What is this meant to say about?

Question

[She saw him grave and uneasy, and however careless of his present comfort the woman might be who had given him her heart, to hear it always an object.]Please could you make it a  simpler sentence for me?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

This is Austen, around 1800, and the language is so old-fashioned that it is hard to read. You did not copy it correctly, which makes it impossible to read:

"She saw him grave and uneasy; and however careless of his present comfort the woman might be who had given him her heart, to her ?it was always an object."

He seemed to her to be grave and uneasy. She, his sister, was always concerned for his comfort (to her it was always an object), but (however) the other woman, his girlfriend (the woman who had given him her heart), seemed to not care about his comfort (careless of his present comfort).

Clive · Answer

This is from Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen.

Catherine is writing about the behaviour of her friend Isabella. Isabella's love is plighted to James, but Catherine sees that Isabella is also welcoming the attentions of Captain Tilney.

Here is my simpler version of this sentence.

Catherine saw that James was serious and uncomfortable. Catherine wanted James to be happy, and the more Isabella treated James badly, the more Catherine wanted him to be happy.

Clive

Here is the sentence in context.

A few days passed away, and Catherine, though not allowing herself to suspect her friend, could not help watching her closely. The result of her observations was not agreeable. Isabella seemed an altered creature. When she saw her, indeed, surrounded only by their immediate friends in Edgar's Buildings or Pulteney Street, her change of manners was so trifling that, had it gone no farther, it might have passed unnoticed. A something of languid indifference, or of that boasted absence of mind which Catherine had never heard of before, would occasionally come across her; but had nothing worse appeared, that might only have spread a new grace and inspired a warmer interest. But when Catherine saw her in public, admitting Captain Tilney's attentions as readily as they were offered, and allowing him almost an equal share with James in her notice and smiles, the alteration became too positive to be passed over. What could be meant by such unsteady conduct, what her friend could be at, was beyond her comprehension. Isabella could not be aware of the pain she was inflicting; but it was a degree of wilful thoughtlessness which Catherine could not but resent. James was the sufferer. She saw him grave and uneasy; and however careless of his present comfort the woman might be who had given him her heart, to her it was always an object. For poor Captain Tilney too she was greatly concerned. Though his looks did not please her, his name was a passport to her goodwill, and she thought with sincere compassion of his approaching disappointment; for, in spite of what she had believed herself to overhear in the pump-room, his behaviour was so incompatible with a knowledge of Isabella's engagement that she could not, upon reflection, imagine him aware of it. He might be jealous of her brother as a rival, but if more had seemed implied, the fault must have been in her misapprehension. She wished, by a gentle remonstrance, to remind Isabella of her situation, and make her aware of this double unkindness; but for remonstrance, either opportunity or comprehension was always against her.

What is this meant to say about?

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions