by Louisa May Alcott
Art of Tableaux in The Inheritance
I am leading a discussion of this book in my book group, so I’m posting some stuff here about it.
I noticed the game of tableaux that the characters were playing was a good way to explore the different relationships and conflicts between them. Here is an article about the tableau vivant in literature. I didn’t remember that Mr. Rochester plays the same game with Miss Ingram in Jane Eyre. And it’s also interesting that Alcott uses this same game again to explore her characters and themes in a later story, “Behind a Mask: or A Woman’s Power”.
I tried to find some of the art the characters in The Inheritance recreate, and here’s what I could find (the name above each picture is a link to background information about what is happening in that image):
Lord Leicester and Amy Robsart
While searching for the above art on the internet, I found the following work of art and at first thought it was a painting of Leicester and Amy Robsart. It matches the description of her leaning on his bosom and her hair being let down. However, it’s a painting based on a poem by Robert Browning. I decided to include it here, because it looks like a painting someone would recreate with tableau vivant.
WoW! This is amazing- so much detail and drama. I can see why this would be an incredible game-who needs TV? The costumes must have been beautiful or at least imaginative. A picture is worth a thousand thoughts.
Jennifer,
I think you’re right. When I read this scene in the book, I really wanted to understand what was going on – why were the characters offended or inspired by the different roles and people portraying them?
I still find it hard to believe Alcott wrote this when she was seventeen. This one scene alone shows how well acquainted she was with literature and art. I guess before so much television, movies, and glossy magazines, these were the stories and images everyone knew about. Plus she was pals with Thoreau, Emerson, and Hawthorne. That couldn’t have hurt