Cecilia Flashcards
Isolated/neglected
‘But her father remained in town, and he mother , when she wasn’t nurturing her migraines, seemed distant, even unfriendly’ ch2,pg20
‘No one was holding Cecilia back, no one would care particularly if she left’ 2:21
messy/chaotic
‘her big sister’s room was a stew of unclosed books, unfolded clothes, unmade bed, unemptied ashtrays’ ch1 pg 4
‘she spent some minutes making adjustments in order to achieve a natural chaotic look.’ 3:23 - oxymoronic phrasing juxtaposes Briony’s desire for order
Caring/nurturing
‘This would not be the first time she had rescued Briony from self-destruction’
‘She wanted to comfort her sister, for Cecilia had always loved to cuddle the baby of the family’
‘come back, she used to whisper. It’s only a dream. Come back.’
‘Such stroking and soothing murmurs would have been a release for Cecilia… Addressing Briony’s problems with kind words and caresses would have restored a sense of control.’
ch4,pg44
Semantic field of caregiver - Cecilia adopts a motherly role in Emily’s absence
Marginalised
‘not that they actually awarded degrees to women anyway’
‘He had precise ideas about where and when a woman should be seen smoking: not in the street, or any other public place, not on entering a room, not standing up, and only when offered, never from her own supply - notions as self-evident to him natural justice.’
‘The light hearted ironies she might have deployed among her friends deserted in his presence, and she heard her own voice become thin when she attempted some docile contradiction.’
pg46
asyndetic listing. Her father had traditional views towards women.
Conscious
‘Coudl his first have gone to his head?
‘Had she sounded condescending?’
2:26
Affection for Robbie
‘there was Robbie, who exasperated her with his affection of distance’ 3,22
‘There was something between them, and even she had to acknowledge that a tame remark about the weather sounded perverse.’
Unsettled
‘If one turned one’s back to the front entrance and glanced down the drive… the view was fine enough, giving an impression of timeless, unchanging calm which made her more certain than ever that she must soon be moving on’ 2:19
Symbolic of Cecelia’s desire to leave and for freedom. She dreams of escape. Foreshadows the distance from her family.
‘She was often restless to the point of irritability. She simply liked to feel that she was pevented from leaving, that she was needed.’ 2:21
Maternal Role
Chapter 9:
‘She was expected in the kitchen on behalf of her mother’ (96)
‘She began restoring order.’ (100)
‘She used the faintly sing-song tones of a nursery teacher’ (100)
‘Ultimately the success of the evening would be in Cecilia’s care’ (102)
‘Briony had always required mothering from her older sister’ (103)
Neglected/absent parents
Chapter 9:
‘There would be a phone call from the department to say that Mr. Tallis had to work late and would stay up in town’ (102)
‘Two years ago her father had disappeared into the preparation of mysterious consultation documents for the home Office. Her mother had always lived in an invalid’s shadow land.’ (103)
‘her parents were absent in their different ways’ (103)
Resentment towards her family
‘Cecilia had not spoken to her parents, brother or sister since Novemeber 1935 when Robbie was sentenced.’ (208)
‘When they wrecked your life they wrecked mine. They chose to believe the evidence of a silly, hysterical little girl. In fact they encouraged her by giving her no room to turn back.’
‘I’m beginning to understand that snobbery that lay behind their stupidity. My mother never forgave you your first.’ (209)
Cecilia doesn’t only blame Briony, she blames her entire family. It is ironic that Cecilia claims to recgonise their snoberry but follows with ‘When Hardman decided to cover for Danny…’
When Leon came to the hospital Cecilia ‘retreated inside’, ‘she psuhed past him’ when he showed up outside the nurses’ hostel and ‘wrenched her arm free’ when he took her elbow. (208)
However for Robbie ‘it troubled him to think that she was destroying a part of herself for his sake.’ (209)
Cecilia’s differences on Briony’s visit
“There was a hardness in her tone…” (332)
“ - there was something mask-like and carved about the face, and very still. And hard to read” (332)
“The eyes were dark and enlarged, by fatigue perhaps. Or sorrow.” (332) suggests that time has taken a toll on Cecilia.
“The interrogation continued.” (333)
“It was not easy to look into that beautiful mask.” (337)
‘I won’t ever forgive you.’ (337)
Cecilia and Robbie’s love during Brioby’s visit
We see a tender side to Robbie and Cecilia’s relationship when she is able to soothe Robbie, gently telling him to“come back… Robbie, com back”(p343) just as she had done in her letters, and to Briony when she was a child. The last sight we have of them together is of them walking behind Briony,“hand in hand”(p347).
“Their love. Neither Briony nor the war had destroyed it.” (349)
Cecilia’s death
“Cecilia was killed in September of the same year by the bomb that destroyed Balham underground station.” (p370)
