Introduction :

The passage I'm going to talk about is taken from Doris Lessing's novel “The Fifth Child” whose main characters are Harriet and David Lovatt.

After falling in love at a New Year's Eve party at work at the beginning of the 60s, Harriet and David launch into a frenetic satisfaction of their common ideal of a perfect family in the perfect Victorian house they have always dreamed of. Their reluctant family members finally accept this ideal and come to them for X-Mas, Easter and the summer. Harriet and David consider their world as a haven of peace and family values. They have four healthy children in a row and though they are tired and have financial difficulties, they are happy that they have achieved their goal.

Then Harriet becomes pregnant with the Fifth Child and everything changes gradually. The dream becomes a nightmare which threatens to destroy their kingdom.

Facts :

In this particular passage, the scene takes place in their bedroom where Harriet is already in bed when David joins her. First, he takes their latest baby, Paul, to his bedroom and then gets into bed where Harriet invites him to touch her swelling belly where the new baby is showing signs of life for the first time. But the foetus's movement is very different from anything Harriet has felt before. It is imperative and David and Harriet's reactions are very different.

The next day, Harriet goes to see the doctor and ends up very angry after the visit.

Analysis :

Part 1 (different reactions)

Harriet and David's reactions to the early signs of the presence of the baby are very different. Harriet reacts in an emotional way. We know that she is exhausted by the pregnancy and the chores she has to cope with. Also we know that she suspects the baby, who she calls “foetus” and “it”, is not a normal baby. She can feel the difference in her body. She tries to ignore its presence by keeping busy all day. She is unhappy with this pregnancy as she has never been before.

David is more rational as he considers the drum like beats inside his wife's belly. He just thinks maybe they got the dates wrong and she is further ahead in her pregnancy than 3 months. So, logically and rationally, he suggests she goes to check the dates at Dr. Brett's.

Part 2 (cracks in their relationship)

The cracks in their relationship and happiness are beginning to show more and more. Harriet feels rejected because David doesn't understand her reaction and David feels guilty because, although he knows that Harriet is exhausted and has reason to be, he can't help being angry at her for “breaking their contract” of perfect happiness.

Part 3 (Harriet's isolation)

When she goes to Dr. Brett the following day, Harriet expects him to tell her what is wrong with this “being” she is carrying. Again, she is resentful because the doctor, like David, misunderstands her needs and tries to tell her that there is nothing wrong.

At the same time, she mistrusts him because she has the feeling he is holding something back from her, not telling her the whole truth as she sees his “dubious” look and his “professionally reticent face”. She feels isolated.

Part 4 (a Gothic dimension)

Once again, we have a critical scene taking place in David and Harriet's bedroom. This room is almost a character in itself, “responsible” for this new pregnancy. It has a strange atmosphere described in the first paragraph of the passage. It is “the great shadowy bedroom”. The lights outside send “gleams and shadows on the ceiling”. This is not very reassuring. This shows the Gothic dimension of the novel. Also, we understand that Harriet's eyes are shining in the dark when David looks at her when he reaches the room. She's looking at him in the dark and he can see her eyes following him though he can't see her. This feels rather spooky and the atmosphere is gloomy.

You cannot imagine perfect happiness in such a context.

Passage 4:

The conversation between them in this passage shows their disagreement. At the end, Dorothy accepts to come back and assist her daughter.

H& D's disagreement
In this passage, the reader is made to discover that H&D's wonderful ideal is gradually turning into a nightmare.
At this point, there are 2 elements of discord in the couple:
- the girls they have hired to help Harriet at home
- how to deal with the Christmas festivities

As often in the first part of the novel,critical conversations take place in H&D's bedroom, in their bed. Here, for the first time, we can feel a growing incomprehension and tension between them.They react very differently to the present situation :
Harriet who is exhausted both physically and psychologically, reacts in a very emotional way.
She weeps all the time and complains, she ignores baby Paul and is basically a nervous wreck. David is more rational. He can see that she is tired and wants to help but the solutions he suggests are rejected by Harriet. She refuses to keep the girls they have hired because she thinks they are worthless and she wants the whole family to come for X-Mas because she thinks things will be easier with them around. David knows it isn't a sensible approach and he tries to reason her without success.

