Did you find Evelyn’s mother, Cecelia, a frustrating character, or were her actions in keeping with the period and her situation?
I thought Cecilia was both a product of her times and a mother trying to protect her daughter from potentially devastating news. In the end, her withholding of information didn’t make things any easier for Evelyn.
Yes- frustrating! So image-conscious! A pushover, where husband is concerned.
I agree Becky. I disliked that Evelyn had to lie about finding a job, especially a job that she discovered she liked. Also people she liked rather than the other crowd that were talking badly about her family. Her mother Cecilia so much wanted to maintain her standing in high society. Also she did not want to believe the truth about her husband.
1 Like
I agree Rosemary, Cecilia came from nothing, and was trying to keep her status. I believe she was driven to be part of high society whatever it took to do so, she was willing to comprise. She truly was a pushover for Lady Violet and her husband and would not even consider the thoughts of her aunt.
1 Like
I found Cecelia pretty frustrating, myself. I understand that she had to work hard to obtain what she wanted and perhaps as a result was in denial about their situation. But coming from such a hardscrabble background I would have expected her to be less naive and more resilient.
Well, women would have been suffocated by the scruples of “polite society” in any situation, so I suppose following the rules led Cecilia to act the way she did. She lived a rags to riches life and was loath to lose her status. She reminds me of Mrs. Featherington from Bridgerton…loss of wealth and social status won’t keep her from getting her daughters married “well”. In a way, Evelyn reminds me of Penelope Featherington…secretly pushing the boundaries of social norms.
1 Like
I found Cecelia very frustrating. I felt she was very dramatic in dealing with what happened. I felt she could have at least been honest with her daughter.
Yes Cecelia was very frustrating but I think that she was a typical female in this time period.
Yes Kim, good point about her upbringing should have produced a more resilient, less naive woman. She was so worried about her social status that she was blinded to how she could help her daughter, and for that matter, herself. I wanted to yell at her to “stand up for yourself, and get a backbone.”
I found Cecilia very frustrating. She was so into status and not seeing what her husband really was.
Cecelia was very frustrating. I think with her background, she could have been more sensitive to Evelyn. It was sad that Evelyn needed to lie to her mother in an effort to protect her.
I agree…. She is frustrating but also a product of the time period.
As others in the group have said, she was a product of the times but she was also trying to uplift her social status since she knew what it was like to be a poor and have no opportunities. I think she was hoping to insure a better life for her daughter which she deserves credit for but poor Evelyn found her methods very frustrating.
I think a little bit of both. Women in her day were meek, mellow, mild and had their place in life - a place I would have totally abhorred. They expected to be taken care of, by a man, and at the most were the keepers of the house staff! Was she frustrating - OH YES! But that was also the climate of women at the time. Their rights were few - even for the wealthy. Compared to today they lived a very ‘shallow’ existence.
She was very frustrating. If we would have had a little more of her backstory I may have been a little more forgiving. She was not very motherly.
Although a product of the period, I was hopeful that she would be more sympathetic toward her daughter. It seemed that Cecelia was incapable of learning from her situation. I was surprised that someone who came from very little wasn’t able to see life more clearly. Surely a mother could be more supportive of her daughter?
I thought that Cecelia was trying to make a good marriage for her daughter without listening to her. Evelyn had spent a lot of her life attuned to her mother’s feelings, and she tried to make her mother happy and consider her feelings. In the end when her mother realized that she would not remain a person with a title, her mother did what was best for Evelyn and supported her.
I found Cecilia to be frustrating and hypocritical, but given the time period, her actions were in line with what you would expect.