252 Matching Annotations
  1. Mar 2023
  2. Dec 2022
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    1. I only want to keep Harriet to myself

      Emma certainly admires Harriet's appearance (though is clear sighted that H is not clever), some have taken this to mean she's attracted and this sentence could be used to back that up

    2. I have heard him speak with great animation of a large family of young ladies that his sisters are intimate with, who have all twenty thousand pounds apiece

      This sort of boy talk should put Knightley against Elton - it's an older version of locker room talk - reducing women to their money (or bodies)

    3. Men of sense, whatever you may chuse to say, do not want silly wives

      Cliche says otherwise

    4. Were you, yourself, ever to marry, she is the very woman for you

      On a re-read this is very funny

    5. till they do fall in love with well-informed minds instead of handsome faces

      Austen knows people - 200+ years later this is still the same, men choose attractive women despite intelligence or personality

    6. it is always incomprehensible to a man that a woman should ever refuse an offer of marriage. A man always imagines a woman to be ready for any body who asks her

      See Emma's arguement to Harriet in chapter 7 "A woman is not to marry a man merely because she is asked, or because he is attached to her." Also Fanny in Mansfield Park to Edmund "I think it ought not to be set down as certain that a man must be acceptable to every woman he may happen to like himself" (chapter 35)

    7. tall indignation

      Can indignation be tall? Is this meant to imply he seemed taller because he was indignant?

    8. instead of being immediately off likewise

      Mr K wanted Mr W out of the way so he could have this conversation with Emma - I don't think this is the only occurance of wanting Mr W gone so they could monopolise Emma.

    9. amusing contrast

      Is this Austen giving us permission to laugh? Mr Woodhouse is slightly ridiculous but always treated with such respect

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    1. how busy their imaginations all are

      How busy Emma's imagination is!

    2. A woman is not to marry a man merely because she is asked, or because he is attached to her

      Emma says something similar to Mr K later. Fanny says this to Edmund in Mansfield Park too.

    3. older than yourself

      Cher uses this logic (in Clueless) to tell Tai that she should only do drugs at parties even though she's only a few months older

    4. two songs

      Is this an indication that Harriet can play the piano? it's not mentioned so perhaps these songs are for singing?

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    1. I regard it as a most happy thought, the placing of Miss Smith out of doors

      And out of the way?

    2. to hold a very honourable station over the mantelpiece

      Do we hear what happens to the portrait later? It might be awkward to have it hanging around after the friendship ends. In the 2020 adaptation Emma gives it to Mr Martin which I thought was fitting

    3. They were both in ecstasies

      this sounds unbearable - to have two people praising something you know doesn't deserve it - it feels like toadying

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    1. What does Weston think of the weather; shall we have rain?

      Mr Weston is in trade, not a farmer, so this seems like a odd question espeically as he's not asking Mrs Weston what she thinks of the weather like she can't have a rational thought herself.

    2. there is nobody hereabouts to attach her; and she goes so seldom from home

      How is Emma expected to find a husband? There aren't enough equals around for her to attach herself to, it's no wonder she fantacises about Frank. She should really have a season but of course her father couldn't bear to have her leave

    3. I should like to see Emma in love, and in some doubt of a return; it would do her good

      Foreshadowing! And it does do her good.

    4. Isabella always thinks as he does

      Here is a dutiful wife!

    5. But I am a partial old friend

      Note that this is a seperate sentence, like it's an after thought. He's heard what he said and had to modify it.

      "She's pretty. But I don't like her. I'm allowed to say that because we're friends."

    6. very little merit in making a good wife to such a man as Mr. Weston

      But Emma herself would not make him a good wife. Later she bites her tounge when he invites the Elton's despite her disliking them. He's too generally agreeable for Emma.

    7. the very material matrimonial point of submitting your own will, and doing as you were bid

      To a modern eye this line is very uncomfortable.

      Doing as you're told, like a child! No wonder Emma wants to avoid marriage.

