Persuasions #10, 1988                                                                                                                                            Page 50

 

 

Persuasions Competition 1989

 

A modern author has written “Charlotte [Lucas] is aware that she holds Collins in contempt – indeed, that he is contemptible – and that to marry a man while holding such an opinion of him is wrong in every way … Charlotte’s situation contains an element of quite unambiguous moral decision, … she has to be aware of this element, and she makes the wrong choice.”

The author further states that Jane Austen uses Charlotte’s character to illuminate “the degenerative effects on a human personality of such practical choices as marrying a man she holds in contempt in order to gain financial security ….”  Only “continued deterioration” is in store for Charlotte.  She “has become fixed in her shallow materialism.”

Do you agree?  Please comment.

Open to JASNA members only.  Maximum length 600 words.  Please use a pseudonym on your entry, but identify yourself in a covering letter to the editor; and mail your entry by September 1, 1989, to Gene Koppel, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85715.  [Ed.]

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