Final thoughts, and the themes I found in the book and the movie
TL;DR
The Secret of Moonacre was an absolutely beautiful, whimsical film that taught its viewers the lesson of love and forgiveness, and the value of putting your pride aside for the betterment of the world around you. The Little White Horse is a book hellbent on teaching young girls that curiosity is wrong, and not to ask too many questions. Humbling yourself means lowering yourself to the point where you sacrifice your well-being and future, and that love truly is blind to all those red flags.
Now, clearly my opinion of The Little White Horse is not a good one, but I honestly can’t think of a good lesson that came out of this book. Whatever good Goudge was trying to do, is undermined by all the bad wrapped around those morals.
Sexism, racism, male egotism, and here I really want to compare the movie and the book.
I won’t take too long describing the movie, since I’m sure we’ve all seen it. But the movie begins with a young girl who has just lost her father, and she has already lost her mother. She is a city girl, born and raised in London, she is proper, educated, a tad egotistical, curious, and a prideful, stubborn girl.
On her journey, learning about and falling in love with Moonacre Valley, she learns to put these things aside in order to put Moonacre first. Maria learns to appreciate the Countryside and its beauty, her love for the people around her, not just her Uncle, but the servants of the household who are technically ‘under’ her. She willingly gets dirty, thinks about the good of all over herself, and at the very end of the film, she sacrifices herself to save the entire Valley. By jumping from the edge of the cliff, Maria completes her journey of self discovery, she shows that her love for those around her is stronger than her own need to live.
And, everyone else subsequently puts aside their own pride as concern and fear override stubbornness and they all run to the cliff, too late of course, but they forget themselves for a moment, and choose Maria. When Maria is returned by the Sea Unicorn, the Valley is saved, the natural order of things is restored, and peace can finally come to the two families.
In this moment, we the audience have learned the value of love, forgiveness, and sacrifice, of what it means to value something above yourself.
In other words, this silly little film that has a critic’s score of 23% and an audience score of 46%, does what Elizabeth Goudge could not do.
Giving a story that has good morals.
Despite her attempts, The Little White Horse is bogged down in dated world views. Her definition of love is bowing your head to men, who are abusive and pedophiles, and accepting it. She expects women not to humble themselves, but crawl on the floor in order for there to be peace. She does not teach lessons on equality, on the pursuit of knowledge, or of true humbleness. I hate to repeat myself, but there is hardly any good that comes out of this book, and what little good there is is shrouded by an awful message to young girls specifically, and young boys. An acceptance of abuse, that people can be wholly evil and wicked, that peace is unattainable through communication and understanding, but must be brought on through sacrifice.
The truth of the matter is that love is sacrifice. Love is putting others above yourself, giving and providing, of leading all for the sake of someone else, however love should not be misconstrued so horribly that the only lesson that can be taken away is that you must cut off pieces of yourself to be amendable. While wildly praised, I cannot help but feel as if this book is viewed through rose colored lenses, that the descriptions of delicious food has somehow blocked out our ability to see abuse, grooming, racism, and sexism.
The Secret of Moonacre may not be the most popular movie, but the creative liberties they took were absolutely necessary in order to create a story actually worth showing your children. And hopefully, The Little White Horse, can either fade into obscurity, or be used as an example.
An analysis and comparison of Maria Merryweather in both The Little White Horse and The Secret of Moonacre
TL;DR
Oh my darling Maria. I honestly love both versions of Maria. This girl has gone through so much, has done so much, and she deserves the world.
However, Maria is a tad bit different in The Secret of Moonacre than she is in The Little White Horse. While both of their stories are endearing and impactful, I do believe one is more harmful than the other.
Maria Merryweather, as described in the book, is a sweet, relatively happy girl, who is pure-hearted and brave. She is shown to have a love for her animal companions, the boy from her dreams who she played with as a child, her governess, her cousin, and Moonacre Valley. Her vices, however, are her vanity and a natural curiosity, or at least, those are the vices Goudge has told us are her vices.
“In this year of grace 1842 [Maria] was thirteen years old and was considered plain, with her queer silvery-grey eyes that were so disconcertingly penetrating, her straight reddish hair and thin pale face with its distressing freckles. Yet her little figure, small as that of a fairy's child, with a backbone as straight as a poker, was very dignified, and she had exquisite tiny feet, of which she was inordinately proud. They were her chief beauty, she knew, which was why she took, if possible, a more burning interest in her boots than in her mittens and gowns and bonnets.”
Maria is a lady born and bred, and already quite humble at the start . After her description, it's stated she knows that she qualifies as ‘plain’. She does take an interest in her clothes to make up for the fact that she is ‘plain’, however she is scolded for this almost immediately by the parson.
“Neatness of attire is to be commended in a woman," he told her, holding her hand in a grip of steel. “But not vanity. Vanity is of the devil. And excessive female curiosity is not to be commended either. Nip it in the bud, my dear, while there is time." So he had seen her patting her pelisse and stroking her muff. So he had noticed her trying to see over the door of the pew.”
After this moment, besides when she tries on her wedding dress and looks into Loveday’s mirror and sees the visage of the first Moon Princess, Maria doesn’t express as much care in her appearance or attire. Beyond describing the costumes laid out by Loveday, Maria’s opinions on her clothing is laid aside. The lesson being that she has put aside her ‘vanity’.
However, this is not true vanity.
In the myth of Echo and Narcissus, the Greek figure is described as so handsome that the first time he sees his own reflection, he becomes so enamored with it that he can not look away. So much so, that the nymph, Echo, who loved him, could not call him away. So engrossed was he with his reflection, that he fell in love with himself. This is true vanity, a gross, and over exaggerated self-love. True vanity is caring about yourself first, and is not limited to appearance, but can also concern the mind, intelligence, talent and many other things. It is valuing yourself over everyone.
Maria adjusting her skirts during a church service is not vanity, nor is acknowledging her small feet as her best quality. It may very well be that the Parson is warning her of a growing vanity, to not become so enamored with her appearance and looks, but again, Maria knows she is plain. I don’t think she’s at risk of falling in love with her reflection.
Furthermore, Maria is accosted for her ‘female curiosity’ not only by the Parson, but by Robin as well, who is so opposed to her pestering questions, that he will abandon her when she asks too many.
“Maria choked down her curiosity, for Robin had always hated being asked questions, and if she asked too many would disappear, and she did not want him to disappear just yet.”
“There was no answer, and looking up she saw that Robin had disappeared, even though as far as she knew she had not asked a single question.”
As well as other characters, and the narrative itself.
“Her own soul and stomach do not allow her to indulge in that feminine curiosity about the affairs of others which renders her presence so trying to the males whose domicile she shares." - Marmaduke Scarlet
“Maria was by this time getting used to living in a perpetual state of astonishment, and used to curbing her curiosity, so that at this startling piece of information she just nodded, and one question only escaped her.”
