“’Marry you? Me?’ she burst out with a scornful laugh. ‘Was that what you came to ask me the other night? What’s come over you, I wonder? How long is it since you’ve looked at yourself in the glass?’”
“’I guess you’re good, too,’ she said, shyly and quickly. He smiled without answering, and they went out of the room together and dropped down to the hall in the glittering lift.”
I chose these two passages because I wanted to discuss the relationship between Mr. Royall and Charity. I was a little too sleepy to comment much in class today, but after class I thought of a few things I still was not that sure of. First, I personally felt slightly sorry for this man, while at the same time I did not trust him. He seemed to really love this girl, so in a way he plays the underdog in the story—she talks cruel to him when he proposes but finally settles for him (though out of necessity not love). I didn’t trust him in the fact that he seems to have a drinking habit and a taste for other women. Also, he was her guardian. I know she wasn’t his real daughter, but hadn’t he always been her father figure growing up? This seems very Woody Allen and his adopted daughter/wife to me. Wouldn’t it be scandalous for this girl to marry the man that raised her, especially if it turns out she is pregnant? Would that have still been better than for her to have just been a single mother? I guess the financial stability plays a role there, but wouldn’t people still think it odd?
2 Comments:
I think that it would be very odd if they did indeed get married. How creppy is that, that is like marrying your stepfather. You are very right...it is SO Woody Allen of Lawyer Royall. I also didn't trust him. I think that he has alternative motives with Charity. I think that he seems like a prominent enough figure to get a decent woman (maybe even one closer to his age). Again though, at times I did feel sorry for him. If her truly loves Charity, how awful for him to have to watch her love someone else.
Jim, I agree with your passage and have struggled with the idea of Charity marrying Mr. Royall. It's very odd to me too. Legally or not he is still her father figure and its really weird to me. That is probably an immature way of saying it but its how I feel. I do feel that Charity was faced with cultural constraints of having an abortion or marrying Royall and she decided on what seemed best to her at the time and place in her life. Yes its odd to me to but it does not seem that her relationship will develop into a love relationship with Royall because of their marriage. Instead I feel it was a "fix" to her problem and overall its just sad to me that she felt she was left with trying to please everyone and society.
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