Shades

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There are two distinct stories here.

• In the first, Walter's party goes to Mbokothwe to find the deranged Brompton;



• In the second, Frances collapses into feelings of despair and guilt at Victor's non-return. She eventually journeys to his bedroom and is found there by Victor.

In a work of art, nothing happens by chance. Indeed, it is sculptured by the hand of a meticulous artist.

There must therefore be a critical reason for Marguerite Poland's splitting Chapter 8 into (a) the search for the deranged Brompton and (b) Frances's waiting up for Victor's return.

The author does not explain but rather leaves it to the reader to connect the incidents. At its centre, however, one surely witnesses the triumph of the "Shades"?

Walter, Benedict and Crispin go to Mbokothwe to find the deranged Brompton. They arrive there to find an unsettling, ghostly atmosphere.

The mission reveals all the signs of witchcraft, and both Brompton and Pusey appear to have disappeared. There is also an antagonistic attitude amongst the non-Christian amaXhosa.

Back at St. Matthias, Frances too appears bewitched. Victor holds her emotions in his hands. She is held captive to her Victorian religious upbringing. Finally, Helmina weaves a web of enchantment about her.

Victorian morality forces guilt onto her because she has met Victor secretly and allowed him to kiss her. Helmina sends this guilt into a spiral of self-condemnation by insisting that it is the woman who sins merely by causing the man to be sexually aroused.

Frances is deeply aware that she has aroused strong sexual feelings in Victor and this loads guilt upon guilt on her overwrought conscience. When Victor plays his final game, delaying his homecoming till she is distraught, she has no answer but to succumb to his every desire.

Both incidents — at Mbokothwe and St Matthias — have therefore the characteristics of magical manipulation by unseen forces. At Mbokothwe, the Shades appear to play their mischievous game unchecked.

At St Matthias, on the other hand, it is more low-key. But a mischievous game is nevertheless being playing on Frances.

Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?

Read the notes in the left column before answering the questions below:

Mbokothwe appears to be a place possessed by demons.

• What strange happenings occur there the evening that Walter's party arrives? (5)

[Need help?]

This is not a difficult question to answer. Simply read the text carefully and note all the strange things that happened that night, e.g. the voodoo doll, the continual playing of the musical box, etc.

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"God could see her. He could see what she was hiding in her heart  . . . He knew her. He knew her well."

• For the first time we witness Frances as an insecure young woman, flooded with a sense of guilt. Explain this guilt. (10)

[Need help?]

One needs to understand a young girl who is deeply religious and thoroughly imbued with the morality of the time — not surprising for a young girl whose parents were missionaries! — but whose hormones are beginning to flood her veins. She knows that sensual kissing is considered a sin. She also knows that it has caused sexual arousal in Victor. But she had been told that it is always the woman who is the temptress, who is guilty of every sin a man commits if he becomes sexually aroused. And so she is flooded with guilt. (Think back to that judgmental biblical text that hung in her bedroom.) Now Victor is late in returning home. He might have had an accident. If so, is it God punishing her for her sin? Not just for the sin of kissing him but also because she was uncharitable to him just before he had left — sin compounded upon sin for one so young and so sensitive!

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Frances believed that she had caused in Victor "that strange and powerful affliction that she'd witnessed".

• What was this "affliction"? (4)

[Need help?]

Frances had obviously felt Victor's sexual arousal as he was pressed against her. She probably did not know what it was but saw it as an "affliction" which she had provoked — and possibly believed that such a swelling must be causing him pain. She was also aware of the sexual arousal in herself, and this too was provoking a sense of guilt in her. After all, Victorian women were not meant to be sexually aroused!

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"The passions of men are easily provoked and can cause them the greatest distress and harm. Ensure that you are never a cause of their sudden arousal, for that is your sin rather than theirs and any consequences would be your fault entirely."

• Considering that Frances was both innocent and naive, explain what effect this advice would have had on her very impressionable mind. (4)

[Need help?]

The answer is really the same. Frances had obviously felt Victor's sexual arousal pressed against her when she was with him down at the river. She probably did not fully realise what it was but saw it as an "affliction" which she had provoked — and possibly believed that such a swelling must be causing him pain. She was also aware of the sexual arousal in herself, and this too was provoking a sense of guilt in her. After all, Victorian women were not meant to be sexually aroused.

• How does this affect Frances's emotions on the night when Victor is late in returning? (6)

[Need help?]

Despite Frances's rebelling against Helmina, she nevertheless still believed what Helmina said. Note how she became distrustful of Walter after Helmina's several lies, even though reality told her that Walter was probably innocent. When Victor was late in returning, therefore, Frances would not only worry about him but would also begin to examine her own guilt and see her own "sinful" actions as being responsible for his possible accident. God was a harsh master who could — and would — get revenge on sinners like herself. And so Victor's disappearance was the direct result of her sin.

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Why does Frances go to Victor's room? (4)

(HINT: Be careful with your answers. You must view Frances from the point of view of Victorian morality — she would not have gone to Victor's room to have sex with him! You must also see the answer from the author's point of view. Marguerite Poland tells us quite clearly why Frances went into Victor's room.)

[Need help?]

One needs to be very clear on this one. Frances went to Victor's room for one reason only: to determine whether Victor had gone on to Grahamstown or whether he was merely late home. How would going to his room help? Simple: if his clothes were gone, then Victor had obviously left for Grahamstown without telling her. But if his clothes were still in his cupboard, it meant that her worst fears might have come true: Victor might have had an accident and could be lying out in the bush somewhere — badly injured and perhaps dying. Some try to argue that Frances should not have been in Victor's room at all. Not so! There was absolutely nothing wrong with going into a man's bedroom, provided that the man was not there.

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Why does Frances throw herself into Victor's arms when he finds her in his room? (6)

[Need help?]

What would you do? You are worried sick because someone whom you love deeply like a brother is hours late in returning home. In those days the pathways through the bush were extremely dangerous after dark. Indeed, travellers tried to use them only during daylight hours. Then suddenly there he is! What a sense of relief! Would you not throw yourself into his arms? There is certainly nothing sexual in this action — only intense relief! But alas for Frances, Victor used this to find sexual satisfaction for himself and deliberately forced himself upon her so as to make her his wife. Remember that Victorians saw sexual intercourse as a bond of marriage.

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