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Early Seniors

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#1: Early Seniors Author: Rachael,

Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 9:48 am

Please discuss the early seniors here - Gisela, Wanda, Bernie, Luigia etc (NB- Juliet will have her own discussion)

#2: Author: Nicci, Location: UK

Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 12:33 pm

Ah, the early days.Well, I'm going to find this a bit difficult as I don't have any books with me but here goes:Gisela - she was wonderful. Fair minded, enthusiastic, responsible. If you're looking for a list of the very very best headgirls - this girl is included (and Jo probably isn't). I thought it was such a shame that she wasn't t the school for long - and was very much relieved when she appeared even when she had left school. She was so accessible to the whole school (admittedly it was pretty small) but she was the same to the little ones as to the big ones. I got the feeling that Grizel got rather annoyed with this at times - but then Grizel did harbour feelings of superiority over the younger kids. Gisela's contact with the school after she left was touching - and far more realistic than Joey's became. And wasn't it Gisela who was the one to make Jo see she was being selfish about the headgirl business? Wanda - these day's I get confused with Jack Lambert's Wanda. I liked the arrival of Wanda, and she was a genuinely lovely girl (and dashed pretty to boot!!) . Only thing that annoyed me was that this was an early example of EBD's refusal to have anything but 'supremely beautiful' or 'plain' girls in her school. There must have been average looking girls!!Other than that, I can remember much about her - maybe this will make me re-read those Tirol books when I go home. Bernie - honestly can't remember enough about her to comment.Luigia - ditto.

#3: Author: Alex, Location: Hunts, UK

Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:49 pm

I always like the fact that Bette is said to astound her peers with her grasp of slang. It never seems very astounding to me but I think it's very funny the way they all stare at her in amazement. I like the early seniors. It's interesting especially as none of them are English, which doesn't really happen again, and they are very traditionally continental, trained in instant obendience etc. They are all very quiet and well spoken but they still have force of personality. I think in the early days when there were few pupils, EBD was able to develop characters more fully, ie there are no pupils who exist merely for a plot device.

#4: Author: jennifer, Location: Taiwan

Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 7:09 pm

Individually they don't make much of an impression on me - they're all obedient, hard working, responsible, polite girls, who get married young (except for Luigia) and have lots of kids, but they really aren't developed enough to have particularly distinct personalities. I do agree that Gisela did a good job as headgirl. She's not from the British system, and has to adapt to a new school style while holding a fair amount of responsibility, while working with an inexperienced headmistress and a couple of problems with schoolgirls who are only a year or two younger than her.

#5: Author: Kim, Location: Tipperary, Ireland

Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2004 10:35 pm

I liked that they were willing to take hold and try and sort out problems themselves without recourse to the Head if possible. I recall an incident deemed crucial to the prefect system that developed where the prefects challenged Grizel(I think) regarding her behaviour. Had they not done so the freedom they were allowed in later years would have been severely curtailed.

#6: Author: Elzbie, Location: London

Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 10:01 am

Completely agree with Kim, and also love the relationships they have with their families, and the fact that you get glimpses of for instance Gisela's home life which explains why she is as she is (a thoroughly nice young lady!). EBD sets up a patttern of prefects with her first lot, i.e the very understanding one (Gisela), the hot tempered one (I think it was Bette, but I havn't read the first books for a while!). My favourite times with this set are when they are trying to be very English, and have such serious discussions about what they should do. It's so funny, and also quite nice to see foreign girls portryed as wanting to learn about and live another culture while they have the chance- as opposed to, say, Enid Blyton school stories, where the foreign girls invariably stay as French/Spanish etc as they possibly can, and are patronised for it.

#7: Author: Sarah_G-G, Location: Sheffield (termtime), ? any other time!

Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2004 1:46 pm

I agree that Gisela was a really good Head Girl- definately one of the best. It must have been so difficult for her and I do admire the way she kept the dignity that went with the responsibility but still managed to be friendly with the younger ones and ask advice when she needed it. I know it's slightly different when the school gets bigger, but even by the time Joey's Head Girl, can you imagine her asking a Middle for advice or just being friendly? I vaguely remember something about Maria starting to say something to Joey at some point and quickly "drying up" when she remembers Joey is now a prefect, which the others accept as normal. In the very early days the divisions are far less defined an dI think part of that is the characters of the early Seniors, who were aware that they had responsibility but still had a lot to learn and could learn from anyone. I don't have my books here at the moment, but didn't Gisela and some of the others have a Mam'zelle or something? So they wouldn't even have been that used to school, which makes their efforts doubly impressive. They're also some of teh only Austrian girls we see in a lot of detail, which makes them and their traditions memorable to me.

#8: Author: Mihiri, Location: surrey england

Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2004 5:43 pm

Bernie and Luigia didnt make much of an impression on me, but I thought Gisela was fantastic. Being headgirl of a new school albeit a small one cant have been an easy task.There were no precedents to follow and what she did would very much shape the way of the school.I really liked Wanda but in the later books I always thought t was a shame that she was remembered for her looks only when there were surely many other reasons she could have been remembered for - she was supposed to be a fantastic cricket player I think. Also in reality I'venever seen anyone who looked like a real-life fairytale princess.Going slightly off topic I now, but Wanda, Jack Lambert's friend was she the daughter of Bernhilda and Kurt?

#9: Author: Dawn, Location: Leeds, West Yorks

Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2004 9:43 pm

As a child I remember thinking Gisela was a bit too good to be true - I think I probably sided more with Grizel - no good at languages (although she did get there with them & I knew I never would) and I had a temper. Bette always seemed more rounded to me too.

#10: Author: Amanda M, Location: Wakefield

Posted: Sat Nov 13, 2004 12:01 am

I did like the elder seniors - it was nice to see how the Austrian girls tried to adapt to the 'English' system. I especially liked Gisela - she was well fleshed out, and was still around until 'Exile' - especially with the advice and gentle chastisement she gave to Jo about the Headgirlship. I liked the way that they pretty much built the school up from scratch - and their ethics and morals are what guided later prefects, and helped to shape the school into what it became. Star Wars

#11: Author: Sarah_K, Location: St Albans

Posted: Sat Nov 13, 2004 1:03 pm

I liked Gisela a lot, she was one of my favourites when I first came across the Chalet School. Her handling of Joey over the Head Girl business was really well done and she was a great Head Girl in her own right. I think her gentleness really appealed to me. I can't remeber much about the others off the top of my head and I haven't got my books here but I would say in general that they do seem to set the precedent for future Seniors. It often gets mentioned that characters suddenly become great Seniors after being troublesome middles and I think what actually happens it they suddenly turn into versions of the first seniors. I love hearing about what happens to them. For all that Joey was the first CS girl these were the first of the Chaletians to go out inot the real world and I think they give a pretty good example to the future girls.

#12: Author: Ruth, Location: Physically: Lincolnshire, England. Inwardly: The Scottish Highlands

Posted: Sat Nov 13, 2004 3:48 pm

I like all the early seniors especially Gisela and Wanda. Gisela is an exceptionally good Head Girl, all the more so because it is all so new to her. And Wanda has a strength of her own, other than her beauty! I like Luigia and wish that you see more of her in the books.

#13: Author: Susan, Location: Carlisle

Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2004 3:12 pm

I do like all the early seniors. As has already been said Gisela makes a really good headgirl and does a lot that is never acknowledged to make the school what it becomes. They all do a fantastic job especially as they have the most pranks to put up with and no set precedent to refer to. I feel it is a big shame that we do not have more books in the early part of the series that shows them in action.

#14: Author: Róisín, Location: Galway, Eire

Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2005 2:31 pm

Bouncing this up because they're my favourite group of people in the series (I think!), and this discussion is interesting Wink

I fell in love with this group because they're all so impossibly elegant. Even Luigia (she goes on to become a nun, doesn't she?) doesn't have a huge input but retains a certain mystique because of this. Bette is as jolly as EBD could make a nonEnglish character - re. her slang-abilities, I never really thought her speech was slangy until others pointed it out in the same paragraph. So many things were slang then that are just normal speech now.

