Okay....so am I the only one who thinks Capitola and Herbert are going to shag? "Herbert Greyson sprang to assist her' but before he reached the spot Cap had pocked herself up, straightened her disordered dress, and now she ran to meet and shake hands with him. There was such a sparkle of joy and glow of affection in the meeting between these two that Old Hurrican, who saw it, suddenly hushed his laugh and grunted to himself." (p.208). It seems so obvious; he taught her to read and right, she grew up so fast on the streets of New York and when she introduced him to Old Hurrican, she was flurting with him. I like the match, but only if they wait a few years...till she's of age!
Also, I want to address the ridiculous notion that Cap was arrested for wearing boys clothing. I understand the idea that gender roles are inherently important to people of the 19th century...but come on! Were they for real? Did people really get arrested for cross dressing? Now-a-days we call it entertainment...trannie shows are awesome!
"What is the matter here?"
"Nothing, your honor, 'cept a boy tuk up for wearing girl's clother, or a girl tuk up for wearing boy's, I dunno which," said the man touching his hat." (p.179)
Oh, then to top it off, Cap may be the rightfull owner of the estate. Remember when Mrs. Condiment...that crakcks me up...Mrs. Condiment...I mean, what, is she wearing a ketchup colored dress...anyhow--remember when she was telling Cap about the Indians and the man, old Henri Le Noir, who killed them. Sounds like that may be Cap's great-grandfather or something.
And on a more serious not...you know how we learned that fathers in these narratives were ment to be absent and provide the means for mothers to teach the children their ways in the world? Well, somehow I believe the authors of the last three novels have though differently. They give us fathers that are not involved and replace them with other men who take on their roles. In a way, they are telling us that a male role model is important and the absence of fathers is not really ok, just tolerated.
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I really enjoyed reading your blog. You voice very strong oppions and then stand by them.
ReplyDeleteI liked your last paragraph though. It would seem that 19th century really did the stress the need of a male figure. Its kind of strange that the male figure would not just be the father though. Divorce wasnt that high back then so there really was no excuse not to have the father around
Jessica I love how you used the word shag! It made me laugh! I also quite enjoyed your opinion that father figures are more important then the absence of the father. Good stuff!
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