“I am afraid she was rather a bad-tempered old woman as well as a curious one…” -Loveday Minette
It is not only curiosity that Goudge is protesting, but specifically ‘female’ curiosity. However, I can’t imagine why Elizabeth has this gripe. She is a well-educated woman, having attended finishing school and college, most of the plot of LWH revolves around Maria finding out the truth of the Valley and all the evil that occupies it. Maria is constantly pursuing her curiosity, she finds the kitchen she was not shown, she learns who was leaving her biscuits and dresses, she learns the truth about Loveday and Sir Benjamin.
“Maria suddenly saw it all. Her curiosity was satisfied.”
It is an odd contradiction, for Maria to be scolded by a religious figure - who is only ever seen as wise, knowledgeable, and trustworthy - and for Maria to be punished for her curiosity by Robin, while the narrative revolves around her curiosity pushing the story forward. Without her curiosity, she never would have learned the truth about Loveday and Benjamin, about Marmaduke and the black cat Zacariah, and about how to bring peace back to the valley.
Goudge also writes Robin as queerly uncurious.
“Robin, haven't you any curiosity?" Maria demanded almost passionately. “Haven't you asked Loveday?", “No," said Robin. “Why should I? It isn't any business of mine. How I could manage to visit you in London was my business, and so I asked Mother about it. But it was nothing to do with me about her not wanting Sir Benjamin to know she lives here." Maria heaved a great impatient sigh. Truly the non curiosity of men was beyond her comprehension. As for herself, she felt that if she did not get to the bottom of what was between Loveday and Sir Benjamin before she slept tonight her curiosity would most certainly be the death of her. But it was no use asking any more questions of Robin.”
In the end, Robin M promises Maria that he will always tell her everything so that she will not have to ask him anything. And here, the pieces put themselves together. While Maria is reprimanded for her constant questions and female curiosity, she still needs to learn the truth, and the answer is quite simple:
“And I'll tell you," said Robin. “If I didn't you'd ask me so many questions that life would not be worth living."
Goudge does not argue that women cannot obtain knowledge, simply that it should come to her, that it is better to be told things than to ask and inquire after them. At least, this is how I have interrupted Maria’s story, and why the narrative punishes her for asking questions, while at the same time is required to give her answers in order for the story to continue.
Maria Merryweather, as presented in The Secret of Moonacre, is completely different.
The Little White Horse begins with Maria’s trip to Moonacre, while The Secret of Moonacre begins with the procession of George Merryweather’s funeral, switched from being Sir Benjamin’s cousin, they are now brothers, and we see Maria is distraught by this death. Not only did she lose her mother when she was young, but she has now lost her father. In LWH, the death of her parents and her orphanhood are plot devices used so that Maria can be a new comer to Moonacre, Goudge does not divulge Maria’s feelings on the passing of her father, and beyond the mention of his death in the first chapter, it is never brought up again.
Maria (TSOM) however, is seen to have dearly loved her father, she is proud to be his daughter, and defends him to her Uncle when he is called a coward. Maria moving from London to Moonacre is shown as a hard transition, she is used to the comforts and luxury of the city, and her preconceived notions about the country leave her in a despair.
“How could I possibly go to live in the country? Its full of… the countryside!”
When Maria arrives, Sir Benjamin very rudely brushes her and Miss Heliotrope’s concerns off.
What’s more, TSOM allows Maria her emotions, while LWH does not even consider the loss of her father to be a big deal, it severely impacts Maria. She is not only moving across the country, but she is dealing with grief. She also learns the truth about her father, that he was not as honorable as she believed, that he was murdered over his debts, and left his only child with nothing but a book. So now, as she deals with his death, she also has to reconcile this new understanding with her love of him.
From the very first few scenes, we learn that Maria is prideful: she is proud of her name and her father, her position and standing in life. That Maria is arrogant: she swipes dust off the walls of her tower and makes a face, she picks up a dated dress and rolls her eyes at it. That Maria is brave: when faced with four bandits she stands her ground against them. That Maria is curious: she asks her Uncle questions about the house, she wants to know why she isn’t allowed in the forest, she wonders about who is leaving her biscuits in her room, she’s curious about the white horse she sees. That Maria is a lady: that she is proper, and cares about her appearance. She is stubborn as she raises her voice against her Uncle, she is fierce as she storms a castle all on her own, she is just a young girl trying as hard as she can to save a place that she has fallen in love with.
The Secret of Moonacre does deal with Maria’s curiosity, however it is dealt with and punished in a different way. Maria (LWH) asks questions, and annoys Robin Minette, Maria (TSOM) asks deep, cutting, personal questions, and learns that doing so can hurt the person she is asking. Maria (TSOM) is not punished for her curiosity as much as she’s punished for being callous.
In the end, Maria is right for asking these questions, for pushing, because without doing so, she never would have been able to understand the Valley, nor her Uncle.
For a brief interlude, I want to talk about the Sir Benjamin’s. In the book, Sir Benjamin is a jovial man, who is kind and loving to Maria as soon as she arrives. In the movie, Sir Benjamin is a deeply wounded man, heartbroken due to his actions in regards to Loveday and the fact that his brother has just been murdered, despite doing all he could to try and save him. Sir Benjamin offered his brother a loan, enough for his debts to be covered, but George, and his “foolish pride” rejected this offer.
Sir Benjamin is doing his best, but is dragged down by his past, he is punished for his anger and how he dealt with Loveday, and is haunted by his brother’s death. He loves Maria, I would argue he loves her from the start, but he is in such turmoil, he cannot deal with her properly. He tries to keep her safe by telling her to stay out of the forest and by taking the Chronicles of Moonacre book from her, but struggles with going about it the right way.
Sir Benjamin in the book is just sexist. He’s proud of the fact that his home has been ‘woman-free’ for twenty-years, he is not distraught by the death of his cousin, nor is he very upset about having lost Loveday. While he still wears the coat she embroidered for him for their wedding day, Sir Benjamin doesn’t show sorrow or heartbreak, and it is very possible he is wearing it because it was well-made and he would not let it go to waste.
The big lesson of the movie is about letting go of one’s pride and stubbornness, and it is something that all of the characters struggle with. Maria’s pride in her name, Sir Benjamin’s stubbornness keeps him from Loveday and moving on, Loveday’s pride and stubbornness keeps her from returning to Sir Benjamin or her family, Robin’s pride in his clan, and the Coeur De Noir’s stubborn need for revenge.
I don’t think there is a singular moment in which Maria gives up her pride, such as Robin deciding to help her despite their names, but rather that there are a series of little moments in which she sacrifices her pride and stubbornness for the betterment of Moonacre Valley.
