The Enlightened Henry
Posted by Carolyn B on January 23, 1998 at 22:17:47:
In response to the liberation of Catherine., written by Kate on January 22, 1998 at 22:56:08
] Although I was rather startled at this interpretation of NA, it appeals to me, and it certainly makes me think more sympathetically about Catherine's plight at the beginning. In some ways it makes HT one of JA's more enlightened heroes, too.
This interpretation certainly takes into account the misconception that many men had that women were by nature silly, simple creatures whose brains could not handle the strain of too much work (I'm thinking of all the arguments made against women's higher education.) These men generally mistook a woman's ignorance for lack of intelligence.
So it is a credit to Henry that he teases but he does not condescend to Catherine. Of course he has the example of his own sister to know that not all women are silly fools!
I assume JA knew some men who were similarly enlightened?
Posting followups to old messages is disabled; instead go to the main index and post a new message which mentions this one.
