I had riches too great to count; could boast Of a high ancestral name, But I also dreamt, which pleased me most, That you loved me still the same.
This emphasizes this disconnect between Maria and the family because she is invited to their gatherings and is basically treated like family but she will always need to work to reach a better financial situation.
the matron
I am now connecting that Maria works in the boarding house and that "the matron" is just "the Madam".
Ginger Mooney
Probably the same Mooney from The Boarding House, I would presume.
but Jack kept shouting at him that if any fellow tried that sort of a game on with his sister he’d bloody well put his teeth down his throat, so he would.
I wonder if passing by Jack and realizing the implications of what would happen if Mr Doran hurt the family impacted his decision.
Things were as she had suspected: she had been frank in her questions and Polly had been frank in her answers.
They seem to have the kind of mother daughter relationship that is not necessarily warm, but very honest.
SHE
First of the stories we have read that is in the third person.
Nearly all the stalls were closed and the greater part of the hall was in darkness.
Incredibly anticlimactic and disappointing, but interestingly placed in the middle of the paragraph. I feel like "revelations" like these are generally written as their own stand alone line to emphasize the sudden mood shift.
convent
To me a convent implies nunhood, which does not bode well for the narrator's crush.
bottle-green eyes
He couldn't find anyone with green eyes before, but now here they are!
It was too late and we were too tired to carry out our project of visiting the Pigeon House. We had to be home before four o’clock lest our adventure should be discovered. Mahony looked regretfully at his catapult and I had to suggest going home by train before he regained any cheerfulness. The sun went in behind some clouds and left us to our jaded thoughts and the crumbs of our provisions.
I think exhaustion and, to a certain extent, sadness after a very fun day is a universal feeling. It amplifies how quickly time can pass when you're having fun and suddenly you're tired and want to go home and wondering if it was even worth it to have the fun day at all (it usually is imo).
Everyone was incredulous when it was reported that he had a vocation for the priesthood.
So far there's a recurring motif of priests and the church, could be an interesting set of words to look at on a dispersion plot to see how often Joyce talks about religion in his stories.
The reading of the card persuaded me that he was dead and I was disturbed to find myself at check.
The narrator was in denial of his friend's death even after it was previously confirmed by Cotter, which is the first stage of grief. I think this shows how close the narrator and his friend were despite the age difference.
H’m, h’m! Well, well!
This way of speaking is special for Mr. Neave compared to other characters in Mansfield's stories. It distinguishes how this character is older than the one's we've generally interacted with so far in her stories.
Sitting at home, twiddling his thumbs, conscious all the while that his life’s work was slipping away, dissolving, disappearing through Harold’s fine fingers, while Harold smiled...
I wonder if Harold is actually as spoiled as Mr. Neave perceives him to be, or if it's the age old story of the younger generation never working as hard as the one before it.
A face, little and pale, lifted to his, and a voice breathed, “Good-bye, my treasure.”
This part confused me a bit, I thought he died? Or maybe he is just thinking about how fast his life is passing that before he knows it his family will be saying goodbye to him.
“long before that you’ll be sitting up there on the stage, looking on, in your nice black velvet. And these pretty arms will have turned into little short fat ones, and you’ll beat time with such a different kind of fan—a black bony one.” The fat man seemed to shudder.
Interesting that the man is saying that she will be sitting up there on the stage when she gets older when he is still dancing after all these years. I might also just have a skewed idea of his age.
Laura passed and gave her the faintest little wink; it made Leila wonder for a moment whether she was quite grown up after all.
Clearly Leila looks up to the older Sheridan sisters and probably feels the need to adjust her own manners to make herself seem older.
“Hold on to me, Leila; you’ll get lost,” said Laura.
Even though they are not siblings, the Sheridans still seem to take care of Leila like she is.
rose
This mention of rose compared with the first mention of his youth contrasts in a way that symbolizes that his youth and the happiness he felt then is coming to an end.
William’s heart leapt—she was alone.
Isabel's friends are clearly not people that WIlliam gets along with, but that must be around often that he's actually surprised that his wife didn't bring them to pick him up from the train station.
William made straight for a first-class smoker
William going for a first class train car goes to show that the issue he has relating to getting gifts is more of a time thing than a money thing.
At that she threw back her coat; she turned and faced me; her lips parted. “Good heavens—why! I—I don’t mind it a bit. I—I like waiting.” And suddenly her cheeks crimsoned, her eyes grew dark—for a moment I thought she was going to cry. “L—let me, please,” she stammered, in a warm, eager voice. “I like it. I love waiting! Really—really I do! I’m always waiting—in all kinds of places...”
