In my
post, above, I demonstrated the 3 thematically interrelated layers of meaning
carried by that simple color code, in terms of sailors' faces, admirals and
conch shells, respectively, in Sir
Walter Elliot’s witty wordplay
about Admiral Croft’s “orange” face. There is no stretching or twisting for obscure
meaning, everything flows naturally and organically from the actual words
spoken by Sir Walter Elliot, in the actual context of his explicitly expressed
concerns about Admiral Croft as a "raider of the lost park", i.e.,
Kellynch Hall. I.e., the thematic relevance of Sir Walter's subtle wit is
obvious.
Now I
have one more important textual corroboration to add.. I recalled this morning that
Sir Walter had actually indulged in one
_other_ bit of color-coded wordplay later in the novel, which is, as you
will immediately note, clearly an extension of his earlier color-coded wit
about Admiral Croft:
"How
is Mary looking?" said Sir Walter, in the height of his good humour.
"The
last time I saw her she had a RED NOSE, but I hope that may not happen every
day."
"Oh!
no, that must have been quite accidental. In general she has been in very good
health and very good looks since Michaelmas."
"If
I thought it would not tempt her to go out in sharp winds, and grow coarse, I
would send her a new hat and pelisse."
Note
first the narrator’s “in the height of his good humour”, which shows that Sir
Walter is perfectly well aware that he is revisiting his wit about Admiral
Croft, in exactly the same way, i.e., it’s clear that he is thinking back to his initial anticipation of
Admiral Croft’s orange face.
So
what does Mary’s red nose mean here? Mary likes to think of herself as having a
higher rank in the Elliot family hierarchy than she actually occupies---so I
perceive irony in Sir Walter attributing a red nose to her, because the “Red
Admiral” was the very highest ranking Admiral, whereas Mary’s true ranking, on
the ground, was at the other end of the totem pole! So it’s clear that Sir
Walter is using the color code to pure perfection in this instance. Bravo, Sir
Walter!
I
keep emphasizing Sir Walter’s wit in order to illustrate the significance of my
decoding of his color-coded wit—JA is going out of her way, repeatedly, to give
the knowing reader a veiled portrait of a Sir Walter
who is much much smarter than the narrator‘s comments about him suggest—and
that’s a big deal.
Yesterday,
Anielka Briggs made the argument in Austen L that Sir Walter’s reference to
Admiral Croft’s orange face was also a veiled
allusion to the broken engagement between Princess Charlotte, daughter
of the Prince Regent, and her high-born
suitor , William of ORANGE.
I
responded today to Anielka as follows:
Anielka,
that you were able to tie the wordplay on "orange" to that passage,
as tweaked by you, was important, and so I certainly do give you credit for that,
except...I disagree with your referring to your interpretation as "the
real" one. Obviously, from what I’ve written, above, in the first part of
this post, I consider Sir Walter’s wit about admirals to be very “real”, in
terms of Jane Austen’s authorial intentions.
So
let me frame things this way--- I see the gestalt of my find plus yours as the
thousandth example of Jane Austen, with Mrs. Norris-like economizing, using one
bit of wordplay, ORANGE, to convey two completely independent layers of meaning
(Admiral Croft as raider, the breaking off of an engagement in Persuasion).
I.e.,
I'm right, you're right, and JA was an amazing genius.
Cheers,
ARNIE
@JaneAustenCode
on Twitter
P.S.:
And I also like your pickup about the "Red Admiral" butterflies, too,
that certainly dovetails with my claims about the color coded "Admiral"
conch shells, and I find it intriguing in other ways as well, especially
when we again consider that the “Red Admiral” is at the top of the heap of naval admirals.
P.P.S.:
I note in passing that there was a Regency Era category of pear trees which
went by the name of “Red Admiral”---and given JA’s known interest in various
sorts of fruit trees, and her giving them thematic significance, I would not at
all be surprised to find out that she included some subtext about these pear
trees as well!
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