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= The_Romance_of_a_Shop =
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Introduction
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'The Romance of a Shop' is an 1888 novel by Amy Levy. The novel
centers on the Lorimer sisters, who decide to open their own
photography business after the death of their father leaves them in
poverty. The novel examines the opportunities and difficulties of
urban life for the "New Woman" in the late nineteenth century,
maintaining their right to independent opinion and the questioning of
social norms.
Synopsis
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The novel opens in April, shortly after the death of the Lorimers'
father. The house and most of their belongings are to be sold in the
coming week, leaving the four Lorimer sisters - Fanny, Gertrude, Lucy,
and Phyllis - very poor. The young women realize that they must find a
way to earn money in order to support themselves. Gertrude, the
novel's central character, proposes that they open a studio and put
their skills in photography to use. They decide that Gerty, Lucy, and
Phyllis will operate the studio while Fanny acts as housekeeper.
Lucy departs for a three-month apprenticeship at the successful
photography studio of a family friend while Gerty begins to seek a
location for their own studio. She leases two floors with an attached
studio at 20B Upper Baker Street which they can afford with the modest
means left to them. The sisters, with help from their friends the
Devonshires, labor through all of June to prepare the studio for its
opening. The studio opens at the end of July after Lucy returns from
her apprenticeship. The Lorimers receive steady business from friends
and acquaintances through the fall, though many customers hold a
prejudice and expect to pay less for their services than they would
for male photographers. Soon the Lorimers are hired to photograph
artists' works. They begin making connections within the artistic
community of London.
One evening in October, a housekeeper arrives at the studio and
requests their services to photograph the recently deceased Lady
Watergate. Though the prospect makes Gertrude uncomfortable, she
accepts the job. While Gerty photographs Lady Watergate, the
motionless silence of the gloomy Lord Watergate leaves a vivid
impression in Gerty's mind.
Frank Jermyn, an artist who lives across from the Lorimers, visits the
shop to hire the sisters to photograph his work. In need of income,
Lucy accepts the job and enters Frank's studio unaccompanied despite
the social impropriety of the action. Frank recommends the Lorimers to
his artistic acquaintances. Soon the Lorimers' business grows, and
Frank becomes a common visitor and good friend to the sisters.
The Lorimers are hired to photograph the work of Sidney Darrell, a
member of the Royal Academy prominent in London society. When Gerty
arrives at his studio, she is uncomfortable and detects a lurking
contempt behind his polite indifference. She self-consciously
photographs Darrell's work and is relieved when her job is over.
In March, Frank invites the sisters to attend a showing of his work.
Many members of the artistic community attend the event, including Mr.
Darrell and Lord Watergate. Despite her shabby mourning clothes,
Phyllis's beauty catches the attention of both men. After the Lorimers
leave, Lord Watergate asks Frank if they might make photographs for
him to use during his scientific lectures at the Royal Institution.
Soon, the sisters receive more work from Lord Watergate as well as Mr.
Darrell. Darrell soon invites the sisters to attend a private viewing
of his own work, where he asks Phyllis if she will pose as Cressida
for him. Gertrude does not like the idea but cannot stop the sessions
from beginning. Under Fanny's supervision, Phyllis soon begins to sit
regularly for Mr. Darrell. He gives her frequent gifts, and Phyllis
enjoys Darrell's attention.
One evening in June, Frank Jermyn arrives at the Lorimers'
unexpectedly. He tells the sisters that he is to leave for Africa the
next day as a special reporter to make newspaper illustrations. Frank
proposes to Lucy. They have each been fostering growing feelings for
one another and Lucy joyfully accepts. Frank leaves for Africa the
next morning.
Rumors surrounding Phyllis' modeling spread throughout the summer.
Gerty is worried that Phyllis cares too much for Darrell. When Mr.
Darrell announces that he must leave for Paris and cannot finish
Phyllis' portrait, Phyllis is hurt by his unexpected departure.
In September, the girls learn of an ambush of British troops in Africa
that leaves nearly all killed. However, Frank Jermyn is among those
who are missing. Lucy soon departs to visit Frank's parents at their
request in Cornwall in order to grieve together. Gertrude sees Lucy to
the station. When she arrives back at the studio, she finds Lord
Watergate there to discuss business. However, they find a note which
Phyllis has left to say that she is running away to Italy with Mr.
Darrell. Gerty and Lord Watergate are alarmed; Lord Watergate informs
Gerty that Mr. Darrell is already married. The two rush off to Mr.
Darrell's together but fear they will be too late to stop the pair.
Gertrude and Watergate have arrived just in time. Gertrude storms into
Darrell's studio and convinces Phyllis to return home over the
protests of Mr. Darrell. Lord Watergate denounces Darrell as a
scoundrel. Phyllis faints, and Gerty and Lord Watergate rush home with
her. Phyllis is very unwell after this. She has consumption, and a
physician tells Gerty that Phyllis' death within months is certain.