    8. books that she meant to read regularly through

      I'm sure I'm not the only person who can relate to this

    9. Mrs. Weston,” said Mr. Knightley

      Mr Knightley still chooses Mrs Weston as a confidant despite knowing she is very much under Emma's influence. I'm struck that this seems like parents discussing their child - in a way they are both parental figures but....then Emma marries Mr K

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    1. What is passable in youth is detestable in later age

      Is this true? Older people tend to get away with things because they're "from a different time"

    2. creditable appearance

      The poor must be "deserving"

      Austen tries to counteract readers bad opinion of Emma by having us follow her on charity work, it is mentioned in other novels but never to this extent

    3. I thought him very plain at first, but I do not think him so plain now

      This echoes in Mansfield Park "when they first saw him he was absolutely plain, black and plain; but still he was the gentleman, with a pleasing address. The second meeting proved him not so very plain: he was plain, to be sure, but then he had so much countenance, and his teeth were so good, and he was so well made, that one soon forgot he was plain; and after a third interview, after dining in company with him at the Parsonage, he was no longer allowed to be called so by anybody" (chapter 5)

    4. such books

      "Romances" or more what we'd call adventure stories perhaps today. What he does read is relevant to his job and he's much more well read than Harriet

    5. for Harriet every thing

    6. not pleasant

      We assume Emma would have walked with a maid or man servant, not literally alone. The non pleasantness was probably about having no one to talk to rather than dangers of walking unchaperoned

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    1. panic as pleasure

      This recalls Maria Lucas meeting Lady Catherine in Pride and Prejudice

    2. thin gruel

      A big deal is made of gruel in (I think) the 1996 Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow

    3. shewing so proper and becoming a deference, seeming so pleasantly grateful for being admitted to Hartfield, and so artlessly impressed by the appearance of every thing in so superior a style to what she had been used to, that she must have good sense, and deserve encouragement

      She's not clever, but she shows deference so she must have good sense. Oh Emma! She's so easily flattered

    4. natural daughter of somebody

      Emma may be the one telling this fairytale. It's like one of the 'romances' that Harriet herself reads

    5. fair mistress of the mansion

      Fairytale again! also lovely alliteration, Austen does enjoy it

    6. one of the long evenings she had fearfully anticipated

      None of these women are Emma's intellectual equal. You could say she's too smart for her own good

    7. to be out of the way

      because young girls were a nuisance? Does this reflect how Jane felt about going to school, away from her family and the house full of boys? it's a bit odd as she chose to go with Cassandra

    8. uncommon degree of popularity for a woman neither young, handsome, rich, nor married

      Comparison to Emma - who later makes the comparison herself

      Is this Emma's thoughts? "uncommon degree" sounds like something Emma might say

    9. smiles of his lovely daughter

      foreshadowing!

    10. his horror of late hours, and large dinner-parties

      Mr Woodhouse the introvert, I feel you

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    1. She knew that at times she must be missed; and could not think, without pain, of Emma’s losing a single pleasure, or suffering an hour’s ennui, from the want of her companionableness: but dear Emma was of no feeble character; she was more equal to her situation than most girls would have been, and had sense, and energy, and spirits that might be hoped would bear her well and happily through its little difficulties and privations. And then there was such comfort in the very easy distance of Randalls from Hartfield, so convenient for even solitary female walking, and in Mr. Weston’s disposition and circumstances, which would make the approaching season no hindrance to their spending half the evenings in the week together.

      This whole paragraph seems to be listening in on Mrs Weston's thoughts

    2. either when Mrs. Perry drank tea with Mrs. and Miss Bates, or when Mrs. and Miss Bates returned the visit

      This is a delightful insight into how gossip spreads in Highbury and introduces us to characters we will meet later. Many inhabitants of Highbury are mentioned throughout giving us an idea of the community though most of them don't speak

    3. he had never been there in his life

      Does this indicate that Captain and Mrs Weston lived elsewhere during their marriage?

    4. uncle’s heir

      How did they know about 3 years they weren't going to have a child? what if they had? What would have happened to Frank??

      This echoes Austen's own brother Edward's adoption by wealthy relatives, he took their name when they died and he inheirited.

      There may be echoes of Fanny Price too, she's "adopted" by the Bertram's in Mansfield Park.

      This indicates that the practise was likely widespread

    5. gratitude

      Austen uses gratitude throughout her novels as a basis for love (Henry to Catherine in Northanger Abbey and Elizabeth to Darcy in P&P)

    6. she wanted at once to be the wife of Captain Weston, and Miss Churchill of Enscombe

      How differently does Anne Elliot feel in Persuasion! She would do so much for her family despite being ashamed of them but you get the impression that she'd give them up in the end to be with Wentworth, she knows they won't be happy with her marrying him.

    7. full of pride and importance,

      It's back to sounding like a fairytale, but could also be overheard gossip of Highbury

    8. Captain Weston

      Other Austen characters maintain their military titles (Colonel Brandon) why not Captain Weston?

