CRANFORD by Elizabeth Gaskell

[rosemarykaye]

Hello Mkaren,

The mines were awful places - I thought I knew all about them but I did not know about the children's foreheads. Horrible. Another 'use' of young children was as chimney sweeps' apprentices - they were sent up & down the chimneys with brushes to dislodge the soot.

We like to think all this happened in the dim distant past, but of course children are still being abused in other industries in many countries in the developing world.

I forgot to mention the candle economy thing. I love the way that Miss Matty must make sure that both candles burn down equally, even though she only uses one at a time. It is amusing to us to see all these efforts to 'keep up appearances' but - as with the discussion about Goodwill or charity shops - to people who have little, appearances are far more important than to those of us who could have more if we wanted it. I imagine that those who could afford as many candles as they liked would not have worried if one was burned down more than another, just as we see our best charity shop buys as trophies. If, however, we could not afford to shop in 'proper' shops I think we might be far less happy to advertise our bargains. It is about people's self-esteem and pride, and those are important.

Rosemary

[bellamarie]

Rosemary, you are quite right, it is about people's pride and self esteem.  I grew up in a very poor family where hand me downs and second hand shops was a way of life. It was a bit shameful for me to go to school in used clothes sometimes sizes not fitting while seeing my classmates wearing the new stylish trends.  My first paycheck I received, at the age of sixteen, I went straight way to the women's shop that sold the brand name Bobby Brooks clothes and purchased an outfit very trendy and felt like a million bucks!  Of course now that I can afford stylish trendy brands I really don't care about them.  A good fit and comfort is a must. 

[bellamarie]

I just had lunch with a group of my friends from high school, graduated 1970.  There were nine of us and I was the only one who has moved away from the small town we grew up in.  I was amazed at how each of these girls knew so much about other classmates, marriages, children, jobs, and personal private matters.  I laughed telling my husband later how they have no scoop on me because I live away from the small town.  But in reality It did shock me about how much people learn of other's lives.  What would the neighbor's think was a mantra in my home growing up.  I can still hear my mother saying, "Close that window or the whole neighborhood will hear us."  We lived on a country road and owned acres of land with neighbors a bit distance away.  We would always laugh and say, "What neighbors?" 

[nlhome]

Rosemary, I can relate to your feelings about those letters you wrote while in school. When I reread some parts of my letters, I see how shallow and self-important I appeared. However, yes, maybe my grandchildren will be unable to decipher the handwriting, much as I am having great difficulty figuring out some letters from a great aunt that were given to me.

My New Years resolutions this year were to write a letter and mail it every week, and to contact an elected official once a week. (Also to drink a full glass of water every morning before my coffee.) So far I've stuck to it. Like Rosemary, I do send handwritten notes in my cards at Christmas to many people, but last year I tried to do the one letter a week and failed. I hope to do better. I emailed a good friend last week and told her about my resolutions, and this week I received a card and long handwritten note from her. What a treat that was!

The story about the son who left home and all the sadness and missed contacts was touching and well done. It seems to me a similar plot line has been used by contemporary writers of stories set in Regency or Victorian times: the long-lost son or the long-lost heir who left over some terrible action by a parent and all the complications and emotions and hidden stories that added to the plot.

[JoanK]

ROSEMARY" " It seems there are 'copyright trolls' who spend their entire time searching the web for copyright infringements and then reporting them to the owners of the copyright and offering to sue people on their behalf (no doubt for a hefty commission). What is the world coming to?"

that is why I worry when someone posts long excepts here in Seniorlearn and doesn't put it in quotes or list the author and book. It's great to know all the background we can, but please give credit where it's due.

[PatH]

It's a moving story, and also frustrating; you keep thinking it didn't have to be like that.  But something was going to happen. Look at Peter--he was locked into an unsuitable career path, one he wasn't fitted for.  He didn't do particularly well at his studies, and didn't have any calling for the Church, though he was locked into it, with that living waiting for him.  He was a determined practical joker, another measure of his unfitness for the Church, but also surely a rebellion against his circumstances.

Then he steps way over the line.  His impersonation of Deborah with an infant was inexcusable at best, and at worst, if the neighbors had fallen for it, could have ruined Deborah's reputation permanently.

