Difficult Words
- Convolvuli – vine-y, trumpet-y flower plants, like morning glories
Audra’s Slang Summary
When Jane wakes up from her mercy-filled blackout, she’s
back in the nursery, and there’s a stranger present. Turns out, this guy is an apothecary. Mrs.
Reed didn't want to call in the doctor she uses for her children and herself…so
she called the dude she employed for all the servants. Fitting. At any rate, this man’s name is Mr.
Lloyd, and he is the first person we meet who treats Jane as if she is a normal
human being (with the exception of Bessie, perhaps. She’s just young, and easily irritated – not verging
on evil, like the others in the household.)
When Bessie is called down to dinner, Jane is left alone
with Mr. Lloyd, and the conversation that ensues is vital to the events which
follow in Jane’s life. Mr. Lloyd asks
Jane what happened to make her ill, and she tells him. She also mentions she hates her life, but
knows she can’t get out of it until she grows up. Mr. Lloyd asks Jane if she has any other
relations, to which Jane replies that Mrs. Reed had once mentioned she might
have some poor relatives on her father’s side (Eyres), but no one seems to know
(or care) anything about them.
When it comes to light that Jane would rather be educated
than live with her poor, although possibly kind, relatives, Mr. Lloyd comes up
with a grand idea: Jane could go to school.
She would be far from Gateshead, Mrs. Reed, and her bully cousins, and
she would have access to an education.
Jane, jumps at this plan – and the kind apothecary makes the
suggestion to Mrs. Reed, who, of course, takes the poison….I mean bait.
One more thing! When
Jane is supposed to be sleeping, she overhears a conversation about her
parents that goes on between Bessie and Abbot.
Her mother – Mr. Reed’s sister – married Jane’s father, who was a poor
preacher-man, against the wishes of her family…which, of course, made them
angry. Jane’s parents, then, were left
on their own – at least, without any help from the Reed side. Who needs ‘em, right? Except money may have helped; the happy
couple had only been married a year when they both caught typhus fever. Sadly, that was that, and Jane was suddenly
an orphan.
Interesting Stuff, Inspired by the Book
Convolvuli
When you type “convolvuli” into google, what comes up first
is this nastyish moth thing. I can find
the beauty in it after the first look, but would have a hard time eating off of
a plate decorated in such…lovley?...creatures.
They’re no butterflies. How can I
tell, you ask? Umm….maybe from the first
reaction, which happened to be revulsion rather than “Aww, what a cute
butterfly!”….That’s generally the time I figure out it is a moth we are dealing
with. Feast your eyes.
(Moth pic came from here.)
No comments:
Post a Comment