Love is the Apple

  08英语一班 黄旖婷

John Galsworthy is one of the most prominent English critical realistic writer and playwright in the 20th century. His well-known medium-length novel The Apple Tree has shown a romantic realistic inclination.

In this novel, Galsworthy tells us the love tragedy between Ashurst and Megan.

The story begins with a silver-wedding anniversary of Frank Ashurt and Stella Halliday. They came to Torquay, where they first met each other. Here inspires Ashurt to memorize a beautiful but painful love he used to have with Megan Davis only a day before his meeting with Stella. Ashurt happened to meet Megan- a Welsh country girl when he and his friend were on his way to another place. Right at the first time meeting Megan- Ashurt was overwhelmed by her natural beauty. Due to the aches in his leg, they decided to stay on the farm of Megan's aunt. On the farm, Ashurt came to like Megan and he also discovered the love at first sight that Megan devoted to him. Under the blossom of the apple tree in spring did Ashurt and Megan exchange vows of love and marriage. The day after, Ashurt decided to come to Torquay to withdraw some money and to buy Megan some new clothes so that they could escape together. Here he met the Hallidays, and he was fascinated by the English atmosphere of this family, he delayed returning to Megan. Slowly, he learned that he could not get married with Megan and it was Stella Halliday who he should get married to. Although being dangled with Megan and remorse, Ashurt did not return and Megan who loved him whole heartedly committed suicide. The last wish of Megan was to be buried under the apple tree. Twenty six years later, Ashurt and his wife, Stella returned there and met the grave of Megan.

It is found that the origin of the tragedy is the unequal capitalist society. Ashurst has dual personality. On one hand, he is selfish, irresponsible, eager to defend for himself and deceives himself as well as others; on the other hand, he indulges himself in pity and chivalry. John Galsworthy had not smashed the trammels of the capitalist system. Through his portrayal of Ashurst’s personality, his limitation revealed. On one hand he had realized the declining capitalist society; on the other hand, he intended to defend his own class. Pity and chivalry were just tools that he used to prettify the bourgeois. He wanted to use aesthetics in the literature to cover the ugly aspect of the bourgeoisie. He was a bourgeois himself.

The paper, on the basis of the previous findings, explores the essence of the bourgeoisie in The Apple Tree. It begins with the writing background of John Galswothy. Then it explores John Galsworthy’s portrayal of Ashurst’s personality, and it analyzes the origin of the tragedy. At last it analyzes the essence of “pity” and “chivalry”, and the romantic flavour shown in the story. It’s hoped that the present study will further study John Galsworthy and The Apple Tree.

   The hero in this novel Ashurst’s love is complicated. He fell in love with a country girl within few days and abandoned her soon as he met his relatively-dignified wife. He was attracted by the country girl’s innocence, seeing something different from groups shared the same class with him, and couldn’t help pushing himself towards her. Statistically, this something is the reason why he left her, that he couldn’t bear the responsibility to bring her out of a lady, that he was afraid of the unhappiness come about as the girl walking into his life. People are easily paying attention to new things, especially things that are contrast to their familiar ones. We can often read in the newspaper that a super star dates with a waitress. Hardly are we excited about these affairs, because we all know about what will happen in later years,that he ends up marrying a conditioned women or another star. The feeling Ashurst had in the country girl is pure, mixed with no other necessary flavor. That’s the feeling we are dying to purse when in dreams. Back in reality, we need to consider a lot other conditions. Luckily he spent some time with his wife Carton when he was about to be drown in his fantasy. Confused about the future, he somewhat regretted of his promise that he would change the country girl’s fate. Ashurst knew that he could also become couples with this well-socialized lady and made the wise choice.

   The country girl Megan’s love is crystal. To our pity, she didn’t make it to spend the rest of her life with the man she loved. Instead, she saw to it that Frank’s life would not be bothered by the past and raised their child alone. I am very impressive with her unselfishness. It reminds me of women I had known through books who demand everything they can get from their ex-beloved ones. I felt ashamed to mention them as they are unable to love others in my opinion.

Megan at the age of seventeen loved Ashurt right at the first time they met on the road. "When I saw you in the road, and you looked at me. The first night I loved you; but I never thought you would want me." Knowing that Ashurt was a Cambridge graduate, Megan to a certain extent must have felt a complex inferiority, and she must have thought that this student would never like a country girl like her.

Being a shy girl, Megan did not declare her love directly to Ashurt, the poor girl only dared to kiss his pillows when she made bed in his room. And when she was caught in the act of "pretty devotion" by Ashurt, "she went so pale, closing her eyes, so that the long, dark lashes lay on her pale cheeks; her hands, too, lay inert at her sides."

The way Megan addressed Ashurt also reveals how inferior she felt towards Ashurt, she called him sir. In the following dialogue between Megan and Ashurt:

"Oh! Megan! Why did you come"" She looked up, hurt, amazed.

"Sir, you asked me to."

"Don't call me 'sir,' my pretty sweet." "What should I be callin" you""

"Frank."

"I could not. Oh, no!"

"But you love me--don't you""

"I could not help lovin' you. I want to be with you--that's all."

"All!"

"I shall die if I can't be with you."

Megan appeared to obey what her lover told her to do without any opposition. The reason for her obedience was her true love that she devoted to her Ashurt. She said she would if she could not be with him. All she needed and dreamed of is to live with him. Like every woman in love, Megan Davis only wanted to spend her life with her lover and sacrifice everything for him. She also took her precious life for granted. It is nothing in comparison with her Ashurt.

Ashurt himself later learned that "It would only be a wild love-time, a troubled, remorseful, difficult time--and then--well, then he would get tired, just because she gave him everything, was so simple, and so trustful, so dewy" and that "she was not of his world, because she was so simple and young and headlong, adoring and defenceless." Discovering that sad fact prevented Ashurt from coming back to Megan, and the poor little girl did not know what to do but to be "walking on the far pathway, in her old skirt and jacket and her tam-o'-shanter, looking up into the faces of the passers-by" and "moving, not with her free country step, but wavering, lost-looking, pitiful-like some little dog which has missed its master and does not know whether to run on, to run back--where to run."

Later, the poor little country girl committed suicide, and her only wish was to be buried under the blossom of the apple tree, which had witnessed their exchanging vows of love and marriage. Until her death, she still loved Frank Ashurt whole-heartedly and with all her emotions and sentiments.

I would like to read you a Greek poem quoted in this story by Galsworthy:

"For mad is the heart of Love,

And gold the gleam of his wing;

And all to the spell thereof

Bend when he makes his spring.

All life that is wild and young

In mountain and wave and stream

All that of earth is sprung,

Or breathes in the red sunbeam;

Yea, and Mankind. O'er all a royal throne,

Cyprian, Cyprian, is thine alone!"

The Greek was right! Megan! Poor little Megan--coming over the hill! Megan under the old apple tree waiting and looking! Megan dead, with beauty printed on her!

The beauty of the girl much increased under the blossom of the apple tree: Because she was all simple Nature and beauty, as much a part of this spring night as was the living blossom. The whiteness of her moonlit face so close to his, the faint pink of her opened lips, had the living unearthly beauty of the apple blossom.          

Galsworthy repeatedly made the readers associate Megan with Nature. May he want us to consider her as a part of a peaceful nature? This reveals the nature of simplicity of Megan, she belonged to the type of person who could only live in nature, and will be unable to live when transplanted her to a great town. Her very simplicity and lack of knowledge would soon make her a plaything, nothing else in such places. This was learned by Ashurt only when he spent time with the Hallidays and contemplating about their relationship.