His father's response is the breaking point.  I don't know at what age fathers stopped beating their sons then, but for a young man just entering adulthood to be publicly humiliated in front of the whole village pushed him over the edge.  He couldn't bear facing them any more, he couldn't bear the shackles of the path toward clergyman, and he just bolted.  His emotional last interlude with his mother shows he really cared for her, and his sneaky disappearance shows he was a bit ashamed of the whole thing, but he went, too unthinking to realize they could suspect suicide.

[PatH]

The Navy looks like a much more suitable career for Peter.  He did OK, though not anything special.  Patrick O'Brian fans (guilty) know what to make of his only reaching lieutenant, but that's still respectable.

[JoanK]

he made the best of who he was, which was fine. But his parents wanted something more: at least until they faced the prospect of losing him altogether. Then, they would have been delighted to have him as he was, but it was too late.

[PatH]

There's amusement in this bittersweet section too.  Miss Jenkyns modeled her letters on those of Sam Johnson, and never forgave Captain Brown for his lack of appreciation of that author.  Now we have a chance to sample her letters, and they sound just as bad as you might expect. 

"Her hand was admirably calculated, together with her use of many-syllabled words, to fill up a sheet, and then came the pride and delight of crossing (turning the paper at right angles and writing over what you've already written, to save postage, expensive and charged by weight).....the words gathered size like snow-balls, and towards the end of her letter, Miss Jenkyns used to become quite sesquipedalian."

When she was away on a visit, where there was the threat of invasion, "Miss Jenkyns was evidently very much alarmed; and the first part of her letters was often written in pretty intelligible English..."

[PatH]

The candles, symbols of parsimony, are also emotional barometers, lit or not according to Matty's mood.  When they start to read Miss Jenkyns' letters, Matty actually lights the second candle to do them justice, and when she talks about Peter, she blows them both out, unwilling to be seen in her distress.

[bellamarie]

I noticed Gaskell has left an opening for Peter to possibly return one day:

"And Mr Peter?" asked I.

"Oh, there was some great war in India - I forget what they call it - and we have never heard of Peter since then. I believe he is dead myself; and it sometimes fidgets me that we have never put on mourning for him. And then again, when I sit by myself, and all the house is still, I think I hear his step coming up the street, and my heart begins to flutter and beat; but the sound always goes past - and Peter never comes.

[Mkaren557]

     While I was wallowing in football yesterday, a secret passion of mine, you all were busily discussing. 
     Like everyone else, I was very moved by the story of Peter. 
     Why do you suppose Peter ran away after the flogging?  For that matter, why did his father react so harshly to the hoax?  And the mother torn apart by Peter's disappearance, seems to spend most of her time comforting the father. 
     I love Miss Deborah's comment that due to changed  circumstances after the father died, they moved into a much smaller house, that, in spite of this, "they always live genteely, even if circumstances have compelled us to simplicity.
     But Gaskell ends this chapter and the installment with Miss Matty going to check on Martha and hearing kissing.  A bit of a breath after so intense a family memory.

[Jonathan]

"Poor Peter"

This is the most heartbreaking thing I have ever read. What a wonderful piece of writing. The pathos! One after the other they come into Miss Matty's retelling of events as 'poor' participants.

Poor Mother, who 'looked so lovely in her death', the 'soft, white India shawl' from Peter serving her as a winding sheet.

Poor Father, always looking for a sermon, now becoming one himself.

Poor Deborah, jealous of Peter in the end.

Even poor Mr Holbrook is brought back into the story. He had taught Peter to fish.

And poorer than poor, Miss Matty. " I don't think we ever laughed again after my mother's death.'

Except for the narrator. She puzzles me. She seems uncertain about her identity. Here is an author who makes herself part of the story and then becomes uncertain about her role. Talk of clients. Now, in this chapter, it's "I, a stranger,' and later, as we know, she becomes Mary Smith. How odd. Which one is it that lights a candle for a little cheer?

[bellamarie]

Karen to address your questions, I think Peter ran away due to public humiliation from the flogging and the people seeing him exposed dressed as his sister Deborah pregnant.  Both were enough to never want to be seen in public for a long while.

I felt the father was simply overly appalled at seeing his son's practical jokes taken too far.  It was a horrible embarrassment to the family. 

The mother mourned in silence while she consoled the husband because that is the type of woman she is.  Her tears were shed in private.

Jonathan,

Except for the narrator. She puzzles me. She seems uncertain about her identity. Here is an author who makes herself part of the story and then becomes uncertain about her role. Talk of clients. Now, in this chapter, it's "I, a stranger,' and later, as we know, she becomes Mary Smith. How odd.

