But no one tried to show her her mistake;
No one is interested in changing Maria or the role she fulfills in their lives. They are content to have her unchanging. The story would maybe have taken a different turn if Maria had actually been posed to handle a correction or conflict
Mamma is mamma but Maria is my proper mother.”
Keyword being 'proper'
peace-maker!
Setting Maria up as a character who resolves rather than causes conflict. Makes me believe the conflict will be mostly internal as seems to be the case with Joyce
loophole of reparation
Reparation is such a strong word.
I’m a… naughty girl. You needn’t sham: You know I am.
This song comes a musical comedy, A Greek Slave from https://rfwilmut.net/19thcent/greekslave.html Would Joyce's audience have been familiar with it ?
to show her what was her duty.
Joyce, like Mansfield, seems to center his stories around the ways characters are conflicted by the duties that have to yet can't fulfill
And now she had nobody to protect her. Ernest was dead and Harry,
Joyce wastes no time establishing the deaths in the story: past, present, and future
While she spoke she turned a silver bracelet round and round her wrist. She could not go, she said, because there would be a retreat that week in her convent. Her brother and two other boys were fighting for their caps and I was alone at the railings. She held one of the spikes, bowing her head towards me. The light from the lamp opposite our door caught the white curve of her neck, lit up her hair that rested there and, falling, lit up the hand upon the railing. It fell over one side of her dress and caught the white border of a petticoat, just visible as she stood at ease.
There's something so lovely about the way Joyce describes the scene in terms of the way the light is cast across the body
NORTH RICHMOND STREET,
This is what North Richmond Street might have looked like at the time: https://www.webofworlds.net/blog/north-richmond-street. Interesting to think of it as blind
he would seize me by the ankles
That is an alarming thought. Interesting the story cuts off at a moment of heightened tension and emotion
totties
Based on context clues, this appears to mean 'sweetheart.' I looked it up and this definition (https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/tottie) noted that it was used to mean 'little' or 'small' and has Scottish origin
scrupulous
adjective: (of a person or process) diligent, thorough, and extremely attentive to details. "the research has been carried out with scrupulous attention to detail"
This is such a fun word
“Who?” said I.
Following up on my comment in Mansfield's work, I wonder whether certain sentence constructions of dialogue vary depending on the author's home country? or type of English?
Who was he?
Like many of Mansfield's characters, Mr Neave's arc seems centralized around the idea that people of his class lose themselves to either their social or working conditions. If one doesn't lose themselves to their work, it seems they lose themselves to their family - having both seems impossible
That evening
Almost all of the stories seem to open with the time of day it is
She would have to dance, out of politeness, until she could find Meg.
The social cues in the story seem very strong.. In struggling to abide by them, Leila opens them up for the reader to critique
Oh dear, how hard it was to be indifferent like the others!
Victorian lit places strong emphasis on public vs. private display. This comment seems to speak to the pressure to put on a certain appearance for the public's viewing
“Let me carry it! To the gate.” “No, why should you?” said William. “Of course, not. Give it to me.” “Oh, please, do let me,” said Isabel. “I want to, really.” They walked together silently. William felt there was nothing to say now.
Mansfield is able to capture such a feeling of awkwardness in these few lines. Even as she complains at the weight, Isabel doesn't concede it to William
After tea the others went off to bathe, while William stayed and made his peace with the kiddies. But Johnny and Paddy were asleep, the rose-red glow had paled, bats were flying, and still the bathers had not returned.
The children remain relatively absent from the story (besides the intro). I wonder if the same story would have worked if Mansfield made more of an effort to include them as active characters instead of the props they seem to function as
Hennie could stay. She couldn’t bear sitting in a car. She’d wait on the steps.
It's interesting the young girl isn't identified by name. She's referred to as Mrs Raddick's daughter, but marks her relationship rather than an independent title. Only Hennie is named. Despite the story being about 'the young girl,' the young girl doesn't seem to have any agency
In her blue dress, with her cheeks lightly flushed, her blue, blue eyes, and her gold curls pinned up as though for the first time—pinned up to be out of the way for her flight
Sounds like the description of a literal doll.
“I’m afraid,” said Nurse Andrews a moment later, “there isn’t any.”
I wonder how often dialogue sentence construction is varied. Why say 'he said' vs 'said he.' Obviously variation keeps things interesting. To me the construction of "said x character" sounds more childish and picture book-esque than "x character said"
Constantia lay like a statue,
Any time a woman is described as a statue, I can't help but think of Hermione from "A Winter's Tale" by Shakespeare - summarized as a token, object.. etc.
"This Life is Wee-ary,
Is this a real song? I tried to find it but couldn't find it online...I wonder how common it is for authors to include fictional songs or poems in their work.
How many men that she knew would have done such a thing? Oh, how extraordinarily nice workmen were, she thought. Why couldn’t she have workmen for her friends rather than the silly boys she danced with and who came to Sunday night supper?
This reads as very idealistic. She's romanticizing the working class, but even this is a part of the fantasy she's living in.
she sat drinking her coffee
After doing the coffee/tea ratio problem I wonder which among the authors we've read so far discuss coffee or tea the most
such an inferior creature
Him and Betteredge do not hold back. Interesting how explicit he is with the distaste for Mr. Luker - so much so he doesn't want to describe their interaction in the present tense like he had with all the others so far.
Her head drooped a little, and she walked by my side, unconscious of my presence, unconscious of everything about her; lost–buried, I might almost say–in her own thoughts
Rachel seemed rather excited about the idea of marriage at first, but being "indifferent" about your recent engagement was a bit strange. She doesn't seem too surprised hearing this news but rather confused on what to do with it.
Can you account for it, dear friend? It’s quite beyond me.
Seems like he is seeking approval from the Mrs. Clark r.e. religious reasons. Is he blaming his sudden change of heart as not in his control?
I beg a thousand pardons. I have fallen insensibly into my Sunday-school style
This makes me consider Betteridge's warning to not trust her when describing him.. The line seems performative in a way, along with several others like it in this narrative, to gain respect almost from readers.
I have been cut off from all news of my relatives by marriage for some time past. When we are isolated and poor, we are not infrequently forgotten.
The descriptions of one's (and others) positions is frequent, which I presume is due to the time the novel was written. But, the tone at which these descriptions are made are quite different between characters. This line strikes me because of how blunt it is, she seems almost nonchalant about this apparent fact of life.