    9. rising into gentility and property

      Emma's a snob but her closest friend is a governess who she marries to a man of the army who is now in trade - his family are not gentry. Are there no people of "appropriate" rank around? She's an interesting contradiction.

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    1. a man of six or seven-and-twenty can take care of himself

      But her father can't!

    2. foretell things

      A hint at the travellers who appear later?

    3. playfully

      Is Emma flirting or is this a younger sister teasing an older brother?

      The age gap and the family relationship both can make this a little icky - though people talk about it less than Marianne and Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility

    4. connexions

      Personally I prefer when they modernise the spelling but it seems "the thing to do" to keep the original

    5. That was your doing, papa

      Emma is really mothering her father here

    6. never able to suppose that other people could feel differently from himself

      There's something childlike about Mr Woodhouse. There is a developmental stage where children learn that people think and feel differently. Emma knows that people think differently - she just thinks they're wrong

    7. everywhere beloved

      This is lacking in the adaptations where he's portrayed as fussy and irritating

    8. various illnesses of childhood

      Later it's mentioned that Emma didn't really get sick - is this a mistake or merely that she only had minor illness?

    9. some satisfaction in considering with what self-denying, generous friendship she had always wished and promoted the match

      This is Emma's self congratulating thoughts

    10. mournful thought of any continuance

      Continuance of life? could this be a brief mention of suicide??

      I do think Emma is wondering how she can continue to live without her companion and best friend with only her father for company

    11. threatened

      Austen is trying to bring darkness into this chapter - evils, seemed, threatened, danger - but like Emma we're carried away and don't notice

    12. real evils

      Classic Austen irony- these aren't "evil" at all! at least not to Emma but perhaps to those around her

    13. mistress of his house from a very early period

      Is this parentification?

      Austen's niece Fanny look over the "lady of the house" role when her mother died and didn't marry until she was 27 - into another established family

    14. seemed

      Already there are hints that all is not as it seems. Emma's life is not so perfect. We shortly learn her mother has died, yes, she's been replaced by a loving governess but losing a mother is still a big deal

    15. handsome, clever, and rich

      This starts like a fairytale and Emma is the princess. But who is telling us this tale? Is this how Emma sees herself? How her society sees her? We learn as we go into the novel that Emma isn't as perfect as she's percieved.

  11. Aug 2022
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    1. to flatter and follow others

      Them being such suck ups sits wrong with me. Like Anne I wish they had a bit more pride

    2. She had soon the mortification of seeing Mr Elliot withdraw, and no one of proper condition has since presented himself to raise even the unfounded hopes which sunk with him

      This confirms Elizabeth did think Mr Elliot was interested in her despite at least Lady Russell being clear he was there for Anne.

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    1. I should have suffered more in continuing the engagement than I did even in giving it up

      Compare her thoughts in chapter 4 "she should yet have been a happier woman in maintaining the engagement". Is Anne rewriting the past (like Wentworth saying she's never altered above vs so altered he wouldn't know her again)?

    2. they exchanged again those feelings and those promises

      Austen shies away from revealing what characters say at pivotal moments, perhaps to avoid misinterpretations?

    3. chair

      Are chairs "a thing" in Bath? They're mentioned in Northanger Abbey too but no where else

    4. Would they only have gone away

      As an introvert I feel this. Over peopled, over stimulated, just need space and everyone in your face "are you ok?"

    5. look

      Looks seem to be very important in their reunion. He mentions a look in his letter, there is this repetition here and in the cancelled chapter it's a look that passes between them rather than any words

    6. our bodies are the strongest

      Women have a higher pain tolerance than men and tend to out live them yet there continues this idea that men are the stronger sex! Side note: watching videos of men trying menstrual pain stimulators are eye opening Anne does make this point further down

    7. We live at home, quiet, confined, and our feelings prey upon us

      This is certainly the case for Anne, she's been to Bath once and Uppercross (only 3 miles away!) several times but otherwise she hasn't moved and her circle hasn't changed.

    8. clever young German artist at the Cape

      Jocelyn Harris mentioned in her talk "Who is Captain Wentworth" that this a reference to a specific historical person who painted Austen's brother Frank's (a sailor) portrait. The Thing about Austen podcast does a full episode (29) on this miniature.

