The Midwife's Apprentice

“Once she found a nest of baby mice who had frozen in the cold, and she left them by the fence post for the cat. But her heart ached when she thought of the tiny hairless bodies in those strong jaws, so she buried them deep in the dung heap and left the cat to do his own hunting.”

This passage introduces Alyce’s relationship with the cat, as well as her capacity for caring. The mice Alyce finds are dead, but even so, she can’t stand the idea of them being broken further. So instead of offering them to the cat, she tends to their burial, which both shows The Power of Kindness, as well as how independence in relationships helps one grow. Alyce hasn’t yet befriended the cat, but she understands the value of surviving on one’s own merits. Not helping the cat here makes it even more powerful when she finally decides to do so.

“If Beetle had known any prayers, she might have prayed for the cat. If she had known about soft sweet songs, she might have sung to him. If she had known of gentle words and cooing, she would have spoken gently to him. But all she knew was cursing.”

Here, Alyce has just rescued the cat from the sack the boys stuffed it in. Her thoughts about comfort and songs call to the difficult life she’s experienced thus far. As an orphan who’s struggled to survive, Alyce has had no one to care for her or offer her kindness when she was sick or hurt. Thus, now that she is caring for the injured cat, she can only offer the animal what she knows—namely cursing. This calls to the idea of tough love. Alyce’s words may be harsh, but that’s only because they’re her only tool—thus far—to express herself. In this way, Alyce mirrors Jane, who also has a harsh way with words.

“Her name was Jane. She was known in the village as Jane the Midwife. Because of her sharp nose and sharp glance, Beetle always thought of her as Jane Sharp. Jane Sharp became a midwife because she had given birth to six children (although none of them lived), went Sundays to Mass, and had strong hands and clean fingernails.”

This passage introduces Jane and offers additional context into both the midwife’s character and the practice of midwifery of the time. Jane is harsh and unforgiving because she needs a tough skin in a profession with such a high chance of failure, but she also has a kind heart underneath, evidenced by how she takes Alyce in and is willing to do the difficult work she’s chosen. The list of credentials the narrator provides for how Jane became a midwife speaks to the profession in medieval times: Jane has no formal training and no living children of her own, but she has experience (if none with success), goes to church (suggesting that she is in good standing with God), and has strong hands (which allow her to do what needs to be done).

“When they were called, she accompanied the midwife to any cottage where a woman labored to birth her baby, provided that woman could pay a silver penny or a length of newly woven cloth or the best layer in the hen house. Beetle carried the basket with the clean linen, ragwort and columbine seeds to speed the birth, cobwebs for stanching blood, bryony and woolly nightshade to cleanse and comfort the mother, goat’s beard to bring forth her milk and sage tea for too much, jasper stone as a charm against misfortune, and mistletoe and elder leaves against witches.”

This passage offers additional context to Alyce’s role as a midwife’s apprentice, her relationship with Jane, and midwifery of the time. When a woman is ready to have a baby, Alyce’s main purpose is to bring along any supplies Jane deems necessary. The list of supplies itself shows the different aspects of midwifery in medieval times. Alyce’s basket contains herbs and other medicines, each of which has a clear purpose that is directly related to the birth or its aftermath. Other objects, such as the jasper stone and elder leaves, highlight the role of superstition surrounding the process. This passage also highlights Jane’s insistence upon being paid.

“At any other time she would have enjoyed the visit, for never had she been in such a luxurious dwelling, with two rooms downstairs and a loft above and a high soft bed all enclosed by curtains such as the king or the pope must sleep in.”

Here, the miller has collected Alyce to assist in the birth of his wife’s baby, and these lines offer context for Alyce’s character arc as well as setting. As a prominent and important person in the village, the miller lives in one of the finest houses and has comforts not afforded to Jane or many others. This shows the disparity between professions in the village, as well as how Alyce experiences her world. Normally, she would be impressed by the miller’s home, but under the current circumstances, she can’t muster admiration because she is too daunted by the task before her—helping with a birth. Fear gives her tunnel vision. Alyce can only see what she is afraid of and nothing else, which keeps her both from noticing the house and from helping the mother because she’s too terrified to think clearly.

