I started the job of cleaning up my study this weekend. It was supposed to be a small job but I soon discovered that filing every last journal article, progress note and exercise program in a few large piles is not the best way to go. I therefore began sorting ... see below ... and made more of a mess than it was before . Once started, I couldn't really stop.
To keep me motivated, I moved the TV and DVD player into the study and watched back to back episodes of North and South while I sorted. Needless to say, N&S finished but my sorting and filing has not!It's been a while since I watched N&S and I found that a brief absence from viewing heightened my enjoyment of it. I think the role of John Thornton would have to be one of RA's best. After watching this an umpteenth time, I still have a few questions I've always wanted to discuss with other people. These are the same questions I had when I watched it for the first time ....
Even though I found the ending very satisfying, I keep wondering:
1. When did Margaret actually realise she was faling in love with John Thornton?
2. What would Mrs Thornton's reaction to Margaret returning on John's arm have been?
3. How would the reunion between Margaret, Nicholas and Mary have gone once she had returned to Milton with John?
4. Would Aunt Shaw and the rest of Margaret's family have maintained contact with Margaret once she expressed her intention of staying in Milton with John? Would they have considered a marriage between John and Margaret "beneath her"?
5. Would Dixon have returned to serve Margaret in the Thornton's household?
I would have like to have seen the mill back working at the end .....
I think the most pressing questions for me however are when did Margaret fall in love, and whether Mrs Thornton would accept a union between John and Margaret. Your thoughts?
.... and yes, I find the white shirt and waistcoat a very attractive look ....