Stripping down to her underthings to escape Castle Black, she puts aside her ideas of what a lady can and cannot do by riding a horse, she takes care of Serena despite never having an animal to care of before, she tracks Robin down and asks for his help, begs for it practically, because she knows she cannot do it on her own, and of course, her ultimate sacrifice by jumping off the cliff is her putting aside all pride, and giving up her life (she doesn’t know she’s going to be saved by Unicorns!) for the sake of not only her family, but everyone in the Valley, including her ‘enemies’.
However, Maria never sacrifices herself for the sake of others. And, yes, I do know I just said Maria sacrifices herself by jumping from the cliff.
Maria (LWH) is told off for her vanity and curiosity, she is told, and learns, to cut off pieces of herself to become more accommodating and tolerable for the world around her, and, really, the men in her life. Maria silences herself, her voice, parts of who she is, to make the world easier for others.
Maria (TSOM) is prideful and stubborn up and until the very end.
“At the 5,000th moon I, Maria Merryweather, Moon Princess of Moonacre, do remove the curse that darkens this valley, take back what is yours!”
This is a very prideful statement, she is still prideful of her name, she is prideful to be the Moon Princess, and is very demanding of the Moon. Which is why when she throws the pearls, they return to her. Not just as a result of her own pride, but because everyone else still refuses to bow to the other.
“The 5,000th moon, the curse is coming true. If you can sacrifice your pride, we can save our families.” - Maria
“You first” - Sir Benjamin
“No, no, after you!” - Coeur De Noir
“I must do this myself.” - Maria Merryweather
When Maria jumps, and returns the pearls to the sea, and therefore the Moon, the Curse is broken. However, not because the pearls are returned, but because of her sacrifice, because she puts aside her pride.
When she returns - resurrected or resuscitated, however you would like to look at it - she is still Maria. She asks “Were you worried, Robin?” She stands tall amongst her peers and family, knowing that she accomplished what no one else could. She is filled with happiness and joy, and is rightly satisfied - or, prideful - at what she was able to accomplish with Robin. I believe the end of the film shows us that the Valley has been saved, not just through Maria’s sacrifice, but through everyone doing the same.
Robin listening to her in the forest, everyone running to the cliff’s edge, Benjamin asking for forgiveness and Loveday’s hand, Coeur De Noir stepping back and allowing the Merryweather’s their victory, choosing peace over revenge. The Secret of Moonacre’s final lesson is that peace can be reached through everyone working together, that the burden is not just on one person’s shoulders, and while, yes, one person can be a leader among the masses, the one forging ahead and fighting for peace, it is not one person and one alone that accomplishes this goal.
Maria Merryweather, in LWH, however, is laden with the burden of finding peace for everyone. It is her alone in the forest with Mr. De Noir, showing him the little white horse, her alone who brings Loveday and Benjamin together (with the help of others, of course, but it is primarily her plan), her alone who cuts off pieces of herself, sacrificing herself for the sake of others happiness. As Moon Princess - or Moon Maiden, as she is more commonly referred to as in the novel - she is the sole purveyor of peace and happiness for the Valley.
Both, Maria from TSOM and Maria from LWH, sacrifice themselves for the greater good. However, whereas Maria (TSOM) gives her life in a final act of love for Moonacre, Maria (LWH) gives up parts of herself to become more manageable.
One Maria is met with love and honor, while the other bows her head, and submits, shouldering the weight of Moonacre on her shoulders.
In which Maria Merryweather comes down in a wedding dress, the full section mentioned in the Robin Minette analysis
"That's a pretty dress," he said with his mouth full. "I've not seen it before. It looks like a wedding dress!"
"It is a wedding dress," said Maria thickly, for she too was ravenous and was devouring bread and honey at the rate of two bites a slice. "It's my wedding dress. I'm trying it on to see if it fits."
"Are you going to be married?" asked Robin sharply, his munching jaws suddenly still.
"Of course," said Maria, reaching for the cream. "You didn't expect me to be an old maid, did you?"
"Are you being married today?" demanded Robin.
But this time Maria's mouth was so full that she couldn't answer, and Loveday, who hadn't had her hunger sharpened by fresh air, danger and exercise, and was nibbling very daintily at a very thin slice of bread and butter, answered for her.
"Of course she isn't being married today, Robin. She isn't old enough to be married yet. But when she is married she will wear that dress."
"When you do marry, whom will you marry?" Robin asked Maria.
Maria swallowed the last of her bread and cream and honey, put her head on one side and stirred her tea thoughtfully.
"I have not quite decided yet," she said demurely, "but I think I shall marry a boy I knew in London."
"What?" yelled Robin. "Marry some mincing nincompoop of a Londoner with silk stockings and pomade in his hair and a face like a Cheshire cheese?"
The parkin stuck in his gullet and he choked so violently that Loveday had to pat him on the back and pour him out a fresh cup of tea. When he spoke again his face was absolutely scarlet, not only with the choke but with rage and jealousy and exasperation.
"You dare do such a thing!" he exploded. "You--Maria --you-- if you marry a London man I'll wring his neck!"
"Robin! Robin!" expostulated his mother in horror. "I've never seen you in a temper like this before. I did not know you had such a temper."
"Well, you know now," said Robin furiously. "And if she marries that London fellow I won't only wring his neck, I'll wring everybody's necks and I'll go right away out of the valley, over the hills to the town where my father came from, and I won't ever come back here again. So there!"
Maria said nothing at all in response to this outburst. She just continued to drink her tea and look more demure than ever. And the more demure she looked the angrier Robin became. His eyes flashed fire and his chestnut curls seemed standing straight up all over his head with fury. Maria was quite sure that if she had been standing behind him she would have seen the twist of hair in the nape of his neck twitching backwards and forwards like a cat's tail. She drank her tea with maddening deliberation and spoke at last.
“Why don't you want me to marry that London boy?" she asked.
Robin brought his fist down on the table with a crash that set all the china leaping.
"Because you are going to marry me" he shouted. "Do you hear, Maria? You are going to marry me."
"Robin," said his mother, "that's not at all the way to propose. You should go down on one knee and do it in a very gentle voice."
"How can I go down on one knee when I'm in the middle of my tea?" demanded Robin. "And how can I do it in a gentle voice when I feel as though I had a roaring lion inside me? If I didn't roar I should burst."
"You can stop roaring, Robin," said Maria. "You can stop because for the sake of peace and quiet I have suddenly made up my mind to marry you."
Robin's curls flopped down on his head again and the crimson tide receded from his forehead.
"That's all right then," he said with a great sigh of relief.
"That's settled. I'll have some more parkin, please, Mother."
After that they ate and drank and laughed, and talked of other things, while the fire leaped up, the white kitten purred, the kettle hummed louder and louder and happiness seemed all about them like a radiance and a singing that they could almost see and hear. But something seemed still troubling Robin very slightly and at last he burst out, "Maria,who is this London boy you were thinking of marrying?"
