"Bravo! An excellent satire..."
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Posted by Kathlyn on January 03, 1998 at 20:54:02:
In response to Thanks for finding that, Janet..., written by Greg on January 03, 1998 at 17:44:29
] ...I love this line from Chapter 16: "Me? - yes; I cannot speak well enough to be unintelligible." But, I wonder if Catherine's character is truly perceptive/intelligent enough to have uttered it. Any thoughts?
]
] The line is in the movie, but when I went back and scanned the book recently I couldn't find it. I thought the screenwriter must have invented it, but there it is, right in the middle of Ch.16. My take on the line is this: Catherine certainly couldn't have meant to be sarcastic - it must have come out by accident. That's how they played it in the movie. But how likely that was may be hard to judge 200 years later. If "unintelligible" was commonly used as praise at that time, then perhaps Cathy could have indeed said that, being unintentionally sarcastic. I tend to think that it's a line Austen thought was too good to leave out, whether it sounded like Cathy or not.
I've always thought that as well. She wanted to show off Henry (and her own) wit to the best advantage... I love that line too...
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