"Miss Marjoribanks lost her mother when she was only fifteen, and when, to add to the misfortune, she was absent at school, and could not have it in her power to soothe her dear mamma's last moments, as she herself said."
Tragedies do not begin with death. The reader should not assume from this opening line that the subsequent life of Miss Marjoribanks is going to be miserable. Although some writers have attempted to move toward tragedy from opening with tragedy, that is not the case with thus book. The story begins as one of a young woman who takes a hard hit at a tender age. It becomes a story all about the journey that this young woman takes through life after this less than reassuring introduction.
"There is nothing one cannot manage if one only takes the trouble."
This quote is by the title character, Miss Marjoribanks herself. And though just one single line in the middle of a conversation, it could very well stand as the message of the book. Lucilla is a young woman not willing to let any obstructions get in her way of doing what needs to be done. Despite the tragic beginnings of her story, she is the very model of the ever-optimistic heroine. Of course, part of this sunny outlook may stem from the fact that aside from losing her mother, Lucilla really does not face many more dramatic conflicts. Certainly, she cannot be compared to an Austen or Bronte protagonist. On the other hand, even this assertion can be viewed positively in the light of gender empowerment. Lucilla may not break the patriarchy, but surely the mere fact that she acts on this expressed belief is subversive enough.
"Perhaps I may marry some time, it would be foolish, you know, to make any engagements; but that will depend greatly upon how you behave, and how Carlingford behaves, papa. I give myself ten years here, if you should be very good. By twenty-nine I shall be going off a little, and perhaps it may be tiring, for anything I can tell. Ten years is a long time, and naturally, in the meantime, I want to look as well as possible."
The key phrase here is "going off." It may not seem as though it is, but that is the centerpiece of this promise that Lucilla makes to her father. Keep in mind that this story was published in 1866, when the threat of spinsterhood started creeping up fast on an unmarried woman of twenty-five. Lucilla is seriously discussing the possibility of waiting until she is thirty to even begin serious consideration of marital engagements. A subversive threat to the patriarchy she may be, but Miss Marjoribanks (pronounced Marchbanks, by the way) sees the age of thirty as the point at which she will begin losing her physical charms. This is what is meant by "going off a little." She is suggesting that by the time she starts considering marriage, she will also be on her way to "stoutness." Hence the reference to looking good until then.