There is a prophetic dimension to this passage as it shows in a limited way that Harriet's dissatisfaction is going to spread to the entire household. We perceive it here through her relationship with David who wants to help but doesn't understand her reactions and can't help, but also through her relationship with Dorothy, her own mother, whom she hasn't told about her 5th pregnancy yet (out of shame) and who feels emotionally blackmailed into coming back to help her daughter although she badly needed a break.
In other words, Harriet is beginning to isolate herself from the other members of her family.

The fifth pregnancy is not welcome. The reader is made to understand this through various elements :
1st paragraph :
We understand that H & D had decided not to have any more children for a while and had been extra careful. There is a subtle hint to the responsibility of the bedroom referred to as a « baby maker ».
lines 16/17 :
Harriet is convinced that the « foetus is poisoning her ».
This is also a hint that there is something unnatural in this pregnancy and that Harriet, so far, is the only one to know it and that she is thus isolated, estranged from David who doesn't understand her reaction (it was not part of their contract), from her mother (who would be very angry when she found out about the pregnancy), from her children, whom she can't look after properly because she is obsessed with this pregancy.

passage 3 :

- protection of H & D's ideals / see following link about Victorian family life

(http://www.nettlesworth.durham.sch.uk/time/victorian/vfam.html)

- protection of their family unit (themselves and their 3 children)
- protection of their family at large

The passage describes how every single year is organized around family events and gatherings which take place at regular intervals for Christmas, Easter and the summer.
On the surface, it seems that H & D have finally succeeded in creating their "kingdom" and rallying their once dubious relatives to their ideal of the "perfect family". People come to them to escape life's hardships and enjoy the simple pleasures of being together. "Happiness in the old style."

Your presentation should focus on the following points :
- the house as a fortress
(this implies the presence of a danger lurking outside / it also implies a certain isolation from the rest of society / evolution of British society from the optimistic 60s to the depressing 70s and the rise of violence and unemployment)
- the notion of perfect family and the values it is related to
(H & D are presented as a loving and hard-working couple whose stubbornness is rewarded through the births of 3 healthy children and the life they had always wanted / in comparison, Harriet's sister Sarah and her husband William seem to "attract all the ill luck in the clan" : they are not happily married, William has lost his job and their 4th child has Down's Syndrome.)
- Is the family as perfect as it appears ?
There are clouds in this wonderful family :
1. Sarah and William's unhappiness and ill luck is interpreted by Harriet in a very Victorian way : they attract ill luck because they deserve to (see the following links about Victorian values :
http://www.aboutbritain.com/articles/victorian-society.asp
and
http://amicicg.altervista.org/sharky/victorianage.html
and

http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/guide19/part03.html#selfhelp)

2. David doesn't like the way Harriet talks about her niece "the mongol child". He criticizes her and then "she sulks and they have to make up." This shows that their couple is not as perfect as they thought it would be.
3. They may not want to see what happens outside their kingdom but society is changing and they won't be able to protect their family forever.
4. There are several references to financial difficulties as H & D seem to live above their standards, spending more money than they actually have.

Harriet and David have just acquired the Victorian house they had been dreaming of. The passage describes how they take possession of their new home.

H&D use their own key to enter the house and go from room to room imagining their future life in this house. When they reach their bedroom, they take possession of it by making love several times. They lay in bed for a while and then get up and dressed and they leave the house to walk into the garden which they haven't taken possession of yet.

