Friday 11 September 2009

Jane Austen Quote of the week- Week 73

This week I have chosen a quote from Chapter 9 of Mansfield Park. Mrs Rushworth is showing Fanny, Edmund and Miss Crawford around the house and upon arriving at the chapel, there is some witty exchange between them. Edmund states:

"At any rate, it is safer to leave people to their own devices on such subjects. Everybody likes to go their own way—to chuse their own time and manner of devotion. The obligation of attendance, the formality, the restraint, the length of time—altogether it is a formidable thing, and what nobody likes; and if the good people who used to kneel and gape in that gallery could have foreseen that the time would ever come when men and women might lie another ten minutes in bed, when they woke with a headache, without danger of reprobation, because chapel was missed, they would have jumped with joy and envy."

Fanny is angered by Edmunds open and clever display of disagreement. I love this example of the chemistry between them.

I also simply love the line bolded above. Even in our modern day, I think it is still all too easy to try to please everyone all of the time and to strive to consistently meet rules and conventions. Sometimes it is nice to just be how we want to be and do what we want to do without this pressure. Choice is such a powerful thing and I think that we should sometimes not be so afraid to be free.

Pic 1: Austen Prose

4 comments:

Icha said...

That's indeed a beautiful quote, Rachel. And yours too:
"Choice is such a powerful thing and I think that we should sometimes not be so afraid to be free."

I might have to add that we should always brave ourselves to make our own choices, based on what our heart believes.

Anonymous said...

The second time I have found a factual error on your site.

Your second pictures is from the Sally Lockhart Mystery movies not "Mansfield Park."

Both MP and the Lockhart movies have in common Billie Piper as the lead and Hayley Atwell in a supporting role, so perhaps your mistake is understandable. However, that there is JJ Feild pictured as Frederick Garland. And, yes, he was in an Austen film--but that was "Northanger Abbey," which costarred Felicity Jones.

Maybe you need to fire your librarian...or your editor, since they appear incapable of doing their jobs.

Icha said...

Anon, thank you very much for keeping an eye on our site. I will ask my friends to replace the pic with the appropriate one. It was my responsibility as the editor for not seeing the mistake, hence I should be the one who fire myself then.

On a very important side note, since we're exchanging inputs here, kindly sign your name here so we don't keep addressing you as Anon. Seems so impolite to do so, in our part. And in your part, I kindly ask you to refrain from stating such as these:

Maybe you need to fire your librarian...or your editor, since they appear incapable of doing their jobs.

If you come here to give constructive, well-mannered feedback, even if it shows our mistakes, you're most welcome. But if you're here just to fire some unfriendly comments, I as the unfired editor reserve the right to delete your comments. That is stated in the bottom part of our blog, if you haven't read it yet.

Or perhaps you would like to show us some grammatical errors there too? Considering I'm not a native speaker?

Rachel said...

I do appreciate that you have brought this to our attention and I apologise for the mistake for it is mine and no one elses. The picture is now removed as requested.