S&S Read-Along: Ch. 19 & 20

Oh my goodness, the Palmers crack me up so much!  Do they make you laugh?  I was chuckling aloud several times during these two chapters.  I absolutely love how Charlotte is so determined to be happy and cheerful, and how successful she is at it.  She's not very intelligent, but she is a ray of sunshine, and I could hug her for that.

(Randomly, is this not one of the weirdest covers I have found yet?  I bet it was made in the '70s.  All '70s book covers are bizarre.)

It's very nice of the Palmers to arrive and cheer us all up after Edward's melancholy departure.  I never noticed before how much Edward's leaving mirrors Willoughby's -- both are sad about having to leave, and leave behind many questions about their behavior.  Elinor tried to convince her mother and sister not to keep excusing Willoughby's more inexplicable actions... and now she's finding all kinds of excuses for Edward's fluctuating attentions.  This does round out her character nicely, showing that she's not infallible.  

Of course, Edward has been a lot more circumspect in his behavior.  In fact, he's kind of the reverse image of Willoughby -- Willoughby was much too uninhibited, and Edward is too inhibited.  I think Austen is pointing out here that a middle ground is much better than one extreme or the other, rather like she does with Marianne being too little in control of her emotions, and Elinor sometimes too much.  

Speaking of Edward, all through his discussion of his lack of any kind of useful thing to do with his time, I kept thinking what a blessing work is.  We tend to moan and groan about work, but it's actually a blessing from God that keeps us from the emotional and physical idleness that can make us dissatisfied, even get us into trouble.  Idle young men with no need to earn their keep, like Willoughby and Edward, certainly can get themselves (and others) into an awful lot of trouble that could have been avoided if they just had something to do to occupy themselves. 

Lastly, I love Elinor's observation of Mr. Palmer that he is wishing for "distinction" that made him turn up his nose at absolutely everyone and everything.  "It was the desire of appearing superior to other people" (p. 212) that made him decide he disliked everything, not an actual fault in those things.  I was just discussing this with my bff last night, how we can't understand people who go around looking for reasons to dislike things or people, or who seem like they can't be happy unless they find something to be offended by.  It certainly sounds like a miserable way to live your life.  I really do think a lot of people have the idea that if they tell everyone how much they don't like something, it will make them seem intelligent and discerning, so they find flaws and faults in every movie, book, author, acquaintance, painting, whatever.  And it really just makes them seem petty and arrogant.  I often struggle to be patient with people like that, I'm afraid.  I often just want to roll my eyes at them and say, "Get over yourself already.  Allow yourself to enjoy things and admit it!"

Er, sorry for the little rant there.  I was just pleased to find something in our reading today that addressed that!.

Discussion Questions:

1.  Elinor thinks that Mr. Palmer's realization that he married a very silly woman has made him kind of crabby, but "she knew this kind of blunder was too common for any sensible man to be lastingly hurt by it" (p. 212).  Can you think of any other instances in Austen's books where a sensible man has married a very silly woman?  Has it hurt them?

2.  Does anyone here actually believe Col. Brandon would ever have married Charlotte (Jennings) Palmer?