In The Return of the Soldier, West employs a nostalgic, romantic, and sometimes sardonic tone. Jenny, the novel's protagonist, is constantly looking back in time for emotional comfort—she wants to escape not only the horrors of WWI but also the pressures of social change and technological modernization that characterized 20th-century England even before the outbreak of war. Accordingly, Jenny speaks nostalgically and almost romantically of Baldry Court, which she characterizes as an emblem of an uncomplicated past:
I reflected that by the contriving of these gardens that lay, well-kept as a woman’s hand, on the south side of the hill, Kitty and I had proved ourselves worthy of the past generation that had set the old house on this sunny ledge, overhanging and overhung by beauty.
In this lyrical passage, Jenny explicitly states her desire to align herself with the "past generation" rather than engaging with the turbulent present. Importantly, her nostalgia for the past allows her to find romance and meaning in her own life: to Jenny, stewarding the grounds of Baldry Court is not a frivolous aesthetic task but an opportunity to prove herself "worthy" of the wealth and class privilege she possesses. Jenny's nostalgic tone thus emphasizes the extent to which she subscribes, at the outset of the novel, to conventional social norms about class.
Notably, the romantic tone with which Jenny discusses country life is predicated on wealth and class status. She and Kitty could not find worth in cultivating the gardens of Baldry Court without owning the house and possessing the money to improve it. When describing Chris and Margaret's love affair, Jenny's tone is also romantic but carries different connotations. When Jenny encounters Margaret watching over a sleeping Chris, she remarks that her vigilant attitude:
[...] means that the woman has gathered the soul of the man into her soul and is keeping it warm in love and peace so that his body can rest quiet for a little time. That is a great thing for a woman to do.
In this passage, Jenny derives her romantic tone from the extreme intimacy she is witnessing, rather than an appreciation of material goods. In Jenny's view, the relationship is compelling precisely because Margaret is poor and lacks external beauty, and because class differences make the relationship socially unsustainable. Jenny's wistful tone, similar to her descriptions of Baldry Court, sets these two forms of romance in opposition to each other.
At the same time, Jenny's cutting observations of the people around her give the novel a sardonic tone. Describing Kitty's desire to be admired by every man in her vicinity at the end of the novel, she says sarcastically that the "civilizing mission" of all beautiful women is to "flash the jewel of their beauty before all men, so that they shall desire it and work to get the wealth to buy it." This remark points out Kitty's narcissism and casts doubt on the social conventions Jenny accepted uncritically at the novel's outset. Jenny's ability to diagnose her own flaws and those of others ultimately outlasts the novel's romantic tone, which fades away as Chris regains his memory and ends his relationship with Margaret.
In The Return of the Soldier, West employs a nostalgic, romantic, and sometimes sardonic tone. Jenny, the novel's protagonist, is constantly looking back in time for emotional comfort—she wants to escape not only the horrors of WWI but also the pressures of social change and technological modernization that characterized 20th-century England even before the outbreak of war. Accordingly, Jenny speaks nostalgically and almost romantically of Baldry Court, which she characterizes as an emblem of an uncomplicated past:
I reflected that by the contriving of these gardens that lay, well-kept as a woman’s hand, on the south side of the hill, Kitty and I had proved ourselves worthy of the past generation that had set the old house on this sunny ledge, overhanging and overhung by beauty.
In this lyrical passage, Jenny explicitly states her desire to align herself with the "past generation" rather than engaging with the turbulent present. Importantly, her nostalgia for the past allows her to find romance and meaning in her own life: to Jenny, stewarding the grounds of Baldry Court is not a frivolous aesthetic task but an opportunity to prove herself "worthy" of the wealth and class privilege she possesses. Jenny's nostalgic tone thus emphasizes the extent to which she subscribes, at the outset of the novel, to conventional social norms about class.
Notably, the romantic tone with which Jenny discusses country life is predicated on wealth and class status. She and Kitty could not find worth in cultivating the gardens of Baldry Court without owning the house and possessing the money to improve it. When describing Chris and Margaret's love affair, Jenny's tone is also romantic but carries different connotations. When Jenny encounters Margaret watching over a sleeping Chris, she remarks that her vigilant attitude:
[...] means that the woman has gathered the soul of the man into her soul and is keeping it warm in love and peace so that his body can rest quiet for a little time. That is a great thing for a woman to do.
In this passage, Jenny derives her romantic tone from the extreme intimacy she is witnessing, rather than an appreciation of material goods. In Jenny's view, the relationship is compelling precisely because Margaret is poor and lacks external beauty, and because class differences make the relationship socially unsustainable. Jenny's wistful tone, similar to her descriptions of Baldry Court, sets these two forms of romance in opposition to each other.
At the same time, Jenny's cutting observations of the people around her give the novel a sardonic tone. Describing Kitty's desire to be admired by every man in her vicinity at the end of the novel, she says sarcastically that the "civilizing mission" of all beautiful women is to "flash the jewel of their beauty before all men, so that they shall desire it and work to get the wealth to buy it." This remark points out Kitty's narcissism and casts doubt on the social conventions Jenny accepted uncritically at the novel's outset. Jenny's ability to diagnose her own flaws and those of others ultimately outlasts the novel's romantic tone, which fades away as Chris regains his memory and ends his relationship with Margaret.
