The Doll’s House
Week of January 7, 2008

Chapters Four and Five:

Chapter 4 is our first real introduction to Marchpane. She was not with the antique doll house which arrived at the Dane household. She, instead, had been sent to the cleaners. It sounds like Charlotte and Emily are meant to receive Marchpane eventually.

Marchpane becomes quite full of herself while at the cleaners. “I am a beautiful little creature, really I am. I must be worth a fabulous amount of money. No wonder they are so careful of me. They can hardly be careful enough. I am so very important.”

After being cleaned, Marchpane is put on display on the counter of the shop. Everyone who came into cleaners looked at and admired her which she liked very much and thought it only her due. She thought people very lucky to have a chance to see such an elegant and beauteous doll.
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Oh my, Marchpane sounds like she is not going to be much fun!
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Chapter 5 tells of the restoration of the doll house. The Plantaganet family and the girls are disappointed and distressed at the sight of the old house - dirty, moldy, furniture ruined, rugs filthy. Tottie is distressed but tells the Plantaganets to “Wish! Wish! Wish! Wish that Emily and Charlotte can put our house in order and make it good again.”

After much work by Emily, Charlotte, and their mother, the dollhouse is looking quite nice. There will be new curtains, pillows, and a feather bed for Birdie. The girls are insisting on real lace curtains and velvet furniture to replace the ruined furniture, but that will be expensive and the girls must form a plan to get the money.
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What an exciting chapter--we start to see the characters emerge and, in the case of Emily and Charlotte, actually change and mature. The arrival of the dollhouse has made Emily bolder and Charlotte take action. And Tottie--wow! when she got all firm about wishing, she sure got firm! She managed to coral Mr. Plantaganet and even flighty Birdie and led them to wishing, too! Tottie is starting to show a strong front, but then, she IS made of wood!

I liked that Birdie even managed to make her wishes known, even though she had some trouble with it (the feather mattress) and that little Apple got all excited, too.
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Tottie really does stand out as the leader.
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Tottie is very distressed at the site of the antique dollhouse. It is one of those situations where she is happy to see it and that it is as she remembers - except that it is not - it is filthy, moldy, interior items broken and rusted. Her mind is in turmoil. What to do? That's probably why she was so sharp with Mr. Plantaganet when he started expressing his feelings out loud. Tottie just wasn't in the proper frame of mind to hear him go on about the condition of the house. I'm not sure where this "wishing" comes from. It almost seems like a wasted effort. Perhaps not from a doll's point of view as what else can a doll do but wish? I guess I am looking at it in "real life".

One can have faith and maybe in this book "wishing" is really "faith". Instead of "wishing" for the house to be perfect, Tottie really means that Mr. Plantaganet, Birdie and Apple should have "faith" that all will be well. One thing is for sure, Tottie is not going to tolerate whining about their situation. She wants them all to be strong and focused on "wishing."
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Or is 'wishing' another word for sending psychic thoughts? It almost seems that way as when Birdie makes her confused wishes about not wanting cotton wool for bedding, almost immediately one of the girls decides she needs the feather mattress. Hmmm.... always more than there appears on the surface!
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I agree--having the dolls 'wish' seems pointless unless the author means to imply that the dolls can influence people in this way. It can't be just faith that things will happen as Tottie 'wishes' them to, because things do happen as she wishes them to!
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Tottie wants Mr. Plantaganet, Birdie, and Apple to wish really hard believing that if they do, Charlotte and Emily will know instinctively what to do with the doll house and what furnishings/accessories each Plantaganet family member would like to have. Tottie is trying to project their "wishes" onto the two girls. She is convinced (or trying to sound convinced) that if they wish hard enough, then everything will be okay. (Sort of like with my Powerball group - I tell them all to focus on the jackpot amount - "perhaps" "wishing" we would win that drawing, ha ha!!)

