#bessy higgins

[vickyvicarious]

Bessy feels a lot more honest and unfiltered than Margaret is used to, both in general and specifically with regards to her views on religion. And I think her obvious genuine feeling (and the condition of her illness) makes it hard for her to be dismissive of her exactly (I mean - she does do that, sort of, but in a clearly uncomfortable way which suggests she herself can't just ignore it as nothing), but it's still kind of hard to know how to react to, maybe? Like, before that Father in Heaven line, Bessy is raging against her doubt and the injustice that she has suffered, and which clearly has led her to think and feel very deeply about her faith and what she believes. Margaret hasn't had these experiences. And Bessy means so well and it's hard to just write off her pain, her death, and her interpretation of religion. But they aren't the kinds of things Margaret has had to consider or heard spoken about so openly and emotionally, and it's difficult for her.

I find it interesting in chapter 13 how Margaret - whose faith, barring one lapse, is strong - is still uncomfortable with how Bessy speaks about her faith and particularly about Heaven. Her responses are very simple compared with Bessy's passion ("we have a Father in Heaven") and as soon as she can, she changes the subject altogether ("I would rather hear something about what you used to do when you were well").

Partly it's that she's uncomfortable with discussion of Bessy's death, but there's also a contrast between Bessy's open, passionate, literalist belief and Margaret's much quieter faith. I get the impression that Margaret isn't used to people speaking like Bessy does.

[bethanydelleman]

Helen Burns, Jane Eyre, Fantine, Les Miserables, Satine, Moulin Rouge, Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, Finding Neverland, Isabel Neville, The White Queen, Mrs. Hale and Bessy Higgins, North and South, Frances Hindley, Wuthering Heights, Mrs. Alma Wheatley, The Queen's Gambit, Queen Anne, The White Queen

[serial-serializednovelreader]

Not a formal Nova’s Notes but…

Here’s my thoughts on Chapter 8 of North and South Weekly summed up:

• I love that while they’re trying to make the house a home, it’s going to take more than nice wallpaper to do that (shoutout to Thornton for making that happen <3)

• Mr. Hale ONCE AGAIN complaining about this choice to his daughter as if he didn’t do this to his whole family 😭😭😭😭 sir, what do you want Margaret to do about this? Y’all are stuck here…

• Ouch on the fact Margaret comes to the realization Henry Lennox is a) trying to forget her because that’s what he does when he has people he doesn’t like in his life and b) if she had gotten engaged to him, he would’ve been deeply annoyed with her father’s resignation from the church. This is exactly what I thought how Lennox would react, soooo funny I called that lol.

• Dixon = Louis XIV 😂😂😂😂

• Too relatable on Margaret being lowkey scared of the men flirting with her, even if they have no malice behind it 😬

• I really do love that Margaret befriends the middle-aged Milton man and his daughter. I think it’s a lovely way for her to start sympathizing with the citizens of the town and it’s super sweet seeing them interact together <333333

• Bessy you better be okay 😭😭😭 I have had her for less than a chapter but I do not know what I will do if something happens to this precious child

• I love that Mr. Higgins can read her emotions so clearly to the point he knows he’s upset her a little bit by what he’s said; so far, this is the only person who has correctly guessed what she is thinking and, more importantly, has not judged her negatively for it!

[jordisstigander]

I can't remember specifically what the book says on that topic, but it is explicitly addressed in the mini series.

Margaret learns that Bessy has fluff on her lungs, and she asks if it happened at Malborough Mills. Bessy says no: she had previously worked elsewhere (perhaps Hampers?) before they learned the danger that inhaling the cotton fluff could bring. When Higgins learned about it, he immediately moved Bessie to Malborough Mills because they had the wheel/fan and it was safer.

But it was already too late.

The series also includes a dinner scene where Thornton is explicitly stated to have wheels installed in all of his factories. Once again, I do not remember if there is an equivalent passage in the book.