"I have never had the slightest intention of marrying any London boy," said Maria.
"But you said--"
"I said, a boy I knew in London," said Maria. "That boy was you."
So! I finally read TLWH, and man do I have thoughts and opinions! So many... so... many....
However, before I get into those opinions, I wanted to share my summary of TLWH, since I don't think a lot of people have read the book who enjoyed the movie.
Unfortunately, my thots and opinions are too wide and vast, resulting in what is more or less a 16 page dissertation, which may grow depending on if I think I covered all the topics I wanted to cover. So, to makes things a bit easier, I'm going to be splitting them up into more readable sections.
So, if you haven't read the book, if it's been a while since you've read the book, here is a summary of the novel.
Alright friends, the time has come.
After undertaking the laborious task of consuming all Moonacre content possible (movie, minie-series and novel) I have come to some unfortunate conclusions. The book sucks. But before you go too far, especially the weird amount of you who like the book, I would like to preface that each person is allotted their opinions. I am not aiming to dis the book, it’s a classic, but it’s not perfect, no book or work of art is. No one should get so offended by another’s opinion to the point where it sparks a deep, roiling anger inside of them.
(Rachel Zeglar may be wrong about the Snow White movie from the 1930s, but I took her side, everyone got real upset about a girl having opinions, not that’s her opinion and she’s allowed it.)
I want to start out by saying there are some issues in regards to race, incest, pedophilia, grooming and sexism in the novel, if that surprises and shocks you, I’m sorry but its in there, and just because you didn’t notice it doesn’t erase the fact that it was there. I also don’t want this to be about me comparing the book to the movie, because one that would just be a rant, and as much as I love that, that wouldn’t be fair to either works, and honestly? Besides the names and setting, the book and movie could almost fully be divorced from one another.
In case you don’t know the plot to the book, I will try to surmise it as best I can:
Maria Merryweather is a recently orphaned girl, she leaves London with her governess (Miss Heliotrope) and her dog (Wiggins) arriving to live with her first cousin once removed, Sir Benjamin, lord over Moonacre Valley (and if you’re not up to snuff about what that means, he’s a landlord, more or less). While driving, Maria occupies herself by staring at her small feet, her one attribute and attractive characteristic.
While en route, Maria sees the beautiful valley lit up like silver in the moonlight, and between the trees she spots a luminescent white horse. When she tries to tell her governess this, Ms. Heliotrope tells her to stop her overactive imagination, she has always had an overactive imagination, especially back in London, when she made up a playmate named Robin (yes, that one).
When they arrive, they learn that no woman has stepped foot inside of the house in 20 years - yes, Sir Benjamin is proud of this - and, very importantly, there is no pink within the house. While there, Sir Benjamin is a very happy, polite gentleman, who calls Maria your highness, and refers to Moonacre Valley as her dominion. There are also this weird thing about Sun Merryweathers and Moon Merryweathers.
“The brave soul and the pure spirit shall with a merry and a loving heart inherit the kingdom together," quoted Sir Benjamin. “That's our family motto, my dear. It's been our motto since the days of the first Sir Wrolf. It refers, I think, to the two sorts of Merryweathers, the sun and the moon Merryweathers, who are always merry when they love each other. It is also, perhaps, a device for linking together those four qualities that go to make up perfection --courage, purity, love, and joy."
While giving her a tour of the manor, he shows her a well (this will be important later) and Maria thinks to herself if I were a medieval lady, this is where I would hide my jewels in time of war.
Weird, but okay.
The one place Maria is not shown, is the kitchen.
They go to church, while the Parson is preaching, Maria brushes her skirt to smooth out some wrinkles, and there’s a noise that captures her attention for a bit. Then, once the service is over, everyone lines up and goes up to the Parson to get absolutely read to shreds. He literally tells them their sins of the week, and when it’s Maria’s turn, despite only being there for a day, she’s scolded for her vanity and curiosity.
One of the things Sir Benjamin gets scolded for is allowing the (and I’m so sorry for this) “Black Men” to stop hunting in Merryweather park. And that’s kind of all they do, and from here on out I will be referring to them as the De Noirs because that is technically their name, but Elizabeth Goudge just keeps calling them “the Black Men”.
And yes, that is as bad as it sounds, but more on that later.
Let’s just speed run some facts.
Every morning, Maria wakes up to cookies, milk, a stroked fire, and an outfit placed out for her. Maria feels so loved by these small acts, and feels as if she loves whoever is putting out these clothes.
“[Maria] had a queer feeling, as she fastened the coat of the habit and pinned the bunch of snowdrops to the front of it, that L.M. - whoever she was - put loving arms around her; almost as her mother might have done, had she not died.”
When she is out in the forest with Periwinkle and Wrolf, she hears the shrill, shrieking rabbit, and goes to save it. As she does, she realizes that the De Noirs have come for the rabbit as well. She and Robin save the rabbit from the De Noirs and bring her to safety. Robin tells her it's actually a moonacre hare, and then upon her asking too many questions, leaves.
“Maria choked down her curiosity, for Robin had always hated being asked questions, and if she asked too many would disappear, and she did not want him to disappear just yet.”
“There was no answer, and looking up she saw that Robin had disappeared, even though as far as she knew she had not asked a single question.”
She knows this because she would dream about Robin in London, and when she asked him questions, he would just leave the dream.
Maria learns about Sir Wrolf (who was arrogant, rude, and planned on marrying the Moon Princess to steal Black William’s land), the Moon Princess (who was just pale, and kind, I think?) with her dowry of pearls, and Monsieur Cocque De noir, otherwise known as Coeur De Noir because his heart was so black (it’s a common french last name, not to mention the black cock that rides on the current De Noir’s shoulder).
“[Sir Wrolf had] got Paradise Hill but there remained the pine woods behind his manor house, that run right down to the sea, to what is now called Merryweather Bay, which were the property of Sir William Cocq de Noir, called Black William because of the black cock that was his family crest, and because of his lashing dark eyes, black hair and beard and sallow French skin. And also because of his black heart. Coeur de Noir, men sometimes called him, instead of Cocq de Noir. For he was a bad man, was Black William, cruel to wild creatures, domineering with his servants, morose and ungenerous.”
Black William remarries, has a son, and that son becomes his heir. Because of this, Sir Wrolf can’t inherit the whole of the Valley through his wife, and gets super angry. Because of his rage, the De Noir’s think Sir Wrolf killed Black William, the Moon Princess ran away, and Black William’s son, who was believed to have died from sickness, returned twenty years later with his band of men who would become the wicked, evil, ‘Black Men’ who plague the valley. Sir Wrolf is described to have died heartbroken (good) and damned to ride around Paradise Hill in a sort of purgatory for his ill-deeds.