    9. older acquaintance

      This makes me wonder if he did know of her from Captain Wentworth. He's only seen her less than 12 hours over 3 or 4 separate days. He does talk to her about deeply personal issues, some might argue he's dissing his friend

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    1. every man to have the same objects and pleasures as myself

      Hmm except he's dissing Charles Hayter for being "too cool about sporting"

    2. She knew him; she saw disdain in his eye

      Is it this knowledge of him that made her notice his contempt of Mary's snobbery (re the Hayters) and dislike of Dick Musgrove? Or is it because she's more of an observer than an active participant? For a third time we see through his social façade

    3. I only smirked and bowed, and said the word ‘happy.

      This reminds me of "Mr. Hurst also made her a slight bow, and said he was 'very glad'" (P&P chapter 11)

    4. honour

      The formality of Elizabeth vs Anne walking with Charles and Mary to visit the Musgrove party.

    5. special recommendation

      Charles is talking about shooting and getting approval from one of the three landed gentry to shoot on their land, because shooting is all important to Charles

    6. by way of doing something, as shooting was over, Charles had proposed coming with him

      poor Charles really needs entertainment - he and Mary are similar in that way

    7. I am scarcely sensible of his attentions being beyond those of other men

      Do Mrs Clay and Elizabeth still think Mr Elliot is after Elizabeth rather than Anne? Is Elizabeth very dense or just seeing what she wants to?

    8. her greatest want of composure would be in that quarter of the mind which could not be opened to Lady Russell

      She still can't be open with Lady Russell about her feelings for Captain Wentworth and what she thinks his feelings are for her

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    1. woman he loved

      Is Mr Elliot capable of love? could his pursuit of Anne really be explained by anything else (as it doesn't assist with his goals)?

    2. learning to pin his happiness upon the consequence he is heir to

      Perhaps the money didn't give him the happiness he sought? Perhaps he now wants the added power of rank and importance to add to his money

    3. highly disrespectful

      It's difficult for a modern reader to find anything really offensive in this letter. Anne knows how her father and sister are - there's no surprises there - and family pride or pride of rank isn't quite the same now days. Perhaps a modern equivalent would have a lot of swearing and wanting to burn the house down with them in it?

    4. To do the best for himself

      This sounds very much like Miss Crawford in Mansfield Park (far too many instances to quote)

    5. hesitated a little here

      Perhaps only now realising that this mercenary way of going on was not, is not ok.

    6. She checked herself just in time

      Mrs Smith stops herself from speaking badly of Elizabeth. This is so different from now; a friend would bitch about a friends sister. Mrs Smith is polite but is this really open and honest?

    7. Hear the truth, therefore, now, while you are unprejudiced. Mr Elliot is a man without heart or conscience

      She goes from neutral to vicious really quick!

    8. He has no feeling for others

      Is Mr Elliot a sociopath?

    9. I observed no one in particular

      People are so used to servants that they don't even notice them. Austen doesn't always mention the servants, assuming readers will "see" them in the background anyway

    10. we women never mean to have anybody. It is a thing of course among us, that every man is refused, till he offers

      See also Emma "A woman may not marry a man merely because she is asked, or because he is attached to her" (chapter 7) and Mansfield Park "I think it ought not to be set down as certain that a man must be acceptable to every woman he may happen to like himself" (Chapter 35)

    11. assuming her usual air of cheerfulness

      This implies that her cheerfulness is false in this instance but it also raises the questions whether it's always genuine

    12. I do know how to value your kindness in coming to me this morning. It is really very good of you to come and sit with me, when you must have so many pleasanter demands upon your time

      Does she know Anne at all? Has her experience at the hands of Mr Elliot made her question whether there is any real friendship?

    13. Everybody of any consequence or notoriety in Bath was well know by name to Mrs Smith

      Mrs Smith would have been a fan of gossip sheets like Lady Whistledown in the Bridgerton series

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    1. I have had a longer acquaintance with your character than you are aware of

      He's referring to Mrs Smith here, completely unaware that Anne is in contact with her. The audacity to use her memory to his advantage when he doesn't care for her now

    2. Colonel Wallis’s gallantry

      Colonel Wallis is very useful - telling the Elliot's about the first wife earlier and here ensuring Mr Elliot gets the seat by Anne, then distracting Elizabeth to keep her happy. He's been, I think, entirely removed from the adaptations. This the only time we see him in the book

    3. who had happened to arrive nearly at the same instant

      This reminds me of Tom Musgrave in The Watsons waiting in his own room to conveniently arrive at the same time as, and become part of, the Osborne party

    4. I have travelled so little, that every fresh place would be interesting to me

      What delights she will experience as the wife of a Navy captain!