“She passed through the forest of bright booths with flags and pennants flying, offering for sale every manner of wondrous thing—copper kettles, rubies and pearls, ivory tusks from mysterious animals, cinnamon and ginger from faraway lands, tin from Cornwall, and bright-green woolen cloth from Lincoln. She laughed at the puppets, wondered at the soothsayers, applauded the singers, and cheered for the racing horses. Her nostrils quivered at the smells of roasting meats and fresh hot bread and pies stuffed with pork and raisins, but her guts still trembled with excitement, and she was content just to smell.”

This scene from the festival offers a direct contrast to the previous quotation, where Alyce was too overwhelmed by fear to notice anything. Rather than feeling fearful, Alyce is in awe, and she notices anything and everything around her with fresh senses. This also shows how big the world is, even if Alyce hasn’t experienced it, evidenced by the tusks and other wonders she’s never seen before. Alyce wants to experience everything, but it is overwhelming, if in a good way, so she is unable to eat, which links this to the fear she experienced earlier. Both positive and negative emotions can have a physical effect on a person.

“Beetle sighed. This business of having a name was harder than it seemed. A name was of little use if no one would call you by it.”

Shortly after Alyce has decided to adopt her new name, Alyce returns to the village, where she offers anyone she comes across her new name, only for them to shrug and continue calling her Brat or Beetle. Aside from this causing Alyce frustration, this shows how people are often unwilling to accept change. The villagers know Brat is the nameless girl who follows the midwife around and sometimes helps with births. They don’t want to think of her any other way because it disrupts their understanding of the village and their lives. Thus, when Alyce tries to force change on them, they reject it.

“If the world were sweet and fair, Alyce (she must be called Alyce now) and Will would become friends and the village applaud her for her bravery and the midwife be more generous with her cheese and onions. Since this is not so, and the world is just as it is and no more, nothing changed.”

After Alyce saves Will from drowning in the village’s pond, Will tells everyone how brave Alyce was, but as has been established, people tend to shy away from accepting change, which means they don’t give Alyce’s actions much thought. These lines represent an authorial intrusion, as she offers her perspective on the situation and fairness of the world. Alyce should have been recognized for her bravery, but—as often happens—nothing changes, and this is attributed to the world being an unfair place. The opening line of this quotation also cues the reader that Alyce has cemented her name and will be known only as Alyce for the rest of the book.

“The next morning it was a larger group of villagers who followed the hoofprints to the woods where the broken-toothed Jack and his friends were clearing brush from Roger Mustard’s field. Likely the Devil had tricked the boys into laziness, for they were found asleep and given a sound beating.”

When they refuse to show her respect, Alyce tricks the villagers into believing the devil is among them. Chapter 7 depicts many similar situations in which strange footprints lead to people engaged in one of the Bible’s seven deadly sins. This example shows sloth (laziness) and illustrates how the superstitious beliefs of the time led to punishment being placed strangely. Rather than acknowledge that the characteristically trouble-making boys decided to sleep rather than work, the villagers are sure the devil inspired them, thus shifting blame off the boys and onto the devil. However, since the devil can’t be punished, the blame shifts back to the boys, but they are blamed for succumbing to the devil, rather than for being lazy. The entire situation is made overly complicated by the perceived presence of the devil, demonstrating why it was so easy for Alyce’s trick to work.

“There, lying on the ground as if scattered by God just for Alyce, were apples, red and yellow, large and small, sweet and tart, firm and juicy. She tried a few, but unable to say whether she liked best the crisp, white-fleshed Cackagees, the small, sour Foxwhelps, or the mellow, sweet Rusticoats and Rubystripes, she tried a few more. The cat, not finding that apples were good to eat, batted the small ones across the yard, imagining they had ears and tails and other parts that made things worth chasing.”

