Hey there Amanda!
Sorry for the late reply --
How early do you think the relationship with Walter started? When Nan first meets Kitty, Walter's already in Kitty's dressing room. Kitty proudly says that she won't "do things to please the manager" in the way that many stage actresses would. But, in the end, by turning to Walter... is that what she ultimately is doing? And, really, how early did this affair begin?
In the movie, we see that Kitty & Walter exchange flirty looks in the carriage while Nan was busy marvelling at the sights and sounds of London. It is hard to say when exactly their “affair” began, especially because we don’t really get to see scenes with Walter and Kitty alone after Nan joins her in London.
In the book, however, I had to go back and hunt this down – we get a better idea of when it started.
When Nan discovers them together after her return from Whitstable, Kitty tells her that she only slept with Walter the night before but that before that, “there was only talk and kisses..” When Nan eventually asks her when the kisses began, she said they started after one particularly stressful performance they’d done at Deacon’s Music Hall (quite possibly months before they broke up) – the audience had been rowdy and aggressive and Walter (upset at the theatre manager for the poor treatment of his artistes) took Kitty home before their last song was done… Nan had to stay back and pack up their bags/costumes etc. That was the night when the kisses began & after which Nan observed that Walter’s visits were fewer than before & that he'd grown increasingly awkward whenever he was around Kitty. Nan unknowingly thought that he was acting that way because he had found out about their relationship and didn’t approve. Little did she know…
And, my other question is... what do you imagine Kitty's upbringing to be like. We know she doesn't want to talk about it with Nan. Because she only wants to talk about "happy things." And, when Nan asks Kitty how she came up with the idea to dress as a boy on stage in the first place... Kitty gives a sort of general answer about it being fun to be bold, etc. But, really, how do we think Kitty got involved in that kind of act to begin with?
I am not sure whether this subject was covered in the book or not. Do you remember if it was? I searched briefly to no avail. Do you think that her family might’ve dissociated themselves from her because they found out she was a tom? Maybe she was one of those little girls who love to try on their fathers’/brothers’ clothes when no one is watching… Maybe she left home when the rumours of her sexuality came out … maybe she was a carefree child/young woman before that… maybe her family’s reaction pushed her deep into the closet – we know that she was never keen on making her sexuality public.. maybe she eventually cut all ties with her family after she discovered she could support herself by cropping her hair & performing on stage in handsome men's clothes... maybe she was inspired by another performer/act she'd seen in her youth (much like Nan was enthralled by her), hence the idea of performing on stage in the first place... the possibilities are endless..
What do you think her early life might’ve been like?
When I was going through the book again, looking for some of the details mentioned above, I came across a conversation between Nan and Kitty that I found very interesting. Nan and Kitty were in the change-room of a theatre when they met two women – a singer and her dresser, a couple that Nan thought was rather like she and Kitty”. After the singer’s show, she came back to the dressing room and invited Nan & Kitty to a party afterwards. Kitty declined and said that they had a prior engagement with their manager. She had lied. When Nan asked her why she had lied, she said that she ‘didn’t care for them’; to which Nan said:
“ Why not? They were nice. They were funny. They were – like us.”Kitty stiffened at Nan’s words and grew quite agitated, saying –
“They’re not like us! They’re not like us at all. They’re toms.” Their conversation after that was mainly – Nan trying to understand why Kitty thinks they are different from those women; Kitty growing grave and uncomfortable by the whole topic…
The day after they met the two women, when they returned to the theatre, Nan observed that Kitty tried to physically distance herself from the women in the change-room..
"Kitty chose a hook that was far from theirs.."(Did she think that their “tomness” was contagious or something? )
Kitty’s reaction here reminds me of Ennis again. Her denial is deep, her fear is even deeper.
It all boils down to her own homophobia, self-hatred.
It says a lot that she couldn’t admit to her own lover that she was having a lesbian relationship or that she was a tom, even though she had admitted to having prior relationships with other women.
Would love to hear your thoughts on this..