The Parson also tells Maria that every Moon Princess is destined to leave the Valley after fighting with her love. That it won’t be until the Moon Princess humbles herself and marries a poor man she will never be allowed to stay.
“She always has gone away," said Old Parson. “Not necessarily from the valley, but from the manor. Yet the old folks in the village vow and declare that one day there will come a Moon Princess who will have the courage to deliver the valley from the wickedness of the Black Men. But like the princesses in all the nicest fairy tales she will have to humble her pride to love not a prince but a poor man, a shepherd or ploughman or some such country lad, and to effect the deliverance with his help, and that's a thing which no Moon Princess has yet done, so proud are they.”
At this point, Maria meets Loveday Minette, the lady who had been leaving her clothes, she is kind and beautiful, and cleans the Parson’s house.
Then again, while out with her animals and Ms. Heliotrope, Maria goes to Paradise Hill, which is the monastery Sir Wrolf stole from the monks because he was covetous. While there she meets the shepherd and guess who it is? That’s right, Robin, no surprise there. While the two are there, the De Noirs attempt to steal the sheep.
Robin, Maria, and the Ghost of Sir Wrolf -
“And then, through the noise of the thunder and the rain, she distinctly heard the hoofs of a galloping horse pounding upon the turf. As the horseman was behind her she could not herself see anything, but whoever he was the Black Men seemed to see him, for with faces blanched by terror they turned and fled.”
they manage to scare them off.
Maria and Robin have a fight, but they deal with it, because Maria knows if she doesn’t forgive him, she’ll have to leave the Valley. This will be handled in more depth later. Likewise, Loveday and Sir Benjamin had a fight twenty years ago, Loveday leaves the Valley, marries a lawyer, sires Robin, and then comes back after her husband dies. Because of their stubborness, neither would return to the other and apologize. More detail on this later.
After dealing with the De Noirs, however. Maria decides that she must save the valley from their wickedness.
She, Robin, and the Parson return Paradise Hill to god, Sir Benjamin no longer profits off the sheep, and that’s it. It was a really long boring chapter about all the children of Silverydew cleaning it up and decorating it again with the statue of their Lady. They sing, and I think Sir Wrolf’s soul is released from the hell that is Moonacre Valley.
Once this is done, Maria and Robin sneak into the Castle in the pine woods, ask Mr. Cock to pretty please stop stealing and he says: not until you give me back the pearls, and also your ancestor murdered my ancestor.
Robin and Maria are chased, they find the tree hollow, with evidence that someone once lived there including a knife with a carved cock as the handle-
“Once upon a time this cave had been lived in. A hollow place in the wall was blackened, as though a fire had been lit there, and standing on a flat rock beside it was an iron pot that must have been used to cook stew in. And lying on the rock beside the pot was a huntsman's knife in a metal sheath, and a tarnished silver mug. Maria and Robin picked them up and looked at them, holding them close to their eyes in the dim light, and lo and behold, the sheath that held the knife was beautifully made in the shape of a cock, and upon the silver mug also there was traced the outline of a cock."
They also run through the tunnels that go through Moonacre Valley until they reach Merryweather Bay, where Maria finds a boat that belonged to Sir William.
For Maria, this is enough evidence that Black William left on his own accord, and the magical sea unicorns brought the boat back to Merryweather Bay as proof.
Once they’re home safe, Marmaduke asks Maria for butter kept in the well, because it's cold in there, and while Maria is more or less rifling through the Merryweather fridge, she finds an old box that has the pearls in them.
Maria decides that she doesn’t want to give the pearls to the De Noirs, because they are wicked, and will just give them to the moon instead. Then, through a gold medal mental gymnastic routine, decides that she will give them over.
“And yet Maria did not want to give those pearls away. She loved them far too much. She did not want to give them even to the moon, and as for giving them to the Black Men--well--she just couldn't do it. And yet she had to do it. Monsieur Cocq de Noir had promised that they would stop being wicked if she could give him proof that Black William had not been murdered by Sir Wrolf, but had withdrawn to a hermit's life by his own choice, and if she would give him the pearls.
“That first condition was already fulfilled, for when he was pursuing her and Robin he would have seen Black William's hermitage with his own eyes, and the pearls he would have too if she could bring herself to give them to him. And then he would not be wicked any more and complete happiness would come to the Moonacre Valley. Somehow Maria did not doubt that if she kept her part of the bargain Monsieur Cocq de Noir would keep his. The wickedest of men have good in them somewhere, and remembering the direct look in his eyes she felt quite sure that he was not a man who would break his word. Yet she felt she could not give him these pearls, that she had found herself and that seemed already a part of her.
“And then it struck her suddenly that if she gave her pearls to Monsieur Cocq de Noir she would, in a way, be giving them to the moon. For the moon belongs to the night, and what was more like night than Monsieur Cocq de Noir and his black pine forest? And the first Moon Princess had come out of the night-dark pine wood, bringing the pearls with her. The pearls belonged far more to the Black Men than they did to the Merryweathers.”
However, when she goes to the Castle, Mr. Cock takes the pearls, but doesn’t believe her about the boat. Then she hits him with the old “magic unicorns brought him into shore”, and he doesn’t believe that, but Maria is able to convince him to come out with her to the forest where she is sure the Little White Horse will appear, despite being rather elusive this whole time. They go out together, they see not only the Little White Horse, but a whole tidal wave of Sea Unicorn, and he’s like oh! You were telling the truth.
But! That’s not the end!
Maria still has to get Loveday and Sir Benjamin back together, and that is a whole other thing that deserves its own post and I will go into full detail on later. As well as some issues that I have with Robin Minette.
The story ends with Loveday and Benjamin getting married, Robin and Maria getting married A YEAR LATER, and going on to have ten kids. While the book does not tell us Robin’s age, we know Maria is thirteen, meaning she is at least fourteen when she gets married, and who knows when they start having kids. Again, I will talk about this more later. However, despite common belief, this getting married at 12-14 was not common.
The book ends, however, with one of the most lovely quotes.
“For sometimes in her dreams at night she stood beneath the branches of a mysterious wood, and looked down a moonlit glade, her eyes straining after something that she could not
see. And when she woke up there would be tears on her cheeks because her longing had been unsatisfied.
“Yet she was not unhappy because of this dream.
“She knew that one day, when she was a very old woman, she would dream this dream for the last time, and in this last dream of all she would see the little white horse and he would not go away from her. He would come towards her, and she would run towards him, and he would carry her
upon his back away and away, she did not quite know where, but to a good place, a place where she wanted to be.”
To keep things brief (too late) I will be making other posts to complete my analysis of book, movie, and small mentions of the miniseries.