I believe when you take on the duo role of observer narrator and also a character in the story you do get a bit confused about where you fit in.  She does seem to appear to place herself in various contradicting roles.  How can she be a stranger yet live in the same house with these ladies?  How can Miss Matty be her client?  These are not slip of the tongues. Gaskell has some reason for choosing these roles for the narrator.  Maybe we will find out more once her identity is revealed in the later chapters.  I have not read ahead so I can't quite understand it just yet.

[Mkaren557]

Good Morning and welcome to a new installment, Chapters 7&8

This may be my favorite installment because the ladies are visiting.  We will get to observe how the ladies relate to each other.  Mrs. Foster gives a tea party after decisions are made about who will be invited and a new arrival in Cranford almost causes a rift among the ladies.  Social class becomes the main issue in these two chapters.

Have a fun day and enjoy reading.  On Saturday we will be moving to an installment with three chapters.

[bellamarie]

Social class indeed! 

“Mrs Fitz-Adam—I suppose”—

“No, madam.  I must draw a line somewhere.  p. 100Mrs Jamieson would not, I think, like to meet Mrs Fitz-Adam.  I have the greatest respect for Mrs Fitz-Adam—but I cannot think her fit society for such ladies as Mrs Jamieson and Miss Matilda Jenkyns.”

They decide to exclude Mrs. Fitz-Adam and then in the next chapter... the ladies are excluded from visiting Lady Glenmire.  (Until they are not.)

It was really a relief to Miss Matty when Mrs Jamieson came on a very unpolite errand.  I notice that apathetic people have more quiet impertinence than others; and Mrs Jamieson came now to insinuate p. 112pretty plainly that she did not particularly wish that the Cranford ladies should call upon her sister-in-law.  I can hardly say how she made this clear; for I grew very indignant and warm, while with slow deliberation she was explaining her wishes to Miss Matty, who, a true lady herself, could hardly understand the feeling which made Mrs Jamieson wish to appear to her noble sister-in-law as if she only visited “county” families.  Miss Matty remained puzzled and perplexed long after I had found out the object of Mrs Jamieson’s visit.

A little while afterwards Miss Pole returned, red and indignant.  “Well! to be sure!  You’ve had Mrs Jamieson here, I find from Martha; and we are not to call on Lady Glenmire.  Yes!  I met Mrs Jamieson, half-way between here and Mrs Forrester’s, and she told me; she took me so by surprise, I had nothing to say.  I wish I had thought of something very sharp and sarcastic; I dare say I shall to-night.  And Lady Glenmire is but the widow of a Scotch baron after all!  I went on to look at p. 113Mrs Forrester’s Peerage, to see who this lady was, that is to be kept under a glass case: widow of a Scotch peer—never sat in the House of Lords—and as poor as Job, I dare say; and she—fifth daughter of some Mr Campbell or other.  You are the daughter of a rector, at any rate, and related to the Arleys; and Sir Peter might have been Viscount Arley, every one says.”

These two chapters had me laughing in stitches, and reminded me of last week when I joined my high school lady friends for lunch.  Our group seems to be growing as the months go by, and now we have others wanting to join us.  As we were sitting at the restaurant mentioning others who have learned of our monthly luncheons asking to join us it became a bit lively and complicated.  Myself and four of the original ladies have agreed to include already five others.  So, as one of the newbies mentioned another lady wanting to join, a couple of the other ladies said if she comes they will not come because they don't care for her.  One of the ladies revealed when she was invited a couple months ago and refused saying she had other plans, she lied because she thought this person was going to come also.  Oh my heavens, I just sat there for the longest time trying to understand who this person was, why they didn't like her and why anyone bothered to suggest she join us.  Now we are in a bit of a pickle and I just don't know where this is going.  I feel like the Cranford ladies, only I have jokingly named our little luncheon group, The Housewives of Monroe County.  Women, we can be such great friends and yes, awful foes from time to time.

[JoanK]

OOOPs, caught unaware. Off to read the new chapter.

But AHA, I did it! I used "sesquipedalian" in conversation! I asked my family if I am sesquipedalian. After being shown the definition, so far they agree unanimously that I am! Oh, well (sigh).

