Clothing

The high fashion clothing that Tilly brings to the small town of Dungatar offer the women an opportunity to transform themselves, even if the transformation is only fleeting. Momentarily, their ruthless ambition, jealousy, bigotry and snobbery are hidden beneath Tilly’s couture creations as they enjoy the sensation of having the fittings ‘so that they knew how it felt to be caressed and affluent and they had an inkling of deportment’ (Part 2). Their vanity, however, is insurmountable and their relationships with one another become more destructive. Despite a brief interlude where the high fashion of ‘Paris had made its way to… the rural province’ (Part 2), things return to normal and while the townspeople (the decided villains of Ham’s novel) are dressed comically in Baroque costumes, ironically made by Tilly, she escapes the town dressed in a remodelled ‘white nun’s veiling sent from Spain’ (Part 4), symbolising her righteousness in bringing a well-deserved reprimand to those who wronged her.

The unrefined behaviour of the residents and the ‘few shabby shops’ along the ‘deserted main street’ (Part 3) are illustrated by the stranger who arrives to poach Tilly from the town, shedding a rather unfavourable light on the small town with its out-dated fashions. The fierce competition between tradeswomen in the 1950s upon their return to the workplace is touched on by the immediate rivalry that looms when Una comes to visit Tilly and she reduces Tilly’s talents to ‘sewing… it’s all very simple’ (Part 3). The callous instinct that women have to insult one another’s appearance is ever present in Molly when she insults Una for ‘bare[ing] your[her] teeth and curl[ing] your[her] top lip’ (Part 3) when she smiles. As it turns out, Una’s skills are no match for Tilly’s as Lois finds out when she attends a secret appointment with Tilly to have one of Una’s creations ‘fixed up’ (Part 3).

Clothing Quotes

They the women of Dungatar’ has been renovated, European-touched, advanced to almost avante-garde by Tilly Dunnage. Part 2

The couturiered ladies of Dungatar arrived late and entered the hall at three-minute intervals, poised, their noses aimed at the lights and their mouths creased down. They moved slowly through the gaping guests from Winyerp. Part 2

She [Tilly] prompted them to order new lingerie, and quoted Dorothy Parker – Brevity is the soul of lingerie. She told them about body shape and what complimented theirs and why. She constructed patterns and designs especially for them and warned them that they would need three fittings each, and then she told them they must choose fragrances that reflected the mood of their clothes. Part 2

She [the visiting stranger] wondered how Paris had found its way to the dilapidated confines and neglected torsos of banal housewives in a rural province. Part 2

Macbeth

Illusions to the famous yet ill-fated Shakespearian play of Macbeth increase as the text reaches its climax. In addition to the suspicious concoction of ‘sweet burned scent’ (Part 4) that renders Councillor Pettyman impotent, Molly’s taunts that Tilly would be able to advance her social life if she ‘weren’t always stirring away at your [her] cauldron’ (Part 2) couples with the insult that many within the town see Molly and Tilly as ‘witches’ (Part 3).

The interesting reference to the three witches in Macbeth that serve a dangerous prophecy over the ambitious Scottish soldier foreshadows Tilly’s emotional and intellectual superiority to the other women in town and, therefore, her ability to escape the mire unscathed. In addition to this, Tilly lets it slip that she is familiar with the play by reciting the infamous witches spell of ‘double, double, toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble…’ (Part 4) whereas those that will be acting in the play have yet to read it through.

As self-appointed director, Trudy assigns herself the role of the ill-fated Lady Macbeth, the conniving wife and possibly literature’s most deserving villain. Her unexpected allocation of the role of Macbeth (her on-stage husband) to Lesley Muncan, with the ill-fated role of King Duncan being awarded to William, hints at the possibility that William will soon be cast aside by his selfish wife in favour of Lesley. Predictably, the play is a fiasco and renders the already fractious relationships between the citizens virtually irretrievable, and as Trudy turns mad and the realisation of her character slipping slowly into insanity comes true, she is sedated by the doctor to tame her mania and Mona steps in as her understudy.

Macbeth Quotes

‘Tagetes patula’, said Tilly. ‘They deter white fly from tomato plants, and they’re good for repelling eelworm in roses and potatoes as well. The roots have a component that deadens the detector that triggers eelworm release – numbs it completely.’ (Tilly explaining to Marigold what her flowers will do) Part 4

When they came up thirteen seconds later for Act 2, Banquo and Fleance swept onto the stage to find their audience had vanished. Part 4