And if you were thinking about reading the book: don’t.
Robin Minette is riddled with toxic masculinity, he is filled with rage, and I call him an abuser, which is what he is.
Loveday and Benjamin have a stupid fight, because she likes pink geraniums, puts them all over the house while he was out, and he hates pink geraniums, blows up, and throws as many as he can out a window. They are also first cousins. Loveday marries another man so that Sir Benjamin cannot have her.
The De Noirs are described with a variety of ethnic features, including brown hand, dark face, hooked nose, in conjuncture with racist stereotypes, they are evil and only steal, this comes across as racist.
The Parson is a kidnapper, and the Christian propaganda in the book is is more in line with the morals of the day than actual Christian ideology. (I say this as a Christian)
Maria is more or less forced to submissive and subordinate to the men in her life, it is expected that she will bring peace to the Valley and solve everyone’s problems.
While the book tried to impart a message of love, forgiveness, and humility, the movie successfully showcases how a young woman can make a difference, how love and forgiveness are more important than pride, and that peace comes from communication and not just a single person’s effort.
The Little White Horse: The De Noirs / The 'Black Men' / Mr. Cock
A look at Elizabeth Goudge's villains
TL;DR
Now, I had a very hard time trying to work out whether or not Ms. Goudge was intentionally writing the De Noir’s to be some kind of ethnic group.
Throughout the book, despite Maria knowing that they are the De Noirs, she calls them the ‘Black Man’ or the ‘Black men’. Even though she calls them this however, there are a few justifications. the first being that they are described as wearing all black, and therefore Maria would be referring to them by their clothing.
However, Goudge does not end there, and uses a few other descriptors.
“Though their eyes were flashing in their dark faces in a very nasty way, a way that boded ill for Maria.”
“[Mr. Cock’s face] was a face like an eagle's, dark and wicked, with a cruel hooked nose and flashing black eyes that looked at one very directly but had no softness in them. His black eyebrows beetled alarmingly and what could be seen of his mouth between his black mustache and thick black beard was like one of his own cruel traps.”
“We are the men of the northern woods, Of the moor, the hill and the sea.”
“If I could only give [the pearls] to you," she said to the moon. “But I don't want to give them to that ugly Black Man."
“Monsieur Cocq de Noir stretched out a strong lean brown hand…”
Let’s start with descriptors like ‘brown hand’ and ‘dark face’ and why I gave Goudge the benefit of the doubt for so long. Brown, in many instances, has been used to mean having suntanned skin. The Parson is also described as having brown hands. Presumably because of his work out in the sun, he has tanned, he has browned. Similarly, dark can be an emotional description, ‘his expression darkened’, and it is not necessarily a color description.
However, the main issues come back in with “a face like an eagle, dark and wicked, with a cruel hooked nose” and “of the moor”. Since dark and wicked are used in conjuncture, the same argument could be made that she is using dark as an emotion, however in this chapter he is described as having a hooked nose, and coming from the moors.
Hooked noses are commonly given to villains (think Snape, Mother Gothel, Ursula… possibly every Disney Villain) because of their connection to ethnic groups. I don’t think it’s news when I say that hooked noses are often a caricature of Jews, of Romani, Native Americans and other ethnic groups. They are more often than not given to villainous characters because they are ‘ugly’. They aren’t by the way, I don’t think I have to say that, but all noses are good noses. As long as you can breathe, your nose is good, a physical feature is not an indicator of one’s moral goodness.
And while Ms. Heliotrope and Sir Benjamin are described as having hooked noses (honestly, Goudge only describes Loveday as beautiful, everyone else she describes as ugly in some way shape or form) we know definitively that they are white.
Which brings me around to “we are the men of the moor”. While the English moors are a kind of wetland, bog-esque area, it is pretty commonly known that Moor was a term used to describe Muslims. The word itself means ‘dark’.
I do believe there is a connection between the Moorish and the moorlands, in that one was named after the other, but I could be mistaken.
Goudge has also done her best to make sure we know that these are wicked, awful people, that these are a group who do nothing but pillage and steal.
I don’t want to strictly say she wrote them as one ethnic group over the other, they could be African, they could be Romani, they could be Jewish, there’s no way to tell, all we have are ethnic stereotypes and descriptions of dark skin, which again could just mean tan.
Either way, Goudge is perpetuating racist stereotypes with her villian, whether or not she is clearly stating they are this race or another.
In the Mini-series, Moonacre, the ‘Blackhearts’ are presented to the audience, less as a band of marauders, and more like an opposing family, who also take residence within the Valley. And they just want water.
In the Secret of Moonacre, they are clearly a mix of both. They are a family, one that used to be well-respected, that lives in the Valley, same as the Merryweathers, but they still have a ‘black’ reputation.
This is also the new national anthem:
COCK SONG
We are the men of the northern woods,
Of the moor, the hill and the sea,
Huntsmen, trappers and fishermen wild
Riding ways that are fierce and free,
We are the men of the great black cock
Who roosts so high on the tall pine tree,
Crying cock-a-doodle, a-doodle,
Do! Do! Black cock on the tall pine tree.
We are the sons of thunder and storm,
The frost and the wind and the snow,
We are tumult, the fear of the night,
And darkness wherever we go.
We are the men of the great black cock,
With inky feathers and sable crest,
Crying cock-a-doodle, a-doodle,
Do! Do! Black cock with the sable crest.
We are the men of dungeon and wall,
Of axe and of helm and of shield.
We are the men of cudgel and sword,
The fighters who never will yield.
We are the men of the great black cock,
Who crows so loud on the castle keep,
Crying cock-a-doodle, a-doodle,
Do! Do! Black cock on the castle keep
The Little White Horse: Loveday and Benjamin and the Geraniums
The fight between Loveday Minette and Sir Benjamin
TL;DR
First of all, Loveday and Benjamin are first cousins. Yes, you read that right, First Cousins. And Robin and Maria? Second cousins.
Yeah I don’t like it either.
“My father and Sir Benjamin's father and your grandfather were brothers," said Loveday. "There were only the three of them, and each of them had only one child; Sir Benjamin, myself, your father; and so now the Merryweathers are a very small family, just Sir Benjamin and myself and you."
When Loveday was orphaned at the age of ten, she moved to Moonacre Manor with her Aunt, and her Twenty-Five year old First cousin Benjamin.
Let me repeat that: HER TWENTY-FIVE YEAR OLD FIRST COUSIN.
So Sir Benjamin is a predator.
Heavens above, anyway.
When Loveday comes to Moonacre Manor, all she has are the clothes on her back and ten pots of geranium cuttings. Salmon Pink Geraniums. Now, despite how silly that is, these flowers matter to Loveday because they were the “pride of Cornwall”. They are the only thing she has to remember her home and parent’s by. These aren’t just flowers to her, but the final mementos of her family.
