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Jocelyn : I'm warning you, if Grigg startsmaking
little remarks, I'm gonna walk out.
Bernadette : You two just
keep it together for one more book.
Jocelyn :I wish he'd just drop out of the group.
Allegra : Austen sets up
this juicy triangle between Elinor, Edward and Lucy Steele. And then at the end,
she practically has towhip
a rabbit out of a hatto
make Lucy Steele run off with Edward's brother?
Grigg : Yeah, thatrequires some hand-waving.
Jocelyn : I think the ending's well-plotted.
Grigg : To me, the part that
seems forced is Marianne ending up with Colonel Brandon. Anyone else feel that?
Bernadette : Oh, I have no
problem with that. He rides up ona
big stallion, sweeps her into his arms. I'm there.
Grigg : From the time
Colonel Brandon meets Marianne, he just lavishes all this attention on her. And
meanwhile, she's throwing herself at Willoughby.
Allegra : Willoughby is a player.
Grigg : Women never go for the nice guy.
Jocelyn : Please. Men say
that, but you get to know some of these men who complain the most, you find out
they're not as nice as they like to think they are.
Sylvia : Okay. You know what
struck me? Is that Colonel Brandon is only a few years younger than Mrs.
Dashwood. Well, why does he take up with the daughter and not the mother?
Bernadette : Yeah, why not Mrs. Dashwood?
Grigg : Maybe Mrs. Dashwoodwon't
give him the time of day.
Allegra : The book is about the young people.
Jocelyn : Yeah, because Jane
Austen thinks that nothing interesting can happen
to a woman over 25.
Prudie : When actually, a
novel about a woman seducing a slightly younger man…just yields so much more.
Jocelyn : Well, then maybe Mrs. Dashwood shouldgo forWilloughby.
Prudie : Why not?
Bernadette : (Laugh)
Prudie : It's a long, hot summer.
Bernadette : Maybe Mrs. Dashwood has more sense than that.
Allegra : Okay, can I just
point out, she's hardly in the story.
Jocelyn : Sex is messy.
Maybe Mrs. Dashwood prefers a more well-ordered life.
Grigg : Maybe that's why she's such a minor character.
Jocelyn : I think if you read Austen's novels...
Grigg : Oh, I have. You wanted me to, and I did.
Jocelyn : I think you'll see
she always writes in favor of order and self-control. Nothing unwise.
Allegra : Nothing in haste.
Grigg : Okay, so, this
is...this is what…this is a rulebook?
Bernadette : We could do
worse.
Grigg : I think Jane Austen
wrote about women falling in love because she was Ionely.
Jocelyn : Oh, you couldn't
be more wrong. Austen lived a very full life. She could've gotten married
anytime.
Bernadette : She almost did.
Jocelyn : That's right. But she decided not to.
Grigg : Why, too messy? Too out of control?
Prudie : His name was Harris
Bigg-Wither, and they were engaged for one night.
Allegra : "Oh, Harris
Bigg-Wither!" (Laugh) I can't believe you know that.
Grigg : I understand why
Colonel Brandon goes for Marianne. And it's not 'cause she's young. It's because
she's, she’s generous with herself. She's willing to risk her heart. No rules,
no fear.
Jocelyn : And Willoughby tramples her.
Grigg : She just picked the wrong guy.
Prudie : No rules, no fear. I like that. |
