My Thoughts/Noticings/Ramblings:
Ch. 12
One of the nice things about Catherine being more realistic than heroic is that she just wants to make things right with the Tilneys, so she doesn't waste any time being angry about the perceived slights from them--she just tells her side and hears their side and has done with it! (Of course, it's not all smooth sailing ahead, but at least this conflict wraps up quickly.)
Ch. 13
...this has all happened in six days. (This makes Isabella's accusation that Catherine is choosing Miss Tilney over "her best and oldest friends" pretty bizarre (202).)
Thank goodness for Mr. Allen. He's finally around long enough to say something sensible--that it's not a great idea for unmarried and unrelated men and women to drive all around together. His wife is all, "Oh, yeah, definitely, bad idea," which shocks Catherine, because Mrs. Allen encouraged her to go out for a drive with Mr. Thorpe just days earlier. But now Catherine's moral suspicions are confirmed, and she has a good reason to turn down any future applications from Mr. Thorpe.
Ch. 14
We finally get to spend some time with the Tilneys! My overall impressions are that Henry is as weird as he seemed in the beginning, but in a generally pretty likable way, and that Miss Tilney seems more like an Austen heroine than Catherine does! She is witty, reasonable, kind, and know how to deal with her oddball brother.
Ch. 15
Oh Catherine, you sweet, innocent little bird. "What do you think of this whole marriage thing? How about that old saying "one wedding begets another?" ...So, I'll see you at the wedding, huh?" It's lucky for her she had to hurry away, or she might have found herself engaged to Mr. Thorpe!
My Takeaways:
Something is rotten in the house of Thorpe. They are being way too weird about Catherine and James. The Tilneys, on the other hand, seem like good people (well, the General is pretty weird. But we'll see more of him later.)
Vocab/Clarifications:
Ch. 12
When Catherine visits Miss Tilney, is told she is not at home, and then sees her walking out a minute later, that hurts. It's like if you called up a friend to say "Oh, hey, I can see you across the park" and you watched them take out their phone, see that you're calling, hit ignore, and then laugh with their other friends. Poor Catherine is right to freak out.
Ch. 13
elasticity (p. 210) --in this case, something like "energy" or "bounciness"; I still find it a strange compliment from General Tilney, but I guess it's been established that Catherine is a pretty ordinary kind of person so someone looking to compliment her might have to get a little creative or risk sounding insincere.
Ch. 14
Henry explains his objections to the overuse of the word "nice"--it used to mean tidy or refined, which would make it an odd choice of words with which to praise a novel. The other word he mocks in this chapter is "amazingly"--the kind of enthusiastic hyperbole mostly associated with Isabella. Catherine has her own version of the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other, but for usage. (Of course, Austen is known for using dialogue, and particularly diction, to show the reader a great deal of information about her characters, so take that as you will...)
panegyric (p. 228)--extensive praise for something or someone
Ch. 15
A few notes on marriage: while adults didn't need parental consent to marry, it was highly unusual to marry without it (and certainly not against it.) Part of the arrangements for marriage concerned finances: what would the bride get from her family, and how would the groom be able to support his family? Usually eldest sons of wealthy families had personal fortunes that could be used to support a family, while younger sons (and men from less wealthy families) worked as clergymen, military officers, or a few other specific jobs that were deemed acceptable for the upper classes. Here, the arrangements for James and Isabella are left vague, with only the assurance that James's father would do what he could to "forward [James's] happiness."
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