strolled about the gardens with him, gathering fresh flowers, meanwhile, to deck the drawing-room against Mrs. Hamley should come down.

The Squire becomes particularly fond of Molly because she is “so willing and so wise; ready both to talk and to listen at the right times.” Later, Molly is given a chance to prove her love for the Squire when Osborne dies and she unhesitatingly decides to ride to Hamley Hall- in the middle of the night- to comfort him, knowing that he was all alone in his grief. This is probably Molly’s most heroic act, according to our current cultural standards, or at least her most public act of heroism, but it certainly was not as difficult for her as her continual, small acts of self-denial.

Molly’s greatest sacrifice is that she accepts Roger’s love for Cynthia, and strives to be happy for them, even while her own heart is breaking. This is even more difficult for her because she can see that Cynthia does not value Roger’s love, or return it in the same way that she herself would, if given the chance. Mrs. Gaskell compares Molly to the real mother in the story of King Solomon, who loves the child so much that she is willing to give him up rather than see him suffer. Of course, Molly is finally rewarded for her patience and steadfast love, which Roger finally recognizes. (Why, why does it always take the hero so long to figure these things out!?!) And here’s one place where the movie, for the sake of time, speeds things up. In the book, Roger returns to Africa for six months without having the opportunity to tell Molly of his love. It gives him a chance to pine for her and to aspire to deserving her love. In short, he needs to work for it.

Molly spends her days usefully employed, reading, practicing piano, deepening her learning of the natural world, and most importantly, making life pleasanter and better for those around her. She is inspiring and endearing in the way that she selflessly loves others and treats everyone with kindness, even when it is difficult. In Mrs. Gaskell’s last completed paragraph, Molly’s step-mother ironically reproaches her for being selfish, and tells her that she “should learn to understand the wishes of other people.” We are not told whether or not Molly replies, but I think we can assume that she does not, because she possesses that beautiful quality of “steady every-day goodness” as Cynthia called it. I think that’s something we can all strive for.

Bibliography:

Gaskell, Elizabeth, Wives and Daughters. World’s Classics, Oxford University Press, 1987.