h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Charlotte Yonge - Author - A87862080
Author: Bluebottle - U43530

Written because there just aren't enough entries in Peer Review that sink to the bottom of the pile and never attract any attention whatsoever.

Also, I've written over 300 entries now and never before had a legitimate reason to write 'antidisestablishmentarianism'.

<BB<

Brilliant! I think you have succeeded in writing a biography of which Miss Yonge herself might have approved. It's certainly long enough...

One quibble: Your quote from Miss Yonge (we dare not call her 'Charlotte', for we are not Suitable People) reads:

>>I have no hesitation in declaring my full belief in the inferiority of woman, not that she brought it on herself.<<

I am pretty sure she said:

'I have no hesitation in declaring my full belief in the inferiority of woman, NOR that she brought it on herself.'

This is an orthodox view for a High Church Christian of the time - that it was woman's own fault that she was inferior. It was Eve and that fruit, you see...

I am NOT espousing that view. (Besides, it was a fig.) I am just saying what the bishop would have said at high tea.

PS Seriously - I have much more sympathy for Charlotte Yonge now, after reading your excellent story. Poor lady. Elektra thinks her parents should have 'had their parenting licence taken away.' I tended more toward recommending incarceration. Pah.

A very good Entry. I really pity this woman.

'It's certainly long enough'
Cheeky! I'll have you know I described Miss Yonge's death in one sentence, not 37 chapters…
Besides which, didn't you read how Miss Yonge prided herself on her ability in 'rewriting... to be free of useless words and excrescences, which makes a thing lengthy'. If her published work is the 'free of useless words' version, what was the original like

But you are right, by inadvertently pressing the button next to the 'r' I have inadvertently completely changed the meaning of the sentence
'I have no hesitation in declaring my full belief in the inferiority of woman, nor that she brought it on herself.'
To
'I have no hesitation in declaring my full belief in the inferiority of woman, not that she brought it on herself.'
So thanks for spotting that!

You are right, though, with regards her parents. It is hard to reconcile the image of a father who obviously cared enough about his children to never leave their sides when they were ill and suffered a heart attack when his son left to go to war with a man who didn't believe they deserved butter on bread, constantly called Charlotte 'clumsy' for being left-handed and ensured they grew up without friends…

But yes, I definitely pity her and am glad I didn't have a childhood like that. It just goes to show that there's a story behind every statue.

Charlotte Yonge wrote for young women, who now read books like 'Fifty Shades of Grey'. I can't see her work becoming popular again.

<BB<

Let us hope not. Not that 'Fifty Shades' is better - just horrible in a different way.

We all know how much you Charlotte Yonge really. What was it you said about her? Ah yes, 'That author is a menace to the reading public'.

<BB<

I go on record with more damaging observations than a politician, don't I?

I just realised – the statue of the young Charlotte Yonge is unchaperoned! This is against all propriety and etiquette!

<BB<

Yes. You must immediately suggest a chaperon statue. Maybe Jane Austen?

Not an author I was familiar with, but her biography certainly describes a hard life...

When you say Otterbourne House was a reasonable seat, does that mean William went into politics?

I think the sentence about the age gap between Charlotte and Julian would sit better in the paragraph about Julian.

Ah, I read the section about her living in Otterbourne for her whole life as meaning she never even went outside the area, but she did go on holiday.

"Charlotte can paint the accidents of the historical scene" - accidents?

Interesting about the Mothers' Union - we have one in our parish and it certainly is only widows and spinsters over a certain age who attend!

"She had a rather strange conviction that the wishes of a child should be utterly subservient to the wishes of their parents."

It isn't strange given the way she was brought up, though, is it?

"attract a mate" - attract a mate, or attract a husband?

I think the quote about being an instrument is a bit of a jarring thing after the baby popped out - perhaps mention The Church first and then include the quote.

Ooo, that proposal, assuming that the asker is free of flaws but the askee isn't If two people can crush serpents and bring forth excellence together, though, they are well matched indeed

If you want to gloss the word 'accidents' here - in my profession, we call it 'Word Assist' - how about just adding a note that says 'incidental details'?

I swear the public's understanding of English word definitions grows narrower by the year...but one is right to point these things out, as we aim for communication...

As for 'reasonable seat', I don't think it has anything to do with politics. I'll bet the source BB used thought we'd know it meant 'well-appointed estate for the sort of Fine People who live in Fancy Places', or similar. How about paraphrasing that one, since it's not a direct quote? Just say something like, 'had been enlarged into a comfortable estate'?

Or wait...in the US, an 'estate' is a large stately home and grounds. But is that confusing in the UK, where a housing estate can mean what we call 'the projects', ie, a place where poorer folk live?

What DO you call something Jane Austen's characters would swan around on? You know, like Mansfield Park?