We finally see her actually care somewhat once the narrator expresses their feelings towards her, maybe because it feels like more genuine interest than the way her mother tries to pander towards her.
The ancient, withered creature, wearing a green satin dress, a black velvet cloak and a white hat with purple feathers,
This already has more color imagery than The Garden Party.
She wanted to say something to Josephine, something frightfully important, about—about the future and what...
Not knowing the ages of the sisters also plays into the added suspense of the ending, we don't know what point of their lives they are in and how much of a past they had with their father and how much of a future they have without him.
“Yes, I shall send Cyril the watch,” said Josephine.
This time period/memory transition is not differentiated at all, i can't tell if that makes the story smoother or not.
“And of course it isn’t as though it would be going—ticking, I mean,” said Constantia, who was still thinking of the native love of jewellery. “At least,” she added, “it would be very strange if after all that time it was.”
The fact that they want to send their brother a watch that no longer works probably says something about his relationship to the family. It seems like he is a bit distanced considering the sisters don't even know his wife.
“My dear,” said Mrs. Sheridan, holding up her hand, “we did. It nearly ruined the party. Laura insisted we should put it off.”
This has a lot of parallels to today, people not wanting other people dying to get in the way of their fun/normal day.
But still one must go everywhere; one must see everything.
I really like this line. Why must one go everywhere? To learn what it is like outside of your own bubble? To understand how good you have it? Or just for the sake of exploration?
floated
Seeing a lot of "light" words like floated, skimmed, flew, etc.
The fact to which I allude is–the marriage of Miss Rachel and Mr. Franklin Blake.
Besides the commotion of the disappearance of the Moonstone, the bad luck of the diamond didn't really seem to affect Rachel or Franklin (who were both in possession of it at some point). I think this shows a greater meaning that bad luck from the Moonstone is bound to people that wish to possess it for the wrong reasons which is why we see the demise of Godfrey.
“Betteredge!” says Mr. Franklin, with equal solemnity, “I’m convinced at last.”
It's so anticlimactic to me that the final straw that gets Franklin to believe in the word of Robsinon Crusoe is that it predicted the couple would have a child, which is not really that far fetched.
“Let my grave be forgotten. Give me your word of honour that you will allow no monument of any sort–not even the commonest tombstone–to mark the place of my burial. Let me sleep, nameless. Let me rest, unknown.”
It seems like the sign of a truly selfless man that at the end of the day Ezra did not want to be recognized in anyway, he was content with the positive impact he had made in the world and that was it.
It’s only in books that the officers of the detective force are superior to the weakness of making a mistake.”
A good quip considering this officer is literally in a book.
and yet there was something very sad in seeing our best and dearest friend left standing alone on the platform, as the train moved out of the station.
I think there is something to be said about Rachel and Franklin's characters that they both accepted Ezra very kindly despite his off-putting physical appearance. He will always play a big part in their life despite only knowing them both for such a short time.
all (of course) immeasurably superior to anything produced in later times; and all (from my present point of view) possessing the one great merit of enchaining nobody’s interest, and exciting nobody’s brain.
Ezra had just made a point about how afraid of change everyone is, only to mention that these old books are way better than any new ones. He also brings up the idea that non-scientific information is not mentally stimulating.
Am I responsible for putting back the pins?”
Betteredge's sarcasm here strengthens his point that he is willing to help because he is loyal, not because he thinks it's a good idea.
I put the letter away in my pocket-book.
It is a new level disrespect that Franklin has for Rosanna that he won't even read the letter where she bares her soul to him. We as the reader have to take into account that he did not learn the contents of the letter at the same time that he did in this narrative.
I had heard him talk of the late Mrs. Betteredge pretty often–invariably producing her as his one undeniable example of the inbred frailty and perversity of the other sex.
It would be interesting to here what Penelope thinks about her mother, getting a different perspective on this character that seemed to shape Betteredge's perception of an entire gender.
Miss Rachel has her faults–I’ve never denied it,”
I feel like Betteredge spoke extremely highly of Rachel, contradicting his claim here.
It’s my firm belief that they won’t be defeated a third time.”
At a certain point I feel like it is becoming more of a hassle to be involved with the Moonstone than what it's worth.
“Recommended by Mr. Septimus Luker.”
Very suspicious that Mr. Luker was the one who recommended this person (likely one of the three jugglers) when he was supposedly attacked by them.
Mr. Godfrey Ablewhite.
Trying to reconcile the timeline of the story, I think that Mr. Godfrey and Miss Rachel broke their engagement after Miss Verinder died. This makes me think he examined the will after she died, maybe found something he didn't like, and thought that was a good enough reason to end the engagement.
Mr. Godfrey Ablewhite.
