Jane Austen Quote of the Week 275

I have developed a keen interest in the term "Lady" - with a capital "L".   My present path began with a post at the Republic of Pemberley by a friend of mine, namely "Line".  We met some 11 years ago in Cape Cod at a RoP conference.  You may read her post and the replies here:  What distinguishes a Lady? 

 

Her post led me to another blog post by fellow Pemberlian, TimLee, and you can read that post here:  Ladies vs. Women.  The replies he received are very interesting also.

 

During all that reading I found a Wikipedia article of interest here:  Cult of Domesticity which explains a lot of the history of the word "Lady".

 

To top all of that off, I proceeded to look into our Jane's writings to see if she used the term "lady/ladies".  She surely did!  And I will quote only one instance from "Persuasion", chapter 26.  The surrounding story is involved so I won't give all the details, and just quote the main section with the use of 'ladies':

 

The party separated. The gentlemen had their own pursuits, the ladies proceeded on their own business, and they met no more while Anne belonged to them.

 

You may notice that she uses the term 'gentlemen' and 'ladies' in the same sentence.  Now here is the hard part.  I have a lot of the above information to digest and sort out and it will take a while.  So I will make this post a "Part One" on the term "Lady".

 

And please feel free to join in with your thoughts on this subject.

 

Yrs aff'ly,  Linda the Librarian

 

 

Pic: Anne Elliot Persuasion 

Tom Lefroy Quote of the Week 41

For MH17 with love

I once posted this quote below in September 2010 as a sign of respect to a friend of a friend. Now, it seems - sadly - I need to post it again here. It's not even the turn for a Tom Lefroy quote (FYI, Rachel and Linda), but I cannot help it. I need to post this quote here again...

From The Memoir of Chief Justice Lefroy page 386, the young Tom Lefroy (son of Thomas Langlois Lefroy) recalled the last moments of his late father’s life.

To the last he retained a cheerful and patient endurance under suffering which often elicited the astonishment and admiration of those who attended upon his sickness. I remember in his last illness (only two days before he was taken from us), after he had spent a very wearisome night from want of sleep, and great oppression of breathing, we closed the window-shutters in the morning, in the hope of his getting some sleep; just then the physician for whom an express had been sent, arrived from Dublin. After feeling his pulse, the doctor asked whether it would annoy him if the window-shutters were opened for a moment, when he replied with a cheerful smile, “not at all, doctor, I always like to have light thrown upon a subject.”

Thomas Langlois Lefroy welcomed the last moments of his life with great courage and - dare I say, peace. I wish, I hope, it was also the case for the 298 people onboard Malaysian Airlines MH17 that was shut down over eastern Ukraine last Thursday (17 July 2014). Those lives that ended too short, too cruelly...

I certainly have my opinions about that matter, including who the responsible party is. But here, I just want to extend my prayers, that in their last moments, those innocent lives on board the plane were in peace. That they were courageous, and even if they were afraid, calm and peace immediately took over, and they left this world swiftly, in bliss.

And for their loved ones who remain on Earth, may they find warmth, love and support within them and all around them to continue living, as those who left them would have wanted them to. That the bodies of their loved ones be returned home a.s.a.p. for the final respectful rest they deserve.

And for us all who remain here, may we find the love, forgiveness and courage to work together for peace. True peace and harmony based on understanding and respect, not just so that we have no conflict. 

Amen.

Jane Austen Quote of the Week 274

I hope you have all had a good week.


This week I realised that I have been working really hard with little thought for myself and no time taken to relax and reflect. I always seem to be chasing my tail rather than actually stopping and enjoying the moment. It led me to consider what I love and what makes me relax. Music is the best remedy to any stress, and the best tool to relax both the body and the mind, and make you happy. I was thinking about Emma and dancing and I found this quote from Chapter 38:


"In another moment a happier sight caught her -- Mr. Knightley leading Harriet to the set! Never had she been more surprised, seldom more delighted, than at that instant. She was all pleasure and gratitude, both for Harriet and herself, and longed to be thanking him; and though too distant for speech, her countenance said much, as soon as she could catch his eye again.
    His dancing proved to be just what she had believed it, extremely good; and Harriet would have seemed almost too lucky, if it had not been for the cruel state of things before, and for the very complete enjoyment and very high sense of the distinction which her happy features announced. It was not thrown away on her, she bounded higher than ever, flew farther down the middle, and was in a continual course of smiles."


It of course helps if you are with a partner who can dance! This point in the novel is one of the turning points for Emma and Mr Knightley.





Have a calm weekend, and take some time for yourselves to do what you love.




Pic: Emma and Mr Knightley

Tom Lefroy Quote of the Week 40

Since July 4th is a National Holiday here in the US, I thought to see if the word "holiday" appeared in the Memoir. It did indeed and the context makes us love Tom all the more because it gives us a sense of his character that is really good, and unfortunately not to be found in the men of my acquaintance. Sigh. In Chapter 12 of the Memoir of Chief Justice Lefroy we find:

"To the inner circle of his family, and those who enjoyed the privilege of frequent intercouse with him, I feel that any memorial of him would be wanting which omitted to notice his unalterable cheerfulness under the little every-day crosses of life. Though the shadow of a cloud might flit past, it seemed as if it could never long obscure the sunshine of his temper or his countenance. If a wet day interfered with some cherished plan for a holiday excursion (and he retained to the very last an almost childlike enjoyment of such occasions) we were sure soon to hear some such remark as "well, only think of the good this gracious rain will do in the country,"...

How nice it would be to see such a positive attitude on a daily basis. It would surely make life a lot more pleasant.

Yrs aff'ly,

Linda the Librarian

Pic: sunshine through a cloud