Although Mrs. Yule has lost the help of a servant, "the disaster to the family was distinctly a gain," for Albert "no longer visited her with the fury or contemptuous impatience of former days."
I was surprised at Jasper's assessment of Whelpdale (vis-à-vis Dora) in regards to class - "But what business has he to write at all? It's confounded impertinence, now I come to think of it. I shall give him a hint to remember his position." Apparently no matter how much money Whelpdale makes, Jasper will consider him nouveau riche and unfit for Dora. I was also surprised by Whelpdale's "I'm not a big gun, like you!"
Maud talks "with laughing scorn of the days when she inhabited Grub Street," and is content to shine where the worlds of fashionable literature and fashionable ignorance meet. Apparently she is adding a touch of refinement to her community of dubious wealth.
OK, so Jasper's machiavellian move reflects poorly in light of his most recent conversation with Marian, but his eyes are on his future and his future is at war with his heart. I am nonetheless impressed at his difficulty in lying to Dora. I do wonder if news of his proposal to Miss Rupert will get back to Marian.
We are getting to see the winners and losers now - I know that life isn't fair, but if it were, Marian should be the big winner. Gissing is opining with each reveal.
Jasper is so out of there. “ . . .she slipped her hand softly within his arm; but Jasper did not put the arm into position to support hers, and her hand fell again, dropped suddenly.” By adding Marian’s other responsibilities, Gissing makes Jasper’s decision even easier than if Marian was left with, say, $2k and no sick father. But Jasper would be gone anyway. Sticking with penniless Marian would be the decision in a lovely book (think Trollope’s Dr. Thorne) but NGS has taken a different path.
Yiyun and Mark are far more forgiving than I in terms of recognizing the "humane" in Jasper's "struggle" not to yield fully to "moments of desperate temptation" and/or grappling with the difficulty of lying to his sister. Anyone who sets up a conversation about deceit by proclaiming, "I didn't lie in the ordinary sense" leaves little room for empathy --or respect (to me). Jasper is ultimately a weak man: “I sacrifice my strongest feelings –in one case to a sense of duty, in the other to worldly advantage.” Boo-hoo. World’s smallest violin plays on. Seems to me – Jasper’s mantra is “duty to worldly advantage.” Sacrifice? Bah, humbug (in the spirit of the season)!
I was surprised by Jasper's off-stage ask for Miss Rupert's hand. Jasper's priorities are clear. He is “practical” more than honorable. However, doesn't his asking Miss Rupert also mean he was doing kind things for Biffen and Reardon out of good will rather than in hopes of getting Amy?
For me, one of the funniest lines in today's chapter was Jasper's observation of Whelpdale:
“The reverence that fellow has for me is astonishing,” [Jasper] observed with a laugh. “The queer thing is, it increases the better he knows me.”
Jasper lives more as a realist than "the Realist" Biffen.
Maybe Milvain's redeeming virtue is his commitment to writing, while apparently he has a skillset that would enable him to succeed in a more remunerative profession. He knows he's no genius at writing, has said so repeatedly, and he's realistic that absent subsidy from a spouse his chosen precession will mean a vow of poverty. Yet he remains committed to writing, even though it means he may have to sacrifice love. "Whether I marry Marian or Miss Rupert, I sacrifice my strongest feelings—in the one case to a sense of duty, in the other to worldly advantage.”
Is it any different today? It still takes grit to seek a career just as a writer absent inheritance or a spouse with means.
My advice: Marian needs to dump Jasper to restore her sense of dignity. She also can start looking for another guy since her parents have failed that duty. Biffen? Nora needs to tell Jasper where to go and to get together with Whelpdale. Not too sure about Amy and Jasper though it would be satisfying if she dumped him in advance of his overt pursuit, leaving him 0 for 3.
Jasper: “...there was a woman who is far more to me than Miss Rupert, and all her money—a woman I might perhaps marry. Don’t ask questions I shall not answer them.” I assume he’s referring to Amy. It’s not over yet.
I'm curious about the distinction Yiyun makes today between persons and characters. As far as Milvain goes, this chapter shows him at his absolute worst so far. Without breaking things off honestly with Marian, he has proposed to someone else - while he hints that there is yet another person - clearly Amy - in whom he is even more interested!
Dora's scorn of him is satisfying, if ineffectual. He's got a rationalization for everything.
Even without knowing about Miss Rupert, I don't know how Marian can stand to be in the same room with him or lay eyes on him. But she is not the hysterical hot-headed type, only the long-suffering, self-sacrificing type. With the curly head of a lamb .. hmmm.
But what is the distinction, is it a pertinent one, between characters and people? Are we splitting the difference somehow when we read novels? I wonder how it works?
“It is not merit that succeeds in my line; it is merit plus opportunity. Marrying now, I cut myself off from opportunity, that’s all.’” More words to live by from our man Jasper
so rare in literature to read about how much people make and their hopes to make more. i can only think of American Psycho and talk of inheritances in Tender is the Night. in my own life, my one-person parlor game at parties is trying to guess how much people make.
