Class and propriety
Posted by gkb on January 04, 1998 at 19:11:07:
In response to theatricals, written by Valerie McKnight on January 01, 1998 at 16:37:02
The Bertrams station in their community would also dictate a stricter decorum than would be needed in either a middle-class family like the Austens or the extremely high class group where Mr. Yates had been ranting previously. The Bertrams would be observed by many country families with severe notions about proper behavior in a leading family.
Fanny in particular would have been considered two or three degrees lower in status than her cousins, and would have to be as spotless as Caesar's wife to retain anyone's respect. Not to become a cause for any nasty reflections on her adopted family would be a prime object for her literal survival.
] If you look closely at Anne's activity, you see how limited she was by the strict behavior expected of a lady. To encourage Wentworth she can move to the end of a bench, warmly thank Mrs. Musgrove for an invitation, talk generally about love with a friend...She's balancing on a tightrope between her desires and her respectability. So is Fanny, but she is still young and in an even more dependent position than Anne. All she can do is refuse Crawford, and her stark desperate courage in standing up to Sir Thomas is more than I think many young women in her situation could have mustered.
] They had such limited lives...
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