Parade's End

On the very first page of Chapter 1, Sylvia compares her husband to Jesus Christ: “‘He wants,’ Sylvia said, ‘to play the part of Christ.’” This is the first instance, but not the last, when the reader is asked to draw comparisons between Christopher and Jesus, or some other Anglican saint. It is unabashed blasphemy for anyone at that time period to compare themselves to Jesus Christ, and it is one of Sylvia’s tools of destruction to suggest to others that Christopher sees himself as such. But although Christopher is no perfect being and no son of God, his life can draw some parallels from Christ’s or even the early prophets: He shuns wealth, he gives freely, and he enjoys carpentry—he later becomes an antique furniture dealer. However, there are obviously more differences than similarities, which is why Sylvia’s comment is so offensive.

The ambiguity and confused nature of Sylvia’s feelings for Christopher continue to be expressed throughout the second part of No More Parades, and the manipulative side of her character also gains expression. Perowne accuses her, on Page 386, of being La belle Dame Sans Merci (the beautiful lady without mercy). This is the title of a famous poem by John Keats about a knight who is left by his fairy lover. The poem describes well. She strings Perowne along for a long time. Readers learn she used him to get to France, and to surprise Christopher while the two of them were in her room together at the end of the evening.

That Sylvia wants to have sex with Christopher at the end of the night is irrefutable. She paraphrases a line from one of the letters the Duchess of Marlborough wrote to her friend, Queen Anne. The line has to do with how the duchess visited her husband while he was deployed in the field, and how they had sex seven times over the desk in his tent. Sylvia wants that experience. Sylvia wants Christopher to want her, and that he doesn’t, especially when so many other men do want her, maddens her.

However, readers are reminded that even if Christopher were to give in to Sylvia, it would not end happily for either of them. Sylvia does have a mean streak that is as complicated a part of her as anything else. The clearest reminder of this is the Wagner piece, Venusberg Music, she recognizes coming from the lounge, after Christopher points it out and vaguely suggests they might dance. The Venusberg Music that Sylvia identifies comes from an opera by Richard Wagner, Tannhäuser. The music illuminates the Sylvia’s desire and character. The myth of the Venusberg corresponds similarly to the Astarte symbolism. Venus lives in a mountain with her nymphs and lures men in with their beauty where they are damned. The picture works well to foreshadow what will transpire when Christopher leaves with Sylvia for her room. The Venusberg motif works as social commentary as well when Sylvia asks Christopher, “You call the compound where you keep the Waacs Venusberg’s, don’t you?” (Page 443). Waac is an acronym for Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps. It was created as a way for women to serve and free up men for fighting at the front. The implication Sylvia is making is that the Waac’s tents were nothing more than glorified brothels.

The importance of Sylvia’s spirituality, which will influence her to end her feud with Christopher, is highlighted in Chapter 2 with the “appearance” of Father Consett. When the reader first meets Father Consett, he appears to be nothing more than a cleric whose purpose is to point out and condemn Sylvia’s actions from a Catholic standpoint. However, in Chapter 2 Father Consett’s ghost (he was hanged) comes to represent her conscience. She uses him to investigate her own feelings, especially those regarding Christopher, but he also serves as a reminder that she can choose to be a better person. Usually when Sylvia feels guilty about, or questions her actions, the memory/ghost of Father Consett is not far from her mind.