Phyllis dies within a few weeks.
Lord Watergate pays Gertrude a visit a few weeks later with the news
that there is a rumor that Frank has been seen alive. An emergency
expedition finds Frank. By March, he has returned to London. Lucy and
Frank are to be married immediately. Lucy will carry on the
photography business after marriage. Gertrude's own future is
uncertain, and she turns away Lord Watergate's advances in a tearful
burst of emotion.
Weeks later, Frank and Lucy are married and away on honeymoon, and
Gerty is left alone in the studio. She painfully reflects on her
uncertain future and playing out the part of a "strong-minded woman"
into which she had been cast. She regrets that she turned down a
future of love when she sent Lord Watergate away. However, there is
suddenly a knock at the door; Lord Watergate has returned in spite of
Gerty's rejection. Gerty tells Lord Watergate that she did not reject
him because she did not value his love, but because she was afraid of
embracing the happiness he offered.
The novel's epilogue details the sisters' lives after marriage. Fanny
and her husband remain happy together, but wish for children. Lucy and
Frank have two children, but Lucy continues photography and
specializes in children's portraits. The Watergates also have a child,
and Gerty hopes he will inherit Lord Watergate's scientific mind.
Major characters
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* The Lorimer sisters
:* Gertrude Lorimer: the novel's main character, and the most
passionate of the sisters. She is 23 years old at the novel's opening
and dreams of being a writer before putting it aside to make a living
through photography. Gerty often takes charge of the situation, and is
also regarded as the cleverest of the Lorimers. She speaks slightingly
of her own plain looks.
:*Lucy Lorimer: the most practical and rational of the Lorimer
sisters, who is described as "fair, slight, upright as a dart." She
describes herself as a "middling sort of person," and is 20 years old
at the novel's opening.
:* Phyllis Lorimer: the youngest and most beautiful of the Lorimers.
Phyllis is often sickly, but is mischievous and spoiled by everyone
around her. She is 17 years old when the novel opens.
:* Fanny Lorimer: the oldest and most old-fashioned of the sisters.
Fanny is a half-sister to the other Lorimers, and is 30 years old at
the novel's beginning. She is concerned with domesticity and
femininity, and is described as "a superannuated baby" and "an
anachronism" with "just the sort of qualities men seem to think
desirable in a wife and mother."
* Frank Jermyn: an artist who makes newspaper engravings for a living.
He lives across from the Lorimers' studio and becomes a good friend of
the sisters before eventually marrying Lucy.
* Sidney Darrell: a prominent London artist who invites the Lorimers
to many social events. He asks Phyllis to pose for him as a model, and
later they plan to leave for Italy together.
* Lord Watergate: a physiologist with connections in artistic circles,
and a friend of Mr. Darrell. He first contacts the Lorimers to make
post-mortem photographs of his deceased wife. Later he marries
Gertrude.
Imperial England
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Britain's colonial empire serves as an essential backdrop for 'The
Romance of a Shop;' key plot developments center on Britain's imperial
connection to faraway colonies. When Aunt Caroline initially tries to
convince the girls to marry she considers sending them to India to
find husbands, which "works wonders in that regard." Fanny initially
rejects her suitor Mr. Marsh because he is poor, and leaving for
Australia provides the opportunity for him to accumulate wealth over
time and return to Britain with the resources to marry. British
fighting in the African colonies calls Frank Jermyn away as an
illustrator to report on war developments. His departure, possible
death, and return is essential in the plot surrounding Lucy's
courtship.
Literary background
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Levy inserts many autobiographical details in 'The Romance of a Shop;'
for example, Gerty's poem which is published in 'The Woodcut' is
actually Levy's own poem "A Game of Lawn-Tennis" which had been
printed two years earlier and would be reprinted in Levy's
posthumously published 'Plane-Tree' one year later. Additionally, Levy
places Lord Watergate's residence at the home where the Levy family
lived from 1872 to 1884. Levy targeted a popular audience with
'Romance' and strove for a commercially successful reception rather
than significant literary achievement, a purpose which she reserved
for her more serious work 'Reuben Sachs.' In an 1888 correspondence to
Violet Paget, Levy wrote demeaningly of her aspirations in writing
'The Romance of a Shop' in comparison to 'Reuben Sachs,' stating "I
have purposely held in my hand."
