Author Question: What aspects of Mrs. Peebles and her life does Edie admire or envy? Whatthings about Mrs. Peebles ... (Read 591 times)

tatyanajohnson · **on:** Jul 20, 2018

What aspects of Mrs. Peebles and her life does Edie admire or envy? Whatthings about Mrs. Peebles does she find off-putting?

What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Reread the description of Alice Kelling in paragraph 94. What details doesEdie notice about her, and why are these qualities important to Edie?

What will be an ideal response?

Andromeda18 · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 20, 2018

Answer to Question 1

What Edie chiefly admires and especially envies about Mrs. Peebles is the way she liveswell-dressed, well-fed, not harried by a life of constant chores and the demands of too many children. She also feels that she is tolerably well treated by Mrs. Peebles, but only up to a point; past that point, she senses, rightly or wrongly, that Mrs. Peebles is rather cold toward her, condescending, and perhaps a bit suspicious. In some respects, she herself looks down on Mrs. Peebles for her ignorance of country people and their ways, and especially for her inability to perform many of the most basic of the ordinary chores that, in her world, make up a womans life. Obviously, Edies own defensiveness about how she must look in Mrs. Peebless eyes leads her to take a similarly patronizing attitude in return.

Answer to Question 2

As we all do when meeting someone for the first time, Edie focuses on Alice Kellings physical appearance. Edie, however, has a personal reason for doing so. When he saw her for the first time, Chris Watters had told Edie that she looked so nice and beautiful (par. 44). We can almost hear the glee in Edies descriptions of Alices bust that is rather low and bumpy and her worried face, and her assessment that there is nothing in the least pretty or even young-looking about her. Youth and beauty are obviously of interest to Chris Watters, and Edie is relieved to think that she possesses them in his eyes, while her rival obviously does not. On the other hand, there is a troubled note in Edies observation that you could tell from how she talked she was from the city, or educated, or both. In these areas Alice has the advantage and Edie cannot hope to compete.