The Newlyweds
This week, I would like you to think carefully about the relationship between Helen and Arthur. Is it starting to fall apart, or perhaps these are just problems that all couples face at one time or another? And whose fault do you think it all is? Is Helen being too PIOUS and intolerant of her new husband? Is she trying to push and force him into being somebody he is NOT? Or is Arthur ignoring his new wife's feelings? Is he deliberately winding her up, and gaining pleasure from teasing and joking with her? What, precisely, do YOU think is starting to happen to their still young marriage?
Who's afraid of the big, bad Arthur?
Also, I would be interested to hear your thoughts about Arthur's behaviour with his friends - and, in particular, with Lord Lowborough. What do you think about the way that Arthur treated Lowborough over the years? Should Arthur be showing more REMORSE about it all? Do you think Arthur is as IMMUNE to and safe from the worst consequences of this 'wild life' as he claims to be? Basically, are any of you starting to think that Helen's aunt might have been right when she warned Helen against men like this? Or is Arthur just a passionate, red-blooded male with an equal share, like all of us, of good and bad points?
Helen - and, indeed, her aunt - are quick to judge the likes of Arthur; but then they exist in a fervently religious world where their faith has more power over them than anything else. Does the 21st Century reader respond with similar condemnation to this most complicated of 'heroes'?
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N.B. PLEASE can I start to see some of you post a proper, extended BLOG entry on this site? I've given you guidance and exemplars etc., and I really need to see that you are all TRYING to engage with the discussion as fully as you can. Also, it would be GREAT if you all tried to keep the Book Group part of the WIKI up to date too... :)
2 comments:
I think maybe them 2 rushed into marriage and everything too quickly, Arthur might have made the wrong impression on helen. Also i think Helen should have listened to her aunt, but then if i had someone like that telling me what to do all the time in that way, i dont think i would be that keen on listening or taking things that seriously. I would probably think she is talking a load of rubbish. What do you guys think?
Helen obviously was in love with Arthur, but she expected him to be the great man that every girl dreams of marrying and she expected too much of him.
Maybe she needed to listen to her Aunt, but she was too absorbed by her own feelings to realise the truth about the man that she so much adored...
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