Genre and style
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In 'Amy Levy: Her Life and Letters,' Linda Hunt Beckman calls 'The
Romance of a Shop' "a model of the realism of its age," citing its
narrational style, use of contemporary speech and topical references,
such as popular songs and novels, and its clear moral vision. Levy
intended 'The Romance of a Shop' to target a popular audience, and
utilized literary themes and techniques readers would find familiar
from other popular fiction of the time. In her introduction to 'The
Romance of a Shop,' Susan David Bernstein identifies the novel as "on
the cusp of literary modernism," and states that "Levy's writing
reflects a shifting consciousness, a mode of representation hovering
between romance and realism, between idealized versions of remodeled
lives for women and men, and the mundane hazards of such social
change."
The Woman Question
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Gertrude, Lucy, and Phyllis Lorimer all portray aspects the "New
Woman" of the late nineteenth century in their urban self-sufficiency,
independent thought, and readiness to challenge accepted rules. One
contemporary reviewer remarked that Gerty and Lucy both possess "the
independence which is characteristic of the times." However, Fanny's
traditional nature serves as a comical foil to that of the
progressive, younger Lorimers. In consequence, Fan is often dismissed
as irritating or hapless by Gertrude.
The urban environment
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Nearly all of 'The Romance of a Shop' is set in urban London and
revolves around specific neighborhoods and London establishments, with
references to venues like the Grosvenor Gallery and the Reading Room
of the British Museum. The urban environment is a source of both
opportunity and danger for the Lorimers and the New Woman. While the
city is an ideal place for the Lorimers' studio, they are also subject
to the gossip which spreads surrounding their business and personal
lives. The city streets offer a stage for the young women to move
about freely and independently, especially on the recently introduced
omnibuses, but can also facilitate danger for the girls, such as when
Phyllis runs away with Mr. Darrell.
Gaze
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The Lorimers' photographic lens highlights their ability to turn the
gaze of society around them upon their photographic subjects. Levy's
"women in business" are the producers of spectacles rather than the
subject of them. As young women working for their livelihood and
living independently in late-Victorian London, the sisters are
subjected to a social stigma against women who work at all. "Through
her characters' position as women in business and in their excursions
in London, Levy employs discourses about the shopgirl to expose the
difficulty women have in escaping the spectacle of their gender even
as they articulate a space for themselves in the public spaces of the
city." (Evans) The gendered dynamic of gaze is represented in 'The
Romance of a Shop' through Levy's references to others' judgmental
gaze turned upon the Lorimers, such as Mr. Darrell's critical gaze
cast over Gerty as she photographs his artwork, as well as inverted by
Levy's emphasis on the Lorimers' "intensely modern young eyes" and the
photographic lens they employ.
Commercial accommodation
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The need for artists to adapt their craft to the commercial art market
is present throughout 'The Romance of a Shop.' Frank Jermyn originally
aspires to be a painter, but switches to work as an engraver for 'The
Illustrated News' instead. At the onset of the novel, Gerty is in the
process of writing an ambitious verse-drama about Charlotte Corday,
but abandons it to pursue commercial photography. Later, when one of
her poems is published in a popular magazine alongside one of Frank's
engravings, Gerty plaintively muses "It is rather a come down after
Charlotte Corday, isn't it?" to which Frank responds "We all have to
get off our high horse, Miss Lorimer, if we want to live." As Linda
Beckman points out, in targeting a popular audience with 'The Romance
of a Shop,' Levy accepts, like Gerty, the commodification of fiction
and sets an example to show that a commercially viable work and
artistic merit need not be mutually exclusive.
Contemporary reviews
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'The Romance of a Shop' was met with generally positive regard. 'The
Spectator' called it "decidedly a success" and commented that "the
dialogue is bright and sometimes witty, and the reader's attention,
hardened novel reader though he may be, is fully sustained." An
October 26, 1888 review in 'British Weekly' called it "touched by a
true artist's hand" with "flashes of wit on every page" and claimed
that "a more charming story we have not read for a long time." The
Jewish Chronicle, to which Levy was a contributor, praised 'The
Romance of a Shop' as a "bright and animated novel" but voiced
concerns regarding Phyllis' "tendency to rather vulgar slang."
As Levy's first work of fiction, 'The Romance of a Shop' was the first
time many reviewers were introduced to Levy as an author. Many
expressed their optimism for Levy's growth as a writer in the future.
A November 24, 1888 review in 'The Graphic' stated of Levy "Her novel
gives not only promise for the future [of Levy's career], but much
present interest and pleasure." However, others gave 'Romance' itself
only tempered praise, such as a November 10, 1888 review in 'The
Academy' beginning "It appears to us that with a little more
experience Miss Amy Levy may write a very good novel," but that "some
scraps and bits of character drawing here and there [...] carry the
reader pleasantly through for the present, and give good promise to
the future."
In his 1890 obituary for Levy in The Woman's World, Oscar Wilde
praised 'The Romance of a Shop' as "a bright and clever story, full of
sparkling touches."
License
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Romance_of_a_Shop
