Ouch. That was a burn.

We have been talking about spinsters in class and some characteristics that we consider them to have. While reading Cranford we kept mentioning that these women did not need to marry a man in order to be able to perform in life. We believed that they were fine just the way that they were. I doubt any of them considered something different because they did not really talk amongst themselves about having a man in their life.

On page 155, Peter came back home and was talking with his sister, Miss Matty, and said "Do you know, little Matty, I could have sworn you were on the high road to matrimony when I left England that last time! If anybody had told me you would have lived and died and old maid then, I should have laughed in their faces." I find this quote interesting because he Peter seems to almost be rubbing the fact that the term 'maid' is something that is not appealing. I would assume that this would hurt Miss Matty because it is her brother who is making fun of her lifestyle and kept going on about Mr. Holbrook. Peter does not know the whole story because he left, so he does not know how the relationship ended and him continuing to talk about it is hurting his sister. Maybe he was just remembering the way that his sister and this man were and was astonished to find out that his sister did not marry because he thought they were perfect.