Mona Maclean, Medical Student 1892
What was the situation for British women doctors in 1892? What difficulties confronted them as they sought training? What fields of practice were they expected to enter?
What are some autobiographical elements of this novel? What was Margaret Todd's relationship to Sophia Jex-Blake and her campaign for women's medical education? (Jex-Blake established the first training schools in England to admit doctors)
Which aspects of the plot and descriptions seem directly related to Mona's medical career? (she is able to help sick women effectively and to assist Dudley informally in his practice both before and after her credentialing; medical terms are often used and a knowledge of anatomy is prized)
What are some unconventional elements of the plot in the context of the women's movement of the time? (companionate marriage based on a shared career, women able to receive medical training in association with traditional English universities; heroine's attempt to establish family ties across class boundaries)
What do we know about the heroine's original family? Is it important that her parents pay no significant role in the plot?
Which elements of the plot seem rather conventional? (great focus on heroine's marriage prospects and attractiveness to three suitors) May this be seen as compensation for the heroine's unusual qualilties of ambition and mind?
What attitudes towards women's medical training must Mona contend with throughout the plot?
What is significant about the fact that as the novel begins Mona has twice failed her medical examinations? How does this knowledge explain her sojourn in a northern village and the importance of the relationships she later forms? What motivates her to return to London and face down her earlier failures? (finds a mission in helping her fellow women as a doctor)
What is Mona's social class, and how is this manifested through her responses to others, her choice of friends, and through others' reactions to her? Which of the characters are "above" her and which "below"? Would these distinctions have been made by British persons in 1892?
Which of the characters seem most prejudiced? Can you tell why the presence of Rachel, Mr. Dickinson, and the Coolsons, for example, should be so embarrassing to Mona and/or the Monroes? Does the narrator/author share some of the prejudices of her characters?
What is the importance of Sir Douglas to the plot? Is his behavior special fondness for Mona considered benign? Are the Monroes treated more favorably than others?
What is contributed by the fact that part of the novel is set in Scotland? By the fact that the heroine moves between different locations?
What are some plot elements that seem overly artificial or romanticized? Might these be accounted for in some extra-narrative way? (seems strange that Mona accepts Rachel's demand that she tell no one that she is a medical student; the lovers' refusal to communicate with one another after their initial embrace and their coldness on meeting again seems extreme--it would have been incumbent on Dr. Dudley to contact Mona once again--these implausibilities may reflect the extreme disapproval of women's medical careers at the time and the fact that a doctor may in fact have felt union with a shopkeeper was beneath him)
How are the themes of sexuality and romance treated within the novel? Does Mona have any qualities of mind that others consider unusual? (able to be friends with men without considering romance)
How do the novel's characters convey their levels of education to one another? (name drop and discuss influential authors of the time such as John Ruskin)
What role is served by Mona's women friends Lucy and Doris? What form of relationship does she establish with younger women such as Matilda?
Would it have been unusual to feature exam-taking within the plot of a novel of the period? Can you think of other examples of this concern?
How do the young examinees and students respond to one another? (close and highly competitive atmosphere) How are Mona's teachers and an older woman doctor presented?
Why do you think this novel was popular at the time? (it went through 13 editions)