Rethinking The English (fanfic)

Discussing The English

Okay for this chapter I'd like to write a bit about the main characters, focusing of course on Lady Cornelia Locke and Eli Whipp.

Cornelia is a wealthy and mentally strong and resilient woman. Confident because she has mostly known safety and security, emotional but in a good way I think. She is expressive and communicative, maybe too much so. She asks the question 'why' a lot but that's no bad thing.

Interestingly she never gives the name of her dead son, and although we know she had been engaged to Thomas Trafford (sorry I haven't mentioned him have I?), she doesn't say much about him either.

Right I'm going to discuss the rape scene apologies if it's triggering. In truth we don't see anything, just the leery Melmont and the after effects of Cornelia on the floor upset. It struck me as odd at the time that there were no servants in the house to help her. That a stranger could walk in and rape a wealthy woman in her own house, seems odd to me, but then what do I know?

The house already has some pictures from the 'wild west' in it, even before she makes her shrine to Eli. I'm not sure what the connection is, it's mentioned that her father was a soldier, but would British men have fought in the US in the mid 1800s?

No mention is made of her mother at all I don't think, and so we are left with a rather two dimensional impression of her home and family life. We know she raises her son on the family estate, I guess to say her pregnancy was a huge issue back then, an issue only salvaged by her great wealth, is an understatement.

Another issue I had was the length of her illness. By stage four syphilis at that time in medical history was fatal. She reeled off a list of fairly serious and life threatening ailments including, stroke, heart failure, mental illness and of course damage to soft tissue and bone - particularly of the face. However,  the story starts around 13 years after she went to the US. How could she live so long? Why did she live so long? Not wanting to sound defeatist or maudlin but she's literally lost everything, why carry on? And for that matter why return to England? She was adamant she never would, yet when she and Eli part at the end she clearly goes back to the UK for good. I don't understand.

It feels wrong to me that such a basically good, brave, and strong person should suffer quite so much. Again this could be down to my allergy like aversion to stories where women are put through the mill. Oh god the misery piled on misery, and for most of the time she hides it so well. I know it makes it all the more touching and meaningful, but as I mentioned before life can be fairly shit on a day to day basis. Covid, global warming, politics, cost of living crisis. Would it kill writers and directors to throw us a bone?

Eli Whipp. Okay so I have to admit this character grew on me. The accent threw me off first, so American, not very native at all. Then the fact he was a Pawnee scout for the army. Usually this type of character is a background one, so it was good to see the thin line these guys had to tread between two opposing cultures explored in greater depth.  I would have liked to learn a bit more about the Pawnee tribe, their culture and their language, I particularly would have liked to know the meaning of the song he sang to Cornelia when she left to return the children to their family.

The growls and grunts were good, his hair and wardrobe amazing. He had a presence and a dignity, a poise that is hard to describe, except to say it was perfect for this character. He opens up when he needs to, shares insights on the world and afterlife as he sees fit. He has a conscience and sense of honour too, but is deeply scarred by the fighting he has been involved in and the loss of his family too.

In real terms the actor who played him, Chaske Spencer, did a great job. It must have been hard to play against the powerhouses of Emily Blunt and Rafe Spall, to name but a few. He more than held his own though, taking the less is more approach to powerful effect. For me I would have liked to know more about how he felt about Cornelia. He says bits and pieces, infers she is easy on the eye, it looks like love, but they walk away from it so easily at the end you have to question if they both got caught up in the moment. Deep down could a relationship between them actually last?

A final observation has to be about the dialogue, sparse and at times confusing, referring to things I didn't understand, although I did Google prairie oysters and yuck!

Apart these two main characters have bags of charm and presence, together they form a tender partnership, equal despite their differences, allied because they are both outside of the 'white male' norm. Masculinity is dissected in this drama and it doesn't stand up to the scrutiny well. Cornelia describes the people there as 'killers and thieves' and she's not far wrong in her estimation. Eli himself appearing as the rarer 'breed', but also she is too. A courageous articulate woman living at a time and in a place where that must have been almost impossibly hard.

As well drawn as these characters are they feel new. Perhaps that is what happens when a traditional genre is re-seen and re-drawn through the eyes of another culture? It's called The English and that title works on many levels because the writing, the majority of the actors are all indeed English/British. Although it's interesting to note it was in fact filmed in Spain.

Let me know your thoughts, thinking about writing a bit about Native American history but will need to do some research first.