Although Mrs. Yule has lost the help of a servant, "the disaster to the family was distinctly a gain," for Albert "no longer visited her with the fury or contemptuous impatience of former days."
I was surprised at Jasper's assessment of Whelpdale (vis-à-vis Dora) in regards to class - "But what business has he to write at all? It's confounded impertinence, now I come to think of it. I shall give him a hint to remember his position." Apparently no matter how much money Whelpdale makes, Jasper will consider him nouveau riche and unfit for Dora. I was also surprised by Whelpdale's "I'm not a big gun, like you!"
Maud talks "with laughing scorn of the days when she inhabited Grub Street," and is content to shine where the worlds of fashionable literature and fashionable ignorance meet. Apparently she is adding a touch of refinement to her community of dubious wealth.
OK, so Jasper's machiavellian move reflects poorly in light of his most recent conversation with Marian, but his eyes are on his future and his future is at war with his heart. I am nonetheless impressed at his difficulty in lying to Dora. I do wonder if news of his proposal to Miss Rupert will get back to Marian.
We are getting to see the winners and losers now - I know that life isn't fair, but if it were, Marian should be the big winner. Gissing is opining with each reveal.
Jasper is so out of there. “ . . .she slipped her hand softly within his arm; but Jasper did not put the arm into position to support hers, and her hand fell again, dropped suddenly.” By adding Marian’s other responsibilities, Gissing makes Jasper’s decision even easier than if Marian was left with, say, $2k and no sick father. But Jasper would be gone anyway. Sticking with penniless Marian would be the decision in a lovely book (think Trollope’s Dr. Thorne) but NGS has taken a different path.
Pertaining to our conversation about Chit Chat, the New York Times now estimates the numbers of reading minutes for each on-line article.
Yiyun and Mark are far more forgiving than I in terms of recognizing the "humane" in Jasper's "struggle" not to yield fully to "moments of desperate temptation" and/or grappling with the difficulty of lying to his sister. Anyone who sets up a conversation about deceit by proclaiming, "I didn't lie in the ordinary sense" leaves little room for empathy --or respect (to me). Jasper is ultimately a weak man: “I sacrifice my strongest feelings –in one case to a sense of duty, in the other to worldly advantage.” Boo-hoo. World’s smallest violin plays on. Seems to me – Jasper’s mantra is “duty to worldly advantage.” Sacrifice? Bah, humbug (in the spirit of the season)!
I was surprised by Jasper's off-stage ask for Miss Rupert's hand. Jasper's priorities are clear. He is “practical” more than honorable. However, doesn't his asking Miss Rupert also mean he was doing kind things for Biffen and Reardon out of good will rather than in hopes of getting Amy?
For me, one of the funniest lines in today's chapter was Jasper's observation of Whelpdale:
“The reverence that fellow has for me is astonishing,” [Jasper] observed with a laugh. “The queer thing is, it increases the better he knows me.”
Jasper lives more as a realist than "the Realist" Biffen.
Maybe Milvain's redeeming virtue is his commitment to writing, while apparently he has a skillset that would enable him to succeed in a more remunerative profession. He knows he's no genius at writing, has said so repeatedly, and he's realistic that absent subsidy from a spouse his chosen precession will mean a vow of poverty. Yet he remains committed to writing, even though it means he may have to sacrifice love. "Whether I marry Marian or Miss Rupert, I sacrifice my strongest feelings—in the one case to a sense of duty, in the other to worldly advantage.”
Is it any different today? It still takes grit to seek a career just as a writer absent inheritance or a spouse with means.
My advice: Marian needs to dump Jasper to restore her sense of dignity. She also can start looking for another guy since her parents have failed that duty. Biffen? Nora needs to tell Jasper where to go and to get together with Whelpdale. Not too sure about Amy and Jasper though it would be satisfying if she dumped him in advance of his overt pursuit, leaving him 0 for 3.
Jasper: “...there was a woman who is far more to me than Miss Rupert, and all her money—a woman I might perhaps marry. Don’t ask questions I shall not answer them.” I assume he’s referring to Amy. It’s not over yet.
I'm curious about the distinction Yiyun makes today between persons and characters. As far as Milvain goes, this chapter shows him at his absolute worst so far. Without breaking things off honestly with Marian, he has proposed to someone else - while he hints that there is yet another person - clearly Amy - in whom he is even more interested!
Dora's scorn of him is satisfying, if ineffectual. He's got a rationalization for everything.
Even without knowing about Miss Rupert, I don't know how Marian can stand to be in the same room with him or lay eyes on him. But she is not the hysterical hot-headed type, only the long-suffering, self-sacrificing type. With the curly head of a lamb .. hmmm.
But what is the distinction, is it a pertinent one, between characters and people? Are we splitting the difference somehow when we read novels? I wonder how it works?
“It is not merit that succeeds in my line; it is merit plus opportunity. Marrying now, I cut myself off from opportunity, that’s all.’” More words to live by from our man Jasper
so rare in literature to read about how much people make and their hopes to make more. i can only think of American Psycho and talk of inheritances in Tender is the Night. in my own life, my one-person parlor game at parties is trying to guess how much people make.