[ANNIE]

i wanted to ask if all of us are reading the same issue of the book?  I downloaded my copy from the Gutenberg site onto my overdrive app. And I am read it on my mini-iPad!  It is a most delightful copy! It has pale beige pages and many pictures. When I want to turn each page, I just tap on the right side of a page and it curls up and over, looking like a real page.

My other comment is about mixing peas with honey. My mother always said "always mix your peas with your mashed potatoes! This makes eating with your knife a cinch!" We thought this a very funny funny quote!😊😊😊

[Mkaren557]

I just love your comparison to today, Bella.  We may base our opinions on something other than whether they have engaged in trade or on whether they are in the Peerage, but I have sat in groups that excluded people.  And in groups of women who turned on someone.  Why do we as women do that?

Joan, I do not think you are alone.  If we need to extend the discussion we will.  Howeve, I don't want you to goal sesquipedaiian on me.

Adoannie,
I agree with you.  The book on Gutenberg is just beautiful.  I am reading a copy I already had.  I am not sure what others are reading.

[JoanK]

I'm reading the amazon copy on my kindle. no pictures unfortunately.

Ha, the wonderful world of social distinctions. As you say, it goes beyond social class. today we have, what was just starting in Victorian times, a large middle class, to which I and my friends belong. but this doesn't stop those who have an apparently endless need to feel that they are "better" than someone. I don't know about England, here it's expressed in endless petty distinctions.

In the condo complex where  live, there is a semi-circular drive running through. Those on one side (far fewer than thee others), are referred to as being "in the inner circle, those in identical units on the other side are in the "outer circle."

It's not just women who make these distinctions. I once talked to a woman on the train who lived in a small town where almost everyone worked for the same company. She said you were expected, if you worked in a certain job, to live in a certain neighborhood, drive a certain kind of car' and socialize only with your neighbors. Whenever her husband was promoted, she was expected to move, stop being friends with those she had known for years who were now "below" her, and make friends with those who had previously been "above." her. She was pretty disgusted!

[PatH]

Snobbishness leads to a logical problem.  If you don't want to socialize with anyone even a little beneath you, and your social scale has a fair number of subdivisions, the only people you would want to socialize with would be people who wouldn't want to socialize with you.  The Cranford ladies see this problem.  Miss Pole: "...if we did not relax a little, and become less exclusive, by-and-by we should have no society at all."

They run into problems with the extremes of their acceptable range, though.  When Mrs. Fitz-Adam squeaks into society, most people accept her, but Mrs. Jamieson, at the top of the range won't do so.  Mrs. J. is sort of stuck; this is the only society available to her, so she solves the problem by simply pretending Mrs. Fitz-Adam doesn't exist.  We aren't told how Mrs. Fitz-Adam feels about this, but nobody leaves the group.

[bellamarie]

So Miss Jamieson excluded the Crandford ladies because she felt they ranked lower than "her ladyship."  I found it quite funny how Lady Glenmire fit right in.  Miss Pole even though she wanted to go after the invite because of wanting to show off her new cap, and curiosity, I found it quite brilliant when she convinced the others to accept the invite by showing her concern for their group.  It gave the ladies a chance to reconsider with dignity, rather, be petty and refuse. 

[Mkaren557]

One of the issues in the woman question for the Victorian Age is what to do with widows and spinsters.  The belief was the women could not take care of themselves.  Women can't live with other women or look to each other for help because they squabble and fight.  What about these women?  What kinds of things are they struggling with?  What kinds of things are they doing well? 

Think about the classes of women?  The ladies except for Mrs. Jamison are gentry.  Mrs. Fitz-Adam, who is one of the newly rich middle class who own property and are trying to be accepted by the gentry and the aristocracy.  Martha is of the working class.  Would anyone like to venture a guess about which of these ladies might have the hardest time on her own.

[JoanK]

Interesting questions:

" What kinds of things are they struggling with?  What kinds of things are they doing well?"  They manage the life they have known well, but are struggling with change. They have worked out a system, based on the life and people they have known for years, and it works perfectly, except that when anything (the railroad) or anyone (Mrs. Jamison) comes along that is new to that world, they are thrown into a tizzy.

I wonder if that's true of me, too?

[JoanK]

"which of these ladies might have the hardest time on her own."

Hmmm, not sure. The middle class woman should be all right, if she manages her money well. The working class woman has a job. But in London and other cities, as people flocked there from the country, there were more people than jobs. The poverty was terrible.