Standing in contrast to her previous life, which required her to steal and eat turnips still covered in mud, Alyce has the opportunity to taste a multitude of apples while gathering them for cider and winemaking. This passage also offers a comparison between Alyce and the cat: Alyce appreciates the apples for what they are because they aren’t something she usually has in abundance. By contrast, the cat doesn’t much care for the apples beyond the fact he can bat them around and pretend they’re mice. The opportunity to sample and play highlights how far both of them have come since the beginning of the novel.

“As September turned to October and October to November, through all those days, Alyce grew in knowledge and skills. The midwife, busy with her own importance, did not notice. Alyce, grown accustomed to herself, did not notice. But the villagers noticed, and as October turned to November and the ghosts walked on All Hallows’ Eve, they began to ask her how and why and what can I.”

The novel contains many passages that show the passing of time and how things change, often slowly. This is one such passage that focuses on Alyce and the slow but steady changes in her and how those changes inspire the villagers to be more accepting. The changes Alyce experiences are so gradual that she doesn’t notice them, and Jane doesn’t notice them because she sees Alyce every day and also because she is too absorbed in herself. The villagers who don’t see Alyce as often recognize what’s happening, which shows how time away from something helps people appreciate it in a new light. Specifically, the villagers notice Alyce becoming more knowledgeable and aware, which calls to the idea that Confidence Brings Self-Worth. Alyce’s increased confidence in herself and her skills makes her more worthwhile to the villagers, who show this by going to her, rather than Jane, for help.

“‘Touch that cat again,’ she shouted, ‘and I will unstop this bottle of rat’s blood and viper’s flesh and summon the Devil, who will change you into women, and henceforth each of you will giggle like a woman and wear dresses like a woman and give birth like a woman!’

She was too startled by her outburst to be afraid. The boys were too startled by her outburst to move.”

The previous quotation discussed how the villagers noticed changes in Alyce, which led to them treating her differently. Here, Alyce is suddenly aware of the changes in herself. In Chapter 3, Alyce remains hidden while the boys torment the cat. Here, she boldly yells for them to stop and offers threats to encourage their compliance. Alyce is startled by her behavior because it feels uncharacteristic for her, showing she hasn’t yet realized how much she’s changed. The boys are also startled, both at the threat itself and because Alyce yelled at them, no longer an easy target. While the other villagers have been asking Alyce for aid, the actions of the boys here suggest they’ve been slower to notice a difference in her.

“Alyce thought the midwife had more skills with herbs and syrups and spells than Will Russet, but Will delivered babies just as well and was much kinder to the mother. Alyce thought if she needed a midwife, she would rather someone like Will than Jane Sharp, for all her spells and syrups.”

After her success with delivering the bailiff’s wife’s baby, Alyce affirms her commitment to becoming a midwife by observing Jane at work and memorizing her methods. This quotation is one of the many things Alyce observes, namely that Jane is harsh and unyielding during the delivery of a baby, offering no comfort or understanding to the mother. Alyce doesn’t yet realize that Jane is at least partially this way as a shield against the hurt of failure, and she compares Jane to Will when he helps Alyce with the baby calves. Where Jane is brisk and crude, Will is gentle and supportive. Alyce starts to wonder if there is more to being a midwife than being like Jane. In the end, Alyce realizes that she can learn from both Jane’s experience and Will’s gentleness. These lines also speak to The Power of Kindness and how being kind can get results where other approaches may fail.

“Alyce backed out of the cottage, then turned and ran up the path to the road, she didn’t know why or where. Behind her in that cottage was disappointment and failure. The midwife had used no magic. She had delivered that baby with work and skill, not magic spells, and Alyce should have been able to do it but could not. She had failed. Strange sensations tickled her throat, but she did not cry, for she did not know how, and a heavy weight sat in her chest, but she did not moan or wail, for she had never learned to give voice to what was inside her. She knew only to run away.”

