[HPforGrownups] Austen and Why tiny, tiny Parallels DO Exist for R/H and/or H/G (was a large number of varied things)

[heiditandy]

No: HPFGUIDX 52456


> > Now, I've seen some comments overnight that Darcy's largesses among 
> > the poor would never be emulated by the Malfoys - but of 
> course, we've
> > heard
> > tell of the generous donations to St Mungo's that Lucius made 
> 
> I haven't read the book that's used for comparison, but
> aren't you trying to see parallels between *Draco* and
> Darcy, not Lucius and Darcy?

No, I am not. In Nicole's post she said "Draco and his family", thereby
lumping them together as a collective. Far be it for me to conclude that
she didn't mean "and his family" in that post, which is what led me to
reply with a "draco and his family" concept in turn. I guess a little
snippage is a dangerous thing.

> And does Darcy ask for things in return (like Lucius,
> wanting influence), or a place on the Quidditch team for Draco...
Well, we don't know. And when I say "we don't know..." I mean we don't
know that Lucius asked for a place on the team for Draco because of the
brooms (he may've made the donation in order to increase the likelihood
of Slytherin winning and thus for purposes of house pride, rather than
for the agrandizement of his son, which is what I think you're implying
here) - and I must point out here *I* never mentioned in my post as an
example of largess to the populace. However, it is de facto part and
parcel of any donation that it will generate influence from and/or by
the donor, at least in some sphere, whether it's asked for or not. 

And yes, I know that the two concepts in the prior paragraph sound
inherently contradictory - but they both turn on the word you included,
Susanne. And that word is "ask". I think that Lucius presumed that some
level of influence would travel with the donation regarding St Mungo's,
although I would guess that the galleon-figure for the donation of the
broomsticks was quite small in comparison, and therefore I'm not sure
that the thought of influence had any bearing on such a decision. 

We are told (by Wickham, so therefore it may not be considered the most
trustworthy of sources) in P&P that influence *was* actually a reason
behind Darcy's donations, as I quoted in my previous post (and will
paste in again, as you may've missed it last time):

<<Not to appear to disgrace his family, to degenerate from the popular
qualities, or lose the influence of the Pemberley House, is a powerful
motive.>>

> Sorry, but seeing Draco turned into a basically nice kid who
> is just too scared to show it just doesn't ring true for me
> at this point.
Are you replying to something *I* said in *my* post? Because I certainly
did not say *that*. For that matter, I don't think that Darcy is
especially nice, not in the beginning of P&P and not even at the end -
at least, not to those he does not care passionately about. 

I've seen this ridiculous argument time and again in the fandom - that
Draco is either actively engaging in murder plots or at least really and
honstly wishes to be involved in violent and Death Eater-y activities,
or he's "nice". 

Would anyone dream of making the same type of black-or-white argument
about Snape?


Heidi