A later update this week because my friend Penny and I just got back from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. It’s wonderful going to the theater with a good friend who’s also a writer. Between performances we walked, shopped, lingered over meals at favorite restaurants, and analyzed the plays.
We saw a wonderful mix of plays. One favorite was Equivocation, a world premiere by Bill Cain in which William Shakespeare is commissioned (or rather commanded by King James’s right-hand man Robert Cecil) to write a play about the Guy Fawkes gunpowder plot. A brilliant, layered play about politics, writing, family–and theater. Another surprise favorite was Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man. When Penny and I first heard OSF was doing The Music Man, we were a bit skeptical about a Broadway musical mixed in with OSF’s usual blend of Shakespeare, modern and older classics, and edgy new plays. We left the theater completely entranced. It was a wonderful, clever production that brought out how River City, Iowa, is changed by musical con man Harold Hill and how Harold Hill is equally changed by River City and its inhabitants.
Particularly Marian Paroo, the town librarian. The romance at the heart of The Music Man is delicate and heart warming. Con man Harold Hill who is looking for a “sadder but wiser girl” and librarian Marian Paroo who is waiting for her “white knight” seem complete opposites and yet you root for them to get together. More than that, you believe in their happy ending. Perhaps because, as Penny and I discussed, while Marian and Harold are both misjudged by those round them, they see each other with surprising clarity. Marian falls in love with Harold knowing he’s lied about his past. Harold sees past Marian’s frosty demeanor. Meredith Wilson’s clever lyrics point to the fact that this seemingly mismatched couple may have more in common than one thinks. In the song “The Sadder but Wiser Girl,” Harold refers to The Scarlet Letter and the goddess Diana. He may be the most well-read person in River City next to Marian, who shocks the town by reading Chaucer, Rabelais, and Balzac. And musically, their two signature solos, “Goodnight My Someone” and “Seventy-six Trombones” have the same melody.
This got me thinking about other favorite mismatched literary couples who are soulmates under the skin. Such as Beatrice and Benedick from Much Ado About Nothing (which OSF is doing later this year). Despite their war of words Benedick believes Beatrice without question when she swears to her cousin Hero’s innocence. Or Mulder and Scully who begin as skeptic and believer but become each other’s touchstone. Or in a different way Arthur Clenham and Amy Dorrit (I came home to watch the last episode of Little Dorrit). In their case the apparent mismatch isn’t personality it’s age and circumstance, which prevent Arthur from seeing Amy’s feelings for him or acknowledging his own for her.
Mélanie goes into her marriage to Charles knowing they are an impossible mismatch in ideology, loyalties, background, and life experiences. Yet when she realizes she loves him it’s because “though he might not know her true name or any details of her life, he understand her as no one else ever had”.
Do you like stories about mismatched couples? What does it take for you to believe they have a chance to be happy? Did you find Little Dorrit as engrossing as I did?
Inspired by fabulous theater, and particularly the scenes among the acting company in Equivocation, I wrote this week’s Fraser Correspondence addition as Simon’s update to David on the production he’s staging in Edinburgh.
Tracy Grant - Novelist 
April 29, 2009 at 2:15 am
I do enjoy reading about mismatched couples but I think there has to be some underlying quality that they have in common to make it seem possible. Some examples I can think of are; Maddy and the Duke of Jervaulx in Flowers from the Storm, Harriet Vane and Peter Wimsey, Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes. All of them come from different worlds but there is some quality that they share.
Rats, missed Little Dorrit but I saw the DVD and am tempted!
April 29, 2009 at 5:45 am
Totally agree, Donna. What I find compelling is the sense that the mismatched couple are soul mates under the skin. That’s what gave the romance in “The Music Man” it’s heart tug (and the production we saw really brought it out), and why I realized touches like the songs they each sing have the same melody (disguised by tempo) work so well.
Do try “Little Dorrit” on DVD. And also see if you can get the 1988 version directed by Christine Edzard with Alec Guiness and Derek Jacobi and a lot of other wonderful actors. Both that version are the current one are wonderfully cast.
Speaking of Holmes and Russell (talk about a case of it being clear from the start that they’re soul mates without the words ever being used), I just bought “The Language of Bees” today and am about to start reading it…
April 30, 2009 at 1:04 am
I have “The Language of Bees” on my TBR pile and it is almost to the top!! Interesting that the first book in the series was The Beekeeper’s Apprentice.”
Will try out ‘Little Dorrit.”
April 30, 2009 at 5:07 am
Strangely enough, I’ve never thought of Beatrice and Benedick as “mismatched.” Even when they’re at odds, they seem so much alike: both witty, stubborn, independent, and fiercely loyal. I’ve come to wonder if the friction between them sprang from their similarities rather than their differences: two strong-willed people unwilling to compromise. And there is that hint in canon that they once cared for each other deeply, that Beatrice gave Benedick “a double heart for his single one.” We don’t know exactly how that first foray into romance ended, but given the personalities involved, I’m sure it was stormily. One of the many things I like about “Much Ado About Nothing” is that, in respect to B&B, it’s a second-chance-at-love story–one of my favorite romantic tropes.
Harold and Marian are certainly a good example of seemingly mismatched people who discover similarities below the surface. I’ll also put in a word for secret pen pals Georg and Amalia from “She Loves Me,” who think that they detest each other and have nothing in common–and are really soulmates. Then, to go back to classic lit, there are Jane and Rochester, who couldn’t be more different–and yet Rochester accepts Jane as his equal, dismissing worldly considerations of rank and fortune as immaterial compared to their shared rapport.
