How the Characters in Twilight Sleep Find Their Own Peace
Pauline Manford
Pauline Manford knows that in the grand scheme of things, women in her society have no control over their lives. Their lives are ruled by men. However, Pauline takes it upon herself to establish her control (or perceived control) over her family and social status. Her constant busy schedule also reflects this desire to be in control. If she is seen to be constantly busy, then others would consider her to be a person of importance and by extension, she herself would believe she is important.
Throughout the novel, Pauline is seen to be planning some sort of event. While her family was disinterested in these affairs, Pauline took the utmost pride in them saying in the novel, "But in the organizing and administering of a big dinner she was conscious of mastery," and, "her success amused and exhilarated her so much that, even tonight, though she had come down opressed with problems, they slipped from her..." (63-64). In addition, Pauline would be the first to volunteer herself to speak at various meetings, even if these would oppose each other, in order to attempt to be accepted by any and everyone. This acceptance fueled her.
"Exhibit A", Pauline's ex-husband was even kept close to the family in order for Pauline to accomplish control over the entire family. It is thought also that this relationship was to stay in good contact with them since their family had much wealth. She would make sure to have regular lunches and meetings with him and keep him updated and keep herself updated with how the family was and thus make sure nothing on their side would harm her reputation.
Stress was a common feeling Pauline expressed throughout the novel. In order to relieve herself of this, Pauline made various appointments with religious or spiritual healers. One of which she felt was the best was a man named Alvah Loft. She describes her experience as:
“Alvah Loft simply took out your frustrations as if they’d been adenoids…” (120)
“You told him what was bothering you, and he said it was just a frustration, and he could relieve you of it, and make it so that it didn’t exist, by five minutes of silent communion. And he sat and held you by the wrist, very lightly, as if he were taking your temperature, and told you to keep your eyes on the Ella Wheeler Wilcox line-a-day on the wall over his head. ..” (121)
Finally, Pauline spent much of her time perfecting the design of their country home at Cedarledge. She planned to take the entire family there to escape the city and attempt to mend the issues between her and her husband, Lita and Jim. In response to their arriving, she comments on her hard work redesigning the home, "And Dexter had praised everything, noticed all the improvements; had voluntarily announced that he meant to inspect the new heating system and the model chicken hatchery the next morning," (222). This praise from her husband confirmed in her the sense that all of her hard work had paid off and she truly was in control of the mending of their relationship.
Nona Manford
It is clear from the beginning of the novel that Nona is frustrated with the lifestyle that her mother leads. Nona attempts to be her own person rather than follow in the pattern that she as a woman is expected to, namely marriage. She is confused by the way she acts in comparison to her peers. This is seen by this quote saying, “There were moments when Nona felt oppressed by responsibilities and anxieties not of her age, apprehensions that she could not shake off and yet had not enough experience of life to know how to meet,” (45). She blames the older generation, stemming from her experience with her mother, as an example,“…as if the demons the elder generation ignored, baulked of their natural prey, had cast their hungry shadow over the young.” (45)
While her mother wishes her to marry, Nona refuses to give the idea attention. In fact, when she is pursued by the married Stanley Heuston, and even gains permission from his wife, she refuses, seeing that she would be doing just as young girls her age were expected to do.
Nona also fills her time feeling as if she helping to keep her family together. Even when she is about to send a telegram to Stanley Heuston in order to potentially change her mind and be with him, when Jim needs her she leaves this idea and immediately goes to him (180). Nona is so turned off by the idea of settling down with Heuston mostly because of the experience with divorce that she’s had with her mother and now potentially with her brother. She feels that it ruins families and the childrens’ lives when she thinks, “It was one thing to theorize the detachability of human beings, another to watch them torn apart by the bleeding roots,” (184). Nona attempts to find her happiness in keeping her family together and resolves to keep divorce from ruining it.
Lastly, while Nona does not wish to conform, she ends up doing just that by remaining to seem blind to the suspicious relationship between her father and Lita. While Nona seems to be appreciative of his efforts to keep Lita under control, in reality she understands that he is not just in it to help out the family. However, Nona knows that she must seem naïve to these events in order to preserve the happiness of the family.
Lita Wyant
Lita is first described by Nona in the novel as being “funny irresponsible little Lita” (16). This comes to be Pauline’s probable description of her as well seeing as Lita does not wish to give up her love of dancing and other various sports once she is married and has a child.
Lita struggles with this desire to be young and explore while Pauline expects her to live a more dignified life while she is part of their family. At one point in the novel it is understood that Lita has been dancing at a particularly scandalous place and is caught doing so in the newspaper. Pauline is completely distraught and convinced that she alone can change Lita’s tendencies. Lita, however, continues to do whatever she pleases. When she can no longer stand to live the life she has, she announces that she would like a divorce, “What I want is a hundred percent New York Divorce. And he (Jim) could let me have it just as easily…” (194). Her boredom with the upper-class life of a woman leads her to this conclusion.
While Pauline tries to coerce her into staying with Jim by decorating her house, this is exactly what Lita cares nothing about. She tells Pauline that she just wants to be herself and she is unable to do so in her house with this family (196). She describes her unhappiness by saying, “for me the wickedness is to go on living with a man you don’t love, (197). In addition, her hinted relationship with Mr. Manford also shows her inability to stay true to her husband and live the life that she is expected to live. She acts as if she is not married and part of a rich title, but as if she is free and single like one wonders if she truly desires to be.
Dexter Manford
“His day had been as all his days were now: a starting in with a great sense of pressure, importance and authority—and a drop at the close into staleness and futility,” (52).
Dexter Manford did not come from money and the wealth itself, which he had due to his law firm and Pauline Manford, were not all that satisfied him. It was his job that gave him a sense of purpose and happiness.
“But he glorified in his profession, in its labours and difficulties as well as its rewards, it satisfied him intellectually and gave him that calm sense of mastery—mastery over himself and others known only to those who are doing what they were born to do,” (53).
It also seems that his expectations of marriage are not satisfied because he says that he pictured himself and Pauline spending quiet evenings together reading books aloud, but his wife had no interest in doing this. He became frustrated with Pauline’s constant need for them to engage in social activities, while he sought his own personal time more. He deemed her parties frivolous (54). These social events sparked his need for control over his work. His law firm was the only place that Pauline could not interfere, even though she tried to many times. This is seen when Pauline asks Manford not to take a case concerning the Mahatma because of what it could do to their family (57).
Dexter does not always seem to be truthful and faithful to Pauline. His strange interest in Lita is seen. He tells the reader that he begins to see her beauty once she gives birth to her son (some argue this is actually his child) (106). His interest in her was due to the excitement she gave him. “He told himself that it was because one could never be sure what she was up to; speculating on what went on behind that smooth round forehead and those elusive eyes became his most absorbing occupation,” (106).
In addition to Lita, when Dexter goes to Cedarledge with his family, he obviously flirts with a woman named Gladys Toy. It is clear that he also been unfaithful to Pauline with her when he flirts with her while on the golf course. He describes her by saying, “She was a rich armful, and he remembered how splendid he had thought plump rosy women in his youth, before money and fashion imposed their artificial standards,” (231). His unhappiness with the society is forced to be part of is seen through this quote. He tries to escape it in any way he can.