Chapter 11-17

This portion had the most riveting and page-turning action I've read in the entire book. I couldn't put the book down it was that good. I'll save my commentary for the end, once we've all had a chance to digest the plot twists.

Chapter 11 starts off with the entire household of young adults adventuring to Lyme to meet C. Wentworth's old Navy buddies. The chapter starts off with Austen stating: "The young people were all wild to see Lyme." I immediately visualized one of those National Geographic documentaries about a pack of predatory animals taking down an ungulate, and anyone who was standing in their way was the proverbial ungulate. So the crew, including Anne, Mary and Charles, Louisa, Henrietta, Charles Hayter, and C. Wentworth take off in a moment of wild abandon to visit Lyme and meet C. Wentworth's friends. The rest of the chapter continues on boring-ly enough until Austen introduces a Captain Benwick character, a widower (well, not exactly -- he had been engaged to this lady when he was called away to the war; while he was away she died, and he's been quiet and strange since) who takes great comfort in speaking with Anne about books and poetry. It seems as though C. Benwick likes Anne very much.

Chapter 12 continues with Anne and Henrietta taking a brief pre-breakfast stroll and happened upon C. Wentworth and Louisa on their pre-breakfast walk. They all decided to turn back for breakfast when Anne literally ran into a gentleman. This guy checked out Anne pretty thoroughly, (I believe Austen used the phrase: "he looked at her with a great degree of earnest admiration") apologized, and continued on his way. Anne then ran in to him again at the Inn she was staying at in Lyme; he was also lodging there, but he left before she had the chance to properly introduce herself. It was then decided, by Mary (that most horrid of creatures, she really makes my skin crawl), that this gentleman was none other than Mr. Elliot, the heir-presumptive of Sir Elliot, and Anne's cousin! The very man who turned down Elizabeth, Anne's sister, so very rudely! Unfortunately, Mr. Elliot took off in his "curricle" before anyone could flag him down. (That's a pretty manly means of travelling, wouldn't you agree?)

The page-turning action occurs in the very same chapter during the young people's last walk along the cliffs of Lyme. Louisa, being a dainty woman, needed help down the stiles that spotted the landscape. C. Wentworth would allow her to jump into his arms to help her down. In what I can only imagine to be a hugely awkward and poorly coordinated maneuver on Louisa's part, she jumped too soon (or C. Wentworth wasn't ready in time, I can't really tell) and she hit her head and feel in to a coma!! You read that right! The little dolt hit her head and suffered a major contusion to her brain. Needless to say, Henrietta and Mary freaked out. Anne was the only person who maintained her senses. She sent for a surgeon and help to carry Louisa back in to the city proper. Louisa turned out to be OK (just a little athletically-slow), and took her sweet time recovering.

Now Anne's time with the Musgrove's at Uppercross is limited. As you may recall, Lady Russell was to come and collect Anne on her way down to Bath, so Anne could reunite with her other miserable family members. So Anne reluctantly leaves the Musgrove's and makes her appearance in Bath, and is promptly inserted into Sir Elliot's, Elizabeth's, and Mrs. Clay's House of Craziness. All the three of them have been doing is figuring out how best to insert themselves into the relatively bustling society of Bath. They have more calling cards than they can count and count themselves among the premier families in the area. Anne (and the reader) has the pleasure of learning all about who Elizabeth, Mrs. Clay, and Sir Elliot have been meeting and what they think of them. And, to add another interesting plot twist, Mr. Elliot, that lowest-of-low and ungrateful heir-presumptives, had the nerve to show his face. But, noting Mr. Elliot a hugely wealthy and newly single (by seven months...the mourning period is almost over), and the added fact that he has taken an interest in coming around and treating Sir Elliot with the "respect" he deserves, Elizabeth and Sir. Elliot see no reason to keep him at an arm's length. That and the fact that he's single. To add to the insanity, some royal family relations, "cousins", the Lady Dalrymple (I always think her name is Dimple) comes to Bath and then Sir Elliot and Elizabeth fall all over themselves again to try to get in with them. Which, inevitably, they do. All of this action takes place over a number of chapters.

Anne, in an effort to escape the travesty that is her family, has decided to meet up with an old school acquaintance, and I found that this side story demonstrates Austen's magnificent writing skills in the best light. The friend has suffered from a great deal of pain and tragedy: the husband, who was rich, died and left her with an astounding amount of debt, and the stress of it all caused her to come down with rheumatic fever, which leaves her partially crippled. Talk about being dealt a bad hand. But Austen described this woman's fortitude with such eloquence that I had to re-write it here for you to enjoy:

"A submissive spirit might be patient, a strong understanding would supply resolution, but here was something more; here was that elasticity of mind, that disposition to be comforted, that power of turning readily from evil to good, and of finding employment which carried her out of herself, which was from Nature alone. It was the choicest gift of Heaven; and Anne viewed her friend as one of those instances in which, by a merciful appointment, it seems designed to counter-balance almost every other want."

Isn't that beautiful? I believe this passage shows Austen at her best, and which makes me consider Anne to be quite an intuitive and emotionally-healthy being, despite the fact that she was raised by a most vapid man. Anne was lucky to have known her mother, but having lost her at a young age (thirteen or fourteen), right when any child is beginning to shape their emotional outlook as an adult, it's a wonder Anne is as well-adjusted as she is. I feel like the only negative part of her life is the fact that she is surrounded by such awful people. If she would only remove herself from their influences then I would grow to respect her for the role-model Austen is trying to paint her to be.

It does seem as though Austen is shaping Anne as a role-model for the young women of the early 19th century. Anne is the Miley Cyrus, the Kristen Stewart, the Taylor Swift of that century. The fact that Miley Cyrus is the role model for the next generation of young women is truly horrifying to me. Where is the hardship in that girl's life that will teach her how to be a woman? (Your life is not hard when Disney is telling you what to do). I think that every child is shaped in a positive (and negative) way by the trials and tribulations that they face growing up; Anne clearly demonstrates that it is possible to deal with a difficult situation and grow into a human being and woman who is capable of confidently coping with problems that arise in your life. I wish Anne Elliot was a role model for the next generation. I admire Anne, and I'm excited to see how the rest of the book turns out.