The aim of this analysis has been to investigate the generic conventions and representations of gender in Gainsborough's wartime films. In the course of my research, I have found that contemporary issues are present in these films, despite the view of them as being unconcerned with such discourses.
The work previously done on Gainsborough melodramas provides several points that my work has been able to expand on. Landy suggested that the films were able to function as escapism, whilst still being able to articulate "everyday conflicts concerning women's experience" (1991: 195). I have found that this point can be supported by a generic analysis, allowing the films to be perceived as melodrama whilst also facilitating the identification of contemporary issues in the texts. However, Landy's other statement, that the narratives involved "conflicts over class, status, and, above all, the quest of the female characters for adventure" (ibid.: 196) seems to be only partially corroborated by my research.
Whilst class and status, along with gender, are important areas of conflict within the films, the narratives are of a greater complexity than Landy recognises. Although Hesther's transformation into a highwayman in The Wicked Lady is prompted by her need for excitement, the other films are cannot be seen in this way. Particularly in Fanny By Gaslight and They Were Sisters, the female characters are far too controlled by both men and the social order to be able to search for adventure of any kind. Instead these films present a 'quest' for freedom from these constraints.
That the primary representation of these constraints is the aristocracy is a particularly British formulation of the way in which Gledhill quotes Vicinus that in melodrama, "evil is associated with social power and station" (1987: 21). As malevolent representatives of social power and station within the costume melodramas, the aristocracy can be seen as exaggerated 'historical figures', but also as connected to the members of the upper classes during the period of the films' production.
However, They Were Sisters is not concerned with class conflict in this way; all the characters are middle class. The main conflict of the narrative is then based on gender (as opposed to a combination of class and gender), and Geoffrey's terrorisation of Charlotte within their marriage. The contemporary setting of this film also however allows Lucy a greater amount of power than the female characters in the costume melodramas. Furthermore, Lucy is empowered within the social structure, in contrast to Hesther's empowerment through breaking the law and transgressing social codes in The Wicked Lady.
What I have found to be perhaps the most important recurrent theme within the Gainsborough melodrama, that of the problematic marriage, appears not to have been recognised by any of the previous writing on these films. This does however seem to be intrinsic to these films, representing the argument that, in the majority of cases, a marriage is not based on equality but exploitation. Marriage is portrayed as a thing to be escaped from, and avoided by the naïve. This theme can be viewed as linked to the contemporary discourse surrounding divorce and the possibility that women, gaining greater independence from wartime work, could be more than housewives and mothers.
The apparently formulaic construction of these films, and the particular usage of generic codes, is useful in their analysis. This both allows comparisons to be made between them and the differences in representation to be recognised. The codes of melodrama are used to make particular reference to issues important to the contemporary audience, such as the way in which repressive social pressures are associated with the aristocracy in Fanny By Gaslight. Therefore, even though elements of mise-en-scene and characterisation are common to all the films, it is the deviation from these patterns that allows the changes in representation to be perceived. It is because of this that the relation between the contemporary setting of They Were Sisters and the more empowered woman can be perceived.
There does also appear to be some conflict between the narratives and their closure. This can be seen in the endings, which contradict the images of hostility and unhappiness within the films. In this way, The Man in Grey effects a positive ending by allowing the descendants of Rokeby and Clarissa to meet years after the conclusion of the preceding narrative. Fanny By Gaslight also works in this way, suggesting throughout the narrative that Fanny is in an inescapable situation within society, only to conclude with her assertion that Harry will survive and their future will be positive.
It is the ambiguities within the films that allow them to be seen, in many ways, as subversive to both the idea of the 'happy ending' to the romance narrative, and more importantly, the social structure of Britain; the representations of class and gender portray a Britain not at war with a foreign power, but deeply divided within.