Miss Lulu Bett Zona Gale 9781444404067 Books
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Miss Lulu Bett Zona Gale 9781444404067 Books
Written by Wisconsin native Zona Gale and published in 1920, it reminded me somewhat of Sinclair Lewis's Main Street, though not of such epic size. It also reminded me of Ernest Poole's His Family, which won the first ever Pulitzer Prize for literature in 1918. Gale would re-write Miss Lulu Bett for the stage where she would be the first ever woman writer to earn the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1921.Lulu Bett is a 34 year old dowdy spinster who has for the past 15 years lived with her younger sister Ina, who is married to an older widower Dwight who brings a daughter from the previous marriage. The Deacons now have an 8-10 year old daughter of their own, and Diana from the first marriage is now 18. Ina and Lulu have Mrs Bett, their mother, living with them. Lulu has been the housekeeper and cook for the family, and we find out she fills an even more important role. She has not left the small town of Warbleton in years, and she lives an empty existence. To make things worse, Dwight runs the house like a drill sergeant, and is unforgiving and cruel in the way he treats the woman, especially Lulu. Yet she is the glue that holds the family together, as they need it very much.
Dwight's brother Ninian pays the family a visit after an absence of 19 years, and soon there are love sparks between him and Lulu. A very bizarre wedding takes place with some catastrophic results. Feminist viewpoints on gender roles, marriage, and family are front and center. The opinions that others in the community hold about the Deacon family are very important to them. The younger set get involved in an elopement, and Lulu gets a second chance at marriage in the space of just a couple of months.
The story is dialogue driven, so I can see how it would have translated to the stage very well. The characters and relationships they have are very complex and kept me engaged while reading. The issues that are central to the story are still timely and relevant today.
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Miss Lulu Bett Zona Gale 9781444404067 Books Reviews
Dramaturgically scrimpy in dialogue, plot, character development and visualization, Miss Lulu Bett is anything but an American comedy of manners; it is American manure, at best. A jejunely piece of writing, it belongs in a literary purgatory, bouncing back and forth like a ping pong ball with its other run-of-the-mill literary ilk. It is neither evocative nor emotive of the human spirit, human desires or gashing human pains. It is an annoying lump in the stomach that goes nowhere. Hailed by critics and theatre-goers alike (squarely for its stripped emotional armor and restraint) when it debuted in 1921, Miss Lulu Bett eventually garnered the coveted Pulitzer Prize for Drama - a drama that was based on Zona Gale's novel of the same title (which must have been a wonderful reading experience). The play evolves around Miss Lulu Bett, a homely spinster whose life is her servitude to her waspish sister (Ina Deacon) and her hubristic 'man-of-the-house' brother-in-law (Dwight Deacon). Lulu is not goal-oriented, interesting or witty; she is overly ordinary, mousy by degrees and excessively hesitant about everything and anything. And when she does do something extraordinary, i.e. taking control of her life and future, even that seems bland - which was not the intent. Lulu is written in a fashion that is as exciting as staring at a piece of tarp. But in the play, that is precisely her role - to be the protective cloak that covers the exposed areas of vulnerability, and there are many gaping holes in the Deacon household. The writing structure and voice is inelastic and archaic. Like chalk dust, it can be easily blown away and dismissed. As the family doormat, whatever is festering in the family is eventually heaped upon dear, old, reliable, compliant Lulu. As the repetitive ruts within the play's confines march ahead, the drudging cycle is eventually broken when Lulu is introduced to Dwight's charismatic brother, Ninian Deacon, the one glimmer in the whole play. He encourages her to see her 'good' qualities (Were there any to start off with?), then proposes marriage to her in a manner that is neither legitimate or credible. And the fact that the proposal passed off as something plausible is still very questionable. Ultimately, the marriage is not acknowledged or spoken of because of the most absurd circumstances. In her brief union/respit, Lulu finds a kind of independence that she never felt before, and when the marriage is no more, she uses her past marital experience as a catalyst to start a new life away from her annoyingly ungrateful family. Miss Lulu Bett perhaps works better as an insignificant period piece. But as true drama, I don't think so.
My copy of this book is c. 1920, 1928 by D. Appleton & Company. This novel is one that is hard to cheer for, although it does raise important themes which I'm sure is why it got acclaim in its era. Lulu is an old maid, living in her sister's house, and has been reduced to a servant, a duty Lulu performs lovelessly and with drudgery. A romantic opportunity presents itself when her brother-in-law's brother Ninian shows up. Lulu elopes, only to be presented with the complication that the marriage is illegal. Lulu's search for marriage is one borne of economic necessity, an issue clearly important 100 years ago, and still relevant today. However, when the novel ended, I found I was relieved to be rid of these characters. Taxi!
This is a great story.
I enjoyed reading this book. It gives an interesting insight into how life was for women in this particular time period. I enjoyed reading it and will probably read it again.
Zona Gale's "Miss Lulu Bett" was one of the greatest bestsellers of 1920 this was largely due to its unique style. Gale's prose is very terse she avoids any kind of effusion, yet her disciplined, minimalistic sentences hint at so much, that there is a huge "weight of the unsaid." This style is appropriate to her subject matter the lack of communication and the hypocrisy in a typical small town Midwestern family. Her characters always imply more than they say, and their lack of honesty wreaks havoc. Behind their shallow statements lurk desperation and unfulfilled longing. This novel is powerful in its own terse and reticent way.
Written by Wisconsin native Zona Gale and published in 1920, it reminded me somewhat of Sinclair Lewis's Main Street, though not of such epic size. It also reminded me of Ernest Poole's His Family, which won the first ever Pulitzer Prize for literature in 1918. Gale would re-write Miss Lulu Bett for the stage where she would be the first ever woman writer to earn the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1921.
Lulu Bett is a 34 year old dowdy spinster who has for the past 15 years lived with her younger sister Ina, who is married to an older widower Dwight who brings a daughter from the previous marriage. The Deacons now have an 8-10 year old daughter of their own, and Diana from the first marriage is now 18. Ina and Lulu have Mrs Bett, their mother, living with them. Lulu has been the housekeeper and cook for the family, and we find out she fills an even more important role. She has not left the small town of Warbleton in years, and she lives an empty existence. To make things worse, Dwight runs the house like a drill sergeant, and is unforgiving and cruel in the way he treats the woman, especially Lulu. Yet she is the glue that holds the family together, as they need it very much.
Dwight's brother Ninian pays the family a visit after an absence of 19 years, and soon there are love sparks between him and Lulu. A very bizarre wedding takes place with some catastrophic results. Feminist viewpoints on gender roles, marriage, and family are front and center. The opinions that others in the community hold about the Deacon family are very important to them. The younger set get involved in an elopement, and Lulu gets a second chance at marriage in the space of just a couple of months.
The story is dialogue driven, so I can see how it would have translated to the stage very well. The characters and relationships they have are very complex and kept me engaged while reading. The issues that are central to the story are still timely and relevant today.
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