59 pages • 1 hour read
Shrines of Gaiety
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Themes
The Corrupting and Dangerous Nature of Ambition
Content Warning: The following section of the guide discusses sexual assault, murder, and capital punishment.
The book reveals the corrupting nature of ambition through various characters, most notably Maddox and Oakes. Both men are greedy and aren’t satisfied with the payouts they get from Nellie, so they decide to take down her empire. Their greed and ambition result in their ruin. Maddox is stabbed to death, while Oakes is framed for Maddox’s murder and hanged. These two characters get the harshest punishment for their ambitions because they go to the most harmful measures to fulfill them—for example, by organizing gang fights, fires, and murders at Nellie’s clubs. Other characters portray the corrupting nature of ambition, but—since they don’t go to such dangerous lengths to achieve their dreams—they are spared the terrible fates of Maddox and Oakes.
Nellie is another character who lets her ambition lead her to immoral acts. The primary crime that Nellie commits is theft: It’s by stealing a dead woman’s jewels that she’s able to launch her empire of clubs. This comes back to haunt Nellie in the form of Azzopardi, seeking vengeance for the stolen goods. Nellie realizes that “[h]e was after revenge” (379). While Nellie doesn’t express regret for the theft, she seems haunted by other regrets, notably the disposal of Maud’s body in the Thames. Nellie is literally haunted by Maud’s ghost throughout the book, and Maud, as the representation of Nellie’s moral standards, externalizes the sense of corruption and danger that comes of Nellie’s ambition.
Freda likewise is a cautionary tale of the dangers of ambition. Her dreams are even more innocent than those of Nellie—to “dance on the stage” (73). Although Freda’s ambitions are wholesome and don’t hurt anybody, they’re still risky. Furthermore, due to the ways in which those around her pursue their own ambitions, she ends up in dangerous situations in London repeatedly. Ultimately, Freda’s glittering dreams are unrealized. While the author spares Freda her life, she also doesn’t reward the girl’s ambitions: Freda dies a pub owner, not the “star” she dreamed of being. This narrative arc is both anti-climactic and yet safe—Atkinson has shown the reader several possible parallel narratives through the women found dead in the Thames.
Finally, there’s Ramsay. Like Freda, Ramsay’s dreams are fairly innocent: All he wants is to become a famous author. However, Ramsay’s ambition drives him to commit an act of theft comparable to that of his mother: He steals Vivian Quinn’s manuscript after Vivian dies and passes it off as his own. However, his stolen book proves only moderately successful and doesn’t launch the fabulous author career Vivian had hoped for. Ramsay never manages to achieve his aspirations of building a name for himself beyond his mother’s shadows. Like Freda, his narrative ends with an anti-climax.
Expectations and Subversions of Gender Roles
The book features multiple female characters who subvert typical gender norms of the 1920s. First, there’s Nellie. As a single mother, she raises a nightclub empire and six children on her own. Nellie faces many male threats throughout the book—Frobisher, Azzopardi, Maddox, Oakes—and she outsmarts and overcomes them all. In the end, the only thing that can ruin her is a macroeconomic force stronger than her or any person: the 1929 financial crash.
Gwendolen is another example of a strong female character who rejects the help of men around her. For example, when Niven tries to pay for Gwendolen’s hotel room, she rejects the offer. Furthermore, her nursing background moves from beyond the accepted realm of the battlefield into the criminal violence of Nellie’s clubs when she helps Aldo. It’s worth noting that Gwendolen and Nellie are able to be so self-sufficient because they have financial means. Nellie has her clubs, and Gwendolen has the trust left her by her father. The novel hence explores the intersectionality of gender and class—class being another major theme in the book. A woman without access to these financial resources might not be so independent.
Freda is an interesting counterpoint to this argument. Freda experiences homelessness and is penniless at one point and resorts to dancing in Nellie’s clubs. She is on the verge of being swallowed up by London’s gritty underworld when Oakes connects her with a sex work ring. However, Freda insists on turning down the offer and maintains her independence (and safety). She subverts the idea that “lost girls” like her are at the whim of corrupt men and finds her own path.
The subversion of gender roles is not limited to female characters; it is also displayed by Ramsay whose obituary highlights the fame of his mother rather than the other way around. Furthering this theme are the various male characters who either try to manipulate the women or help them. Maddox and Oakes are the prime example, as they target at-risk girls and lure them into sex work. Atkinson highlights the gendered nature of their crimes when Maddox is stabbed to death by a room full of women. Frobisher, meanwhile, is intent on helping women. His attempts to be the savior build upon gendered tropes of the white knight and damsel in distress, which Gwendolen subverts by turning away from any help Frobisher might offer.
The Arbitrary Nature of Social Classes
Social class is addressed repeatedly throughout the book, starting with the very first page. The author shows a group of people of all different classes watching Nellie’s release from prison. The oddity of this mingling is noted by the newspaper boy, who finds it odd that the wealthy “toffs” (3) are rubbing elbows with the “poor” people to witness the event. The fact that this strange event attracts all classes wanting entertainment undermines the myth that a person’s social class is anything but arbitrary.
The desire for entertainment and fun also helps to articulate the book’s argument that social classes are a flawed construct. The ultimate example is the parties that the “Bright Young Things” attend (82). Unlike the public gathering outside Holloway, Ramsay reflects on the other types of wild parties thrown behind closed doors in large mansions—this point highlights that the “gaiety” of the novel’s title is reserved for a select few. These few are the most powerful and rich people of London at that time, yet Atkinson paints them as foolish and laughable with ridiculous diversions.
The arbitrary nature of social classes is also seen in Nellie’s aspirations for her daughters. She hopes that Betty and Shirley will marry into the aristocracy so that the Cokers can also have noble titles. This again shows the tenuous and arbitrary nature of class. Atkinson employs parody again to surround the aristocracy in a sense of ridiculousness when the reader learns that Betty and Shirley do marry aristocrats, only to get divorced.
It's often the working characters who directly address class issues. As well as the workmen who dismiss “posh” Ramsay in Chapter 22, a scullery maid at the Cokers’ house confronts Ramsay for implying that her “people” are a “different breed,” which draws attention to the similarities between the two aside from the circumstances of birth and fortune.
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By Kate Atkinson
