Charles Dickens' novel Dombey and Son shows the patriarch Mr. Dombey in his obvious and complete disappointment with his daughter. Florence, as Mr. Dombey's only surviving heir, has no value to him, which he outwardly acknowledges, yet Florence still pines for his affection and will do anything to earn it, blaming herself for the lack of reciprocity. Other motherless daughters play similar roles in Dickens' books, such as Amy in Little Dorrit and Estella in Great Expectations. These daughters live under the harsh pressure of expectations and obligations from their parents or other families, which interfere with their autonomy and ability to fully grow into women. I argue that this stems from an unresolved pattern of triangular desire, as explained by Ren? Girard. Once Dickens has solved this problem, however, if he chooses to do so, the women in his stories will finally be able to emerge on their own, with less oppression, emerging even better as people of their childhood, or pseudo-childhood, which is often the characteristic principal. case. Neither quite children nor quite adults, these dynamic female characters strive for autonomy while maintaining a type of authority that is unique to their positions. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Florence is often shown in Dombey and Son as an afterthought in Mr. Dombey's mind, often through hanging quotes, which show his indifferent nature towards her and his inability to do anything about it, despite his attempts. The first time it is represented through suspended quotation occurs in a small example of pseudo-indirect speech; this is also the first time she is mentioned in the novel: “They had been married ten years, and to the present day when Mr. Dombey sat jingling and rattling his heavy gold chain in the great arm-chair by the side of the bed , had had no problems,” begins the narrator in a formal and arrogant Dombey tone. This is immediately followed by a new paragraph with the hanging quote starting as the end of the previous paragraph's sentence: – To talk about; no one worth mentioning There had been a girl about six years ago, and the little girl, who had crept into the room unnoticed, was now crouching shyly, in a corner where she could see her mother's face. But what was a girl to Dombey and Son! In the capital of the name and dignity of the House, such a child was simply a vile coin that could not be invested – a bad boy – nothing more (Dickens 13)This passage is incredibly indicative of Florence's role in the novel. She is not "watched" by her great father, but continues to "crouch shyly", wanting to be in the same room as her parents but at the same time scared. The striking metaphor of Florence as a vile piece of coin in Mr. Dombey's eyes has an important meaning and shows his fate throughout the novel; next to all the women in Dombey and Son who can be sold and bought, like Edith and Alice, and even the characters in other Dickens novels who are sold off as women, like Estella in Great Expectations, Florence is useless to her father and incapable to do it. find a place. This leaves her completely alone with no one else wanting or needing her. Without a direct, explicit economic purpose, Florence practically does not exist. She longs to be treated like other women who may be invested in marriage, motherhood, and social importance, but instead is left completely alone, with no one tocan trade his way to love. This inability for Florence to achieve anything in the only way her father modeled how to achieve something – economically – forces Florence into a passionate, obsessive, longing desire for anything resembling love from her father. Florence Dombey, from the very early stages of her life, was rejected by her father and overshadowed by her brother, even before her brother was born. Because she is of no use to him as a successor to the surname, especially Dombey and Son, she is not loved by him with the limited means he understands. Paul, on the other hand, is valued solely for his potential as a business partner. “That the hope of giving birth to a new partner in such a house, could not fail to awaken a glorious and stimulating ambition […]” (Dickens 12) contrasts sharply with Dombey's idea of ​​Florence as useless and essentially non-existent. “'The girls,' said Mr. Dombey, 'have nothing to do with Dombey and Son […]'” (Dickens 153). Instead of recognizing this exclusion, Florence sees it as her task to change Mr. Dombey's mind and earn his place, which, according to the host, is simply impossible for a humble girl like her to do; his efforts are futile. Florence still sees that Mr. Dombey is capable of loving women and children, or at least doing so on the surface, and so sees the creation of a triangle of desire built on the models of her father's. relationship with Paul and Edith. Triangles of desire based on the child-parent relationship can be very strong, according to Girard, especially when the object of desire (the parent) is not mutual in affection. He uses the example of Swann's Way by Marcel Proust: “The child enjoys, in his universe, both happiness and peace. But this universe is already under threat. When the mother refuses a kiss to her son, she already plays the double role characteristic of internal mediation: she is at the same time the instigator of desire and the implacable guardian who prohibits its realization” (Girard 35). Unknowingly, therefore, by refusing to interact with Florence and naturally being her father, Mr. Dombey is also both an “instigator” of Florence's desire and the one who blocks its fulfillment. Of course, other blocks also appear later in the novel, such as Edith. According to Girard, these models of triangular desire are based on "internal mediation", when the emotional distance between the two spheres of relationship (the one sought and the one that already exists) is very small. This means that the two spheres can easily overlap and influence each other greatly, exerting significant influence on these relationships (Girard 9). Florence even