"(Since Bessy works in Thornton's mill and 'the fluff got into [her] lungs and poisoned' her [NSy I, ch. 13, p. 102], Thornton is clearly not one of the few masters who have installed a fan to 'carry off th' dust'.)"

mmm... No? It's never said that she did work at Marlborough? Thornton produces cotton fabric (that's Higgins speciality, working with looms), Bessy worked at a carding room. Maybe factories had the whole process and not just a part of it? But doesn't seem so to me. There's even a certain implication that the place might have been women-only (Higgins didn't want Bessy to work on a place he didn't know, because she was a pretty girl).

But most importantly, if Bessy's death had been caused by the poor working conditions at Marlborough... Don't you think that would have been... a significant thing to be addressed... When Higgins seeks employment there? Or are we supposed to assume he wouldn't have strong personal feelings about... the man who owns the factory that killed Bessy?

I can't even blame the miniseries (though of course no one should be writing academic papers on something if their point of reference is a tv adaptation), because I don't think that's said there? and if I recall correctly the series makes it so that Thornton IS installing the wheels in Marlborough?

[rabbitrah]

I love the north and south miniseries but I'm making a list of things they shouldn't have cut out

all the angry crying at various points

bessie higgins obsessed with the book of revelation

bessie higgins slightly gay for margaret

bessie higgins prophetic dream????

og proposal dialogue because it goes WAY harder

thornton getting on a bus out of town because he was too devastated to explain that, no, he wasn't waiting for the bus, he was just standing there trying not to cry and wail and fall to his knees.

More to come.

[grayintogreen]

ROSEVERSE OST VOLUME ONE

Contains the inspo tracks for the first three fics in Roseverse. Also has liner notes under the cut because I have to explain some of these.

One Good Reason- Eric Stuart Band This is basically the song that inspired the things you hold most dear may not survive another day and kinda remains the main theme for Huskerdust in this first part of the series.

The River Won’t Flow- Songs for a New World So some of the songs on this playlist are not necessarily here because they fit moments, but because in my undying dedication to canon accuracy as close as I can manage, there’s moments where I’m like “SONG GOES HERE.” And in lieu of writing my own (because I can’t), I just flailed around until I found a song that fit the “vibe.” In this instance, this specific vibe this song offers suits a song about Lucifer reacting to the suggestion of sealing his powers and how this will showcase his humility (while hinting that he is EXTREMELY HUMBLED BY EVERYTHING).

Nobody’s Side- Scott Coulter I have so many covers of “Nobody’s Side” and not a damn one of them really fit the vibe I wanted here, so I just dropped the least offensive option. In an ideal world, a technoswing version of “Nobody’s Side” would be sung when Husk confronts Alastor about being Angel’s bodyguard.

Brave Face- Delta Goodrem Just a cute little song for the Chaggie moment in Chapter One.

Lithium- Nirvana I was going through a playlist of songs with sick guitar riffs and just was like “Yeah, Adam in the middle of a rage depression playing Nirvana on his guitar is fully what I wanted from that scene.”

Comfort Eagle- Cake This is simultaneously the perfect song to be playing in the background for the Adam and the Vees confrontation, but also god I want a musical number between Adam and Vox that is basically Comfort Eagle But Broadway.

The Fool- Ryn Carver Angel and Husk’s conversation as they leave the hotel in Chapter Two.

Kiss Quick- Matt Nathanson More Huskerdust pining, but now they’re at the porn studio.

VBS- Lucy Dacus Vaggie and Lucifer’s conversation in Chapter Two.

A Good Man Is Hard To Find- Bessie Smith Alastor at the end of Chapter Two in Eve’s domain.

Bottom of the River- Delta Rae Alastor’s flashback.

Hell on Heels- Pistol Annies Meet Eve! She’s awful!

The Lamb- Dessa Husk and Alastor’s conversation in the radio tower.

The Judgment- Elvis Costello Husk stands up for Angel.

Don’t Say Yes Until I Finish Talking- Christian Borle and the cast of Smash Another one of the “I just want a song here and can’t write one.” This song is actually specifically invoked in the prose even. In an ideal world, a song with this exact rhythm and sentiment would be performed by Vox (and occasionally Val trying to get a word in edgewise) during the confrontation at the studio. Bonus points for being sung by Vox’s VA.

