Out of all the characters in this book, Isabella Thorpe bugs me the most. Maybe it's just me and my 21st century perspective on female friendships, but she doesn't seem like someone that I would want to be friends with. In a way, I find that she is only being nice to Catherine because she is in love with James. When they first meet (26) the women of the Thorpe family kept talking about how much Catherine favored her brother; Isabella was the one who pulled her aside in order to talk to her. Much in the same way that Catherine wants to talk to Miss Tilney because of her crush on he older brother, I think that Isabella pulled Catherine aside to learn more about James.
The one thing that really bothers me about Isabella is that she seems to want Catherine to realize that she has a relationship for her brother. When that are in the Pump-Room, at the beginning of chapter 10, Isabella is telling Catherine about how much she has in common with her brother. She says that there are so many similarities that "[Catherine] would have told [them] that [they] seemed born for each other, or some nonsense of that kind which would have distressed me beyond conception...(58)." Cathrine denies this claim because she would never in fact think that way or do such a thing. It shows how little she really knows about Catherine, and how self obsesses she can be. There are other instances (too many to list) in which Isabella completely neglects Catherine, her "friend," in favor of spending time with James. I find it ironic that she displays this type of behavior towards Catherine and has the audacity to say that she wants to show men that women are capable of forming honest friendships in which they honestly want and hope for the best for their friends (32-33). In my opinion, she what she says and what she does are two completely different things.
I agree with most of what you are saying; however, I also believe that perhaps Isabella is not only being friends with Catheirne not only because of her attraction to James, but also because she is eager to gain more wealth. On page 108, she and Mrs. Thorpe are lamenting the fact that Mr. Morland does not seem to want to spend more than 400 pounds on James and Isabella per year. They say, "...we are not to suppose but what, if you had had a more suitable fortune, he would have come down with something more, for I am sure he must be a most liberal-minded man." They are basically saying that Mr. Morland is too cheap to give them any more money. Catherine has to then defend her father, saying, "I am very sure that my father has promised to do as much as he can afford." (Not to mention the fact that the Morland's have 10 children whom they must all help out (107).) Of course, the Thorpes try to explain that of course he is, but Catherine still has suspicions that they are basically gold-digging.
ReplyDeleteThis concept is also presented in John Thrope, as in particular he asks about the wealth of Mr. Allen and declares him to be "rich as a Jew" (51). He also alludes to his idea that the Morlands are very rich, but seem to be tight-fisted, especially on page 72, when he tells Clara that James should be able to afford a better gig.
Both Isabella and John therefore seem to be meddling in the Morland family merely for want of more income.