The Confessions of Frannie Langton

Freedom is often brought up in the wake of Frannie’s departure from the Benham’s house. For the first time, she is somewhere other than where Langton placed her. Despite the direness of her circumstances, especially in those first few days, she thinks that she may now be able to become her own woman. Her work at the School-House is not her first choice, but she embraces the aspects that are improvements. Upon seeing Pru again, she even thinks about the discrepancy in quality of life between the respectable position of maid versus sex work. She considers telling Pru that she now has every afternoon off. It is significant that Frannie can only escape the situation at the Benham’s by being forced out. As she has stated, there are not only physical bonds, but also mental ones that tie her to her situation.

In this way, Frannie’s love for Meg becomes a kind of trap. Despite her desire to move on from her life at the Benham’s, she cannot stop her thoughts of Meg, wondering where she is, how she is doing, hoping to catch a glimpse of her about London. Sal advises Frannie to move on from her but Frannie is in love. It is not uncomplicated—Frannie is aware of the position of power Meg holds over her both as someone who is rich and white, and as the person who ended their relationship. However, despite Frannie’s own concerns about her feelings for Meg, she can’t help but have them, as proven with her return to Meg when asked.

Frannie’s addiction to laudanum is a useful symbol for the nature of her relationship with freedom. At the School-House, Frannie manages to give up laudanum as a coping mechanism, but her desire for it has not gone away. She is bound to her memories, much as she is bound to Meg. Both factors push her into her use of laudanum. She has less need for it at the School-House however, because she is away from the circumstances that continually reminded her of her trauma. Frannie is still marked by her experiences, but outside of the Benham house she can choose, for the first time, where and with whom to be.

Visibility is present in these chapters, largely by way of notoriety. Frannie’s troubled memories that lead her to whip Henry unconscious make her a popular and well-known member of the School-House, something she has conflicted feelings about. She further experiences negative visibility due to perceptions of her skin color. While out with Sal, they are harassed by a white man simply for being Black and existing in London. Frannie is finally recognized as important in the Benham household, but only for the convenient excuse and solution that her skin color provides regarding Meg’s pregnancy. Frannie has become more visible in many ways, but always for roles assigned to her by others and not for her true accomplishments or ideas. This becomes its own kind of invisibility. Even as Frannie becomes well-known, even as Meg calls her back, her true character remains unseen and unrecognized. Benham’s plan for her to live in obscurity with Meg’s child furthers this negating of visibility. He believes that Frannie and the child are not important enough to recognize, and that they will not do anything important enough for him to worry about.

Meg’s pregnancy from her extramarital affair with Laddie and Frannie’s work at the School-House parallel each other. Both are acts that are not considered respectable. However, the way they are treated reflects the continued divide between their places in London society. Meg’s affair is an inconvenience to Benham, one that must be dealt with in private to preserve his reputation. She is being forced to give up her child, but outwardly people’s interactions with her will not change because of the need to keep face. In fact, the entire goal of Benham’s plan is to preserve their status quo. Frannie’s work, in contrast, is seen as a mark of her lack of respectability, and it is made public. Despite the fact that Frannie’s choice to work at the School-House was born of need, others discuss her actions more publicly and see them as more personally shameful than Meg’s.