The Presence of My Fair Lady in Baker's The Mezzanine
On page 82 of The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker, our narrator, Howie, finds himself in the bathroom, whistling the first line sung by Eliza Doolittle in the song “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” from the 1964 musical My Fair Lady: “All I want is a room somewhere.” Right after starting, however, Howie cuts himself off, out of the self consciousness caused by interrupting his coworker’s whistled rendition of “I’m a Yankey Doodle Dandy” and we do not hear any more of his song. This instance, however, is not the first time Howie brought reference to the musical throughout the duration of the novel, as seen on page 67 where he draws a personal connection to the production by calling the record: “one of [his family’s] oldest records.” This is to say, I would like to investigate the connections between his internal conflict throughout the story, fitting into the world as an adult (and feeling as if you don’t), and the threads of the plot of “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly,” where Eliza Doolittle dreams of fitting into a society life filled with comfort. So if you’re ready for a little bit of song analysis, existentialism, and the ramblings of a theater nerd, buckle up— this is gonna be fun.
Throughout the novel, Howie faces a lot of internal shame from his self-perceived “not-being-adult-enough-ness,” as seen in his cookie scenario, in which he feels as if he looks out of place being a business man and eating a lunch of cookie, milk, a hotdog, and popcorn, and his insistence on maintaining “adult thoughts” over “childish” ones. As discussed in class, all of that could be an entire essay by itself, so we’re not going to go into too much detail about Howie’s fears about adulthood here. But we do get the sense that he feels as though he doesn’t fit into the archetype of “serious businessman” despite how much he wants to, hence his insistence on having “adult thoughts” and leaving his nostalgia for his childhood behind.
For those of you who do not know the plot of My Fair Lady, the musical follows Eliza Doolittle, a young woman, about twenty (though it is never specified), who finds herself as a “project” of phoneticist Henry Higgins who has the ultimate goal of being able to pass her, a cockney flower girl, as a proper lady in proper British society. Throughout the musical, hijinks, mayhem, and hilarity ensue, usually fitting around Eliza’s unfamiliarity with proper etiquette and speech, her mannerisms and temperament seen as “childish” and her way of speech seen as harsh and unruly. Ultimately, this musical follows her transformation from this “childish” and “ill-mannered” common girl to a mature and proper lady, though a majority of the plot sees her struggling to conform to proper societal conventions and feeling as though she is simply not fit for the life of a society lady. Is this sounding familiar? I think it is. The song “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” in particular functions majorly as Eliza’s “I want” song, in which she dreams of a better life where she can fit in and be comfortable in herself and her surroundings, much like Howie’s desire to “fit in” to convention of the “serious adult businessman.” A key example from the song of fitting into the roles expected of us and doing it well and “right” lives in the chorus where Eliza sings: “Someone’s head resting on my knee, warm and tender as he can be, who takes good care of me, oh wouldn’t it be loverly?” Which speaks to her desire particularly to fit into those societal norms of what is expected of her as a woman in the same way Howie’s inner monologue a la “I am a business man, I am an adult, I don’t have kid thoughts because I am an adult, and I DEFINENTLY should NOT have cookies for lunch because I am an ADULT” does.
So yeah, in the end I think Baker chose this musical in particular because of the narrative parallels of the internal conflicts in both protagonists and this song as a way to indirectly vocalize that internal conflict living inside Howie. But maybe I too am blinded by the nostalgia of my first Uni High musical and am just reading way too far into this— but with the intentionality of everything else in this novel, I refuse to believe that this similarity is unintentional. And if you haven’t listened to this cheery song, give it a try, it is sure to brighten your day.
Wow, this is an excellent deep dive into a seemingly fleeting detail in this novel, and I find your analysis of the significance of this particular song and this particular musical to be quite persuasive. Howie is indeed preoccupied with "passing" as a viable adult male in his society, and the ways he depicts dressing up in his "costume" for work (all the stuff about his new shoes, his suit, his small number of rotating shirts, applying deodorant in innovative and efficient ways) does call to mind the Eliza Doolittle "project" from the play. There's also just a neat connection in the way that Howie obviously knows this song at a deep level if he spontaneously starts whistling it at work, and we learn that he knows it because he's been listening to the record his whole life. Also, of course, there's its "cheery" tone, which mirrors that of "Yankee Doodle Dandy"--these corporate guys are doing their best to remain upbeat at work, and a buoyant melody might help.
ReplyDeleteThis is such an interesting thought Lee! I really like how you were able to combine the world of musical theatre with the story of the Mezzanine. I definitely agree that Baker does not seem to do anything accidentally in his story but it is also so crazy that he might have put so much thought into the little details of the novel. It puts into perspective for me that a mundane novel about a corporate mans thoughts throughout the day can have so much subtle subtext.
ReplyDeleteTalking about the etiquette, Howie seems to know/talk about etiquette a lot. One prime example is when he was in the lobby of his office building, and he saw the workers sitting in the seats while the interviewee was standing. He made a mental note that it should be the interviewee who was sitting and the workers who were standing. Someone who was worried about their own etiquette would likely notice the etiquette of others as well, especially when that etiquette is lacking to their standards.
ReplyDeleteHi Lee! I'm so glad you brought up these mentions of My Fair Lady, because I also got excited when he mentioned it as being one of his family's oldest records! Perhaps that's also the nostalgia from the subbie year musical though. I think it's really cool how you linked the plot of the musical to one of the many themes of The Mezzanine, as it totally fits with Howie and his childlike wonder.
ReplyDeleteHeya Liam! First of all, as a fellow theater aficionado, my biggest thought while reading this part of the book was, "MY FAIR LADY MENTIONED???? HUZZAH!!" Second of all, I had never really thought about this parallel before, but now that you've mentioned it, the inclusion of this detail feels like it HAS to have been intentional. Baker is an author fascinated by every single minute detail of everyday life, so I would not be surprised at all if he chose to reference this song because of how it connects to Howie's thoughts. I wonder if "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy" says anything significant about his coworker's subconscious...
ReplyDelete[ELANOR'S COMMENT]
ReplyDeleteAmazing connection! I’ve only watched My Fair Lady twice, but I never would have
connected the two together. The parallels of Eliza wishing to be taken more seriously as an
Englishwoman and Howie wanting to be taken more seriously as a man in the world are clear,
however I’m curious to know if there's any more connection between the two. Howie constantly
picks apart words and tries to make sense of them (with the distinction between what a ‘knob’
should be classified as), and I wonder if that has to do with Eliza’s drive to speak more
“properly”. The idea of the meaning and the phonetics of words can be very closely connected,
and he might have gotten inspiration from My Fair Lady.
I enjoyed your connection between Howie and Eliza! The idea that both characters are concerned with fitting into society’s expectations of adulthood makes the reference to “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” feel much more intentional. I especially like your point that Howie cutting himself off while whistling the song could reflect his own self-consciousness about not quite fitting the role he wants to embody. Great post!
ReplyDelete