Doing the Best That I Can (Escape From Berlin)- Stevie Nicks Husk and Angel’s “not-a-date.”

You Are the Problem Here- First Aid Kit Eve and Adam at the end of Chapter Three

The Rhythm of Life- Sweet Charity ONCE MORE WITH FEELING. This song does not fit the moment, but it’s the specific energy I want from a Vaggie and Angel number about her training him to take charge in the escape room.

We Both Reached For the Gun- Chicago Honest to God, the Radio Duel between Lucifer and Alastor is supposed to be this, but I could not write it out in the way I wanted without being obnoxious, but trust me that is what it’s supposed to look like.

Secondary Characters- title of show Bonus track of Chance and Diana realizing they’re the main characters while Husk and Angel are trapped in the closet.

Work Your Way Out- Ani DiFranco If you want to give yourself heart palpitations, listen to this song while reading the scene of Husk and Angel in the closet. It’s great.

All For Believing- Missy Higgins More Husk and Angel pining at the end of Chapter Four.

Feeling Good- Nina Simone Casino Demon theme.

A Tisket, a Tasket- Ella Fitzgerald On the Sunny Side of the Street- Ted Lewis Wishing (Will Make It So)- Vera Lynn

These are the three songs playing when Husk visits Al in his room, chosen for specific reasons. The first is for dissonance since it’s a silly little song that starts us off on something that is meant to be intimidating and creepy. The second- also for dissonance- is a friendly, cheerful song to play over the tension of Husk and Al’s conversation. The final song is indicative of Husk’s mental state.

Shape of My Heart- Josh Groban, Leslie Odom, Jr. In my head the Huskerdust sex scene would turn into a more reserved fantasy as the two of them distance themselves from the fact that they are, you know, on camera by singing a duet. Honestly, this song works almost perfectly for it with the card motifs without having to just hold it up for vibes.

Gunning Down Romance- Savage Garden SONGS FOR HUSK RUINING EVERYTHING.

Two Evils- Bastille My DM once played me this song at a pivotal moment in the narrative we were running and it’s stayed with me ever since. It’s got the perfect ambiance for Alastor and Husk’s conversation at the diner.

This is Gonna Hurt- Sixx AM Angel in the limo at the end of Chapter Five.

End of the World News- Tom McRae I imagine this song playing over a montage of scenes at the top of Chapter Six in the aftermath of Angel’s defection.

Capital G- Nine Inch Nails Adam’s broadcast.

Don’t Scare Me Papa (Axeman’s Rag)- Squirrel Nut Zippers Song specifically invoked by Alastor because he’s a nerd.

Holding Out For a Hero- Bonnie Tyler SIEGE OF VEE TOWER LET’S GO.

Wreck- Mieka Pauley Eve at the end of Chapter Six.

Candleburn- Dishwalla Lucifer at the top of Chapter Seven. Everyone cry.

Someone to Fall Back On- Jason Robert Brown Husk and Angel, the morning after.

Eat Them Apples- Suzi Wu Jez, who is absolutely NOT Eve, even though her theme seems to have so much Eve related imagery. Cannot imagine that’s relevant.

bury a friend- Pomplamoose Alastor gets his shit dragged out in front of everyone and Charlie gets her feelings hurt. (Thanks Eve.)

Secret- Denmark + Winter Vaggie and the gang at the diner learning all the Unfortunate Things.

Sabbath Incantation- Thom Yorke Charlie and Jez and the seal.

Case of the Ex- Mya Eve’s ascension and Adam’s death.

Walk Through the Fire- BtVS Cast This is my “Charlie drags herself out of the ruins of her dream” song as the gang prepares to face Eve. Obviously it’s not beat for beat perfect, BUT IT’S THE VIBE.

Nothing Left to Lose- Jeremy Jordan, Eden Espinosa This on the other hand… Listen, I wrote that conversation between Lucifer and Eve with this song in mind. In my heart, it’s being sung between them in that moment, only with slightly different lyrics.