Sir Benjamin’s mother's hatred of pink and geraniums leads to Loveday’s inability to wear pink, or keep the geraniums anywhere but in her room. Loveday tells Maria that her aunt was severe and strict. Loveday loves the color pink, and she loves her geraniums, but Loveday is restricted by her Aunt and unable to wear what she wants to wear freely, and keep something that she views as a representation of her parents and family, private.
“When I was a child of ten he was a splendid young man of twenty-five, and, as I said, he was kind to me and I loved him; even though he shared his mother's dislike of pink geraniums. For he was not like his mother, always talking about the things he disliked; he just kept his mouth shut and did not mention them.”
A couple of years pass, Sir Benjamin (in his early thirties) and Loveday (still a fucking teenager) are engaged to be wed in springtime. In winter, his mom dies, but they don’t move their wedding date and still plan on getting married in a few months. Despite the fact that you were expected to mourn for at least a year, I imagine the mourning period would also include not getting married, but I digress.
It is also made very clear how Sir Benjamin feels in regards to the women in his life:
“I cannot tell you how much I loved him, Maria. And he loved me, too, though he loved his mother more."
Now, I’m sure that your synapses are just firing off, that your reading skills and critical thinking abilities are great and you know what’s coming next!
“And then, Maria, one spring evening just before our wedding day, I did a very stupid thing."
We really only get to see this story from Loveday’s perspective, and not from Sir Benjamin’s, I’m sure Goudge is expecting us to find Loveday a reliable narrator, and I’m sure Loveday isn’t lying, but it would have been nice to at least get Sir Ben’s perspective.
The night before their wedding, or just about, the Merryweathers are having the Parson over for dinner, for what I imagine is similar to an engagement dinner, rehearsal dinner, and wedding counseling for us. While Sir Benjamin is out on a horse ride, Loveday decides to take all of her Salmon Pink Geraniums out of her room and decorate the house with them. At this point, her room was overflowing with pink geraniums, and there was simply no more room for them in her chambers. So, what I find to be very arrogant, Loveday takes all the geraniums out of her room, wears a pink dress, and greets both cousin/fiance and Parson at the door.
Of course, Sir Benjamin is furious (and in my opinion, I do think Loveday, up to this point, is in the wrong. As far as I’m concerned this is a clear lack of communication, and very disrespectful to her mother-in-law/aunt/the woman who took care of her most of her life) but can’t do anything because the Parson is there, and he has to be sociable.
“When Old Parson had gone he told me exactly what he thought of me. He has the Merryweather temper, you know, even though he is so sunny and genial, and when he was a young man he could behave like a roaring lion. And he raged and stormed that night until his anger nearly lifted the roof off. He said that I had insulted the memory of his saintly mother and that I was not worthy to follow in her footsteps. And he said other things that made me very angry, so that I said hard things too. Among other things I said that his mother had not been a saint at all but a very wicked woman to be so severe with a little girl as she had been with me over my love of pink. And no saint hates geraniums, I said. Saints love all the flowers that God has made, especially the salmon pink geraniums of Cornwall, because God never made lovelier flowers than those. And at that Sir Benjamin picked up all the pots of geraniums within reach and flung them out of the window into the rose garden."
So Loveday runs away and marries a lawyer out of pure spite.
“And the son of the house [she was working in], a young lawyer, fell in love with me on sight, and I married him as soon as it could possibly be arranged, because he was kind and I liked him, and in my pride and anger I wanted to put it beyond Sir Benjamin's power to get me back again."
Now I would like us to take a look at the fight that happens in the Secret of Moonacre.
Sir Benjamin is not insulted by her choice of floral arrangements, he is angered by the fact that she is the daughter of his enemy. He believes she came and tricked him into loving her, that she was using him to find the pearls.
Loveday lies to him about her name to protect herself. While we are not given her reason as to why - it could have been that she was trying to find the pearls, and didn’t want his wrath and anger, so donned a false name; it could have been she was sent by her father to find the pearls but fell in love with him nonetheless - we know that she did truly love him, and chose him over her own family.
Either way, the fight Loveday De Noir and Sir Benjamin have is much more nuanced. It is reasonable for these people to be upset. Sir Benjamin is angry that he was lied to, and Loveday is upset because he could not look past her name and love her regardless, that he would not listen to her as she tried to tell him that her love for him was genuine.
Also, Loveday De Noir doesn’t go off and petty-marry a lawyer so he can’t have her.
The fight that Sir Benjamin and Loveday Minette have in the book is childish and moronic, while the fight Sir Benjamin and Loveday De Noir have is nuanced and devastating.
Edit: my sister mentioned that Loveday was treated very harshly as a child, and felt free to express herself for the first time and was treated harshly for it. I don’t think this changes my stance on Loveday being in the wrong (they both are) as a couple, they lacked communication, which is a cornerstone for relationships. However, that does make me more sympathetic for how Sir Benjamin treated her
Conclusion: they miscommunicated, but Sir Benjamin is a grooming pedophile, so he’s definitely in the wrong
In continuation with my analysis of the novel, the Little White Horse, by Elizabeth Goudge, I want to cover the characters and the main themes of both the book and the movie.
Here's my thoughts and opinions on Robin De Noir and Robin Minette, two wildly different characters
TL;DR
My enemy.
My beloathed.
The one I despise!
This boy is insane, he is the definition of toxic masculinity, he’s only a child and already he sucks, and I know for a fact he will never get better because he is never punished for his actions.
And what did he do wrong?
Well first I would like to remind you all of my beautiful, wonderful, fantastic, baby-eyed Robin De Noir. I have no idea how we got Robin De Noir out of Robin Minette, but I am forever grateful.
For starters, Robin De Noir takes the place of Mr. Cock in LWH. Where Mr. Cock has trapped the hare, Robin De Noir has, where Maria gets chased by Mr. Cock in the book, she gets chased by Robin De Noir in the movies (and yes, technically the Coeur De Noir and all of the De Noirs are chasing after her as well), where Maria and Mr. Cock run through the forest so she can show him the White Horse, she and Robin De Noir run through the forest in search of the pearls. Additionally, he is no longer Robin Minette, Loveday Minette’s son, but the son of the Coeur De Noir, and Loveday’s brother.
One, this change is already ten times more dynamic. Throughout the book, we are only told that the De Noirs are wicked, and it isn’t until Maria’s last minute change of heart about them that suddenly they aren’t. Those poor people are demonized in the book, and are not given any sympathy. Now I hear you saying, the movie was the same! They were evil until Maria decided she needed Robin’s help!