    5. One does not love a place the less for having suffered in it, unless it has been all suffering, nothing but suffering

      Like her feelings for Bath?

    6. struck, gratified, confused

      She's coming to the realisation that he still loves her but it's so at odds with his previous behaviour

    7. He is a clever man, a reading man

      He believes Louisa to be intellectually inferior to Captain Benwick, not a choice he would make for himself - like his sister and her husband he wants a marriage where they can meet as equals. Having said that...on this reading I've been questioning how smart the Admiral is

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    1. Mary, often a little unwell, and always thinking a great deal of her own complaints

      In Jane Austen the Secret Radical Helena Kelly suggests that Mary is pregnant during the course of the novel. Is Mary a hypochondriac? She is the youngest child and like Anne probably didn't get much attention (even less from her mother as she was younger when she died). Have we been unjustly maligning Mary this whole time - could she have a chronic illness? Or is it about being an extrovert and really needing to feed off other people to feel "up"?

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    1. I wish you would make use of it, if you are determined to walk; though I think it would be more prudent to let me get you a chair

      He's attempting to "rescue" her again (this would make it 3 if he succeeded) how terrible for him that she is instead "rescued" but her cousin, the very man who's attention awakened him to his own feelings

    2. I may not have many more visits from you

      Not sure if she's implying that Anne will move away when she marries or Mr Elliot will convince her to drop the friendship

    3. elegant stupidity of private parties

      Tell us what you really think!

    4. As soon as they were out of sight

      Once the story focused on Anne we mostly followed her (occasionally we see into others thoughts such as Lady Russell) this may be the first scene that breaks that pattern

    5. There was consciousness of some sort or other

      He's conscious of being in love with her and trying to figure out if they can get back together. He's so awkward!

    6. to be left to walk with Mr Elliot

      Another hint perhaps of their secret flirting

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    1. of no use

      The Admiral is pretty keen to get Wentworth married off!

    2. she is to marry him

      In the 1995 adaptation this interaction is how Anne learns of the engagement

    3. Mrs Croft looking as intelligent and keen as any of the officers around her

      Mrs Croft is such a great character, Austen seems to praise her every time she's mentioned. You can imagine she'd slide right into modern life easily.

    4. no rumour of the news had yet reached them

      I don't understand why she doesn't tell them. Is it because she's aware they think Captain Wentworth will marry Louisa? Is the engagement not sufficiently public? It's such a great piece of gossip! Though Anne is not one to gossip, perhaps she might have behaved differently were it not a "visit of ceremony" and her family not present

    5. if the woman who had been sensible of Captain Wentworth’s merits could be allowed to prefer another man

      Interesting echo to Lady Russell's thoughts about "the man who at twenty-three had seemed to understand somewhat of the value of an Anne Elliot, should, eight years afterwards, be charmed by a Louisa Musgrove" (Persuasion Chapter 13). She thinks it speaks badly of him to find someone superior to Anne, just as Anne almost can't believe that Louise prefers anyone to Captain Wentworth.

    6. Admiral Croft will be best known in Bath as the renter of Kellynch Hall

      Sir Walter is so self centred he can't image that the Admiral (a very high rank - perhaps the highest? - in his profession) ever had a life or an acquaintance before renting Kellynch

    7. Our neighbourhood cannot spare such a pleasant family

      Austen does enjoy having characters contradict themselves - see Mary's comment in the earlier part of the letter about them not improving as neighbours

    8. convenient to me

      Because her convenience is more important than an invalids. Ah Mary

    9. Mrs Harville must be an odd mother to part with them so long

      Hinting at Mary being a hypocrite. She was away from her children in Lyme and later in the letter suggests leaving them while she visits Bath

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    1. Mrs Clay found him as agreeable as any body

      Is this the first hint that he is slowly seducing her behind the scenes?

    2. There was never any burst of feeling, any warmth of indignation or delight, at the evil or good of others

      I think this is why we glimpse Captain Wentworth sneering at Mary when she's being a snob and rolling his eyes at Mrs Musgrove when she's grieving her useless son. We see his humanity. His is a "frank...open-hearted..eager character" who's sincerity she can depend on because he "sometimes looked or said a careless or hasty thing"

    3. calling it her home again, her home for ever

      The 2007 adaptation makes this a reality - Captain Wentworth buys Kellynch as a "wedding present". It's a shame because it seems to be closing her prospects rather than opening them as they would be with the possibility of travelling the world with her husband.

    4. delighted Mr Elliot

      Oh the irony! He's the reason Mrs Smith is in financial straits. Mrs Smith returns the favour by bad mouthing him (quite rightly) to Anne. Having "no surname of dignity" means Mrs Smith could be anyone so Mr Elliot doesn't make the connection

    5. Mrs Smith was not the only widow in Bath between thirty and forty, with little to live on, and no surname of dignity

      In the 1995 adaptation Anne does say this. In reality it would have only made things uncomfortable for her, she is right not to speak. Her father would not understand her meaning and Elizabeth would take offense. Does anyone recall if she expresses this in the other adaptations?

    6. There is so little real friendship in the world

      It's possible Mr Elliot is in her thoughts here

    7. it is its weakness and not its strength that appears in a sick chamber: it is selfishness and impatience rather than generosity and fortitude, that one hears of

      I feel like Mrs Smith would enjoy reality TV

    8. here was that elasticity of mind, that disposition to be comforted, that power of turning readily from evil to good, and of finding employment which carried her out of herself, which was from nature alone

      Mrs Smith is naturally a positive person but, like Anne, employment and feeling useful helps her. Anne's reaction seems to indicate that she would not deal as well as Mrs Smith in the same circumstances and perhaps that Mrs Smith would have dealt better with a broken engagement

    9. It would excite no proper interest there

      Could this be considered a visit of charity? Anne surely views it as a visit of friendship. But charitable visits were acceptable, in theory it should have been acceptable to her family (if they were themselves "acceptable").

    10. useful and good to her

      She sounds just like Anne! Anne was grieving her mother and Miss Hamilton/Mrs Smith stepped into a mothering role a little.

    11. want of near relations and a settled home, remaining another year at school

      Note that Miss Hamilton's situation is like that of Harriet Smith in Emma, no relations and no where to go so they stay at school

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    1. defeating her

      I'd like to think that Anne would support Mrs Clay and Sir Walter if she thought they were genuinely in love but she can see Mrs Clays mechanisms - this may be her motivation rather than that Mrs Clay is "beneath him" (though it would be a match that shocked)

    2. perfect indifference to them

      The "scrawl" indicates that she may be right but they do spend a lot of time with these cousins, at the concert it is just their party

    3. still less to say

      Brings to mind Anne de Bourgh

    4. three lines of scrawl

      Such a careless response after all their drama and many, many letter drafts no doubt

    5. if Elizabeth were also to marry

      Imagine Elizabeth having to make way for the former Mrs Clay! As we learn later she and Sir Walter don't enjoy sucking up when no one is sucking up to them in turn

    6. Gowland

      The Thing About Austen podcast did an episode on Gowland (ep 44)

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    1. good-looking

      She refers to him as not handsome! Henry Golding as Mr Elliot is one of the few gifts of Persuasion 2022 (tried to attach a picture but it didn't work)

    2. talk must be all their own

      This is the third time Anne has had to change her concerns/thoughts for the society she's in 1. when she went to Uppercross, 2. when she went to Kellynch Lodge and now 3. in Bath

    3. sinking

      Note the lofty in the previous paragraph in comparison

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    1. a dutiful branch, he must be forgiven for having dismembered himself from the paternal tree

      This is a hilarious image - all based on the family tree. Mr Elliot is part of the family but Sir Walter is not his father, he is the head of the family estate

    2. not to call at Uppercross in the Christmas holidays

      This reminds me of Elinor Dashwood's "I never think of tame and quiet children with any abhorrence." (S&S chapter 21)

    3. a little quiet cheerfulness at home

      The scene is chaos but it's what the Musgroves enjoy, it's not to Anne's temperament and considering what we hear of Louisa after her accident it's unlikely to suit her either

    4. charity

      We can assume that all Austen's heroines performed charitable duties but the only one we ever witness directly is Emma.

    5. when one drops one’s scissors

      This sounds very much like Mary purposely dropped her scissors to get his attention and it's failed

    6. without saying a word

      Did she give him space to talk? Did she want him to engage her in conversation or pander to her?