One of my favorite historical writers, Winston Graham, created two wonderful “mismatched” pairs: Ross Poldark, the intense, brooding Cornish mine owner, and Demelza Carne, the earthy, vivacious miner’s daughter, and their closest friends, Dwight Enys–the earnest, dedicated doctor–and Caroline Penvenen, the flippant, worldly heiress. Both relationships succeed against formidable odds, partly because the couple rubs off on each other over the years, but also because each comes to recognize that the other is his or her perfect complement, like ying and yang.
April 30, 2009 at 6:13 am
Do let me know what you think of “The Language of Bees,” Donna! I’d love to be able to curl up with a cup of tea and devour it in one sitting but just having returned from vacation unfortunately there are other calls on my time :-). “Little Dorrit” is definitely worth it.
April 30, 2009 at 6:22 am
Very good point about Beatrice and Benedick, Stephanie. I actually hesitated over including them. I think they qualify as mismatched in that they are two people who claim to detest each other, yet I agree they are very similar in many ways. I love the hints in the text that they are ex-lovers, which adds a lot of richness to the story. I’m excited to see how they play it at OSF this summer (from the notes I’ve read, it sounds as though they’re definitely playing up the ex-lovers angle). Second chances at love are one of my favorite tropes as well. A future blog perhaps…
I love your other examples. “She Loves Me” is one of my favorite musicals (I always play it at the holidays when I’m trimming the tree). Interestingly, OSF is doing it next season. I’m really excited to see it. I keep wishing the wonderful British television version from the 80s would show up on DVD.
Speaking of British television, I *love* “Poldark”–both the television series and the books. I hadn’t thought about the fact that both Ross and Demelza and Dwight and Caroline are seemingly mismatched. For that matter, so are lady like Morwenna Chenoweth and Demelza’s brother Drake.
Jane and Rochester are another great example, and of course there’s Darcy and Elizabeth…
May 2, 2009 at 1:49 am
“Poldark,” in either book or series form, is dangerously addictive. I’m waiting for that to come out on DVD. I know it was released on VHS years ago but there were sizable chunks cut out to make the episodes fit on those blasted 2-hour cassettes! I want every minute intact, blast it!
Haven’t seen the new Little Dorrit yet, though I did enjoy the movie version back in the late ’80s. Then, the semester after I saw it, the novel ended up on the syllabus of the Dickens seminar I was taking. While I liked most of the novel, I found that there were too many characters I just wanted to slap, who had been omitted (wisely, in my opinion) from the film. Like Rigaud, the melodramatic Eee-vil Frenchman. And I wasn’t too keen on the whole Meagles/Tattycoram/Miss Wade storyline, either. Since the new series seems to include these characters, I may wait until the DVD comes out–so I can have the option of fast-forwarding the annoying parts.
May 2, 2009 at 2:32 am
I Poldark on video, but I’d love to have a dvd set. I’m surprised they haven’t released it yet. My whole family was hooked on it. My mom and I were at a writer’s conference when one of the episodes aired (we were watching reruns, which came on at midnight on our local PBS station). We called my dad right when the episode was starting to make sure he taped it. And he stayed up and watched it and then watched it again with us.
I loved the 1988 Little Dorrit films. And I do think the characters and subplots that were cut helped focus the story. In particular, I thought the denouement between Amy and Mrs. Clenham was more powerful without Rigaud.
May 2, 2009 at 3:02 am
Poldark at midnight? Now, that’s dedication!
I do wonder why it hasn’t had a DVD release yet when so many other classic British dramas have. I’ll be seriously ticked if the only Poldark put out on DVD turns out to be that dreadful remake from the ’90s that included none of the original cast and rendered the characters completely unrecognizable.
May 2, 2009 at 3:20 am
We missed Poldark when it first aired, and then in the late 80s it was aired at midnight on Saturdays. We could have just taped it and watched it later, but we were all addicted, so we’d stay up and watch it (sometimes they showed two episodes).
I was thinking the same thing about all the other classic British dramas that are on DVD. It’s really odd Poldark isn’t. Another show I’d love to have on DVD is Game, Set, & Match, based on the Len Deighton books (and one of the inspirations for my Charles & Mélanie books). I don’t think it ever even came out on video, and sadly I didn’t tape it.
May 5, 2009 at 1:58 am
Hi there, just wanted to say I already own the Poldark DVD set in the British version, I bought it from Amazon UK a while back, it plays on my DVD player but I have one I can make region free. If you want US DVDs (US region 1) I saw the full set recently on ebay, the person selling them says he has the North American copyright & has good feedback. I am a big fan of Poldark/Robin Ellis too. 🙂
ps. I loved the new Little Dorrit as well!
May 6, 2009 at 3:32 am
Thanks, Agnes! It’s great to know Poldark is available on DVD!
I was just talking to a friend today about “Little Dorrit” and how enthralling it was. I was so worried I’d come home from trip and find my vcr had failed to tape the last episode, but it was fine. A lovely treat to come home to.
July 21, 2009 at 4:29 am
I can’t think of specific mismatched couples in literature, per say, but I can think of examples of matches I wish had been made. Even though I understand the authors’ thinking behind it, I still think these couples *should* have ended up together:
Gwendolyn & Daniel Deronda
Jo & Laurie (from Little Women)
Fanny & Henry (I think that’s the character’s name from Mansfield Park–the guy who was in love with her but messed things up by being a player)
July 21, 2009 at 4:37 am
Thanks for posting, Starr! Great examples of matches that might have been. I’d have liked Edmund in “Mansfield Park” to end up with Mary Crawford (Henry’s sister). And then there’s Ivanhoe and Rebecca…
March 8, 2010 at 6:12 am
Just to let everyone know if they don’t already, Poldark was just officially released and US region DVDs are available new from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc. – Series 1 was just released and Series 2 will be released in September.
March 8, 2010 at 6:51 am
Thanks, Agnes! That’s great to know!