46 Gender and Space in Rural Britain, 1840–1920
Th e coast might be understood as a liminal space, then, partly because it is precisely
‘betwixt and between’ land and sea. Th e beach is neither one nor the other, neither
wet nor dry, with its own fl ora and fauna, and the rocky edges of the land occupy a
similar position, with, for instance, grassy overhangs which seem, at fi rst glance, solid,
but which may give way, without warning, exposing the treacherous rocks and waves
below – these spaces are constantly in fl ux, subject to perpetual change and shift.Th e coastal space, then, such as the space within the novel Cynthia in the West
‘can thus become a space through which to speak about unsettling questions
around gender, sexuality and disruption of traditional discourses around gen-
der’.^23 In Lee’s novel the space of the fi shing village is disrupted and unsettled by
the infl ux of artists who are inspired by the Cornish coastal landscape and this
situation makes possible the subsequent disruption of traditional gender codes,
as will be discussed later. Yet, while these cultural changes destabilize gender
boundaries they reinscribe class boundaries.
Th ere is an uneasy relationship between the artists and the local fi sherfolk
in the novel which refl ects the historical reality. Th ere is a degree of acceptance
(not assimilation) of the artists by the locals but equally an ever-present enmity.
Sampy, for example, described in the text as an ‘imperious rustic’, supplements
his income from the more traditional uses of his horse and cart by ferrying the
visitors from the station to Tregurda.^24 Yet, as I have argued previously,
the novel registers the impossibility of complete assimilation due to the distinct sepa-
rateness of the two groups. Th is is refl ected in the instinctive reactions on both sides
when a scandal breaks in the village which aligns them in support of two opposing
women. Mrs Wilmington calls the locals ‘savages’ and a local man declares ‘’tis time
for ‘em [the artists] to clear out and leave we in peace’. Th ere is a sense that under the
surface of any interaction are these indelibly opposed positions.^25Th ose positions are created and maintained by class boundaries. Class is the over-
riding factor which distinguishes the two groups and determines the way in which
they relate to each other. In particular, they are separated by their social positions
as working class and leisured class and so their classed perspective on work and
play (or idleness). At the opening of the novel, when Sampy collects Robert from
the train station, his attitude towards the painters is humorous yet revealing :
Ah! Well, for doing nothing in p’tickler if that’s your trade, you couldn’t have pitched
on a better place. Artists! And they call it working! I seed them at it. One dab, two
dabs, jump back a yard, head on showlder and eyes scriff ed up. Jump for’ard agin, rub
out what you’ve done. Off hat, set down, light your pipe, puff puff , for ten minutes.^26Th e artist set, however, see what they do as work and Jack Gibbs is conscious to
communicate how hard they have been working to the newly arrived Robert. As
observer and commentator Robert’s position refl ects that of the text as a whole