MovieChat Forums > Poldark (2015) Discussion > Why did George hate Demelza

Why did George hate Demelza

posted 7 years ago by IveGotASecret
13 replies | jump to latest

I understand why he hated Ross. Ross was accepted in the society he longed to be accepted in, even when he thumbed his nose at society. He could literally behave in any way he wanted and Ross would still be accepted in society because he's one of them, while nothing George did could ever really get him accepted. And he felt he'd be striking a fatal blow against Ross by obtaining Elizabeth.

But Demelza is kind of in the same position as he's in. Because she married Ross, she has to try to be accepted by his class and become one of them. You'd think he'd feel a kinship to Demelza as they're both in the same boat. Accepted by society but never really considered one of them.

Is he jealous because he feels Demelza is more accepted than he is and she literally came up farther than him? He was just the son of a blacksmith. Demelza was a miner's daughter and scullery maid. By the comment he makes to Ross to go home to his scullery maid, it seems obvious he looks down on Demelza as not being as good as him. Is it simply because she's Ross' wife?

[–] kmill30 7 years ago

Interesting question. I think George does resent Demelza. It is important to remember that in some ways it's easier for a woman to obtain social status by marriage. Demelza automatically becomes a member of the gentry due to her marriage to Ross. George never quite achieve social rank that he wishes to obtain. Is ironic that he actually suffers more setbacks by marrying Elizabeth due to both their personality deficiency.

[–] IveGotASecret 7 years ago

I started wondering about this when I started reading "The Stranger From The Sea". There's a line where George says to himself Ross and Demelza are the two people he hates most in the world, and it made me wonder what Demelza ever did to him, and she's really done nothing to him.

I think you make a great point about women being able to get accepted in society more than men. A poor lower class woman can marry into the upper classes and be accepted, but I don't think it's the same situation if a poor lower class man marries a rich upper class woman or even a rich lower class man marrying a poor upper class woman. It seemed more acceptable for a poor upper class man to marry a rich lower class woman to obtain wealth.

George seemed to think that Ross would finally be rejected by society for marrying so far beneath him and once again Ross was still accepted more than George is no matter how much he tries to force his way into society. Worse than that, Demelza was actually a success at entering society and the credit is all her own because Ross left her to sink or swim on her own. Look at how he pretty much abandoned her on her own at the first ball he took her to.

I guess George doesn't do empathy and he's just as much a class conscious snob as the rest of the society he's trying to become a part of. In the class structure George would come from the middle class and Demelza the lower class, so he maybe feels he's better than her and to see her excel him in rising in society may gall him.

[–] kmill30 7 years ago

It also didn't help that Demelza is pretty, witty, charming. George thought he hit the jackpot with Elizabeth with her ancient bloodline, but I always get the impression she is very uncomfortable in social gathering which in society, especially London society ruled by hostesses who value a sparkling with, is fatal.

I love the small scene when George and Elizabeth payed call to Caroline in London. Caroline is the epitome of an ideal society hostess, charming, witty with a touch of ridicule toward her guest. George and Elizabeth looked very stiff and uncomfortable in her presence which I think its foreshadowing how rest of high society is going to perceive them.

[–] IveGotASecret 7 years ago

I don't think Elizabeth was uncomfortable, I think it was more she was used to having men fall all over themselves because of her beauty and she didn't really have to develop a charming and witty personality. Both Demelza and Caroline aren't considered to be the ravishing beauty Elizabeth is, so they had to develop a social personality, which Elizabeth never did.

In Cornwall Elizabeth was a big fish in a small pond, but in London she was a small fish in a big pond. There were a lot of women just as beautiful as she was, so the one who didn't rely on her looks but developed a social personality was the one who stood out more.

I always found it interesting [in spite of him being a total toad] that Captain McNeil was never under Elizabeth's thrall. He was more captivated by Demelza, but he also said he liked a woman with something more. In a way, all Elizabeth had going for her was her looks.

[–] kmill30 7 years ago

Bingo. Elizabeth is a mere ornament. I shouldn't say she is uncomfortable in social situation, but you don't see her having witty conversations or being any more than a basic good hostess. In Cornwall, that is fine and good, but in London that is a fatal flaw. Is very telling that she later despises London toward the end because she is expected to be more than a pretty face. Plus I could see her despising the new fashions of messy curls and immodest dresses especially when her precious drop curls become out of fashion.

[–] josephmramirez 7 years ago

I started wondering about this when I started reading "The Stranger From The Sea". There's a line where George says to himself Ross and Demelza are the two people he hates most in the world, and it made me wonder what Demelza ever did to him, and she's really done nothing to him.

As you and others here have pointed out, it's partly that Demelza's class ascent makes George uncomfortable about his own relatively low origins. She can make it too easy for him to feel the sting of his own snobbery.

But it's mostly that Demelza, to George's disbelief, obviously has made Ross's life much better. She has helped to foil George's plans for destroying Ross. Her presence means that George's acquisition of Elizabeth is never the total triumph over Ross that George had hoped. Moreover, Demelza has helped Ross get through the various tests and trials George has devised. And her love for Ross means that George can never conceive of his rival as alone or broken. Remember that in The Angry Tide, George bets against Demelza's unfaithfulness -- and he wins the bet! George is always smart enough to make money by understanding good people, but is empty enough to resent the goodness that he witnesses.

[–] hilaryjrp 7 years ago

George is always smart enough to make money by understanding good people, but is empty enough to resent the goodness that he witnesses.

Wow. This, and the rest of your post, is brilliant. I was just speaking this week about someone the above quoted sentence describes to a T. Thank you for helping me articulate the issue: the suspicious moral nature of those who understand good people, but lack some quality--and it must include intelligence--to want to emulate them.

It's a mystery. Wickedness is a mystery.

I came to the Poldark board to find out where you all will move when IMDB closes and would appreciate greatly an answer.

[–] IveGotASecret 7 years ago

I thought I'd go to the Movie Database http://www.themoviedb.org. They have boards but no one seems to be using them.

[–] wendycscott9 7 years ago

Thanks! I bookmarked this page in case these boards do close. It looks promising.

—
"How was the war, sir?"
"As any war—a waste of good men." (Poldark)

[–] IveGotASecret 7 years ago

I wish they'd change their minds about closing these boards. I think they'll be making a big mistake. I think they're going to find the majority of their users came here for the boards.

[–] wendycscott9 7 years ago

I certainly won't visit as often, just once in awhile when I get curious about a show or an actor. And that isn't all that often.

—
"How was the war, sir?"
"As any war—a waste of good men." (Poldark)

[–] josephmramirez 7 years ago

I came to the Poldark board to find out where you all will move when IMDB closes and would appreciate greatly an answer.

In my case, probably nowhere. I mentioned in another post that I used to participate in the Poldark forum on Previously.TV, but I doubt that I'll resume operations there. Over the last two years, I've said most or all of what I need to say about Poldark, both on television and in the books, and that's been a lot more than I originally anticipated. I'm not inclined to start all over again.

[–] IveGotASecret 7 years ago

Her presence means that George's acquisition of Elizabeth is never the total triumph over Ross that George had hoped.

Ironically, it's Demelza that if Ross lost her it would destroy him. Ross' love for Elizabeth was very superficial. He even admits in the books he doesn't really know her. So what he loves is her pretty face. The same way George does.

If Elizabeth was some plain Jane none of this men would have given her a second glance.