Yes, I think you understood me. :D Edith simply wants to be the girl who makes him happy. Edith would devote her whole life to his happiness at the expense of her own. Edith would adopt all his hopes and dreams as her hopes and dreams and just be grateful to be married.
But like Lavinia, Edith is always going to be second best in her beloved's heart. First place was given away long ago, and (perhaps unlike Lavinia) Edith is content to be second place. Unlike Edith, though -- Violet is the one who keeps telling her, "(You) do have some self-worth."
And yes, Anthony leaving Edith was much like Matthew sending Lavinia away -- right down to the phrasing of "stealing away the life you ought to have." Neither Anthony nor Matthew want the pressure of someone living just for them.
Anthony, however, lacks Matthew's guilt complex and moral code. Matthew, as we've seen, thinks sacrifice should be rewarded and sin punished. The moment Lavinia sacrificed for him, he was marrying her, come hell or high water (or y'know, death). But I'd hopefully like to think if he'd never been injured, he might've come to a similar conclusion as Anthony: that all Lavinias deserve more than just being second best. :(
But like Lavinia, Edith is always going to be second best in her beloved's heart. First place was given away long ago, and (perhaps unlike Lavinia) Edith is content to be second place. Unlike Edith, though -- Violet is the one who keeps telling her, "(You) do have some self-worth."
And yes, Anthony leaving Edith was much like Matthew sending Lavinia away -- right down to the phrasing of "stealing away the life you ought to have." Neither Anthony nor Matthew want the pressure of someone living just for them.
Anthony, however, lacks Matthew's guilt complex and moral code. Matthew, as we've seen, thinks sacrifice should be rewarded and sin punished. The moment Lavinia sacrificed for him, he was marrying her, come hell or high water (or y'know, death). But I'd hopefully like to think if he'd never been injured, he might've come to a similar conclusion as Anthony: that all Lavinias deserve more than just being second best. :(
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