Trying to reconcile the timeline of the story, I think that Mr. Godfrey and Miss Rachel broke their engagement after Miss Verinder died. This makes me think he examined the will after she died, maybe found something he didn't like, and thought that was a good enough reason to end the engagement.
Who was the man? I had my suspicions–but it was needless to waste time in idle speculation.
If I had to bet I would say Mr. Blake, which is funny considering she is writing this report for him.
“By later events, Miss Clack, I mean events in which the Indians are concerned,”
Is this an example of a deixis?
Not the slightest pecuniary interest in Lady Verinder’s Will. Oh, how thankful I felt when I heard that!
This sounds like she's trying to rationalize why she isn't included in the will, or maybe she is truly selfless and only wants to live on the bare minimum.
“I hope, Rachel, I take up the cause of all oppressed people rather warmly,” he said.
How is Mr. Luker oppressed in this case? Just by the nature of the situation he is in and the media calling him a liar?
Let me be scrupulously particular.
Miss Clack refers to herself as incredibly detailed and truthful, leading the readers to believe that her narration is reliable, but she is still quite biased and that could impact her telling of the story.
This news–by closing up all prospects of my bringing Limping Lucy and Mr. Franklin together–at once stopped any further progress of mine on the way to discovery
I have a feeling that the letter will come back up again in the second period since we don't learn what it says here.
taking the reins herself
This is well worded because she both figuratively and literally takes the reins.
“I had hoped,” said my lady, very slowly and quietly, “to have recompensed your services, and to have parted with you without Miss Verinder’s name having been openly mentioned between us as it has been mentioned now.
This certainly implies that Miss Julia knows Miss Rachel is somehow involved in the disappearance of the stone and was trying to deny it by not speaking about it.
He had been too fond of his cousin to like to confess this to himself, until the truth had been forced on him, when she drove off to her aunt’s.
I am still confused on Franklin and Rachel's relationship, but my interpretation is that they did both like each other although Franklin never admitted it, which upset Rachel
“Could a boat have taken her off, in such weather as this, from those rocks where her footmarks stop?”
They are jumping to the conclusion that Rosanna is dead, but they don't have any proof and considering this is a mystery novel, I can't help but think there may be some probability that she is still alive.
“Nothing goes right, father; nothing is like what it used to be. I feel as if some dreadful misfortune was hanging over us all.”
The nature of the Moonstone is that it brings misfortune to all those that come in contact with it, so we can see how its presence has impacted the household here.
In plain English, I didn’t at all relish the notion of helping his inquiries, when those inquiries took him (in the capacity of snake in the grass) among my fellow-servants.
Betteredge is very protective of his servants, which I think either blinds him to potential deception by any of them, or helps support the character of the servants who otherwise may not be supported by higher class individuals.
“boudoir”
He often puts boudoir in quotes, I wonder if it has to do with the word being "foreign" and his distaste for foreign things.
“Do your duty by yourself–and don’t allow Mr Franklin Blake to help you!”
This goes against a big assumption that had been made by Betteredge that Blake and Miss Rachel were coupling up.
but mistaken the man must have been; for Rosanna, as you know, had been all the Thursday afternoon ill up-stairs in her room.
It seems pretty suspicious for someone to claim they saw Rosanna when she is fairly distinguishable for it to not actually be her. This adds to Betteredge's unreliability as a narrator, not intentionally, but because he is not willing to accept all possibilities even if they may be the truth.
Every human institution (justice included) will stretch a little, if you only pull it the right way.
This is a good sentence, it touches on topics that are still relevant today, like corruption in justice and other institutions.
June twenty-first, the day of the birthday, was cloudy and unsettled at sunrise, but towards noon it cleared up bravely.
While so many of these lines are directly foreshadowing, I feel like this one is as well, though more indirectly. Something along the lines of the mystery being solved at the end of the story despite being very confusing in the beginning.
Female benevolence and female destitution could do nothing without him
I wonder if it's significant that he chooses to support women's organizations as a man.
three Indian jugglers
There is certainly a connection between the three Indian jugglers and the story of the three Brahmins supposed to guard the Moonstone.
Rosanna Spearman had been a thief, and not being of the sort that get up Companies in the City, and rob from thousands, instead of only robbing from one, the law laid hold of her
I read this as a commentary on the idea that companies legally get away with stealing on a daily basis and when you're rich you can get away with a lot more than you can when you're poor.
to the day when she relieved him of his last breath, and closed his eyes for ever
To me, the wording of this implies that Miss Julia had an active hand in killing her husband and that he didn't just die of natural causes.
The shrine of the four-handed god
I think it's odd that the narrator never mentions the god by name. I think they are referring to Chandra, but there's not that much on the subject besides this book.