u/OnedayinBodrum

I was re-listening to July 27, 1883. The day Emma tells Pierce about Maxwell & she notes, “And someone on Whereabouts Lane is playing a melancholy tin whistle.” A detail I’ve never given much thought so I looked it up (see below). Fits Maxwell…her sweet childhood memories of him & the haunting melancholy of losing him so tragically. I think that’s why I can’t get enough of these books 📚 there are so many little gems 💎 you discover something new every time! 💔

Childlike Innocence vs. Haunting Melancholy
The high-pitched, piercing sound of the whistle can shift dramatically in tone depending on how it is played.
The Symbolism: On one hand, it represents youth, carefree playing, and pastoral simplicity. On the other hand, a slow Irish air played on a lone whistle creates a deeply haunting, mournful atmosphere.
Literary Effect: Authors use this contrast to highlight grief, isolation, or the loss of innocence. A lone character playing a whistle in a quiet room or an open field usually underscores their personal loneliness

So here’s something which piqued my interest. Alexander Pope’s mock epic poem, The Rape of the Lock, was written about a blonde 👱🏻‍♀️ beauty named, Arabella Fermor, as a favor to a friend of Pope’s who hoped a little humor might mend the rift between the two families after the LOCK incident.

https://sites.udel.edu/britlitwiki/the-rape-of-the-lock/

Thoughts? Theories?

Stumbled across a 3rd Pierce “Dalliance” reference.

To review:

1. Pierce & Emma happen upon the raffle at the Dalliance Bookshop. He buys a book & gives Emma the raffle ticket. 🎟️ She wins, “Latin Phrases for the UNREPENTANT” interesting choice of words.

2. Emma buys a damaged copy of “Vermillion & the Flaming Sword” 🗡️ red being Pierce’s color. She mentions once starting to read it in the Drawing Room but not another word after that.

And now the 3rd!!

3. Emma & Mary are picnicking 🧺 in the park catching up on the Islington guardianship fiasco & Mary warns Emma about how ruining her reputation will make her unemployable. Later on she asks, “What is it like…your DALLIANCE with Mr. Pierce?”

Dalliance here seems like too deliberate choice of a word here to be meaningless.

So…I decided to look at the definition:
dalliance
1
: an action that is not serious —often + with
After a brief dalliance with acting, she pursued a law career.
2
literary : a romantic or sexual relationship that is brief and not serious
He had dalliances [=(more commonly) affairs, (less formally) flings] with several women before he met his wife.

What do you make of all this??? I’d love to hear your thoughts. 💭 Does it mean her relationship with Pierce is brief??? Does it mean her relationship with Pierce is interrupted by a “Dalliance”.

🤔

I looked up the meaning of all the Alchemy men’s names before but I’ve never bothered to look up dear Roland’s until this listen through.

If you haven’t either I think you’ll enjoy this as well.

Who does our dear Knight end up fighting for? Is he successful or is the “draw” simply his & Emma’s repartee?

Thoughts friends???? 🤔 You always enlighten me & give me so much to consider!

Roland is a traditionally masculine name of Old Germanic origin, formed by the elements hrod ("fame" or "glory") and land ("land" or "territory"). The name translates literally to "famous land" or "glory of the homeland."

Origins and History
The name is deeply tied to the legend of Roland, the greatest of Charlemagne's paladins and a legendary Frankish military leader. His heroic deeds fighting for Christians against the Saracens were immortalized in the 11th-century French epic poem La Chanson de Roland (The Song of Roland). [1, 2, 3, 4]

"A Roland for an Oliver"
Because of the epic, the name gave rise to the classic English idiom "a Roland for an Oliver." The phrase refers to Charlemagne's two greatest knights, Roland and Oliver, who engaged in an epic five-day combat where neither could defeat the other. Today, the idiom means giving tit-for-tat, offering an equal exchange, or delivering a retort that perfectly matches an insult or blow. [1, 2]

Hey Beth - in case you’re lurking around or masquerading as one of the brilliant women on here…Volume 8 ends on June 30th, soooo July 1st would be an excellent day to make the announcement of Volume 9’s publication date!!!

🙏🏻 A girl can dream!!!

After the episode at Nettle…Islington asks Emma two questions.

1. “Has Pierce ever been that angry before, in your presence?”
2. “How much does he drink when he is with you at Lapis Lazuli?”

When Emma asks if he is angry, he replies, “I am worried.” I suspect these “worries” are at the root of whatever happened to Becca and/or Hannah and not just his concern for Emma.

I also am thinking back to the “corridor” incident when he adamantly denies he was drunk. He says it repeatedly which makes me think it’s very important to him.

Any thoughts? 💭 Am I just grasping at straws because I’m chomping at the bit waiting for Volume 9? What do you make of his conversation with Emma?

We know from the scene at the Drunken Duck 🦆 that Islington was there to give his cousin and heir “a discreet and stern warning before another ruinous night at the club.” Islington calls him “the stupidest young man in the empire” but WHO is he???? Anyone we’ve already met?

Beth doesn’t seem to be one to drop a thread like that and not tug on it later on. If Mariana has a son, he would become the heir correct? Until Islington has a son of his own of course, but I think we’re a ways away from that blessed day.

Thoughts? 💭 Theories? 🤔 WILD AND RAMPANT SPECULATION? 🤪

So initially I thought Jack was a “second son” to the late Lord Spencer…which would make him Damian & Arabella’s half brother and Emma’s cousin.

But after reading 📖 Jane Eyre I have another idea. Rochester was a second son and his older brother was Rowland…different spelling but same pronunciation. Perhaps Jack is Roland’s half brother. 🤔

I still think being Lord Spencer’s son is a better plot device but at only book 8 of 20 something it has time to develop…after all we know very little about Roland’s family.

Beth Brower has indicated she is leaving Easter Eggs throughout the Emma series but so many of the literary references seem contradictory…I’m left wondering 🤔 which references are Easter Eggs and which are Red Herrings.

The Tempest references alone are driving me crazy!!
She refers to LLH as the island…and Pierce as one of the sailors washed ashore. First she calls Cousin Archibald Prospero and then settles on Caliban. So if Archibald is Caliban does that make her Miranda or possibly Prospero? Hawkes is linked to both Ariel and Prospero. Is there a Tempest tie to Islington? Well…he is a Duke like Prospero but no direct connection I can recall. I’m convinced The Tempest means something because it’s the first play she starts to read after getting her father’s Shakespeare back…but I’m not sure what. ARGHHHH!!! 🤪😖🤯

What about you? What literary references do you think really mean something and which are just there to muddy the waters?

Something Emma said about the Fletcher Sisters stuck with me. She says some are married some are not, some have children and some do not but they all are scholars…or something to that effect. I think this is a clue to Emma’s story arc. I think she’s admitted to one of the women’s programs (likely with the Fletcher family helping facilitate that) begins her studies….eventually marrying “choosing well” as her father wishes and then continuing her studies before having children and not bending to the societal norms to start popping them out like Queen Victoria has or as Charles Goddard 🦒wishes!!!

Best guesses…what event causes Emma to go to The Cleopatra and order “The Lion”, the drink named after her Dad? Gibbs tells her to come back & order it when she thinks her world is falling apart.