I Didn’t Know I’d Love You So Much- Repo! The Genetic Opera See above. Literally wrote Charlie and Lucifer after Lucifer gets STABBED with this song in mind.

No Return- Craig Wedron, Aanna Waronker EVE FIGHT TO THE TUNE OF THE TOXIC FEMININITY THEME.

Wings- Birdy Charlie’s ascension + the power of love.

Forget About the Blame (Moon Version)- Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Lzzy Hale Lilith returns.

Last Exit to Eden- Amanda Marshall Aftermath, which does include Alastor eating Eve so that’s fun.

You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive- Kathy Mattea Six months later. I went through so many damn covers of this song for one that fit.

We’ll Meet Again- Vera Lynn And here we are in red, red roses and dead things. This is the Vera Lynn song Al plays for Charlie as he’s giving her the tour.

Weeping (w/ Ladysmith Black Mamba)- Josh Groban Lucifer trying to help and FAILING.

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden- Lynn Anderson Or “lyrical dissonance my beloved.”

Fingerbreaker- Jelly Roll Morton The Chicago Strut- Jelly Roll Morton, Gregory Hines, Keith David The two songs that Husk and Al perform while getting sloshed. I don’t think the second one has a sax in it at all but I’m Bad At Music. It does have Keith David though!

[whenthegoldrays]

this is so beautiful????

WHOAAAA HANG ON

[mistofstars]

I'm I shambles, I'm in bits. I forgot how much beautiful pain and love also is in North and South and how much deaths 😭

It's like so obvious and heart-warming how people care for each other.

Bessie and Margaret's deep friendship, Dixon's (the housekeeper) undying devotion for Margaret's mother, how Margaret and her father take care of Mr Higgins after Bessie's death.., obviously the love of Thornton's mother for her son and how she is stern all the time but melts when it comes to John... the Hale's family's love for each other And the mutual respect between Mr Higgins and Thornton as they finally work together.

There's so much of the very human and heartfelt interactions I love about this!

[smolgreybunny]

I don't have much to say about this chapter.

We meet the Higgins' and get a feel for how their life is. Bessy and Mr. Higgins differences of religious belief are interesting.

I'm looking forward to Margaret meeting Mrs. Thornton next week, that will definitely be entertaining!

[thethirdromana]

“My lass,” said he, “yo’re but a young wench, but don’t yo think I can keep three people—that’s Bessy, and Mary, and me—on sixteen shillings a week?”

It's worth noting here that Higgins is earning only a shilling a week more than the extreme poverty wages that the Thorntons used to survive on.

[thatscarletflycatcher]

I have been noticing something about North and South Weekly, and that is the very low engagement/commentary on the Higgins/Bessy weeks. And I don't mean this post in a "silly shallow readers only engaging with the romance plot" way at all, because it is a very good dynamic and I love romance and I'm not ashamed of loving romance. It's more about my experience of revisiting the text, and the Higgins plotline growing on me more and more each time.

Part of it is learning about how much Gaskell loved the character of John Barton in Mary Barton -and how Nicholas and Bessy Higgins are a remix of those characters, but besides that...

Under Bessy's "victorianness" there's such a gut punching story of a young woman who has always only known toil and the relative seclusion of industrial town life, something that Gaskell brings across so well with the soundscape of the novel in the neverending industrial noise that tortures Bessy and the sense of oppression Margaret gets in Milton. And you can almost touch Bessy's feverishness and horror mixed with her delirious craving for Heaven and peace and quiet and rest. Margaret, besides her own, reflects our shock and discomfort with this picture.

And then there's Nicholas, who is written as intelligent and noble but also full of pathos. In my last reread, I found myself tearing up at his scenes more than any other. Granted, some of his best moments and lines come much later on than this point, but even so far, bits like this one in chapter XI:

Bessy leant back against her father, who prepared to carry her upstairs; but as Margaret rose to go, he struggled to say something; “I could wish there were a God, if it were only to ask Him to bless thee.”

that show his love for Bessy and his inner conflict, are so touching.

