Mrs Barlow Takes Center Stage

The chapter opens by reviewing Lister’s several purposes for the Paris trip. A primary one was to seek specialized medical advice and treatment for her venereal disease (More on which later). But other reasons were to improve her French, and to get away – in several senses – from some emotional upsets of a year before.

Lister had a habit of shorthanding significant disturbing events with a nickname, as she had with the “treadmill business.” A year previously, in haste to meet Mariana coming to visit, she had walked out along the road to meet the mail coach and – when it halted for her – climbed up so precipitously she was perceived as having leapt the three steps into the coach in a single bound. This startled and embarrassed Mariana (along with Lister’s somewhat unkempt appearance) and became a subject of gossip that Lister shorthanded “the three steps.” Mariana’s reaction was a turning point in Lister’s acceptance that they had no hope of a future permanent relationship.

But, as noted previously, the practical reason for the Paris trip was seeking treatment for the venereal disease she had caught from Mariana (passed on by Mariana’s husband). Paris was considered preeminent in medicine and Lister was able to consult multiple doctors and to try a wide variety of treatments. She also tracked her symptoms (a discharge) and treatment with a special set of symbols in the journal. This is offered as yet another example of how Lister constructed, monitored, and recorded aspects of her sexuality.

One of Orr’s recurring points is that Lister’s construction of her sexual identity is not some isolated unicorn of an experience but is solidly embedded in early 19th century culture. Orr once again critiques how previous historians have approached the material aspects of this topic, and lays out her plan for the chapter. First she will review Whitbread’s treatment of the Paris material. Next she will review the later period of Lister and Barlow’s relationship, which Whitbread covered more antily. And finally she will analyze the active negotiation of the courtship and romance.

Anne and Mrs Barlow

This section, reviewing Whitbread’s treatment, is fairly short. Orr feels that Whitbread skewed the material by taking as a given that Mariana was Lister’s one great romance and that all other relationships fell short in some way and were in authentic or mercenary. Whitbread concludes that Barlow was something of an “adventuress” and that regardless of her feelings for Lister, the nature of the relationship made her nervous and neurotic. Orr, in contrast, emphasizes the need to examine all of Lister’s relationships as a whole, rather than assigning them to a hierarchy of importance or authenticity.