Data Visualization: Sidney Bidulph

Data Visualization: The Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph

Faulkland and Arnold

 When we compared the mentions of Faulkland’s name to the mentions of Arnold’s, the results were kind of surprising. Considering the fact that Arnold is her husband, and that they call Sidney herself “Mrs. Arnold” from there on out, it would seem likely that Arnold’s name would pop up more frequently than Faulkland’s, or at least that there would be sections where Arnold was mentioned more. However, Faulkland’s and Arnold’s names follow a very similar curve, with exception to the start and end of the book, where we meet Faulkland and where Sidney ends up marrying him at last. Faulkland was mentioned 656 times, and Arnold was mentioned a total of 490.

Sidney claims to have moved past Faulkland, but many of the mentions of Arnold’s names were followed relatively closely by a mention of Faulkland’s, even when Sidney claims not to be thinking of him. Despite the fact that their relationship is over, Faulkland is always present, perhaps moreso that Sidney would like to admit.

Duty and Obligation

I noticed in the visual manipulation of the words duty and obligation, the word obligation peaks when the word duty is making its second decline. Also, the words correlate with what is happening in the novel. In the beginning of the novel, Sidney has obligations to her family (mother) and to be a suitable woman in society. Those obligations. After she marries Mr. Arnold, her obligations change to her husband and to her children; they have more weight in her life that having the obligations toward her mother. 

Duty

 Throughout the novel, The Memoirs of Sidney Bidulph, Sidney has a duty to her family. As the novel progresses, her sense of duty gradually diminishes and then rises again after Mr. Arnold dies. She had a high sense of duty to her family because she had to represent herself as the perfect 18^th century woman. She had to be the “Angel in the House” so to speak. She had to be chaste and have decorum as well as keeping her family name out of the papers.

Obligation

Sidney’s obligations in the beginning of the novel all start with her mother. In the beginning of the novel, her obligation to her mother was to get married. Then her obligation was to say faithful to her husband, Mr. Arnold, who was unfaithful. Sidney’s obligation by this time in the novel was to forgive her husband and “let it go”. 

Fate and Accident

Would Sidney Bidulph attribute an accident to fate or vice versa?

In considering the use of accident and fate in The Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph, logically, the first guess would be that the two words should coincide with each other frequently.  However, the graph shows a different scenario in which quite often when the use of one peaks, the other dips in usage.  This might seem strange.  However, when the religious undertones of the novel are taken into account, the graph makes a great deal more sense.  When “accidents” occur in the life of Miss Bidulph, she must choose to see them as either accidents or fate.  She cannot see them as both.  Since fate would, to Sidney, constitute an act of the Almighty, it would certainly not be seen as an accident.  Likewise, if she chooses to see something as an accident, she would not dare to attribute it to fate or God.  Therefore, uses of the two words are by necessity separate.

Joy and Sorrow

The Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph, it can be argued revolves around the potential for joy, but more often the experienced sorrow of Sidney. By examining the oldest definitions of both words in the Oxford English Dictionary, it is easy to see how joy and sorrow meant the same then as it does now. The OED defines joy as “a vivid emotion of pleasure arising from a sense of well-being or satisfaction,” and sorrow as “mental distress caused by loss, suffering, disappointment, etc” (OED). Most interestingly, in a novel that is fully consumed with the events of Sidney Bidulph’s life, she speaks of joy more than sorrow for most of the novel. The only place that speaking of sorrow spikes is where we would expect that to happen - at the beginning of the novel and when she speaks of her husband’s death. To the reader, these observation might seem opposite of what would be expected, but in fact are perfectly in line with Sidney’s perfect conduct. She is not overly emotional, but instead expresses herself appropriately for her station, even in her own personal journals.