When you say Otterbourne House was a reasonable seat, does that mean William went into politics.

I don't think so in the language style of the time I beleive it means a Respectable house as befits a man of his social stature, with aspirations to a life in public life.

You can see why they shortened it to "reasonable seat"

The word 'estate' is interesting indeed. As it happens, the housing estates I've lived on were actually built in the estates of stately homes after the big houses had been demolished...

I see William was a squire, so he did already have money and didn't need a career, so 'seat' makes sense in the sense that it was the seat of his wealth, but it did make me wonder if he obtained power with the land...

Sorry about the 'accidents', but I do tend to have my sub-editor hat on when I'm in Peer Review and question things just in case

Thanks all for the very thorough read-through.

Sorry – this was a seat as in country estate, rather than a political seat. My dictionary has various definitions of 'seat', with the seventh 'a parliamentary or local-government constituency' and the 16th 'a (usually country) abode, a mansion'. So no, I didn't mean he went into politics. Funnily enough, my dictionary doesn't mention 'SEAT', the car manufacturer, whereas if you type 'Seat' into Google, that's all that comes up…

Ah yes, Charlotte did go on a few trips outside Otterbourne, including one trip abroad, but despite this she did live a very isolated life.

I've changed a word to 'husband', mate, moved Julian down a bit.

I still think her conviction that the wishes of a child should be utterly subservient to the wishes of their parents is still strange, as she never outgrew it. She never thought 'that rule applied to me as a child, and I am now an adult so it doesn't apply any more' or 'I am an adult and my own person, so I can decide for myself what rules apply'. Regardless of how you are brought up, surely it is natural to question and disobey your parents sometimes?

I was tempted to include a lot more Yonge quotes, but alas there wasn't space…. But yes, serpent crushing to bring forth excellence should be a fundamental part of wedding ceremonies, taking place after the exchange of rings but before the kissing of the bride

Funnily enough, the last few weeks have seen the statue of Charlotte Yonge in Eastleigh become the focal point of the local Jehovah's Witnesses. (Jehovah's Witnesses are a religious sect that believe that by getting points you can get into heaven and the best way to get points is to convert other people into being Jehovah's Witnesses. They were founded in the 1870s and predicted that the world would end in 1874, 1878, 1914, 1925 and 1975 –the first two failed predictions were during Charlotte's own lifetime). They set up their paraphernalia, including copies of the Watchtower (a magazine full of pictures in the illustrated style often seen in old Ladybird books, usually showing lions and lambs), all over her. I can understand why, as the statue is located right outside the station and is in a prime spot to try and talk to people, but I can't help but feel she wouldn't approve.

I did briefly try writing a song to the tune 'John Brown's Body' (more popularly known in the UK as 'Peter Rabbit has a fly upon his nose' though I prefer the classic 'He jumped from 50,000 feet without a parachute') entitled 'Charlotte Yonge's Body is a-spinning in her grave' but gave up when I couldn't find a better rhyme for 'antidisestablishmentarianism' than 'schism'.

<BB<

Prism?

"I still think her conviction that the wishes of a child should be utterly subservient to the wishes of their parents is still strange, as she never outgrew it. She never thought 'that rule applied to me as a child, and I am now an adult so it doesn't apply any more' or 'I am an adult and my own person, so I can decide for myself what rules apply'. Regardless of how you are brought up, surely it is natural to question and disobey your parents sometimes?"

I read the sentence as saying, "She had a rather strange conviction that the way her parents brought up children was a good way to bring up children" so I don't think it is a strange conviction - I think that the way my parents brought up children was a good way to bring up children. You could say something more like "some people might think it strange that she was convinced that...". Did she know the rule about the cottages was only supposed to apply to her when she was a child?

I struggle along with my brain full of rules that I've picked up from all over the place (mostly not from my parents, though, but from bullies at school and newspapers) - don't do that, don't eat that, if you do x then you have to do y... I am odd, I suppose, but I try to be odd quietly I do some good work at ignoring the rules that don't apply in all cases, especially when I had my partner's help, but it's not easy, so I have much sympathy for Charlotte...

"serpent crushing to bring forth excellence should be a fundamental part of wedding ceremonies, taking place after the exchange of rings but before the kissing of the bride"

Was it this sentence that you read as meaning 'She had a rather strange conviction that the way her parents brought up children was a good way to bring up children'?

'Many of Charlotte's beliefs seem somewhat odd to modern eyes. She had a rather strange conviction that the wishes of a child should be utterly subservient to the wishes of their parents.'

<BB<

Yes

I've tweaked that paragraph a bit now.

<BB<

That is an excellent tweak - I can still understand Charlotte's position, as she may well indeed not have realised the rules had lost their original meaning, but I can now also understand your position of being able to see when rules lose original meaning as circumstances change, thank you.