    7. He is just Lady Russell’s sort. Give him a book, and he will read all day long

      Perhaps Charles is one of the family members who believes Lady Russell persuaded Anne to refuse him because he wasn't bookish enough

    8. only died last June

      Yet when it comes to Mr Elliot, who is still in mourning and was actually married, everyone is fine with him pursuing Anne

    9. a struggle on each side as to which should be most disinterested and hospitable

      This shows how lovely the Harvilles and The Musgroves are, I can see them being friends for the rest of their lives. Good kind people

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    1. Lady Russell and Mrs Croft were very well pleased with each other

      They are both kind and practical women, it makes sense that they'd like each other

    2. sending away some of the large looking-glasses

      All the changes indicate that the Crofts are practical, thinking of the servants convenience - they can get their own umbrellas rather than sending for them, the door was a nuisance - and not as obsessed with appearance as Sir Walter. They even move the looking glasses themselves.

    3. One man’s ways may be as good as another’s, but we all like our own best

      Another quote that deserves more popularity

    4. Lodge

      This visit to Lady Russell is, I think, universally left out of adaptations - she goes from home to Uppercross, from Uppercross to Bath

    5. excepting the little boys at the cottage

      The children seem even an afterthought to Austen

    6. all the children, and seen the very last

      It's never clear how many children the Musgroves have. Charles, Louisa and Henrietta are the only "grown up"

    7. useful

      She does love to be useful but what about Mary's children at the cottage? It was standard during this time period to leave their children with the nurse, nanny or governess but it still feels wrong

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    1. End of volume one

      This is a great cliff hanger to end the first volume. Will Louisa live? It seems like Captain Wentworth intends to marry her but what about Anne? and what of the mysterious cousin and heir?

    2. nothing

      Mary's selfishness knows no bounds. Anne is a much more capable person and does care for Louisa, it sounds rude to refer to their connection as "nothing" it echoes how Anne's family seem to regard her. It also leaves the two unmarried women to travel unaccompanied with an unrelated male - perhaps had they appealed to Mary with her importance as a married woman they may have had success

    3. Anne

      He calls her by her first name!

    4. a look between him and his wife

      Here is a couple that communicates well! and they are very practical, they know what needs to be done and they do it

    5. Elizabeth’s particular share in it she suspected

      The reader knows things Anne doesn't!

    6. a degree of earnest admiration

      Note she is with two young and pretty ladies but he notices her!

    7. I have always heard of Lady Russell as a woman of the greatest influence

      It was obviously the Musgrove family story that Lady Russell persuaded Anne to not marry Charles. But it hints that they may have somehow or other heard of her influence over Anne previously otherwise it's a very big coincidence

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    1. Captain

      In the 2007 and 2022 adaptations Captain Harville gives the impression that he knows who Anne is ie at some point Captain Wentworth told him of their history, likely they were at sea together directly after

    2. a melancholy air, just as he ought to have

      How Marianne Dashwood would appreciate Captain Benwick!

    3. armed with the idea of merit in maintaining her own way

      The result of the conversation with Captain Wentworth while in the hedgerow

    4. They did not like each other

      The reversal of this the in the last chapter (almost an epilogue) is hard to swallow

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    1. I hardly know one from the other

      Captain Wentworth barely knows them either. With the Admirals views of "anyone will do" it's surprising that he has such a happy and well matched marriage.

    2. his resolution to give her rest

      He's recused her for a second time

    3. I suppose you know he wanted to marry Anne

      How could he possibly know this? He's known the family for less than a month. Is it normal during this time period to talk about refused proposals? This seems insensitive. At what point would it be appropriate for him to reveal to Louisa that he was once engaged to Anne? How would she feel about that?

    4. it was her great friend Lady Russell’s doing

      Weird that Louisa says this, which is exactly what happened to Wentworth, but he doesn't believe that's the case

    5. idle interference

      He almost certainly has Anne and their broken engagement in mind during this interaction. He has no idea what the consequences of this speech will be - Louisa's accident is a direct result of his words

    6. I have no idea of being so easily persuaded

      Even if things don't work out between Henrietta and Mr Hayter, Louisa is shit talking her enough to ruin her chances with Captain Wentworth, all the while ensuing he knows that Louisa herself isn't like that

    7. contemptuous glance

      Again, showing his true feelings but he's too polite to respond to Mary's snobbery

    8. Louisa seemed the principal arranger

      It seems like Louisa is determined to patch things up between Mr Hayter and Henrietta...potentially so she can have Captain Wentworth to herself

    9. I would always be with him

      Louisa may be reflecting back to Mrs Croft's words about preferring to be on board ship with her husband than alone on shore

    10. poetical descriptions extant of autumn

      In the 1970s miniseries (which huge hair) one of the Musgrove sisters asks Anne for an appropriate poem on this walk. In the 2022 adaptation Mary snipes at Anne when she tries to recite telling her she doesn't like poetry or it makes her sick (can anyone find the quote?)

