(Warning! Possible small spoilers for earlier books!)
For the first week of our discussion of “In A Summer Season”, I thought it might be interesting to look at a theme which features in many of Taylor’s book – death, in particular the death of a character prior to the story commencing, the implications of which carry on through the book.
At the start of IASS, Kate Heron is married to a younger man, Dermot, her second husband. Her first, Alan, has died although we never learn quite what of, as well as her best friend Dorothea. In many ways, she seems to mourn the loss of Dorothea the most as, although there is reference to her grieving reaction on Alan’s passing, it is Dorothea (her best friend) who she harks back to throughout the novel. Alan is a somewhat shadowy presence whereas Dorothea takes on real shape and substance through Kate’s memories.
Taylor is in some ways quite casual about the death of her characters’ family members – at the beginning of “The Sleeping Beauty”, Isabella’s husband has just died, in “Palladian” Marion is a widower and the circumstances of his wife’s death are much revisited, and also in “Palladian” Cassandra’s father has just died as the novel begins
But it isn’t only the demise of characters prior to the book’s beginning – Taylor dishes out death throughout many of her novels, often just in passing (at the beginning and end of “A Wreath of Roses” for example) and without the pomp and drama some novelists might give it. However, the deaths are always essential, indeed pivotal to the plot. Her matter-of-fact treatment is quite shocking in some ways as the fatalities are often unexpected – Sophy in “Palladian”, Richard and the unnamed man in “A Wreath of Roses” and of course the climax of IASS. There is sometimes an element of pathos in her treatment, more often than not when a character’s parent passes on, but there is a lightness of treatment that is surprising for such a weighty subject. Interesting, the subject of death and loss seems to become more potent as Taylor’s novels progress and possibly reflect the change in a novelist’s subject matter and perspective as they age.
As for wreaths – well, it’s been mentioned on LibraryThing that they do seem to be a recurring motif in Taylor’s work (even featuring in one of her titles obviously) and yes, a wreath turns up in IASS.
Taylor has stated that she writes in scenes, which is an interesting admission and can be seen to be true in several of her novels. In fact, many could be translated quite well into the play form and so it may be that the “off-stage” death is a convenient device for her to use, in keeping with her economy of style. So – Elizabeth Taylor as casual dispenser of death – what do others think?
Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings 
Aug 03, 2012 @ 21:18:38
I had honestly never realized how often death figured into her novels. I especially liked your comment, “There is sometimes an element of pathos in her treatment, more often than not when a character’s parent passes on, but there is a lightness of treatment that is surprising for such a weighty subject. Interesting, the subject of death and loss seems to become more potent as Taylor’s novels progress and possibly reflect the change in a novelist’s subject matter and perspective as they age.”
This has had me thinking all day … especially since I’ve already read one of her very late works, Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont, which is indeed more “potent” than earlier books, at least where death is concerned.
Very interesting indeed! Thanks for such an insightful post.
Aug 04, 2012 @ 09:54:33
Thanks for your kind comments Laura. I wonder if, because I’ve read the first 8 novels in a fairly short space of time (I think I started in March or April), certain themes just jump out. I’m certainly looking forward to the later books!
Aug 06, 2012 @ 22:22:42
I hadn’t really thought about how pivotal to her plots deaths are – but of course you are right. Death is a life changing event for those left behind isn’t it? Maybe ET was fascinated by this – by how the death of one person can then carry on effecting the lives of many other people afterwards. In Palladian for instance Cassandra would never have ended up working for Marion’s family had it not been for her ftaher’s death, and the death of Marion’s wife. Many of her other novels have the characters acting or reacting to a situation brought about by somebody’s death. I wonder why this became such a theme? I wish I could remember more of the ET biography by Nicola Beauman, was there a significant death in ET’s life – when she was younger perhaps – before her marriage? She seems to put so much of herself into her female characters I can’t help but think this preoccupation with death must be rooted in her own experience.
Lovely post Karen, you have given me a lot to think about.
Aug 07, 2012 @ 16:28:14
I can’t recall either – I did rather race through her biography. But like you, I think she drew a lot from her own life to put into her books.
Aug 12, 2012 @ 01:17:48
Oh I’m very late to the show as always….okay…here are my unstructured thoughts for what they’re worth….at first my response to your question was, well Elizabeth Taylor was from another age – in comparison to us I mean – forgive the appallingly constructed sentence please. Whilst she was perhaps too young to experience first-hand the tragedy of WW1, many of her elders would have lost brothers, sons, husbands etc. Death would have been omnipresent I imagine and whilst still a catastrophe, I suspect one shared by many so perhaps there ended up being a cavalier or stiff upper lip attitude to it. I imagine that much of the roots of aetheism would have come about as a result of that horrific war and the one after. But yes, upon more reflection, I agree that death is a device I think to free the character to pursue their own perhaps guilty desires. I used to joke that one of my favourite authors growing up – Violet Needham – used to kill off the parents usually within the first chapter which allowed the children to have adventures. I have just received Taylor’s biography in the mail and am really enjoying it…particularly now that I have read a few of her books.
Aug 12, 2012 @ 09:44:15
I think you may have hit the nail on the head there Alex – if a partner or loved one has died, the other characters can move on without guilt. And that’s a good point about the War which I hadn’t thought of – of course, war brings about rapidly dispensed death.
Aug 15, 2012 @ 12:00:58
Jul 11, 2018 @ 13:02:14
I’m even later to the show than some of your contributors above, having just read and posted on IASS. I too hadn’t noticed that recurring significance for central characters of the death of a close family member, so thanks for that insight. And for the one about Dorothea’s death having perhaps a stronger impact on Kate: when Dermot reads aloud the inscription from Donne (from the Anniversary – I mention it in my post) in Dorothea’s copy of The Spoils of Poynton – it’s from Alan to Kate, who’d then lent it to her friend – she’s disconcerted. She knows he feels excluded, a bit jealous of them all, so she makes light of it, saying of the quotation: “Young people were all like that in my heyday”, and feels ‘treacherous and petty’ for the weak deflection. Then she thinks that’s actually true: “Charles and Dorothea, Alan and I, our other young friends, in the serious Thirties. We believed that we were safe, that our love, as long as it lasted – and we were certain it would last until death – was its own and our safeguard. We were the lucky ones.” So quite right, she didn’t know the mass slaughter and loss of WWI – but the ‘serious Thirties’ had their own losses – in Spain, but also in the loss of democratic freedom in many places. Isn’t that a well done ‘scene’?!
Jul 11, 2018 @ 20:27:58
It is! She’s in many ways such a subtle and therefore underrated author. I’ve had to refresh myself with what I thought about this novel after reading your post and now your comments, and I think in retrospect this was definitely one of my favourite of her books.