Gisela is of course the legendary first headgirl. She's such a lady is our Gisela, impeccably-mannered, finely turned out, and an excellent representative of Madge as her first prefect. The way she coped with the St. Swithin's Day prank was very inspirational. Once the staff were presented with her wellmeaning and earnest cup of water, what could they do but respond in kind with polite acceptances. She's the kind of girl, I think, whose personal bearing encouraged people she came into contact with to strive to her standard.

I always liked Bernhilda, but again, she seemed quite mysterious to me. She was older than Frieda, and quite peaceable and quiet as well. When she's in the books as a pupil, I don't sense her presence that much. After she's left, therefore, I could never understand Joey's references to her as jolly or funloving. The way Joey reminisces (sp?) about her as 'Bernie' grates on my teeth - this tall, cool blonde deserved her name in full.

Sarah I love your point about this crowd being a blueprint for all future prefects and seniors.

ETA: Since Gottfried is my Most Fanciable Male, and Gisela went on to snag him, they tend to be the PoshnBecks of my Chalet world *lol* Laughing

#15: Author: Eilidh, Location: Macclesfield

Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2005 2:52 pm

Ooooh, I hadn't seen this before.

Gisela - Wonderful. Calm, cool, competant. I thought she was a marvellous head girl, despite being only sixteen.

Bernhilda - I like as well. She always seems to be very polite and well-mannered. From what we see of her (mainly the Christmas in Jo of) I think she would be fun loving etc. as descirbed by Joey.

Bette - Like others have said, I like Bette's grasp of English slang. I would have liked to have seen Bette as Head Girl (I've never read Visitors) because I think she would have been Very similar to Gisela. Does anyone know, what post did Bette hold when Juliet was Head Girl? Was she second prefect?

Wanda - I like Wanda, especially at the start when she is shocked by Grizel. Again, I think she would have been a good prefect but don't think we ever see her as one.

Luigia - I don't remember ever seeing very much of in the books.

AND....

Gertrud! - She surely counts as one of the first seniors as she was one of the original Sub-Prefects. I was surprised not to see her mentioned. I thought she was, again, a very nice girl, and I think she should have been Head Girl rather than Grizel, who I never had much time for, either as a pupil or an adult.

#16: Author: Róisín, Location: Galway, Eire

Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2005 2:57 pm

You don't really get any kind of feel for Bette as headgirl in Visitors either - she just calms Grizel down with a look once or twice. You're right, I'd not thought of the Christmas episode Bernhilda! I think Gertrud was passed over because she wasn't English, or enough of a leader, or something Rolling Eyes

I agree - she would have made a better headgirl than Grizel. I think Grizel being headgirl gained her more than the school.

#17: Author: IAmZoe,

Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2005 3:48 pm

this is such an interesting thread... the first seniors were all lovely.
I have a real soft spot for Bette - I was re-reading, and I don't have the book to hand to double check, but I'm sure it is her husband who dies in the climbing accident with the Robin's father. They had only been married for a short time and she had one kid. I thought that was a really sad story, the more so as it is never really gone into in any depth.

#18: Author: KB, Location: Melbourne, Australia

Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2005 9:27 pm

Yes, it is Bette's husband, Dr di Bersetti.

#19: Author: Ann, Location: Newcastle upon Tyne, England

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2005 10:20 am

I can't help thinking they were all a bit too perfect. None of them seem to have any real flaws.

#20: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2005 11:29 am

Doesn't Bette have a hot temper mentioned, although we don't really see anything of it?

But that's still only one flaw between the lot of them!

Liz

#21: Author: Helen P, Location: Crewe, Cheshire

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2005 12:06 pm

Now that could make an interesting drabble - 'The secret vices of the early seniors' Wink

I liked all of them. The very first books have such a wonderful sense of family about them, and the first seniors do a lot to help create that feeling. It's not just to do with the small size of the school, I think it is just the atmosphere as well.

#22: Author: KB, Location: Melbourne, Australia

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2005 12:25 pm

I think EBD's reason for this was probably twofold: she wanted to show from the beginning that the Seniors (except Grizel) were to be respected and had to act appropriately, and second, that European girls were much more mature than their English counterparts at the same age (which goes some way to accounting for Grizel).

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