    11. Anne’s object was, not to be in the way of anybody

      This might be Anne's life philosophy

    12. on purpose to ask us

      Mary is not good at "reading the room" and chooses to see only what is most flattering to her

    13. window

      Probably the "French window" ie French doors

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    1. Captain Wentworth had done it

      He "rescues" her!

    2. forgotten

      shiny object syndrome?

    3. considering the alliances which the Musgroves have made

      ie. marrying her, the daughter of a baronet

    4. new creations

      All Baronets were "created", either bought or gifted by the crown. Mary wants Sir Walter to remain superior because he's more "established"

    5. marry

      To a modern reader this seems very quick - they've only seen him 4 or 5 times and everyone is already speculating on who he'll marry!

    6. Charles

      Charles is obviously a family name (Charles Musgrove, Mary's husband; Charles Musgrove, Mary's son; Charles Hayter and one can presume Charles Musgrove senior, Mary's father in law). Names were often reused - Austen makes fun of it in the first chapter "all the Marys and Elizabeths".

    7. sisters

      We could assume that their family is local as they married close to each other - but their remaining family is never mentioned as ranking so they may be from further afield or be all gone.

    8. everything most bewitching in his reception there; the old were so hospitable, the young so agreeable,

      It's not mentioned but you have to wonder if in the back of his mind he likes Anne seeing the Miss Musgroves flirting him and that is an unspoken reason he wants to stay, to get a petty revenge

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    1. I do assure you

      Is she telling Mrs Musgrove this because she thinks Wentworth will marry one of the Miss Musgroves?

    2. But I hate to hear you talking so like a fine gentleman, and as if women were all fine ladies, instead of rational creatures. We none of us expect to be in smooth water all our days

      It's unclear if Captain Wentworth honestly thinks women require more care and better accommodations or whether he is avoiding women in general because of Anne. This line of Mrs Croft's is beautiful. There is a modern web series adaptation called Rational Creatures. I think this is an echo of Mary Wollstonecraft, Austen uses the term again when Elizabeth Bennet is rejecting Mr Collins proposal (P&P chapter 19)

    3. her large fat sighings

      Is Austen fatphobic? Earlier in this paragraph she mentions that fat people are more fit for "good cheer and good humour", the stereotype of the happy fat person still exists today. But in the following paragraph Austen seems to apologise saying everyone, whatever their size, has a right to be emotional and it's a distasteful to ridicule emotional people for their size

    4. momentary expression in Captain Wentworth’s face at this speech, a certain glance of his bright eye, and curl of his handsome mouth

      Captain Wentworth is too polite to say what he really thought of Dick Musgrove but, unlike Mr Elliot, he does show his emotions and thoughts aren't always pleasant

    5. I knew that we should either go to the bottom together, or that she would be the making of me

      This seems to be his philosophy after losing Anne - either gonna make it or die trying

    6. If a man had not a wife

      This must be painful for both Anne and Wentworth, the period referring to was just after their broken engagement and here the Admiral is speaking of wives. Austen doesn't point this out - it's up to the reader to "read the room"

    7. Now they were as strangers; nay, worse than strangers, for they could never become acquainted

      This line was treated poorly in the new adaptation (Persuasion 2022 Netflix) veering between calling them exes and friends. The point of this line is that they cannot be friends, they are keeping a distance from each other

    8. Admiral and Mrs Croft, who seemed particularly attached and happy

      There are few happy couples in Austen, another example is the Gardiners in Pride and Prejudice.

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    1. A strong mind, with sweetness of manner

      This does perfectly describe Anne but he thinks in stating this he is excluding her

    2. Her power with him was gone for ever

      This is his delusional self talk. Later in the book he confesses he's always felt for her

    3. She had given him up to oblige others

      They each have their own version of events; he thinks she did it to make others happy, she thinks she did it to free him. "it was not a merely selfish caution, under which she acted, in putting an end to it. Had she not imagined herself consulting his good, even more than her own, she could hardly have given him up" (Persuasion Chapter 4)