Reading the Chunksters discussion

This is it!!!

Ok. This has been really bothering me:

Do you think that Rosamund was honestly ready to leave with Ladislaw? If Ladislaw had been the Ladislaw she constructed in her own mind (delusional much) do you think she would have snuck out on Lydgate to run off with Ladislaw, or do you think just knowing someone else out there adored her? I think it must be the former due to the manner that DoDo found them in, with Rosamund being utterly distraught.

Also I absolutely love Eliot for letting us know what happened to all the characters afterwards. We'd bee with them for so long, I would have hated not knowing. After 800 pages I was perfectly content with continuing on reading!

Becky wrote: "Also I absolutely love Eliot for letting us know what happened to all the characters afterwards. We'd bee with them for so long, I would have hated not knowing ..."

I agree. I would have been disappointed if she hadn't shared at least a little, though I was irked that little Rosamund got what she wanted in the end and Lydgate died.

As for Rosamund running off with Ladislaw, no, I don't see it. She held herself up for marriage to a man of high standing and even Lydgate was only good enough because of where his family came from. No, she would never have lowered herself to run off with Ladislaw. She wanted to tell him she would, and she wanted him to show her that he was crazy for her and make a fool of himself for her, just so she could say no in the end and string him along like a puppy dog for the rest of his life because her husband isn't being the proper little puppy she wants, he's not giving in to her every little desire.

I think Rosamund liked the idea of having a man in love with her, much like a Medieval lady with her knight to fight for her, but I don't think she ever had any intentions with him. She just liked his attentions.

I'm still torn about Dorothea and Ladislaw getting together. I still don't approve of how he acted toward her while she was married. It seems like someone who has an undercurrent of lack of respect, and I think it would cause problems later. But I admire her for following her heart instead of just her head for a change. And it seems to work out for her.

And Rosamund finally redeems herself! Although I doubt she would have done so if Dodo hadn't come to see her and shown her level of kindness. I doubt she ever had a decent marriage after that, but at least she provided for the possibility of happiness in marriage for someone else. Finally some honesty from her.

I think Rosamund liked the idea of having a man in love with her, much like a Medieval lady with her knight to fight for her, but I don't think she ever had any intentions with him. She just liked his attentions.

I'm still torn about Dorothea and Ladislaw getting together. I still don't approve of how he acted toward her while she was married. It seems like someone who has an undercurrent of lack of respect, and I think it would cause problems later. But I admire her for following her heart instead of just her head for a change. And it seems to work out for her.

And Rosamund finally redeems herself! Although I doubt she would have done so if Dodo hadn't come to see her and shown her level of kindness. I doubt she ever had a decent marriage after that, but at least she provided for the possibility of happiness in marriage for someone else. Finally some honesty from her.

As for Mary and Fred, it's a little too perfect, but it is a book after all, so I'll let that go :)

I liked that these characters were very different types of women, even as they are part of the same social strata and affected by the same expectations. They still manage to choose their own way, even in the face of some disastrous results, certainly. But each trying to make her way according to her personality and personal wants. The men, too, but I was more focused on the female characters.

How much of that is due to having a female author, and how much is due to an author that's just good at creating varied characters?