Muddles
Posted by Margie on February 16, 1998 at 16:33:13:
In response to Mr. Beebe, written by Constanza on February 16, 1998 at 08:37:02
] Constanza
] The only one that would have some contact with them is Mr. Beebe; he tries to integrate them, but he keeps failing. I think he plays the role of a "link", in that he knows the rule (and is therefore accepted by the British society) but sometimes he chooses to disregard them, especially when there's a conflict between appearances and what really matters; he is capable of seeing beneath the surface (and as such is able to understand the Emersons.)
Mr. Beebe see what's under the surface of Lucy, too, before she finds it herself. He says to her "If Miss Honeychurch ever takes to live as she plays, it will be very exciting -- both for us and for her."
It seems like Lucy's experiences have been very narrow up to the time that she comes to Italy. It seems like she comes from a society where people all adhere to the same standards, and the attitudes expressed are all much the same. In that kind of situation, if a person's mind happens to create an original thought, the immediate impulse might well be to suppress it rather than to pursue it. Then in Italy she meets the Emersons, and is confronted with a whole different way of thinking, and she gets into a muddle. I think part of her muddle is not knowing if she should be thinking for herself, or if she should be conforming to the conventional wisdom.
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