The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence
"The Stone Angel" is a novel by Margaret Laurence, published in 1964, that explores themes of memory, identity, and aging through the life of its protagonist, Hagar Shipley. At the age of ninety, Hagar reflects on her past while living with her son Marvin and his wife Doris, grappling with her sense of autonomy and the realities of her declining health. The story is set in the fictional Canadian town of Manawaka, where Hagar recalls her upbringing as the daughter of a wealthy merchant and her complex relationships with family members, particularly her father and her husband, Bram Shipley.
As Hagar reminisces, she confronts her childhood pride, her experiences of loss, and the emotional distance from her son. Through her vivid memories, the narrative delves into issues of class consciousness, familial alienation, and the struggle for self-identity. Hagar's defiance against the prospect of moving to a nursing home highlights her fierce independence and determination to remain connected to her past. Ultimately, "The Stone Angel" serves as a poignant exploration of aging, legacy, and the enduring impact of unresolved relationships, inviting readers to reflect on the complexities of human experience and memory.
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The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence
First published: 1964
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Psychological realism
Time of plot: 1870’s to early 1960’s
Locale: Manawaka, Vancouver, and Shadow Point, Canada
Principal characters
Hagar Shipley , a ninety-year-old womanBrampton Shipley , her husband, an unsuccessful farmerMarvin Shipley , their older son, a paint salespersonJohn Shipley , their younger son, an alcoholic and a wastrelDoris Shipley , Marvin’s wife and Hagar’s primary caretakerArlene Simmons , the woman John wants to marryJason Currie , Hagar’s father, a prosperous merchantMatthew Currie , his older sonDaniel Currie , Jason’s younger sonLottie Drieser Simmons , Arlene’s mother
The Story:
Ninety-year-old Hagar Shipley describes the imposing marble angel that her father had erected to mark her mother’s grave; she recalls visiting the cemetery as a child. Hagar still has two pleasures: smoking cigarettes and annoying her son, Marvin (Marv), and his wife, Doris, who live with Hagar. Often, too, Hagar revisits the past.
Hagar reminisces about being six years old. She is proud to be the daughter of Jason Currie, a Manawaka merchant who favors Hagar because she is more like him than are her two older brothers, Matthew (Matt) and Daniel (Dan). At school, Hagar’s best friend is the doctor’s daughter, and she looks down on Telford Simmons, the undertaker’s son, and on Lottie Drieser, a poor, illegitimate child. One winter, Dan falls into the river and becomes desperately ill. Hagar refuses to put on a shawl and sit by Dan and pretend to be his mother. Instead, Matt does so, and he sits with his brother until he dies.
The elderly Hagar falls again. At tea, Marv broaches the subject of selling the house, but Hagar points out angrily that the house is hers, not theirs. To mollify Doris, Hagar agrees to a visit from her minister, Mr. Troy. When Mr. Troy calls, Hagar mentions that though her father had died a rich man, he left her nothing. She remembers being sent by him to finishing school in Toronto and then being kept by him from teaching. Hagar had begun to see Brampton (Bram) Shipley, whom even Lottie calls common. When Hagar’s father points out that Bram is a nobody, Hagar marries him anyway and moves out to his farm. Her father never communicates with her again.
After finding a newspaper with a marked advertisement for Silverthreads, a nursing home, Hagar again announces that she will not move from her home. She remembers hearing of her brother, Matt’s, death from influenza. She also recalls being so embarrassed by Bram’s vulgarity that she will no longer go into Manawaka with him. Marv and Doris keep insisting that the nursing home is an ideal solution for their problems, but Hagar is too busy remembering the pleasures of lovemaking to pay much attention to the two.
While she waits to see her doctor, Hagar remembers having sympathized with Bram after he had lost his favorite horse. In the evening, Marv and Doris take Hagar to visit Silverthreads, and Hagar relives the birth of Marv, the son she never really loved. She undergoes a battery of tests, but Marv is secretive about the results. Hagar then remembers John’s birth, his wildness as a child, and her hopes for him. She also recalls being so poor that she had to peddle eggs in Manawaka and sell her prized possessions to Lottie, whose husband, Telford, is now a bank manager.
After Hagar learns from Marv that she is to enter the nursing home in a week, she decides to run away. She remembers having run away to Vancouver with John. This time, she will go to Shadow Point, a quiet place on the sea. After cashing her pension check, she takes two different buses and finally arrives at Shadow Point, where, with some snacks she has bought, she makes her way down some stairs and moves into a deserted house. She thinks about her days working as a housekeeper for Mr. Oatley and about John lying to her about having friends and later pretending to be Mr. Oatley’s nephew.
