Harriet Marwood is the
quintessential dominant woman. She is given charge of a boy in
Victorian England to supervise and educate. This comes about after
the boys mother died. It is decided that 14 year old Richard Lovel
is too much of a handful to be raised by his father alone. Or
rather, Benjamin's lack of supervision resulted in his own hand being
filled far to often due to his 'vile habit' of constant self abuse.
Following the advice of his mistress, Richard's father employees
Harriet Marwood to set the boy straight and turn him from a timid,
passive, frail boy into a man.
Harriet quickly adopts
corporeal punishment as her chosen method of control:
Page
49 - ... and old oak had lost its grim and surly character, and the
funeral black leather armchair, on which Richard had had so often to
kneel, his loins bared to receive the cane or ruler at the hands of
his strict governess, had an air of dullness and respectability. The
boy had just passed his sixteenth birthday. During the winter he had
grown taller and gained some weight, but it was noticeable that the
effeminacy of his appearance had increased also. Moreover, if his
figure was still slim, his thighs.and
loins had taken on a further breadth, an amplitude which was
emphasised by the close fit of the Eton jacket and trousers he still
wore. Since Harriet Marwood had definitively adopted the method of
corporal punishment to bring him to her idea of perfection, — the
end to which she was passionately devoted — scarcely a day had gone
by without her having had recourse to the cane...[and then]...I
did not know we should have occasion for the whipping-harness quite
so soon, Richard," she said quietly. "Indeed, I had hoped
it would not be needed for a long time. But your conduct has shown me
that I must take the most extreme measures. You have disappointed me
more than I can say . . ." The note of reproach in her voice
affected him even more painfully than the prospect of further
chastisement. A great sob of anguish rose in his breast, and falling
on his knees before her he burst into tears....
Her methods lead to
remarkable events far beyond what she imagined. Poor Richard is
confused by his sensual attraction to Harriet and the constant
whippings and unbearable humiliation he suffers as his school friends
learn of his precarious home life and predictably mock him in
response. Indeed Harriet flaunts her control over him in public,
right in front of the girls from his class and others who come into
the picture. There is a memorable beach scene at which Richard meets his girlfriend while Harriet escorts him. Richard fails so miserably at his
swimming lessons as his girl friend, Alicia, and her two companions
watch from the beach, he is taken by Harriet into the dressing room
to be soundly reprimanded for his attitude.
Page 219 "governess and pupil entered
the bathing machine and the door closed behind them...The trio
outside, drawn as if by some spell to the little building which had
been so unexpectedly pressed into service..."
As his whipping proceeds Richard begins to
cry out in pain ever more shamelessly, all the while Alicia stands
right outside until the door opens and Richard emerges into the
bright sunlight. Of course Alicia is astonished.
"She stared at him in dismay,
still half unable to believe the shameful sight. 'Why Richard!' she
cried. 'How could you--how could you let'...She was unable to finish
her question. All at once she was obliged to suppress a hysterical
inclination to laugh. Richard stood before her in silence, gasping
at the intensity of his misery. And then suddenly, added to his
awareness of the marks on his loins and his recollection of the
cries, she gave way to her impulse and burst into wild laughter."