Of course the women gentry couldn't work. They were dependent on having been left or given a stipend, or being taken into a relative's home as a "poor relation." dickens' novels are full of "poor relations. They were "better" than the servants, looked down on b the family ... a poor life.

[rosemarykaye]

Needless to say I just wrote a truly brilliant ( ) post and managed to lose it....

JoanK, that is definitely me! I have a cosy little routine and have to admit I don't like it much when something happens to interrupt it. That being said, I do try to 'embrace change', and one of the things I like about living in the city is that there are all kinds of people around me, of all ages and backgrounds - I do think it's really important to keep our minds open and interested as far as we can.

I suppose the railways were a huge change for the Cranford ladies - I can't really think of an equivalent in modern times. Maybe for us it is the use of computer technology? I do know people - sometimes not even that old - who refuse to use computers, smart phones, etc. I think they are missing out on so much. Like many of us, I struggle with my laptop from time to time, but I have gradually realised that you just have to keep trying, and that eventually you do learn the 'language' - I think the important thing is to lose the fear and just dive in. The Cranford ladies fear the railways - but why? Yes a few people were killed by them in the early days, but not many - surely just as many had been knocked down by carriages or fallen off horses or whatever? Are they afraid of what the railways will bring in - strangers, 'foreigners'?

As to who would manage best alone, I think probably Martha - she would just get on with it. It is these 'poor relation' ladies who would not cope, as they have not been brought up to do anything useful. The lack of education for women was shameful.

I think one of the things ladies like Miss Matty are struggling with is an overdose of nostalgia. They seem to be unable to look forward - they remind me of one of my aunts, who never ceased to harp on about how everything had been 'better in the old days'. As a child I used to find this annoying, and I still find the thought of it annoying now. This aunt used nostalgia to avoid engaging with the real world; she never left home, never had fun. She was always consumed with fear. Nostalgia is poisonous, in my opinion. Even in these dark political days on both sides of the Atlantic, there is much to look forward to. People will still do great things.

MKaren, you also asked about what the ladies do well. I think they are generally very supportive of one another, despite their petty snobberies. When push comes to shove, they are there for each other. This is perhaps an advantage of small town living over city life - in the latter you do not know your neighbours (at least I don't know mine), although maybe that makes you move out of your comfort zone to meet new people?

Rosemary

[ANNIE]

I have finished "Cranford" and went hunting for another Victorian tale and found one immediately. It's  entitled "The Mysterious Death of Miss Jane Austen" and the author is Lindsey Ashford. And I am right back in "Cranford"!  What a nice surprise!  Since we all seem to like Jane Austen's writing and she is the center of this new title, I think you might like to read it also.

I am so interested in all your comments.  They are so well written!

[bellamarie]

I think there is a place for nostalgia, and without it you lose important parts of history.  I wouldn't want nostalgia to hold me back from going forward into the new ways of life, but I am very comfortable in remembering the good ole days.  I am someone who resists change when it comes when I don't expect it.  I like change when I am given the chance to know and prepare for it.  Obviously we don't always get that luxury of knowing and preparing, but mostly I think we do. 

We had a principal at the private school my children attended back in the 80's who was resisting to bring computers into the school.  The PTO had approached her and she was holding firm on her position.  I was good friends with the principal, and after the PTO approached me to talk with her I decided to. Privately I met with her and  told her I think computers would benefit all the students especially those who struggle with audio teaching vs visual.  I pointed out how they would also help the advanced students to move forward in their learning with programs that were ahead of their class curriculum, and how I felt computers could help those students struggling with disabilities.  After talking with her she agreed to begin a computer lab with one condition.... that "I" would be the one to begin it with her.  I knew nothing about computers at this time and jumped in head first and agreed to begin this project with her.  We started out in a very small room with crowded long tables and chairs with only ten computers.  Throughout the fifteen years our computer lab had been moved into a very large classroom, with twenty-five computers top notch, and we ranked one of the most advanced schools in the city where technology was concerned.  She and I are both retired now and keep in touch and we are very proud to call our successful project "our baby."  It went from newborn stage and we grew it into a very advanced computer lab. Never would I have imagined I could do something like this.  I think these women in Cranford have more skills than they are aware of.  If anything has held them back it would be not being allowed to be educated, held in a position expected of them, and their rank in society that does not allow them to do more. 

