‘Wandering Like a Wild Th ing’ 93
she and Philip meet again for the fi rst time in fi ve years while walking there;
following this there are two further meetings in which it is implied that they
have continued to meet in the woods regularly.^29 Although Maggie’s behaviour
remains sexually pure – their meetings consist of discussions about books and
‘the thoughts that had come into my head while I was away from you’ – the nar-
ration again alludes to the awareness that her presence in this concealed, private
space strays close to the borders of propriety.^30 Th eir fi rst meeting is preceded by
a description of Maggie entering into the Red Deeps and removing her bonnet
‘now she is sure of being unseen’, and it is in this state that they meet; as they
talk, the narrator notes that her ‘words might have been those of a coquette,
but the full bright glance ... was not that of a coquette’, alluding to the potential
impropriety of her actions in meeting Philip.^31 Eliot is careful to keep Maggie’s
behaviour within socially acceptable bounds, yet at the same time the aware-
ness of the forbidden nature of walking-out is alluded to, seeking both to defi ne
Maggie as diff erent from expected models of femininity but also to highlight the
prevalence of societal expectations of female behaviour.
Both narratives thus draw on a familiar discourse that situates female wander-
ing as a potentially dangerous act, and the interactions that result from women
walking confi rm this expectation: while it is only Hetty who sexually transgresses,
Maggie’s narrative nonetheless draws on associations between nature, mobility
and sexuality. Yet at the same time there is a subversion of these discourses at
work. Th is is suggested by turning to consider another of Maggie’s interactions:
aft er her meetings with Philip in the Red Deeps Maggie later becomes involved
with Stephen Guest, a relationship that again pivots around mobile encounters.
Stephen’s attraction to Maggie – forbidden as he is her cousin Lucy’s lover –
causes him to pursue Maggie in spaces where they can talk alone. In the fi rst of
these episodes, Stephen seeks out Maggie at her aunt’s house and, in another
approximation of the walking-out ritual, leads her down the road into a private
space away from the house: ‘May I take the liberty of asking you to walk a few
yards with me?’ he asks; Maggie feels ‘all the embarrassment of the situation’ but
obliges, putting ‘on her bonnet and turned to walk towards the gate’.^32 Once in
the lane, she directly points out the impropriety of such behaviour:
Th ere is no need for me to go any farther. I don’t know whether you consider it gen-
tlemanly and delicate conduct to place me in a position that forced me to come out
with you – or whether you wished to insult me still further by thrusting an interview
upon me in this way.Stephen responds that ‘it is only your woman’s dignity that you care about’.^33
Later, Maggie’s brother Tom reproaches her for her actions and this again
clearly indicates the impropriety of this act: ‘you walked alone with him in the
lanes: you must have behaved as no modest girl would have done to her cousin’s