Posted by Jessamyn on July 09, 1997 at 00:08:56:
In reply to Mrs. Westin-rude? posted by Julia on July 08, 1997 at 20:27:00
] "It is not a connection to gratify, but if the Churchills do not feel it, why should we?" I am confused about this.
] First of all, that remark seems extremely ill-placed, because the connection that does not gratify is Jane, who is in the same exact situation Mrs. Westin was in when she was 21! In fact, Jane is better connected than Mrs. Westin ever was! And the Westins are much lower in society than the Churchills, so why would she compare the two families?
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I think one has to look at it the other way around. Mrs. Weston's relative situation to Jane doesn't really matter, because Frank has been removed to another plane of society that Mrs. Weston's marrying in to the family doesn't really affect. I'm not saying this well, but semi-upper-class Frank's marrying well beneath him is worse than middle-class Mr. Weston's marrying beneath him, particularly because Mr. Weston had already married, settled his place in the world, and begat a son of that first wife (so his second wife didn't matter much one way or the other) while young Frank could have moved up the ladder even further, or at least tread water at his own level.
The second part of her remark is saying that if the higher-up Churchills (who have a bigger stake) don't mind Frank's downward move, then she can hardly complain. It's sort of like saying, well, Martha Stewart thought it was elegant enough, so who am I to say no?