Not much seems to happen in terms of action but this passage is extremely important in the story because it develops H & D's personalities by focusing on their emotions.
Your presentation should focus on the following issues :
- H & D's dream come true
(their perfect love, their perfect house, their perfect ideals... springtime as a perfect time symbolically to start a new life... )
- Only one element missing : a child
(All H & D have always dreamt of is becoming their reality but their principal aim in life is to have children.)
- Making the dream fully true
(By making love repeatedly without taking any precautions, H & D make this final dream come true. By the end of the passage, H knows she is pregnant with her first child./ the room itself seems to bear some responsibility in the process and it will later be called a "baby maker". Outside the room grows a lilac tree whose buds are ready to explode into full bloom. Symbolically, this refers to H's pregnancy.)
- Reality sinks in
(By focusing on H & D's emotions, we realize there is an evolution between the beginning of the passage - when they are overwhelmed by their love for each other, their tenderness, their happiness being almost complete - and the end of the passage where they become awed by what lies ahead : paying for "all this" : the house, the baby's bringing up and later education. All of a sudden, H & D have grown up and become adults who will have to provide for a family. It is no longer a teenage dream. It is reality. And reality isn't quite so marvelous !)

A Victorian House

page 9 "On the afternoon the house became theirs..." to page 11 "And how are we going to pay for it all if I am pregnant?"
For a virtual tour of a Victorian house, go to
http://www.geffrye-museum.org.uk/learning/walk-through-a-victorian-house/

Done in class on November 18th Passage 2 : Situation in the novel : After the party, they decide to settle in a big house, because they intend to have a big family. Facts : In this passage, they take possession of the house, they have tears in their eyes. They have their home keys which means that the house is theirs : they are the owners. They move around their house, discovering it anew, now that it belongs to them. They imagine their life with their children and the furniture. Because for the moment the house is empty except for the bed in the master room. Important elements : They make love for the first time, they do it 3 times although they had wanted to have children later on. Harriet thinks she's pregnant. It's a problem, because they have to pay for the house and if she can't work, she can't earn money and so David will have to pay for everything and he will have to borrow money from his father. We understand they really get carried away.

Opening passage :

Page 3 "Harriet and David met each other at an office party neither had particularly wanted to go to"... page 6 "They were made for each other."
Here's a link to Andrew Marr's Modern History of Great Britain :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzrFT4yGnvs 

Opening passage of the novel where the main characters are presented. The story is set in the Swinging Sixties and most young people at the time were into entertainment and music. They wanted to have fun and enjoy new-found freedom.
The novel starts with Harriet and David's first meeting. It gives the reader a detailed description of this meeting which aims at showing us that "they were made for each other."
Your presentation should be organized around the following issues :
- the setting : where / what / when - what is typical of the Swinging Sixties
- the way Harriet and David are described (observers / list of adjectives used which contribute to the reader's imagining them as very old-fashioned and contrasting with their times...)
- the way we are made to understand what Harriet and David have in common
- the way we are made to understand that their meeting is not only due to chance but that there is also an element of "fate" in it.

Done in class November 16th :

The Fifth Child

Passage 1

-Opening passage

-We discover Harriet & David

-They meet at an office party (New year's Eve party)

- This is where their love story begins

-The scene takes place in the 60's, in the suburbs of London

-                     People are dancing / looking happy

-                     They're wearing very colourful clothes

-                      They all seen very free + open-minded

-                      They are drinking which makes them tipsy and   extravert

-Harriet & David do not seem to be happy to be there

-                      They aren't dancing

-                      They are just watching people « observers »

-                      They seem to be excluded from the party

-This offers a contrast with the rest of the people.

-What we understand about Harriet & David is that :

-                      They are similar (both old-fashioned) -soul mates

-                      Rejected - not adapted to their time - different, “freaks”,”eccentrics”

-                      They refuse to conform to the values of the 60's

-We know from the beginning that they will end up together – mutual attraction.

-                       The things that make them different are :

-                       Their clothes / the way they dress

-                       Their attitude / behavior during the party. Harriet, unlike other people, doesn't try to attract everybody's attention.

-                       Their attitude concerning sex is very traditional.

-                       They have chosen to be different and they are made for each other = element of fate