I have been on holiday so am catching up late with
this strand, but was very interested to see everyone else's comments. I
have to say that I do believe that RK intended the sexual element. It is
unusual in his writings, but not really unique - think of the similarly oblique
but clear way he handles sexual issues in Kim.
I did have one other idea about Mary
Postgate, which unfortunately didn't occur to me until after my last
course. I wondered whether at another level, Mary represents a change in
the psyche of England itself: caught up in war fever, filled with dangerous but
apparently justified hatred, revelling in the the thought of enemy
suffering. ( Like the Sun's Gotcha headline in more recent
times.) I know RK himself felt like that, particularly after John's death,
but his 'daemon' was always capable of coming up with something totally alien to
his considered opinions. What do other people think?
Alethea Amsden