I guess what I'm trying to say is to extend an invitation to look more closely into these chapters, because there's good stuff in them too, and nothing in this novel is filler.

[mollywog]

Abel and Cissy Gay are reminding me a lot of Nicholas and Bessy Higgins

[kwebtv]

North and South - BBC - December 1, 1975 - December 22, 1975

Drama (4 Episodes)

Running Time: 60 minutes

Stars:

Rosalind Shanks as Margaret Hale

Robin Bailey as Mr. Hale

Kathleen Byron as Mrs. Hale

Peggy Ann Wood as Dixon

Patrick Stewart as John Thornton

Rosalie Crutchley as Mrs. Thornton

Norman Jones as Nicholas Higgins

Barbara Hickmott as Bessy Higgins

Ian Marter as Henry Lennox

Gail Harrison as Edith Shaw

Ginette McDonald as Mary Higgins

Pamela Moiseiwitsch as Fanny Thornton

Ray Mort as Carter

Christopher Burgess as Boucher

Frank Mills as Williams

Peter Welch as Slickson

Cyril Luckham as Mr. Bell

Tim Pigott-Smith as Frederick Hale

[papermoonloveslucy]

RIP CAROLE COOK

1924 - 2023

Carole Cook was born Mildred Frances Cook in Abilene, Texas. She was a close friend and protégé of Lucille Ball, and lived in Ball's home early in her career. Ball was the matron of honor at Cook's 1964 wedding to actor Tom Troupe. Ball is credited for suggesting Cook change her stage name from Mildred Frances to Carole, in honor of Ball's close friend Carole Lombard.  During her long career, she was sometimes ghost singer for her mentor, Lucille Ball. 

Cook also worked on stage, appearing in the original 1980 production of 42nd Street. She was well-known for her cabret act. Prior to that she appeared in the Bernard Slate play Romantic Comedy (1979). 

Cook was a meember of the Desilu Playhouse and performed in their 1959 Christmas Revue. 

In January 1965, Cook played “Password” with her friend Lucille Ball. They played again in September 1966. 

Her second motion picture was the hit The Incredible Mr. Lippett (1964) playing Bessie, wife of the title character played by Don Knotts. 

THE LUCY SHOW

Cook made four appearances playing Thelma Green on “The Lucy Show,” and played Mrs. Valance in three episodes. She played a variety of other characters in 11 others.

As Thelma Green when “Lucy and Viv Are Volunteer Firemen” (1963)

As Thelma Green (with Mary Jane Croft) in “Lucy Drives a Dump Truck” (1963)

As Thelma Green (with Dorothy Konrad) in “Lucy’s Barbershop Quartet” (1963)

As Milroy University alumnus Betty Jo Hansen (with Lyle Talbot) in “Lucy’s College Reunion” (1963)

As Thelma Green when “Lucy Takes a Job at the Bank” (1964)

As Mrs. Valance, Society Editor, at a wine tasting in “Lucy and the Countess” (1965)

As Thelma Green, judging Lucy’s pie, when “Lucy Enters a Baking Contest” (1964)

As Mrs. Valance (with Ann Sothern) in “My Fair Lucy” (1965)

As Mrs. Valance in “Lucy the Stockholder” (1965)

As Mrs. Baldwin (with Max Showalter), board member of the Danfield Community Players, in “Lucy and Arthur Godfrey” (1965)

Gambling (with Douglas Deane and Bennett Green) when “Lucy Goes To Vegas” (1965)

As Aunt Carrie, a resident of the small town of Bancroft when “Lucy Puts Main Street on the Map” (1967)

As Effie Higgins, wife of Homer, in “Lucy and Tennessee Ernie Ford” (1967)

As a piano bar patron (with George DeNormand) in “Lucy and Phil Harris” (1968)

As bank teller Gladys in “Lucy and Sid Caesar” (1968), her final series appearance

HERE’S LUCY

Cook provided the introduction for one of the episodes on the DVD release. 