This passage comes after Alyce is unable to deliver Emma Blunt’s baby in Chapter 11. After her earlier success and secret gathering of knowledge by watching Jane, Alyce is overconfident. She believes she should be able to succeed every time because she succeeded once, even though there is no correlation between these ideas—a single success does not guarantee future success. This section also offers additional context into Alyce’s character: She believes in herself when she does something well and loses faith when she feels as though she’s failed. The pattern of her life has taught her to run when things get difficult. In addition, she has never learned to process her emotions or let them out, which is a major reason she can’t cope with her perceived failure. This foreshadows that the latter portion of the book will involve Alyce figuring out how to express herself.

“She knew where she was. Behind her were the village, Emma, the midwife, and failure—she could not go back there. She could not stay here in the rain waiting to die, for she was too cold and hungry and uncomfortable and alive. So she went on ahead.”

The morning after Alyce flees the village, she is lost, demonstrating that “where” is sometimes a state of mind. Alyce knows where she is—namely, stuck in place. She cannot go back because she has run from what is behind her (her perceived failure). Her current location is just as dreary and uncomfortable, if for different reasons, so she cannot stay still either. Her only option is to move forward, which symbolizes both the trajectory of stories and existence. Much like how the novel must progress forward to its ending, Alyce must continue to move forward unless she wishes to die, which she does not.

“She liked best the O, the D, and the G, for they looked friendly. Z seemed mean, X wicked; and W always made her yawn. Q was by far the most beautiful, she thought, even if it could not stand alone and must be accompanied everywhere by the compliant U.”

While Alyce works at the inn for a few months, she watches the magister write, leading her to start learning letters. Alyce’s loneliness makes her think of the letters almost like people, assigning feelings and even personalities to them. This also offers insight into one form of learning. Alyce is able to focus on and remember the letters by assigning these arbitrary identifiers, which helps her memorize them. In turn, this makes her feel worthwhile and smart, even if she isn’t aware of it yet.

“‘Because she gave up,’ continued the midwife. ‘I need an apprentice who can do what I tell her, take what I give her, who can try and risk and fail and try again and not give up. Babies don’t stop their borning because the midwife gives up.’”

Here, Alyce has noticed Jane talking to the magister and hides nearby to listen, hoping Jane doesn’t tell the man how much of a failure Alyce is or notice her. Notably, Jane begins asking the magister about Alyce after Alyce refills her mug, suggesting that she intends Alyce—rather than the magister—to hear them. When Jane speaks these lines, they surprise Alyce and make her consider why she truly left the village. Rather than addressing failure, Jane’s words speak to continuing on in the face of difficulty. Midwifery is a profession with few triumphs, and to Jane, a midwife needs to be prepared for this while still moving forward and being able to try again. She knows that Alyce didn’t fail, because she has experienced many “failures” in her time as a midwife. Rather, Alyce let success get the better of her, and this passage foreshadows Alyce returning to Jane at the end of the book, as well as how Alyce uses these words to convince Jane to take her back.

“‘No, ma’am, not twins,’ answered Alyce again, wondering why twin cows such as Baldred and Billfrith should be such a joy and a boon while twin babies were ill-starred and unlucky.”

Here, the cook at the manor asks Alyce if she and Edward are twins, to which Alyce assures the woman they are not. The woman’s concern with twins refers to a superstition present across cultures that twins are bad luck or even dangerous. From Greek mythology to the Yoruba culture of Africa, twins are featured in stories and myths as either strong forces of good or evil, always with the potential to bring about great and lasting harm. The stories suggest that twins are a direct link to the gods or other greater powers, and some cultures have even encouraged breaking up twins so they cannot have a negative effect on the community. Alyce notes that the twin calves are not frowned upon like human twins are, which shows how this superstition is specific to people.

“So Alyce learned about the sometimes mighty distance between what one imagines and what is. She would not be bringing Edward back with her to make her heart content, but she knew she had not failed him, and she breathed a heavy sigh of sadness, disappointment, and relief.”