I will have to pay attention to my dolls and their "wishes"!! That could be spooky if one has a mean doll!!! Clowns always kind of scared me, and to this day, I get a spooky feeling around them. I am melting a tiny bit in that respect but then there are those movies about evil dolls and Chucky, etc. I won't watch those!! I prefer to believe my dolls are doing fun, wonderful things in my absence and not evil, terrible things!!
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"Wishing" is a form of prayer (?) and then it is the faith for it to be done. In my opinion, I think Tottie is upset with them because, 'they' don't know this and she has forgotten the rest of the family is not as old as she.
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That is how I looked at it - from a faith point of view. If Tottie wished/had faith enough, then it would become so. But if one looks at it from a psychic point of view, Tottie and family are "projecting their wishes" upon Charlotte and Emily to achieve the result they [the Plantaganets] want.
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Rumer Godden is pretty big on the doll wishing thing and in fact, I believe, implies a certain psychic link between the doll and her rightful owner. You see this also in Holly and Ivy and in The Fairy Doll so I actually think the wish is a means of communication between the doll and her person. I don't think she means a kind of pointless hoping or even merely faith but an actual communicative link.
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I have the same feeling. Here on the list we are often talking about what our Hittys "want," and things they "need." I think we have latched onto the same thing that Rumer Godden has written into her doll books, and we just call it something different. How else do we learn our Hittys' names if they don't whisper to us in a "wish", or "tell" us that they want a new dress or some Re-Ment??
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It seems to me that by wishing really hard Tottie is trying to communicate without words. I recently heard a doll's wish. I had a Rosie O'Doll in my collection languishing in her box, not played with. We were having a 16mo old visitor at Christmas and Rosie was perfect for a small child. I had a serious talk with Rosie and told her that her wish was going to come true and she would be played with by a real child, and going to live in a different country, learn a new language and help a child learn English. She was very happy as we wrapped her up and put her under the tree. Rosie is a soft, stuffed doll with no parts to come off or swallow (made for under three year olds) and if you squeeze her tummy she says a few sentences. Both the doll and the real child had shiny eyes at Christmas. I think Rosie got her wish and was "glistened" or listened to.

Doll Brains:

I was just re-reading Chapters 4 and 5 for this week and had a thought about doll brains. Rumer Godden tells us that china head dolls have empty heads that are not prone to kind, thoughtful thinking.

She-who-must-not-be-named had a dangerously empty china head, seemingly capable of only vain, prideful thoughts.

Mr. Plantaganet, who had an unhappy past with some naughty children, could only remember the bad things about his life.

Poor Birdie, with her celluloid head, couldn't keep a thought in her head for very long at all.

Dear, sweet Tottie, who was made from a tree and had a good solid head, was capable of independent thinking, planning, persuasion, and hope.

Aren't we glad our Hittys are made from trees?
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Oh--I like your thinking! That would explain why She-who-must-not-be-named is so cold and terrible! She is made of cold china and has an empty head! Although I do have a darling Hitty-sized china named China Audrey who is very sweet and clever, and good with children.
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Oh, but I love Birdie with her rattle. And she sometimes comes out with some of the most insightful ideas.
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So that is why Hitty is so loveable!!! She has brains! We know Hitty has a mind of her own!!! How else could she keep us doing her bidding!!!

The statement of china being cold struck a note with me also. The very first day I ever heard of Hitty, I held one in my hand and as others around me were talking, I was thinking how warm and comfortable this little doll felt. I was not a doll person at all at that time but I was tempted! It took me six months to actually acquire a Hitty. What joy she has added to my life!!!
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I never thought of it but chinas are open in the head and Hittys are solid. Hittys do feel warm and a look into those faces sure brings a smile to my face.
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Wood is so much warmer and tactile. China is cold and smooth. Not to say all china dolls are cold-natured, or all wood dolls are good-natured (ever read Candle in the Attic? or it might have been Candle in the Window? eeeeek!)