Reading a Church
A frantic night and morning of getting all our reading finished, and we sat in Religion to finish that "fireside" from the night before. Dr. Seely taught us all how to "read a church", which comprises a knowledge of Christian symbolism and architecture, looking for Blood, Water, and Spirit, and asking "Where is Jesus?" An Anglican parish, like St. Martin's, is characterized by a steeple pointing toward heaven, a font at the entrance to start the spiritual journey with baptism (christening), the nave (pews), the pulpit (for sermons), the lectern (where the Bible is read), and the altar at the top and center (the end of the spiritual journey), which is often separated from the congregation by a Rood Screen, symbolizing the veil in Old Testament times to protect from the wrath of God. Every single cathedral and church we've seen thus far uses these elements to highlight the sacredness of the space and otherwise unremarkable props. I've decided to write my paper on an LDS chapel and will post it here as soon as it is graded.
Mr. Bennet
The next class was considerably lighter. Within our little cluster, we discussed the similarities between Lizzie and Lydia (which just felt like explaining the similarities between reds and yellows). While Liz was more put off by Elizabeth during these explanations, Julie said she found Lydia less irritating and less one-dimensional. These similarities include: cool confidence, the desire for praise (in Lizzie's case, respect), an ability to lead weaker individuals, they both like Wickham, they are proactive and less-inclined to bouts of depression, and both think very highly of their own opinion, which also proves disastrous for each in turn.
I pointed out that they are the favorite of one parent and the least-favorite of the opposite parent, which certainly adds to the woes of Mr. Bennet. Dr. Bird is bent on thinking him a horrible, one-sided person, which makes me sad after all her talk of Austen producing fantastic, believable characters. I love Mr. Bennet and feel for the way he copes with mistakes he's made. He's not happy. I don't blame his ironic comments and non-support of his wife's wishes, propriety or no. Were I in such a situation, it would be easy to sink into self-pity and depression; but Mr. Bennet finds little joys in abusing ridiculous characters like Collins, reading in his study, and in the satisfaction of raising a daughter like Elizabeth, whose friends and mother both are infinitely sillier. I have no doubt that if he had not mistakenly married his wife that he would be happier and more involved in his own life, and I applaud his sense of living through private jokes and snarky comments. Reminds me a bit of my own dad.
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