Essay Questions

Is Eugenia a willing participant in the incestuous relationship with Edgar?

Eugenia claims that she has tried on multiple occasions to end her relationship with her brother but that he will not allow her to do so. It is possible that this claim is true; after all, Edgar is a known rapist, whom William has caught raping a young servant girl, and he is a bully, who forces her to say that the rape is consensual sex. It is not an enormous stretch to imagine that he might claim the same thing about his sister as well.

However, Eugenia is in a far more advantageous and powerful position than a teenage servant and it would not be impossible for her to escape her brother. She could have informed her father about the relationship. She could have left the family home with her fiance, or with William, but chose not to. Protesting about the relationship is probably Eugenia's way of pretending to herself that she is not the instigator nor a willing participant, but a victim, which also makes her feel slightly less guilty about the suicide of her fiance.

What does the novel tell us about the nature of Victorian high society?

The Alabasters are an upper class family with both money and influence. They are seen as the leaders of the village and are well liked and respected for their position. They appear to be a friendly, upstanding family, who value each other, their staff and also the people in the community they live in.

In reality, they are harboring a sexual predator behind their walls. They are innately snobbish, and spoil Edgar to such an extent that he is allowed to get away with rape. Behind the propriety is a sexual deviant engaged in a sexual relationship with his sister.

This speaks volumes about high society in the Victorian era, as it was not the character or behavior that a person really had that was important but what they were seen to be like or to do. Appearances were the most important part of Victorian society and consequently all manner of debauchery went on behind closed doors.