Mrs. Kelly seems to be a little loose for a mother who practically shares a room with all of her children. Maybe I am reading out of context, but it seems as if quite a few men have spent the night underneath her blanket. I am trying to decided if she is extremely loose or breathtakingly beautiful. After all, I do not believe that the average widow in those times had three suiters (James Kelly, Harry Powers, and Bill Frost).
Also, it seems like she had them all on some sort of leash, if you will. "Uncle James was not offended and he fetched a chair...so he might sit outside her door and sing to her." She practically sent him to his death but he still wanted to marry her. "I will marry Mrs. Kelly" .
The there was Harry Power who was the bad boy of the group of suitors. He brought her jewels, rum, banknotes or other gifts whenever he came by. He was also Ned Kelly's favorite.Lastly, we have Bill Frost, the "natty Englishmen". To out narrator he seemed to talk a big game, but he never proved himself with action.
So what is to be said of Mrs. Kelly? Is she on the rebound from her husband, or is she just really popular with the men?
I think she's popular with the men because she is prostituting herself. Ned certainly leads the reader to believe this, stating that "[he] didnt understand how she could profit so well from laundry but knew better than to question her directly (47)." Another quote on page 48 also alludes to her possible job as a lady of the night when Ned says that "[he] were told she took laundry and perhaps she did but [he] is sure only did what she must do." It cannot be overlooked that she was also running an illegal bar out of her home; I'm pretty sure that the men who came here were looking for other things besides drinks. Back in those days, I assume that she had no other alternatives for work being a single mother with seven mouths to feed and clothe besides her own. I'm not completely sure, but it seems as if she raised enough money to purchase land in a fairly short amount of time; if this is the case, doing laundry won't make that kind of money that quickly.
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