I'll start by apologizing for the lack of a catchy title.
Now, in class today I heard several people talking about their belief that Sarah's act was only considered wrong (by Mrs. Dunbar and by the reader, if he or she were to make that judgment call) because she prevented Abby from having a heterosexual relationship. This puts the focus on whether or not a person needs to have such a relationship to have a full life, and of course, most of use would say no to such an idea.
But I disagree with this train of thought--I don't think the emphasis should be on Sarah's denial for Abby of a heterosexual lifestyle, but that she didn't let Abby choose for herself. If anything about the situation was "wrong" (and I will make the judgment call that what Sarah did was wrong), it's that she took the decision out of her friend's hands.
I feel I haven't expressed this idea as well as I need to, but I can't think of how to say it better. I'd like to know what everyone else thinks about this.
I agree with you that the bigger problem was that she didn't let Abby choose for herself, but I think that the biggest issue during that time period was that she prevented her from marriage.
ReplyDeleteI also thought more about this issue. I don't know if I agree that Sarah prevented Abby from having a heterosexual relationship, that's kind of a broad spectrum. Rather, I think Sarah is guilty (or feels guilty) for not letting Abby have a relationship with John Marshall. There might have been other opportunities for Abby to have other relationships with a man, but we just don't know about them. Or perhaps Sarah did prevent Abby from any other sort of suitor that might have been interested...hmm...I wish we knew!
ReplyDeleteI also think it is important to realize that Abby was her own person, Sarah or no Sarah. Most people that are honestly in love, despite the time period, will at least raise a fuss or show sadness over a lost love. As far as we know, Abby pretty much let it go. If she was unhappy living with Sarah, she probably could have left at any time.
ReplyDeleteI like this post and the ensuing discussion. Smart stuff.
ReplyDelete