Passage:
In the course of a second visit she talked with great openness, and Anne’s astonishment increased. She could scarcely imagine a more cheerless situation in itself than Mrs. Smith’s. She had been very fond of her husband: she had buried him. She had been used to affluence: it was gone. She had no child to connect her with life and happiness again, no relations to assist in the arrangement of perplexed with life and happiness affairs, no health to make all the rest supportable. Her accommodations were limited to a noisy parlour, and a dark bedroom behind, with no possibility of moving from one to the other without assistance, which was only one servant in the house to afford, and she never quitted the house but to be conveyed into the warm bath. Yet, in spite of all of this, Anne had reason to believe that she had moments only of languor and depression to hours of occupation and enjoyment. How could it be? She watched, observed, reflected, and finally determined that this was not a case of fortitude or of resignation only. A submissive spirit might be patient, a strong understanding would supply resolution, but here was something more; here was that elasticity of mind, that disposition to be comforted, that power of turning readily from evil to good, and of finding employment which carried her out of herself, which was from nature alone. It was the choicest gift of Heaven; and Anne viewed her friend as one of those instances in which, by a merciful appointment, it seems designed to counterbalance almost every other want (Austen Ch. 17).
I found this particular paragraph interesting because of how Anne views Mrs. Smith – I believe she is almost an inspiration to Anne’s inner-self, and Mrs. Smith’s hardships and triumphs reflect what Anne has experienced in different ways. Anne appreciates a mind that she can pick through; one with elasticity and depth. That is reflected in her few close relationships, as well as the relationships she chooses not to have. She is not close with either of her sisters or her father. She fell in love with Captain Wentworth eight years prior but looks were never a factor. She shared part of herself with Mr. Elliot, her cousin, and although that didn’t work out romantically, she was able to have long-lasting conversations about books and ideas. Mrs. Smith emulates a woman that keeps on going regardless of losing her husband, even with being crippled and near broke. Anne feels that Mrs. Smith’s bouts of depression may only last moments compared to her outstanding enjoyment of life, but could also be just what she perceives.
It’s also interesting what attributes are related to the word “cheerful.” Austen uses “cheerless situation,” but all the same, having a “cheerless situation” seems to be the lack of children, the lack of working legs, lack of a living husband, lack of friends, lack of money. With this being said, that would probably make me extremely depressed, but due to Mrs. Smith’s “elasticity of mind,” allowed her to be somewhere other than her physical situation. I think that Anne is able to notice how a person pulls themselves out of situations, and she’s also able to notice how one reacts to what life throws a them. I feel that Anne’s observations and astonishment subconsciously opened a door for her to think more of herself, as in the last 50 pages of the novel, she spoke more, spoke up more, was absent when she chose to be, was present when she was asked to be, but also when she truly wanted to be. She slowly gained confidence of the worth of her own mind, despite who she grew up around, the mother she lost, the love she lost for eight years, and all of the twisted relationships in her life that have persuaded her to be anyone other than Anne Elliot. It seems that Mrs. Smith’s person truly baffles Anne, and Anne isn’t a woman who I would consider easily baffled. Her inner-self seems to relate to what Mrs. Smith emulates internally, but it also obvious with how she presents herself eternally, which Anne begins to do toward the end of the novel.
The Breakfast Social 