In chapter 4 continued to watch Isabella interact with Captain Tilney.
"When Catherine saw [Isabella Thorpe] in public, admitting Captain Tilney's attentions as readily as they were offered, and allowing him almost an equal share with James in her notice and smiles, the alteration became too positive to be passed over. ... James was the sufferer. She saw him grave and uneasy; and however careless of his present comfort the woman might be who had given him her heart, to her it was always an object" (Austen 122).
Finally, when Catherine could no longer stand to see her brother upset, she went to Henry Tilney and asked him to speak to his brother on her behalf. She wanted Mr. Tilney to stop lavishing his attentions on Isabella.
Henry Tilney refuses the request, however, insisting that it is as much Isabella's fault as it is the Captains. "No man is offended by another man's admiration of the woman he loves; it is the woman only who can make it a torment" (Austen 124). "You have no doubt of the mutual attachment of your brother and your friend; therefore, that real jealousy never can exist between them; depend upon it that no disagreement between them can be of any duration" (Austen 125).
Catherine admitted he to be wiser, and followed his instruction of disregarding the situation.
No comments:
Post a Comment