Posted by Peter H on August 31, 2007 at 21:13:02 from 81.155.57.102 user Peter_H.
In Reply to: Re: The 'Miss Turner' slur (was The 'Miss Nancy' enigma posted by Pam Adams on August 31, 2007 at 19:25:42:
Pam - many thanks for your take on the G.A. You make a good point when you point out that in Picts & Martyrs we get Dorothea's views on the G.A. rather than the Amazons', and it makes a difference. Dorothea is at first surprised by the degree of concern shown by Billy and Cook and the Amazons over the G.A.'s disappearance, and she realises that the G.A. is actually a human being and a family member, and not just an ogre. The dialogue aboard Scarab is quite poignant and beautifully written.
We know also from PM that the G.A. is a lonely figure . Nancy says that 'everybody she [the G.A.] used to know here has gone except Miss Thornton at Crag Gill and she had a row with her years ago. They haven't been on speaking terms for years.' I wonder what 'gone' means here - moved away? died? Suffice to say that the G.A. had or has only two friends that we know about - both spinsters - Miss Thornton and Miss Huskisson. Did they both share Miss Turner's rigid attitudes? Could the G.A. only really communicate with women who, like her, had probably never had a man? Did Maria Turner really like men at all? Could that be why she wished to 'feminise' the Amazons?
I find Maria Turner rather an intriguing character and I wish we knew more about her earlier life. I agree that she is in the tradition of the 'Bad Fairy' in children's fiction.