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Question: To Kill a Mockingbird: Aunt Alexandra "Enamoured" - HUH!?
Right at the end of Chapter 12 of the book, the kids come back to find Aunt Alexandra installed waiting for them!. She is described as 'Enamoured', which means 'in love', specifically sexual love, an astonishingly inappropriate term for her!.
At first I thought it might be a misprint in my Arrow ed, but it's there in the Pan books version too!.
The options I can think of are:
1!. Lee meant the word and understood it!. Alexandra has an incestuous passion for Atticus!. There is no other evidence for this and it is totally against the character of the book!.
2!. Lee meant the word but did not understand it!. She is referring to Aunt A's devotion to the Finch family name!. But it is surprising Lee used words so clumsily!.
3!. Lee didn't mean this word!. She wrote some other word which has been corrupted in transmission!. Could it be 'enarmoured', referring to alexandra's formidable corsetry!? The word doesn't exist in my dictionary, but it's a fairly easy coinage!. Of course, in American spelling it would be 'enarmored', but that would give it the same number of letters as 'enamoured'!. Did Lee dictate any of the book!? In Southern pronunciation they would be about the same - enAHmuhd!.
What do you think!? I don't exclude an explanation 4 of course!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
forgive me but it make no senseWww@QuestionHome@Com
enamored
One entry found!.
Main Entry:
en·am·or Listen to the pronunciation of enamor
Pronunciation:
\i-?na-m?r\
Function:
transitive verb
Inflected Form(s):
en·am·ored; en·am·or·ing Listen to the pronunciation of enamoring \-m?-ri?, -?nam-ri?\
Etymology:
Middle English enamouren, from Anglo-French enamourer, from en- + amour love — more at amour
Date:
14th century
1 : to inflame with love —usually used in the passive with of
2 : to cause to feel a strong or excessive interest or fascination —usually used in the passive with of or with<baseball fans enamored of statistics>
I don't find the use of the word clumsy at all!. It fits with the definition of the word and is used correctly!. Www@QuestionHome@Com
Enamoured can also mean 'charmed' or 'captivated' I think this was the meaning Harper Lee intendedWww@QuestionHome@Com
0_0 what ARE you TALKING about!.!.!. i don't remember this being in the book!.!.!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Yes, it does look strange!. 'Enamoured' fits neither the context nor the character!.
Explanations:
1!. LOL though it would put a bit of spice into this relentlessly feelgood book!.
2!. You have answered this for yourself!.
3!. Interesting!. You are saying it is a 'mumpsimus' - a textual error consecrated by time!. Well, why not!? Just look at the texts of Shakespeare!. I found a word missed out in Lord of the Flies Faber Educational Edition, though I was able to confirm it by looking at another edition - though it had been missing in the Educational Edition since at least 1973, and no one noticed a thing!.!.
4!. Could it be ironic!? But I doubt it!. The kid's eye view of the book excludes most irony!.
Www@QuestionHome@Com
"enamoured" doesn't mean specifically sexual love, but people always say they're "in love with" things to give an impression of being sort of emotionally carried away with their affection for something!. Many dictionaries have "fond of or impressed with" as a definition!.
p!.s!. Southerners say their Rs!. We say them very strongly!. How it ever got to be a cliche that we don't is beyond me!. Maybe it used to be a hoity toity thing to try to sound British, but I don't know anybody who speaks that way!.Www@QuestionHome@Com