Restoration
is set during 17th-century England, the restoration
era of Charles II - whether this be of the arts, science
or self. The main character, Robert Merivel, embodies
the contradictions of his era. He is trapped between
the longings for wealth and power and the realization
that the pursuit of these desires can leave life rather
empty. Thus he embarks upon a restoration of his self,
to find meaning in his life and discovering the joys
of selflessness and a useful profession.
Merivel was so honest and open about
his own misgivings, strange habits, faults and weaknesses
that he is portrayed as a very human, very real character
which allows the reader to relate to him and thus examine
the vanity of our own lives. However, while Merivel
may have been sloppy and without proper manners, one
cannot help but find his antics very funny. Robert becomes
a fool for King Charles II, marrying the King's mistress
but forbidden to touch her, and it is this relationship
to the King that shapes his life in the story. Robert's
love for King Charles is conveyed so well that the notion
of tender love for a King as a wise and mature parent
illustrates the love essential to European ideas of
kingship before the eighteenth century.
Merivel is by trade a physician but
he rebukes this profession in preference to an easier
life, one without responsibility and hard work and this
laziness leads him to live in a waking sleep. This leads
to his fall from grace for King Charles believes the
sleeper must awaken, forcing Merivel to leave
behind a life of idle luxury and face responsibility
and the truths of the world through the only living
he can make - through a return to his previous profession.
One aspect of Robert's restoration is his work with
the patients at the Quaker asylum: in addition to the
ideas and attitudes of the time, we are allowed to see
Robert developing his own notions of the causes and
cures of madness, which are applied with some success
and some ruinous results.
Merivel finds a place among the poor
insane and through their treatment gains an understanding
of the acts of compassion and selflessness, although
that does not mean he is rid of his desires for power
and lust. Rather, he is now able to control them as
his desire for self-worth has because more important
to him. I believe Rose Tremain was showing that whatever
age we live in, we are all plagued by desires and these
are generally the same whatever century it is - money,
power, vanity - and all of us fight a daily war against
ourselves to overcome these desires. Sometimes we succeed
and sometimes we fail (thats what makes us human),
but as long as we make the attempt each day to fight
these warring conflicts we will succeed each day in
coming that little bit closer to the restoration of
our childlike innocent selves.
Although the portrayal of 17th century
England (particularly the medical practices) was fascinating,
it was the growth of Merivel as a human being that was
the pivotal part of this novel. His trials and tribulations,
his evolution from a self-centered hedonistic court
fop to a serious and sensitive man is poignantly portrayed.
As I previously stated, Tremain's work is a commentary
on our own times, times not unlike the Restoration wherein,
as Charles II describes at the novel's end, "Even
in an age in which we wisely practice the excellent
art of oblivion, certain things remain". However
much we pretend certain things do not exist we have
to accept that situations such as poverty and disease
are very much a part of our society and turning a blind
eye to them will not rectify the situation or make them
go away.
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