Chapter 52: Captivity: The First Day

Summary

     I like Milady tremendously, but I took a look at the chapter list and alas! What did I see? I saw five whole chapters dedicated to what Milady does in captivity. Dumas, you better make this good. Milady, in her Armchair of Angst, reflects on her options for escape. At first, she considers using tools to dig her way out or break out physically. Then, however, Dumas gets all sexist and says that of course Milady can’t do that, silly, she’s a woman! And women are frail! He goes on to lament that nature put a man-like soul in a weak, womanly body. Milady decides that to escape, she will get her guard, Mr. Felton, on her side. She begins by pretending to have fainted when he enters, to gain sympathy. He is wary of her, and offers to send for a physician when she comes to. She refuses the offer, and continues to attempt to gain his sympathy by feigning weakness. The ploy is foiled when Lord de Winter comes in, sees right through her fake malady, and points it out maliciously to Mr. Felton. He cruelly makes fun of her a little more. Mr. Felton seems disgusted by Milady’s trickery, and says that he was wrong about her. I feel plenty of second-hand embarrassment for Milady’s failure, but we learn that she does not despair – she uses this failed tactic to her advantage. She scopes out Mr. Felton during his visits, and astutely notes his phrasing: ‘I was wrong,’ he said. That means that he has sympathy for her, and is a virtuous young man.

Reaction

     While Dumas’s sexism is rather annoying to read, at least we all know that Milady doesn’t agree with him. She knows that women are capable – remember her ‘do you take me for half a woman’ line? I seriously doubt that Milady would underestimate her own strength and resourcefulness just based on the fact that she is a woman. That’s why her decision to not physically break out of her prison and instead emotionally manipulate Mr. Felton is a good idea. First of all, she is being guarded all day – how can she break out? Second, Milady is very sharp and excellent at reading people. It makes sense that she would use her best skills to free herself. While her fainting and all was painful because it failed so badly, she now is at an advantage because she forced Mr. Felton to interact with her and learned that he has some sympathy for her. It might be interesting to see how Milady makes Mr. Felton completely switch allegiances despite his wariness of her.

     My favorite line is when Dumas calls Lord de Winter Milady’s “fraternal and terrible jailer.” It’s just so delightfully weird!