The Midwife’s Apprentice
Written by Karen
Cushman
Image accessed November 12th, 2013
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Midwife's_Apprentice
Summary
The Midwife’s
Apprentice is a historical novel set in the early 1400s that tells the tale
of Alyce, a starving, dirty street urchin who gradually finds her place in the
world and claims her name.
Critical Analysis
Karen Cushman paints a vivid, and occasionally desperate,
picture of life in the Late Middle Ages. Centering around a street urchin named
Alyce (who begins the story with no name, just the moniker “Brat”), readers
witness Alyce’s transformation through her gradual education which is reflected
in the name changes that Alyce experiences. Cushman illustrates the bleak and
precarious nature of life in the middle ages and how once a person loses their
support structure (in the case of Brat, her family), there is nothing to keep
you from falling to the lowest rungs of life. One night while keeping warm in a
dung pile, Brat has the good fortune to procure employment from the greedy
village midwife Jane. In exchange for Beetle’s (Jane christens Brat “Beetle”
for her dung pile abode) very hard work, Beetle gets to sleep on the cottage floor
and “eat two meals of onions, turnips, dried apples, cheese, bread and the
occasional bit of bacon”(Cushman, 1995, pg. 11) per day.
Cushman teaches the readers what qualified as medicine in
the 1400s as Beetle learns how to gather and prepare Jane’s concoctions. With ingredients
like “dragon dung and mouse ears, frog liver and ashes of toad, snail jelly,
borage leaves, nettle juice and the powdered bark of the black alder tree.”
(Cushman, 1995, pg. 12) the medicines read more like witches brew rather than
healing draughts. Beetle works hard and begins to find her place in village
life and becomes known to the villagers as “The Midwife’s Apprentice”.
Gradually, the Midwife’s Apprentice gains experience, and begins to learn about
herself and the people of the village. One day, on an unexpected trip to the St
Swithin’s Day Fair at Gobnet-Under-Green, the Midwife’s Apprentice has a chance
encounter with a merchant who gives The Midwife’s Apprentice her first
possession; a carved comb. Also while at the St. Swithin’s Day Fair The
Midwife’s Apprentice is mistaken for another young woman named Alyce, and from
that moment she adopts the name for herself and begins to assert her own
independent identity!
The characters in The
Midwife’s Apprentice are multi faceted and constantly evolving. Readers
will identify with Alyce as they reflect on the moments in their own lives that
shape their identity. The themes Alyce face are the same hurdles that we all
encounter which allows readers to ally themselves with this fourteenth century
protagonist. The quest for identity, acceptance and love is still the same as
it was in the middle ages. Perhaps one of the most intriguing supporting
characters in The Midwife’s Apprentice
is the character of Alyce’s cat Purr. Like Alyce, Purr is introduced to readers
as a disposable living creature - unwanted, unloved and nameless. Alyce saves
the cat from being drowned by a group of troublemaking boys and procures her
first true friend. Purr is a steadfast fixture in Alyce’s life and reflects the
growth that rises up in Alyce. As Alyce gains her first true name, Purr also
names himself. As Alyce learns to read and write, Purr gazes intently along,
and finally, when Alyce gathers the courage to return to Jane and become a true
apprentice who is willing to try and to fail, Purr patiently waits while Alyce
gathers her courage. While the themes the character of The Midwife’s Apprentice experience are universal, the clothing,
the setting and the cleanliness (or lack there of!) reflect the values of the
middle ages. The language of The
Midwife’s Apprentice feels antiquated, however, does not reflect the true,
difficult, phrasing of Old English.
The plot of The
Midwife’s Apprentice is gritty and peppered with the bleak adversity of the
Middle Ages, however, Cushman does not delve completely into the harsh reality
of the time. During the entire novel, not one mother or child dies under the
midwife’s care – an unlikely feat considering the intensely high mortality rate
of women and children during that time. There is little to no sickness in
Cushman’s tale and no death occurs. While Cushman steers clear of death,
witchcraft, plague and other common themes of medieval life, she does take a
moment in her Authors Note to address the important role of the midwife.
Cushman explains how women became midwifes and while aspects of the role involved
superstition, many of the herbs these women used actually were effective - however Cushman offers no sources to
support her assertions. Cushman effectively paints Medieval England with an
accurate brush, but steers clear of the most devastating aspects of the time.
Cushman’s description of the village life, the intense level of work that
revolves around the seasons, the roles of women and the rare opportunity of
education highlight how far society has come – and that through the efforts of
individuals like Alyce, triumph is possible.
Connections
Island of the Blue Dolphins
by Scott O’Dell is another historical fiction novel that revolves around a young
woman making her place in the world. While Scott O’Dell’s novel Island of the Blue Dolphins features a
Native American protagonist, like The Midwifes Apprentice, readers experience
the life of an orphaned girl and how she forges a place for herself and her
animal companion in the world.
Awards
The John Newberry Medal
Reviews
School Library
Journal
"With
simplicity, wit, and humor, Cushman presents another tale of medieval England.
Here readers follow the satisfying, literal and figurative journey of a
homeless, nameless child called Brat. . . . Earthy humor, the foibles of humans
both high and low, and a fascinating mix of superstition and genuinely helpful
herbal remedies attached to childbirth make this a truly delightful
introduction to a world seldom seen in children's literature."
Booklist
"This novel is
about a strong, young woman in medieval England who finds her own way home. . .
. Kids will be caught up in this short, fast-paced narrative about a hero who
discovers that she's not ugly or stupid or alone."
Resources
Booklist 03/15/1995 pg. 1328
(EAN 9780395692295, Hardcover) - *Starred Review
Cushman, Karen.
1995. The Midwife’s Apprentice. New
York, NY: Clarion Books. ISBN 0395692296
School Library
Journal 05/01/1995 pg.
118 (EAN 9780395692295, Hardcover) - *Starred Review
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