Rosemary, 

Are they afraid of what the railways will bring in - strangers, 'foreigners'?

Those may very well be some of the fears they have with the railroads.  I also think they fear how it will change their small little town.  I grew up in a small rural town, today when I go back to visit family I see how much it has changed over the years.  With growth comes a lot more issues to deal with such as crime, drugs, and more people who do not value the small town living. 

[Jonathan]

"Are you fond of astronomy?" Lady Glenmire asked.

"Not very," replied Miss Matty, rather confused...and in a private conversation, she had told me she never could believe that the earth was moving constantly, and that she would not believe it if she could, it made her feel so tired and dizzy whenever she thought about it.

On the other hand, Miss Pole compliments Miss Matty on 'the little delicacies of feeling which you possess in so remarkable a degree.' (P138)

Dear Miss Matty. She remembers Peter saying that 'the old ladies in Cranford would believe anything.' And Miss Matty adds: 'There were many old ladies living here then; we are principally ladies now, I know,"but we are not so old as the ladies used to be when I was a girl."

But what really matters in Cranford when our story takes place? In Miss Matty's own words: ''we picked our way home with extra care that night, so refined and delicate were our perceptions after drinking tea with "my lady."

What a splendid party it turned out to be, despite Mrs. Jamieson. She must be seen riding in her sedan-chair. The vulgarity of wealth! And her dog Carlo gets the cream!

Karen, my favorite instalment also.

Congratulations, Bellamarie, on what you did for your school. And Canada's athlete of the year is a sixteen-year-old girl, who brought home a handful of gold medals from the Olympics. Our girls excel at everything.

[Jonathan]

Railways brought another painful social dilemma. Which side of the tracks will I be on? I thought I had the answer to Cranford's serious social inequalities, until I read your commentary on organizing a group activity, Bellamarie. What Cranford should have had, I thought, was not a "Peerage", but a Declaration of Human Rights with its equality, but that turns out theoretical after all, whereas the Peerage is still in print, is it not?

[Jonathan]

I have a small, elderly copy of Cranford. But it has these few, curious words from Mrs. Gaskell facing the title page:

"We all love Miss Matty, and I somehow think we are all of us better when she is near us."

I find myself constantly worrying about her. She has hardly survived the loss of her sister.

[PatH]

"...but we are not so old as the ladies used to be when I was a girl."

Jonathan, you spotted one of my favorite lines from this section.

[Mkaren557]

Good Morning to all of you.  It promises to be cool for Florida the next few days.  I love it when that happens.  The New England woman in me grows bored when the weather remains the same too long.

Tomorrow we may start discussing three chapters if you wish, but keep on referring back to anything still to be discussed in any of the sections we have "finished' because I find that the more we learn as we read on the more sense the past chapters make.  So as we see panic setting in in Cranford, let's see how the ladies confront it.

Adoannie, you bring up an excellent point.  Cranford is much more like what Jane Austen would have written than what Dickens or Elliot wrote.  I read Austen as part of a Victorian prose class and I know she is not Victorian and is very much a Romantic, I think her observations about things like society, human flaws and daily life lead very naturally to and influence the Victorians.

Bella, you are amazing.  My experience is that principals love to have a teacher suggest something to address a problem particularly if they have a solution.  Those of us who do that frequently wind up as part of the solution.  Getting computers into school wasn't easy.  As I have said before, my faculty fought them for years.  Finally it took a "royal decree" that ended "or else" before we tried and most of us bought in.  Two of our staff resigned rather than use a computer.  Ironically, by the time we got to using computers, it was the kids who taught us most of what we know now.  Now, every student in the school has a computer to use at home and in the classroom.

Jonathan and Pat, isn't this the truth "...but we are not so old as the ladies used to be when I was a girl."  I was astounded this summer when my granddaughter Cordelia (Dilly) told me that I look like an old lady.  And here I was thinking that old ladies look so much younger than old ladies did she I was a girl. Hmmm.  Maybe young is the new old.

Jonathan, Miss Matty is, I think, the most fragile of the ladies.  She is very much like the women whose husbands take care of everything and when he dies they are lost.  I really fear for the ladies who have never learned to drive, manage finances, or deal with car salesmen.  Hang on though.  Let's see how she manages.  So far, Mary Smith has been around for her.

