Poldark Recap Series 1 Episode 4 Happy Days

Image from Poldark, streamed via iFlix

Director: Ed Bazalgette

Writer: Debbie Horsfield

Original Air Date: March 29, 2015

When I watched Poldark for the first time, I actually laughed out loud during the scene of Ross and Demelza's wedding. I am unfamiliar with the source material and I somehow managed to avoid spoilers, so that scene was a complete surprise to me. I wondered what it was I was watching before I hurriedly moved on to the next episode.

What I was watching, I soon learnt, was a story of love that somehow just happened. Ross did not marry his kitchen maid Demelza out of love, or even lust. He married her, as he himself confessed to her, because he wanted a distraction. Ross came home to an impoverished land, an inheritance mired with debt, and the woman he loved already promised to his cousin. He reopened Wheal Leisure to grateful, impoverished miners. He did his best to look after his workers. He continued to tamp down his lingering desire for Elizabeth out of deference to her choice to marry Francis. Under his stern direction, Nampara was slowly moving from the years of neglect and into a proper gentleman's state. 

Ross placed on himself a burden that was by no means light. The one person who was there for him, who actively helped him through his labours, was Demelza. Demelza was an able and enthusiastic worker who soon could anticipate Ross's wants and needs. Whilst Ross had a far more liberal view of the world than most of the rest of his class, he remained a man and of his class. He wanted a distraction, and he chose a woman who already pleased him. Her desires were of little consequence to their marriage, though, after she pushed for the two of them to become lovers, clearly she desired him. Though he did not explicitly state it, Ross viewed Demelza as fortunate to have been married by a gentleman like him.

Image from Poldark, streamed via iFlix

It is easy to get lost in Ross's tender looks toward Demelza (Stop for a minute and imagine Aidan Turner looking at you that way. You're welcome.). Throughout this episode, however, Ross made one decision after another and simply brushed off Demelza's objections. They were to Demelza's benefit --- he wanted her to feel and act like his wife and mistress of Nampara rather than a servant --- but the good intention did not erase the alpha maleness on display here. This is not a criticism of Ross. Rather, this view of Ross made it sweeter when he finally told Demelza that he loved her.

Demelza loved Ross. She respected him. She admired the fact that he viewed his workers as people rather than peasants without feelings. She confessed to a sympathetic Verity that she did not hope for Ross's love in return, though there were times when she felt she pleased him (like in bed, as she shared to the visibly uncomfortable Verity). Verity, however, knew her cousin, and saw the light Demelza brought into his life.

When Ross and Demelza were invited to spend Christmas in Trenwith, everyone, including the increasingly bitter Francis, could see that Ross and Demelza were good to each other. In contrast, Francis and Elizabeth's marriage were growing more miserable with each passing day. With the death of Charles, Francis was now master of Trenwith, yet he was barely able to manage his own mine. Whereas Ross sought a wife as a distraction, Francis pushed Elizabeth away, increasingly gambled, and spent more and more time with the prostitute Margaret. Society looked unkindly upon the marriage of a Poldark to a kitchen maid, but Ross and Demelza, in contrast to many around them, were genuinely happy.

Image from Poldark, streamed via iFlix

Ross's marriage to Demelza did make it more difficult for him to convince investors to spend more money at Wheal Leisure. He had to confess to Demelza that they would likely be destitute soon. Demelza sweetly told him there were other kinds of riches. They need not worry, however. The miners at Wheal Leisure had already struck copper.

Strays

■ Ruth Teague, who initially tried to marry Ross, has already found a husband. She was very mean to Demelza at Christmas.

■ Demelza is pregnant.

■ Charles: 'We both know Francis is not the man you are.'

■ Verity remained heartbroken over her lost love.

■ Demelza engaged Jinny, Jim's wife, as the new kitchen maid.

■ Choake, one of the investors at Wheal Leisure, sold his shares to George Warleggan.

■ Aunt Agatha made Demelza sit beside Elizabeth so she could compare them. Thanks, Aunt Agatha.

■ Ross: 'Elizabeth was born to be admired.' George Warleggan would agree with you.

■ Ross: 'You redeemed me. I am your humble servant, and I love you.'