2. Sisterhood, Shame, and Redemption in Cat’s Eye and King Lear

2.2.Before, During, and After Elaine’s Fall
Thesurvivalskillsnecessaryfor a lifeontheroadandinthenaturalworldarereplacedbyotherskillsasElainemovespermanentlytoToronto.Althoughthegamesgirlsplayareunfamiliartoher, shemastersthesegameswitheaseand a measureofastonishment, butalsowith a senseofurgency. Shesacrificeshonestyinordertogetalongandplayalong, handingherselfovertotheothergirlsandconsequentlygivingthempoweroverher. Elaine’sdifferencehasanexoticappealtoGraceandCarol; butallthatchangeswhenCordeliaarrives, changingthegroupdynamics radically.
GraceandCarolbecomeCordelia’sfollowers, protectingherpowerbyhelpingtoimposeherruleonElaine.BeforeElainecomestoknowCordelia, ‘[shedoesn’t] thinkaboutfalling.[Sheis] notyetafraidofheights’ (62, ch. 12). BeforeCordeliaisthetimebeforethefallintoshame: thetimeofinnocence (33, ch. 6). Thefirsttimetheymeet, Elainebecomesconsciousofherlackofsophisticationandofher ‘atypical’ family. Shesuddenlyseesherselffromtheoutside, throughtheeyesofanother, Cordelia:I feelshywithCordelia. […] I’mconsciousofmygrubbiness, myunbrushedhair. […] Hereyesaremeasuring, amused. I cansee, withoutturningaround, myfather’soldfelthat, hisboots, thestubbleonhisface, […] mymother’sgreyslacks,hermanlikeplaidshirt, herfaceblankofmakeup. (70, ch. 14)
Atthispoint, CordeliaprovokesembarrassmentratherthanshameinElaine.55 Shamefollowslater, butthegirls’ firstencounterprovidesthereaderwith a cluetowhatistocome: ‘GraceandCarolarestandingamongtheappletrees, justwhere I leftthem […] A thirdgirliswiththem. I lookather, emptyofpremonition’ (69, ch. 13). Like a snakeinthegardenofEden, CordeliahasenteredElaine’sinnocentchildhoodworld, readytosubjugateandhumiliateher:
Cordelia’s remark is of a kind that could have embarrassed Elaine, butshe does not yet play along in the game of pretence. At this early stage,Elaine does not internalize the shame that Cordelia tries to project on her.Cordelia therefore tries another tactic by playing on Elaine’s desire to fitin and belong.
The kind of shame that Cordelia induces in Elaine will gradually haveless to do with embarrassment and more with a profound sense of shamemanifested, in Bartky’s words, through ‘a pervasive sense of personal inadequacy’– a feeling that the self is in some important way flawed, inferior,and unworthy.57 Cordelia projects shame onto Elaine by diminishing anddenigrating her to the point of making her totally disempowered and helpless:‘I worry about what I’ve said today, the expression on my face, howI walk, what I wear, because all of these things need improvement. I amnot normal, I am not like other girls. Cordelia tells me so, but she willhelp me’ (118, ch. 22).58 Cordelia provokes and sustains shame in Elaine,and once Elaine has internalized it, the only way for Elaine to free herselffrom it is by striving to improve herself and to please Cordelia. The youngElaine does not realize that Cordelia is responsible for her imprisonmentin shame, for inducing those feelings that Cordelia makes a show of liberatingher from. To Elaine, Cordelia holds the key to her liberation fromdisgrace. Redemption is in the power of Cordelia, who is thus both herpersecutor and her saviour:The contradictory urge to stay within Cordelia’s control despite her crueltycannot be sought in Elaine’s early childhood59 or explained with referenceto the ‘female gaze’ or ‘controlling gaze’,60 because what keeps her there isa warped form of gratitude. Elaine is tied to Cordelia by the necessity ofplacating her, winning her approval: ‘Cordelia is my friend. She likes me,she wants to help me, they all do. They are my friends, my girlfriends, mybest friends. I have never had any before and I’m terrified of losing them.I want to please’ (120, ch. 22). Elaine’s temporary sense of empowermentwhich comes with the reward of intermittent and grudging acceptanceand belonging is an illusion, because it is sustained by the continuing empowermentof Cordelia, which thus keeps the power balance intact. Elainelooks to her ‘friends’ to avert the risk of guilt and shame that may attenderroneous behaviour, but the power structures in the quartet only heapsmore of both on her.
Cordelia, who has never managed to be acceptable in her family, nowattempts to keep Elaine from violating proper codes of conduct by way ofmock-parental discipline and authority. Expressions such as: ‘You shouldhave your mouth washed out with soap’ and ‘Wipe that smirk off yourface’ (see, for example, 252, ch. 52) are copied verbatim from her father’sdisciplinary repertoire. Cordelia thus uses her father’s very words to placeElaine in a position of dependence. She ‘saves’ Elaine from her greatestfear: that she might find herself ‘cast out for ever’ (120, ch. 22). Elaine’ssense of gratitude and her fear of expulsion subdue any stirring of rebellionagainst Cordelia’s rule. It is, however, in response to Cordelia’s demand formore than what Elaine feels able to give back to Cordelia that her holdover Elaine is finally threatened.