Remained a minute or two. Report, on coming out:
These two sentences are repeated many times in this paragraph -- draws out the court-like and serious nature of this investigation
9 Matching Annotations
- Jul 2020
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icla2020.jonreeve.com icla2020.jonreeve.com
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“The falling in love with a gentleman of Mr. Franklin Blake’s manners and appearance doesn’t seem to me to be the maddest part of her conduct by any means.
It's interesting that Sergeant Cuff takes Rosanna's feelings more seriously than Betteredge did. He is surprised that Cuff didn't laugh, maybe revealing that he is more caught up/focused on superficial personal distinctions (appearance/status) than Cuff whose general curious nature seems to be bringing him closer to the truth
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When she did appear, she was flighty and excited, had what they call an hysterical attack, took a dose of sal-volatile by my lady’s order, and was sent back to her bed.
I'm starting to notice that a lot of the narration of women has to do with their outward emotional state, but there aren't really as many detailed narrations about the men. Not really sure if I'm reading too much into it, but moving forward I'll see if this trend continues.
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I laughed it off with poor Penelope, as something too ridiculous to be treated seriously–which it certainly was.
When they suspect Penelope, Betteredge laughs at this idea as if it's a joke, but immediately suspected the three Indian jugglers before. Definitely some amount of bias there
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what do I care, in or out of Parliament, whether you are a Dustman or a Duke
This reminds me of Betteredge saying "I'm the last person to judge someone if they have a darker skin color" in one of the earlier chapters, because this is said but then some of his opinions on people don't really align with it (ie. being suspicious of the three Indian men and calling them heathens).
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Sometimes, again, you see them occupied for hours together in spoiling a pretty flower with pointed instruments, out of a stupid curiosity to know what the flower is made of.
I'm noticing a trend of Betteredge's general relationship to all things unknown and unfamiliar. He refers to the myth of the Diamond in a very cynical way and here he calls his children's experiments and curiosity stupid. I feel like this can be representative of his age and his regular mentioning of how smart/trustworthy he is. Almost as if he knows best and all others know less.
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You have heard of beautiful young ladies falling in love at first sight, and have thought it natural enough. But a housemaid out of a reformatory, with a plain face and a deformed shoulder, falling in love, at first sight, with a gentleman who comes on a visit to her mistress’s house, match me that, in the way of an absurdity, out of any story-book in Christendom, if you can!
It's interesting to see how a woman's appearance and life decisions can mold Betteredge's perspective on them. Technically none of these attributes stop Rosanna's ability to develop feelings for someone. I think it could also be telling of how this society views falling in love in general: to fall in love with someone who has "higher status" is considered very bold.
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The more money he had, the more he wanted; there was a hole in Mr. Franklin’s pocket that nothing would sew up.
I am noticing a common theme of intertwining wealth and greed (stealing the Diamond, Betteridge's marriage experiences) and now comments like these.
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Placed in a position of trust and honour, with a little cottage of my own to live in, with my rounds on the estate to occupy me in the morning, and my accounts in the afternoon, and my pipe and my Robinson Crusoe in the evening–what more could I possibly want to make me happy?
Generally throughout I've gotten the impression that the author is trying to appeal to the audience in terms of trustworthiness and being relatable/likable. Sentences like these don't really add much to the plot, but the details (using the words trust and honour, mentioning guilty pleasures like Robinson Crusoe and his pipe) ultimately shed a positive light on who he is as a person and as a reliable narrator.
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