| I disagree. It was well-known in Jane Austen's time
Written by AnnetteJ
(9/19/2010 12:43 p.m.)
in consequence of the missive, That's my interpretation too., penned by Reeba
that sodomy was, as we would say today, an issue in the Royal Navy. Acknowledging that it could be taken as a pun to me indicates that the author knew exactly what she was doing when she put the words into the mouth of Mary Crawford. As I posted below, Jane Austen had brothers in the navy, had a very sophisticated sister-in-law, and lived at a time when discussing things of a sexual nature was not as frowned upon as it would be in a decade or so. We'll have to agree to disagree on this one.
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