Wednesday, March 31, 2021

S&S Read-Along: Ch. 23 & 24

Please note that this is the only read-along post I'll be writing this week.  I'm just too busy during Holy Week, and I suspect a lot of you are too.  We'll go back up to six chapters next week.

I've got to admit I don't have a lot to say about these two chapters.  First we have Elinor thinking about what she learned from Lucy about Edward, and then we have Elinor and Lucy discussing Lucy's situation in obliquely sly and snarky ways.  And that's that.

My annotated edition did have one really interesting thought in it that I want to share, though.  It says of Edward that "[e]ven his hesitation to choose a profession might result in part from his reluctance to take a step that, by providing him with a more regular income, would advance the day of his marriage to Lucy" (p. 255).  I had not thought of that!  Ever!  I always just thought Edward couldn't figure out what he wanted to do, but I do think this is really possible, that he's just delaying this because he can put off marrying Lucy this way.

Discussion Questions:

1.  Do you think it's possible that Edward has been delaying choosing a profession because it means he can put off marrying Lucy?

2.  If you haven't read this before, are you surprised by how much of the book revolves around monetary concerns?

That's all for this week, friends.  May you have a blessed Easter!

10 comments:

  1. 1. Do you think it's possible that Edward has been delaying choosing a profession because it means he can put off marrying Lucy?
    - I never thought of that either. But now that it's out there, I definitely think it's possible. I've been really wondering, too, what Edward is thinking, staying with someone he doesn't love, but then it's not the 21st century. Decisions like that have so much more convoluted thought processes than we have now.

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    1. Mom, yes, this really hammers home the importance of choosing where to bestow your affections carefully, but regarding Edward with Lucy and also Marianne with Willoughby. I think Edward knows Lucy well enough to know that she is not going to release him from the engagement just for the asking. Not without making a big stink about it, at least.

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  2. 1. Do you think it's possible that Edward has been delaying choosing a profession because it means he can put off marrying Lucy?

    Oh, definitely. It becomes more obviously later Edward is reluctant to take the living that Colonel Brandon offers (obviously first out of jealous as he thinks Colonel Brandon is interested in Elinor, but I do think there is something said in the narration about all this hastening is marriage to Lucy?

    2. If you haven't read this before, are you surprised by how much of the book revolves around monetary concerns?

    I've read all the JA before, but I think when I read them first, I was surprised at all the class and money "rules."

    By the by, I wanted to thank you for this read-along, I'm greatly enjoying it. I've been reading fiction increasingly for escapism, and its nice to be jolted into thinking with the questions you've been asking, it also makes me think about things I've never considered before. And I think I'll rewatch both versions and the webs series Elinor and Marianne Take Barton after I finish rereading.

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    1. Livia, I'm so glad you're enjoying this read-along! I agree that discussing a book really gets your brain working in different ways while reading. I love it.

      I haven't watched Elinor & Marianne Take Barton, but I'm guessing it was fun? I watched part of the Lizzy Bennet Diaries, but it never quite grabbed me.

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    2. I thought it was fun, I prefer the ones that are college students doing them like this one and In Earnest and Green Gables Fables, they felt more realistic than the big production ones like LBD and Emma Approved. Content level for Elinor and Marriage is probably equivalent to LBD.

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    3. Good to know on the content, Livia. Thanks!

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  3. I think it makes a lot of sense for Edward to delay choosing a profession because of Lucy. I wouldn't blame him.

    Love how good Elinor is at hiding her true emotions.

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    1. Skye, I wouldn't blame him either.

      It definitely is helpful at this part of the story for Elinor not to be showing her consternation or sorrow and disappointment.

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  4. 1. Do you think it's possible that Edward has been delaying choosing a profession because it means he can put off marrying Lucy?

    -Absolutely. He has definitely gotten himself into a trap and obviously is looking for an out.

    2. If you haven't read this before, are you surprised by how much of the book revolves around monetary concerns?

    - Not really. Wealth and status was so important at the time and so it's no surprise that money concerns were the center of most situations.

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    1. Ivy Miranda, yes, that's a good way to put it. Edward has been trapped.

      One of the things I love about reading older books is how it shows that people haven't really changed over the centuries. Sometimes it's easy to think that people in "more elegant times" would have been somehow above thinking about money and concerned with the expense of living. But nope, that was a big part of life then too.

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