Lady Clementine

Clementine Churchill and Winston Churchill both recognize their future place in history, even as that history unfolds around them. Clementine’s frequent invocation of her possible mention in the history she and Winston create, however, also highlights that she fears her own contributions may not be recognized by others. By wondering if she will be reduced to a footnote or a lacuna in the historical record, Clementine recognizes the repeated erasure of women from the annals of the past.

Clementine’s awareness of her own role in history shows her determination not to be eclipsed by Winston’s career. At the outbreak of World War II, she observes, “Once again, as we had in the Great War, Winston and I stand on the brink of history” (231, emphasis added), with her confident phrasing “Winston and I” making it clear that they are both active actors in the events at play. As she matures, Clementine becomes more confident and assertive in regarding herself as an equal to her husband: “I will wait for no one to invite me into history” (239, emphasis added), she eventually declares, embracing the fact that, if she wishes to be remembered, she will have to believe in her own agency and importance instead of “wait[ing]” for someone to “invite” her into the historical record.

Clementine Churchill and Eleanor Roosevelt share this outlook, as both women recognize that their marriages to powerful politicians threaten to overshadow or erase their own role in political events. Eleanor confides that she recognizes “how much they need from us, at least at certain times, and yet we’re sometimes shut out or relegated to the back seat” (333, emphasis added). Eleanor understands, as Clementine does, that women are often “shut out” of the historical record or regarded as having played only a supporting role (“relegated to the back seat”) instead of being honored as equals. Both women push back against these sexist norms by finding their own voices and standing up to their partners when necessary, as Clementine does when Winston attempts to minimize her role to others. Eager to exist independently and to be worthy of inclusion in the chronicles of the past, Clementine sees “for the first time how dependent [she’s] been on Winston for his admiration” (336) and decisively rejects this dependency.

By the time World War II—and the novel—draws to a close, Clementine has come into her own as a powerful figure. Through her dealings with Eleanor Roosevelt, she has helped to maintain the Anglo American alliance, and through her charitable work she has strengthened ties with Soviet Russia, even meeting Stalin on her own. In the end, she returns to this question of historical memory: “When the successors to our time appraise Winston and this awful war […] I know they will see Winston’s hand on the pen that scribes history. But, I wonder, will they see that my hand has also been on the pen all along?” (375-76, emphasis added). Clementine understands that Winston’s place in history is a given, as he is a powerful man—her place, as a woman, is less assured, even though her hand “has also been on the pen” that inscribed important deeds in the historical record.

In recognizing that history may or may not remember her due to her gender, Clementine acknowledges the continuing sexism that relegates women to second place, or erases them entirely. Nevertheless, in fighting for her own place in history, Clementine’s personal and political trajectory suggest that women are coming into their own and are worthy of remembrance alongside men.

Clementine, unlike the other women of her social status, does not appear as a traditional, submissive wife. Instead, Clementine embodies a very public and active role. These differences highlight both the normative marital and gender dynamics of her time, and how she rebels against them. Like Eleanor Roosevelt, Clementine acts as her husband’s partner, asserting herself as an equal instead of just a domestic asset.

Clementine’s contemporaries, other than Roosevelt, see in her public action an implicit challenge to society’s gender norms. During a conversation with her sister Nellie and cousin Venetia, Venetia criticizes her for blurring defined gender boundaries: “At least no one sees me stumping for candidates. That’s a man’s job, Clemmie […] no one elected you to office, and you are not a man” (76, emphasis added). In characterizing politics as “a man’s job” and chiding Clementine for her involvement even though she is “not a man,” Venetia represents the gendered status quo of British society, suggesting that there is something transgressive in Clementine’s determination to be politically active alongside Winston. In holding her own against such criticism, Clementine signals that she is not content to limit herself to an invisible supporting role within her marriage.

Like Roosevelt and Eleanor, Clementine and Winston experience turbulence and problems in their partnership, as both are intelligent, engaged, and have strong political views. Clementine criticizes Winston when he fails to support the suffragist cause to the same extent she does, and she also openly disagrees with him on questions such as home rule in India. Clementine acknowledges to herself that these disagreements are not always easy for her to cope with, confessing, “I still love him and believe in him for the most part, and that makes me vulnerable to his onslaughts” (195). However, this intellectual openness and emotional vulnerability allow Winston and Clementine to achieve a marriage in which authentic emotion and a mutual give-and-take between equals becomes possible. Their equality stands in marked contrast to the more conventional—and often unhappy—pairings amongst others in their social set.

By the end of the novel, Clementine’s hard-won equal partnership with her husband becomes the key to Winston’s career and Clementine’s own legacy. As Winston remarks to Clementine as World War II ends, peace in Europe does not belong to him alone: Instead, Winston claims, “No, Clemmie, we did this. It is our peace” (375). In recognizing the outcome as their peace, Winston openly shares his success with Clementine. His comment suggests that true equality in marriage is the key to a successful partnership, enabling both partners to reach their true potential both as individuals and as a team.