Hagar is cold, afraid, and confused at Shadow Point. She remembers losing her savings in the stock-market crash and John returning to the farm. She remembers hearing that Bram had been dying. Hagar had dutifully returned to her husband, who could no longer recognize her. She discovered that under the influence of Lottie’s daughter, Arlene, John had cut down his drinking. After Bram died, Hagar had him buried in the Currie family plot.
The summer after Bram’s death, Hagar had returned to the farm. After learning that John and Arlene, though both unemployed, plan to marry, Hagar persuades Lottie to send Arlene away.
At Shadow Point, realizing that she cannot climb back to the house after falling once again, Hagar moves into the nearby cannery. There she meets Murray Lees, an insurance salesperson, who tells her about the death of his young son in a house fire, prompting Hagar to tell him about the death of her son, John. After having learned that Arlene was leaving him, John had gotten drunk and driven onto a railroad trestle. The car had been hit by a train, killing both John and Arlene. Hagar then had returned to Vancouver, and with an inheritance from Mr. Oatley, she had bought her house.
Lees covers Hagar with his coat, and she falls asleep. When she wakes up, Marv and Doris are with her. Marv tells his mother what her X rays reveal and then takes her to the hospital. She is her usual defiant self, infuriating the nurses. To her surprise, however, she finds herself making friends with the other patients. Hagar gives Doris a sapphire ring for her granddaughter, Tina, and when her grandson, Steven, comes to visit, she tells him that he has the good looks of his grandfather Shipley. Hagar even tells Marv that he has been a better son than John, trusting that she will be forgiven for the lie. In one last triumphant act, Hagar snatches a drink being held by Doris, and then dies.
Bibliography
Coger, Greta M. K. McCormick, ed. New Perspectives on Margaret Laurence: Poetic Narrative, Multiculturalism, and Feminism. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1996. Eighteen original essays, predominantly by American writers, covering topics thought to be overlooked. In a group of essays on the topic “Language, Theme, and Image,” the techniques of poetic analysis are applied to Laurence’s highly poetic prose.
Comeau, Paul. Margaret Laurence’s Epic Imagination. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2005. Demonstrates how Laurence was influenced by the great epics of the past in developing her own fiction. The Stone Angel is cited as one of the works in which she utilizes the epic format for her story and focuses on the epic qualities of her heroine.
DeFalco, Amelia. “’And then—’: Narrative Identity and Uncanny Aging in The Stone Angel.” Canadian Literature 198 (Autumn, 2008): 75-89. Discusses various theories about how people search for their identities through time, focusing especially on “late-life review,” the process dramatized in The Stone Angel.
King, James. The Life of Margaret Laurence. 1997. Reprint. Toronto, Ont.: Random House Canada, 2002. This biography presents a compassionate account of the events of Laurence’s life and discusses how these events and the author’s personality influenced her fiction. Includes bibliographical references and an index.
Powers, Lyall. Alien Heart: The Life and Work of Margaret Laurence. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2003. In a scholarly but highly readable work, a lifelong friend of Laurence applies her personal knowledge of the author to an analysis of her fiction. Includes a bibliography and an index.
Stoval, Nora Foster. Divining Margaret Laurence: A Study of Her Complete Writings. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2008. The first comprehensive study of all Laurence’s writings, including a manuscript that was left unfinished at her death. An invaluable addition to Laurence criticism. Includes bibliographical references and an index.
Wiseman, Adele. “Afterword.” In Margaret Laurence: “The Stone Angel.” Toronto, Ont.: McClelland & Stewart, 1988. A close friend of Laurence recalls her conversations with Laurence about the possibility of writing a novel about an elderly woman. Quotes letters in which Laurence describes the genesis of The Stone Angel.
Woodcock, George. Introducing Margaret Laurence’s “The Stone Angel”: A Reader’s Guide. Toronto, Ont.: ECS Press, 1989. Written by one of Canada’s most respected critics, this short work is an ideal starting point for the study of Laurence’s novel. Includes bibliographical references.
Xiques, Donez. Margaret Laurence: The Making of a Writer. Toronto, Ont.: Dundurn Press, 2005. A thoroughly researched account of the first thirty-eight years of Laurence’s life, when she had been serving the literary apprenticeship that ended with the publication of The Stone Angel. Includes a bibliography and an index.