As notorious crime boss Ma Parker in “Lucy and Ma Parker” (1970)

In the audience of the “Carol Burnett Show” in “Lucy and Carol Burnett” (1969)

As Harry’s old girlfriend Lillian Rylander in “Lucy the Part-Time Wife” (1970)

As Mrs. Sheila Casten, who has trouble with her toaster, in “Lucy the Crusader” (1970)

As Cynthia, contestant in the Lucille Ball Look-Alike Contest, when “Lucy Carter Meets Lucille Ball” (1974). This was Cook’s final series appearance. 

CODA

On a 1974 episode of “Maude” starring Bea Arthur and as Mrs. Dobrun in the 1980 film American Gigolo starring Richard Gere, Cook wore a dress gifted to her by Lucille Ball. Ball had worn the dress as Lucy Ricardo in “The Celebrity Next Door” (1957) starring Tallulah Bankhead. It was later sold at auction. 

Cook was survived by her husband, Tom Troupe. She died in Beverly Hills, just days before her 99th birthday. 

[hookitall]

I love this scene, because at every turn we see that Thornton is a principled man who does the right thing, not the cheap thing. This is a man willing to go down sticking to his principles; hard work, strict ethical and moral standards, strong belief in the right to rise and fall on your own merit, fierce independence of the self and the rule of law.

This is a boy who came from nothing and built it all with less. He believes in hard graft and meritocracy because he lived it, yet he still recognises that without his mother's influence teaching him to be frugal and disciplined, he would never have made it. He doesn't hate those who are below him, he holds them in contempt because he worked his way up from lower than they are and you never once hear him complain about it. He's wrong, but he's very understandable in his wrongness.

Then despite that contempt he has for them:

He puts an extractor fan in his mill despite the cost, knowing that realistically he's never going to see the benefit, but his workers not dying of lung diseases in their 40s will.

He defends his female workers rights to speak to survey takers and direct their own lives, and refuses to meddle in the affairs of his workers, even when being more controlling would make his life a lot easier.

The only time we see him fire someone is for smoking on the job, which in a mill is a death sentence for everyone in the highly flammable environment.

Higgins is "sure" that Thornton is slippery and will enforce fines on his workers to cut their wages by stealth, but we never see any evidence of this.

He goes out of his way to find out the truth of matters, to get the measure of men based on more than just their job title, and he's not too proud to shake a working man's hand and apologise to him when he's in the wrong.

He financially supports a kitchen for his workers knowing it might be the only meal some get and that it's better quality than they can afford. He does this even as he's facing financial ruin.

Even his peers, the other mill owners, think he spends too much for reliable supply lines and is too soft on his workers. This contrasts with Higgins, who calls Thornton a "bulldog" (in the book), but still immediately had Bessy get work at Marlborough Mills when she developed the cough working at Richmond's in an attempt to save her.

When his finances go bad, through no fault of his own, Thornton refuses to gamble despite it being a very easy way out.

This is a man who knows he's viewed as an oddity, has an answer that sounds cold and calculating for every move he makes, but is fundamentally kind even if he's not necessarily nice about it.

In short, and I say this as someone who was born and lives in a northern mill town (Bradford) that's so much more akin to Milton than the one it's based on nowadays (Manchester) that parts of the show were filmed here, he's northern and he's proud of it.

- Did I tell you, Thornton, about the price of raw cotton in Le Havre? - I believe you did. - Come on, Thornton. Even you can spot a bargain. Cotton’s a great deal cheaper from the Caribbean. - I’ll bet you Egyptian is still cheaper. - They can’t offer those prices for long. They’ll be bankrupt in a year and our supply’ll be interrupted. I’d rather pay more for a steady supply through Liverpool. We’ll all lose in the end. - Thornton’s as straight as they come. He won’t risk Malborough Mill, even if it means not speculating.

[kajaono]

Looking up if Bessys illness could be cured today and being shocked that still today 50% of all patients that get diagnosed with COPD die within ten years after the diagnosis