begs Edith to show her how to earn love: “[…] that I am not a favorite daughter, mother. I never have been. I never knew how to be. I lost my way and had no one to show me. Oh, let me learn from you how to become dearer to dad. Teach me! you, who can do so well!” (Dickens 550). This suspended quote brings out the idea of ​​the original from the first chapter of the book. Previously, Mr. Dombey and the narrator showed how inconsistent Florence is with rethinking a quote. Now Florence admits to herself that she is an afterthought with the same kind of structure and hesitant language, starting mid-sentence and appearing mild. Much more can be deduced from this passage, as Florence admits to feeling the loss of her mother in her life, if only to have a role model to show her proper loving relationships. Schor states: "It is a testament to Florence's lack of worldliness (and how little her life has shown her of true love) that she imagines she can learn from Edith how to please her father – that her 'beautiful mother' can give her the key toWIN. the affection he has spent his life trying to earn” (55). Edith recognizes the loss of Florence and her position as a child without a mother's love. "'Let me teach you to love, or be loved, heaven forbid!' said Edith. “If you could teach me, it would be better; but it is too late.” (Dickens 550). of Florence and also had a poor role model to look up to, hence her knowing warning to Floy. Learning more about Edith from the rest of the novel, one can deduce that Edith represents many of Dickens' daughter characters, particularly Estella in Grandi hopes, as she reveals in her heated statement to Carker. “I am a woman,” she said, addressing him instead “who from her very childhood has been shamed and tempered. I have been offered and rejected, endured and valued, until my own soul didn't get sick. I didn't have a realization or a grace that could be a value, as if the common crier had proclaimed it in the streets. My poor, proud friends, they looked and approved; it's off in my chest. There isn't one I care about like I could care about a dog. I am alone in the world, remembering well what an empty world it has been for me, and what an empty part I myself have been. You know it, and you know that my fame with it has no value for me [...] Become too indifferent for any opposition other than indifference, to the daily work of the hands that had molded me to his; and knowing that my marriage would at least prevent them from treating me up and down; I allowed myself to be sold, as sadly as any halter-necked woman is sold in any market […]” (Dickens 823) Edith's profound objectification and commodification exemplifies, and perhaps magnifies and exaggerates, the situations of Dickens's daughters . These women are not people with human needs and desires; they are objects created to perform tasks, marry, stay away, or perform for the benefit of someone else. This passage also shows how continuous the torment is for these women, remaining in the past participle and laboriously drawing on every detail. Parallels can be seen between Edith and Estella, in particular, as Estella states that she too is as "empty" as Edith with the strings "dead in [her] chest", stating: "[...] I have no heart - if this has something to do with my memory […] I have no softness there, no – sympathy – feeling – nonsense” (Great Expectations 237). Autonomy is not present in these girls' childhood, but, as Edith becomes bitter and cold, Dickens' daughters mostly receive a happy ending with heavy doses of moral goodness, wish fulfillment and reparation, even partially in the case of the empty-hearted Estella. Without characters like Edith, however, who act as catalysts, this happy ending it would not be possible. For Florence in particular, Edith creates a new possibility of being independent, but Florence does not see this. Florence wants to be even more commodified than she is, so she is worth something to her father. While believing that this commodification will free her and will win her love, in reality Dickens' daughters demonstrate that it limits her movements even more. These daughters rarely get what they want in their original triangles; their contribution is considered unnecessary as the only triangles inserted into the narrative action are those regarding these women as commodities, or, in Ren? Girard's language, very simply, “objects”. In this way, Florence is involved in several effective triangles of desire, as described by Ren? Girard, based on the commodity of love. It is essentially a love withoutvalue, emptiness and emptiness, but it is the appearance of this love in which, due to its form, all parties involved are above all interested. Edith's entry into the Dombey family transforms Florence's desire for a loving father from a desire based on the relationship patterns she has seen, to a desire based on rivals, with Edith at the center. Girard explains this role-exchange phenomenon as necessary to the triangle of desire itself. He says: “we are always faced with two conflicting desires. The mediator can no longer fulfill his role as a model without also acting or appearing to act as an obstacle” (Girard 7). This can also be explained by the fact that previous desire triangles were based on “intermediation”, and therefore allowed the two relationships to have a significant impact on each other, allowing for a volatile dynamic. When Mr. Dombey asks Edith to stop lavishing affection on his daughter (Dickens 647), he knowingly or unknowingly creates a multidirectional triangle of desire. Edith serves as a rival for Florence's affection for her father. Mr. Dombey serves as a rival to Florence's desire for Edith's love. Mr. Dombey acts as a rival for Edith's affection towards Florence. Florence serves as a rival for Mr. Dombey's lack of Edith. Perhaps the most interesting thing in these triangles is the third, in which Florence serves as a rival to Dombey's acquisition of Edith. Dombey never mentions Florence as a rival, but it is clear that he is jealous of