Rosemary, is it human nature to fear what is new?  I know the fear of change is fairly strong in most people, but I love change.  A person screamed at me when I said that in a meeting; she told me that is unnatural.  But I know that people will endure terrible things rather than change. 

Thanks for all the comments.

[bellamarie]

Thank you Jonathan for this: "...but we are not so old as the ladies used to be when I was a girl."

How did I miss it?  Karen my grandkids are constantly telling me I don't look like a grandma, I look like a Mom.  I take that as a high compliment coming from a 6,8,11,14,15 and 21 yr. old.  I suppose still dying my hair and having highlights can be a bit deceiving.  But honestly, when doctors and professionals say, "Sixty is the new forty and eighty is the new sixty."  I truly do believe it.  I have relatives and friends who can run circles around me in their eighties and nineties.  Don't get me wrong I keep up with these six grandchildren at a pretty good pace, but I am amazed at how the great-grandparents are keeping up as well.  Miss Matty was pretty observant for her time.

I agree, I do think Miss Matty seems to be a bit fragile with the loss of her sister, and Mary Smith has been there for her.  I wonder how she will manage when she is not there so much.  Usually the weak will get weaker, and the strong will get stronger.... what is her true strengths?  She's never really had to be strong with Deborah and Peter being the center of attention.  Maybe she will surprise us and herself.  I surprise myself often!!   

Karen,  "My experience is that principals love to have a teacher suggest something to address a problem particularly if they have a solution."

I agree although, ironically at the time I was only a concerned parent speaking on behalf of the PTO who she did not seem to want to budge on.  I was teaching CCD classes on Wed. night that is how she and I had become good friends, along with all the volunteer work I did at the school.  I think coming from someone she knew and trusted, who had a very advanced son and a daughter with disabilities in the school may have been what convinced her the need was there.

Jonathan,  "We all love Miss Matty, and I somehow think we are all of us better when she is near us."

Another great line you spotted!  Don't we all have that one special person be it friend or family member that when we are around them make us feel better about ourselves?  I know I have a few and I am so thankful they are in my life.

[nlhome]

My favorite line from my eldest grandchild, now 9, when she was 3, as I was squatting down to help her with her shoe:  "Grandma, you're not so old! You can still bend."   

The older women in my childhood wore house dresses and had crimped gray hair and stuffed hankies up their sweater sleeves. They played cards with us, and they seemed to struggle to get up after bending down to pick the peas. My mother wore slacks, kept a neat house, and played golf , walked a treadmill and could get down on the floor and play with her grandchildren. Now I am a grandmother and I wear jeans and travel by myself and don't think much of housework and can walk and run with my grandchildren. And I loved Miss Mattie's comment. Because when I look in the mirror I don't seem so old, but when I see myself in pictures, oh my....

[PatH]

"Grandma, you're not so old! You can still bend."   

That really made me chuckle.

[PatH]

I can't leave this section without commenting on another bit that made me laugh.  The genteel society of Cranford is wrestling with whether to visit Mrs. Fitz-Adam.  Mrs Forrester's contribution:

"She had always understood that Fitz meant something aristocratic; there was Fitz-Roy--she thought that some of the King's children had Fitz-Roy: and there was Fitz-Clarence now--they were the children of dear good King William the Fourth.  Fitz-Adam!--it was a pretty name; and she thought it very probably meant 'Child of Adam'  No one, who had not some good blood in their veins would dare to be called Fitz."

The footnote in my book points out that Fitz-Roy and Fitz-Clarence were surnames given to the illegitimate children of English kings.  (Fitz means son of, like a number of other name starters, like O' and Ap and Ben.)  William IV had a huge number of illegitimate children, Fitz-Clarences, since he was the Duke of Clarence before becoming king.

So is Mrs. Forrester oblivious to the stigma of illegitimacy, or does she feel that good blood trumps all?  Either way, it's very amusing.

[bellamarie]

If you found it amusing, I would say Gaskell intended it to be.  She drops crumbs of humor like Hansel and Gretel dropped crumbs along their path. 

[PatH]

Bellamarie, Gaskell certainly drops plenty of bread crumbs for me to savor.  Immediately after these comments we learn of Mrs. Forrester's cousin who is so proud of the ff starting his name, ffoulkes, that they despair of his marrying until he finally meets a widow, Mrs. ffaringdon, and marries her for her ff.  Of course it couldn't have been because she was rich and pretty.

[PatH]

But maybe SHE married HIM in order to keep the ff.