I need you to go back and give Augustus Prew his due, because that boy acted his ass off. I don’t think I’ll be able to go over all of his exemplary acting choices, and I may make a separate post for that, but that will require gifs and screengrabs. Anyway! There are several scenes that show us, the audience, that Robin De Noir is just a boy who is trying his damnedest to make his father proud of him. We see this when the Coeur De Noir calls him a ‘dolt’ after the rabbit trap, and you can see his face just fall, he is devastated, not that he lost the princess, but that he disappointed his father.
We also see this when Robin quickly decides to help Maria. The very first time I watched this, I didn’t really understand his reasoning, but once I started thinking about it (probably about the time I started writing fic and needed to get inside of his head) I realized that he is fundamentally good, just born on the wrong side of the valley. Robin chooses the Valley over his father, he chooses to help Maria despite not even fully trusting her, he is beside her until the very end because he knows she is doing the right thing, because he loves the Valley and wants to save it. So, despite what we are told about the De Noirs (as by sir Benjamin, who calls them bandits, poachers, and plunderers) we know from visual cues, Robin De Noir’s desperation to be a good son, and his choices at the end, that the De Noirs are not purely wicked.
Robin Minette on the other hand can die on a stick. Robin and Loveday Minette are actually a part of the Merryweather family (more on that later) and are not associated with the De Noirs at all.
So what are all of Robin M’s sins?
Well, if you’ve heard about the bird theory, it is the simple idea that when you call out “oh look, a bird!” the response of your partner/friend/companion should be “where!” Not because they are necessarily interested in the bird (though they should be) but because you are interested in the bird. The logic being that the person will listen to whatever random, boring, stupid thing you’re saying because they are interested in you, and are not looking at you as a source of entertainment. It’s a very simple, and beautiful concept, that shows a person who is interested in you, is interested in you!
Robin Minette is not interested in Maria.
I say this because in the book we are told multiple times that whenever Maria asks too many questions, Robin just walks away. He does not answer, or even asks her to stop, when he is astral projecting into Maria’s dreams, he just leaves the dream and wakes up. Again, this is in conjecture with one of Goudge’s morals: female curiosity is of the Devil.
“All my life, Robin, I'll always tell you all about everything." “And I'll tell you," said Robin. “If I didn't you'd ask me so many questions that life would not be worth living."
This is not an okay lesson to teach to children, any boy or girl should not be learning that her voice does not matter, that her questions should be squashed, and that curiosity is a bad thing. I genuinely have no idea where Goudge got this idea from, other than it is just a very old and misogynist viewpoint. It’s not even Christian, as scripture encourages followers to study, and yes that includes women.
I don’t think it is a harsh stance to take that a character who walks away from another while they are talking, is not interested, or in love with that character. Maybe possessive, but not in love, and it's certainly not the kind of love anyone should be idolizing.
Furthermore, like most entitled men, Robin Minette has anger issues. I don’t want to quote the entire section, but I can post it somewhere because it is absolutely insane.
After Robin and Maria defended Paradise Hill from the De Noirs, they go back to his house. Since it was raining, they had to change out of their wet clothes. For whatever reason, Loveday Minette decides to put her old wedding dress (that she never wore because she ran away) on Maria.
Maria loves it, and asks if it can be her wedding dress, and Loveday M says yes.
When Maria joins Robin in the kitchen so they can have tea, Robin asks what that is.
“It's my wedding dress. I'm trying it on to see if it fits."
"Are you going to be married?" asked Robin sharply, his munching jaws suddenly still.
“Of course," said Maria, reaching for the cream. “You didn't expect me to be an old maid, did you?"
“Are you being married today?" demanded Robin.
“Of course she isn't being married today, Robin. She isn't old enough to be married yet. But when she is married she will wear that dress." [Loveday]
“When you do marry, whom will you marry?" Robin asked Maria.
Maria swallowed the last of her bread and cream and honey, put her head on one side and stirred her tea thoughtfully. “I have not quite decided yet," she said demurely, “but I think I shall marry a boy I knew in London."
“What?" yelled Robin. “Marry some mincing nincompoop of a Londoner with silk stockings and pomade in his hair and a face like a Cheshire cheese?" The parkin stuck in his gullet and he choked so violently that Loveday had to pat him on the back and pour him out a fresh cup of tea. When he spoke again his face was absolutely scarlet, not only with the choke but with rage and jealousy and exasperation.
“You dare do such a thing!" he exploded. "You--Maria --you-- if you marry a London man I'll wring his neck!"
Now, you’ll notice three things here:
One, the fate of all Moon Princess’ is to get in a fight with her love, and if she doesn’t humble herself, she’ll be forced to leave Moonacre. This is something Maria knows at this point.
Two, Robin is a thirteen, fourteen year old boy displaying this much anger, possessiveness, and audacity. This is not something he is punished for, and he gets away with this behavior.
Three, his mother is right there???? And her chief concern is:
“Robin," said his mother, “that's not at all the way to propose. You should go down on one knee and do it in a very gentle voice."
Ma’am your son is a maniac and you’re giving him tips on how to propose properly?
Now, I want to swing back to my first point. To state it very plainly, this is one of the reasons as to why people stay in abusive relationships for so long. Maria knows that if she and Robin hadn’t made up right then and there, she would have to leave Moonacre. This language and ideology puts the blame on the victim’s shoulders, making the victim feel as if they have to be the one to make amends, to fix what is broken, and appease the abuser. This is the cycle of abuse that is seen time and time again, and while Goudge does not frame this as an ideal relationship we can gather that based on all that Maria has learned, it is her job to keep the peace.
Am I calling Robin Minette an abuser? Yes, yes I am.
Maria immediately forgives his behavior, Loveday is obviously okay with it, because she does nothing to stop him or scold him, and Goudge obviously sees this as okay male behavior.
It's preposterous and yet this book is only eighty years old, we can obviously see people who behave this way, and we all know people who are like this. However, I think we have finally pivoted to presenting this behavior as abusive in media and art. Too often we think of abuse as just physical, but so often it is emotional, financial, and sexual, and the consequence of that mentality is people suffering abuse thinking that they aren’t because they don’t get black eyes.
Here, I would also like to mention the BBC miniseries, Moonacre. The Miniseries is boring, it’s praised for being a more direct adaptation of the book, however they do make some major changes, especially to the plot. They add this thing about the ‘Blackheart’s’ having their water supply being cut off, all their wells are saturated with saltwater, and they blame Sir Wrolf for cutting off a pipe that would lead freshwater back into the valley. In this, we do get Loveday and Robin (still mother and son) as De Noirs. Loveday is the direct descendant of Black William, and despite teaching her son to hate the Blackhearts, he is also a De Noir. Robin Minette in this movie is boring, he doesn’t get mad at Maria for asking questions, but all he really does is show up at convenient times to save her from the Blackhearts. He’s fine, he’s not as problematic as Robin in LWH, but his character is not as compelling as Robin De Noir in TSOM.