Alyce finds Edward at the manor and is relieved to discover that he is not having a difficult time. Alyce comes to the manor with the idea of taking Edward away with her, sure that she had caused another failure. However, Edward doesn’t wish to leave, and Alyce’s conflicted emotions show how she is working toward the end of her character arc. The opening line of this quotation speaks to how what one believes doesn’t always match reality. Alyce has it in her head that she’s failed everyone, when really, she failed to deliver one baby. At the end of the quotation, she has mixed emotions because she wants to bring Edward with her but realizes this is a selfish desire.

“‘Well, Iennet told me that one night a visiting mayor fell out of bed, hit his head, and thought he was a cat, so he slept all night on the floor watching the mouseholes.’

‘That is no story, Alyce. Cook tells me stories. A story should have a hero and brave deeds.’

‘Well then, once there was a boy who for all he was so small and puny was brave enough to do what he must although he didn’t like it and was sometimes teased. Is that a story?’

‘Close enough, Alyce.’”

This exchange between Alyce and Edward comes as the two settle down to sleep. Edward wants to hear a story and asks Alyce for one. Having never told a story before, Alyce is at a loss and presents a bit of gossip, which, while technically a story, is not the kind Edward wants. Alyce’s second try shows she is capable of learning and improving, something she hasn’t realized yet. This is a clue regarding how Alyce’s character arc will resolve—with her realizing she can learn and do better, specifically in terms of being a midwife.

“His mother shouted from inside, ‘Stomach worm, bah! In truth I thought a dragon was eating my innards. Give the lout to me, I will teach him to give such trouble and pain to his mother.’ The stupefied father took the baby to his mother, who commenced scolding and berating the little fellow, all the while smoothing his black hair and caressing his little hands, until her scolding turned to cooing and his loud cries to gurgles, and mother and child fell asleep there on the inn table.”

Alyce has just successfully helped the woman at the inn deliver her baby. This success restores her confidence, and in addition, Alyce is beginning to discover that she must forge her own path. Her past success came when she did what felt right to her, and her perceived failure came when she tried to strictly imitate Jane. Being comfortable with herself is the first step toward the next part of Alyce’s journey. This passage also shows the complex the bond between mother and child: The mother is angry at all the discomfort she had during labor—particularly as she did not realize she was pregnant—but she is kind to him even as she scolds him for causing her such strife.

“Magister Reese winked at her and smiled. Alyce smiled back. And then she laughed, a true laugh that came from deep in her gut, rushed out her mouth, and rang through the clear night air. And that was the true miracle that night, the first of June—the month, as Magister Reese could have told her, named for Juno, the Roman goddess of the moon, of women, and of childbirth.”

This passage from the end of Chapter 16 comes when Alyce ventures outside after making sure mother and baby are resting comfortably. The magister’s wink suggests he knows how meaningful her success was in light of how she ended up at the inn in the first place. Alyce’s reaction shows that she has released the pain of her perceived failure and is ready to move forward. Cushman uses June, Juno, and the moon (a symbol of maternity) as symbols here for Alyce’s success. It is fitting that Alyce regains her confidence about being a midwife on the first day of June, because it is a time of mothers.

“As she chewed on a grass, Alyce smiled. From someone who had no place in the world, she had suddenly become someone with a surfeit of places. She closed her eyes and continued to chew. What to do? What do I want? she asked herself in the manner she had learned from Magister Reese, who thought it fitting for even an inn girl to want.”

These lines from the book’s final chapter come after Alyce receives several offers for where to go next. Rather than deciding immediately and picking one option at random, Alyce sits and thinks. This shows how much Alyce has grown and how she is finally in a place to take control of her destiny, rather than letting her desperation decide for her. This realization leads Alyce to what she most wants—to be a midwife and to learn all she can from Jane, something Alyce is now willing to truly do.