Florence and Edith's relationship, telling her, through Mr. Carker, "It will please you to tell her that your display of devotion to my daughter is distasteful to her." Me. Chances are you'll get noticed. It is likely to cause people to contrast Mrs Dombey in her relation to my daughter, with Mrs Dombey in her relation to me” Dickens 647). Florence clearly plays a very heavy role in the relationship between Edith and Mr. Dombey due to her jealousy of Edith's attention. According to Girard, “jealousy and envy imply a third presence: object, subject and third person towards which jealousy or envy is directed. […] Like all victims of internal mediation, the jealous person is easily convinced that his desire is spontaneous, that is, it is deeply rooted in the object and in this object alone” (Girard 12). Mr. Dombey's jealousy of Florence immediately gives her an abundant amount of power, but his refusal to admit it directly disenfranchises her once again. Fortunately, however, these triangles do not last long after Dombey forbids Edith's interaction with Florence. When Edith leaves Mr. Dombey and Florence follows her, these triangles are broken. Edith chooses herself over helping Florence, and Florence chooses Edith over her father's unrequited love. Does this finally open up the opportunity for Florence to fully grow and develop real attractions and affections as a woman, rather than a child, breaking out of Ren's susceptibility? Girard states that children have this triangular desire. Girard quotes Puerile, saying, “Childhood is the natural state in which the ability to imagine oneself differently is most evident” (Girard 36). Florence finally comes out of this different image of herself and accepts herself for who she is; become a go-getter instead of a victim of unrequited love and desire. She is finally able to marry Walter without hesitation or question of loyalty to her father's ideals. The reader sees Florence's first step of autonomy occur during her proposal to Walter. “If you will take me for your wife, Walter, I will love you dearly. If you let me go with you, Walter, I will go to the end of the world without fear. I can't give up anything for you: I have nothing to resign myself to andno one to abandon; but all my love and life will be dedicated to you, and with my last breath I will call forth your name to God if I have sense and memory left” (Dickens 770). Florence's proposal is shocking first and foremost because she chooses to take the first step; instead of waiting for something to happen to her, she searches for love herself, something she learned from her difficult relationship with her father. Secondly, Florence is keen to demonstrate that she has nothing to give him; he sacrificed his childhood in bitter solitude to search for love. Not only does she now have nothing materially or monetarily to give, but she will no longer sacrifice respect or autonomy for love, a big step for Florence and a lesson she may have learned from the strong, independent Edith. It is because Edith gave up respect that she became bitter and cold, as she later admitted to Carker: “[…] the struggle I had had for a long time with something other than respect for my good, fame – it was I know not what – perhaps the 'hold on to that last retreat – it was over. That night, and then, I abandoned everything except passion and resentment” (Dickens 824). Florence, having never been commodified as Edith was, is not forced to give up respect, but she also now recognizes that she does not want to do so. Edith's life ends unhappily, and Florence, now seeing the potential for happiness ahead of her, understands that following Edith's path and giving up her self-respect will take all of that away, but she also understands what kinds of things to sacrifice. From the moment Florence longed to distance herself from the person she is, she understands compromise and sacrifice, but this now manifests in a healthy way after seeing how Edith may have abused these things. According to Schor, “the speech [Florence's proposal] provides a category of virtues that Florence is here to represent, and that separate her from Edith: she is patient, she is good, she loves 'dear.' Being "nothing" pays off in this moment, because Florence (unlike Edith) has "nothing to resign." However, in Florence, as in its magical purse, nothing will ever be lost and the end of the world will not bring fear. The more Florence gives away, according to logic, the more it has; the more he loves, the more he deserves love; the more she is forgotten, the more she will remember” (60). While Florence's possession of nothing may show her as a disenfranchised character that she lacks, it actually gives her power in this situation. However, Dickens takes the opportunity to end Florence's relationship with her father quite clearly at the end. As Mr. Dombey's company goes bankrupt and Mr. Dombey himself falls into ruin, he remembers the love he lost with Florence and the potential for non-material happiness their relationship could have been. This shows how influential even a girl without freedom can be. However, it is only when Florence reaches a level of autonomy suitable for bearing the name Dombey that she can become admirable in her father's mind, especially as a way out of her state of destitution. Before escaping, "Florence strove so hard to replace a little Dombey, that her fortitude and perseverance might almost have earned her the free right to bear the name itself" (Dickens 187), but she simply was not Enough; she couldn't escape the idea in Dombey's head that she was useless, uninvestable base currency. So it invests itself. When she demonstrates that she is not needy, desperate, or lacking in affection, but rather that she is independent and confident, she is accepted by her father and everyone else as someone who can reasonably care for him. Mrs. Chick chastised Florence for her wish, saying, "You will never be a Dombey, my dear child" (Dickens 155)!, and at this point one wonders what makes Dombey, and what exactly are the.