Quote:
Originally Posted by gmw
I'm not seeing Helen as saintly (I haven't actually finished part 2 yet). She took on Arthur when she was warned away. (It is interesting to see that "I can change him" was still an expectation in young women all the way back then - and just as effective then as now, we see.) And some of her dealings with Arthur have seemed rather less than saintly to me (bordering on antagonistic, certainly judgemental even before the extremes arrived). I am not saying she deserved to be mistreated, but I see the portrayal of Helen in this second part as rather more realistic than I expected after reading the first part: Helen, too, is flawed.
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When I called Helen saintly, I was being sarcastic. She's sanctimonious. She's generally convinced of her moral superiority--drugging her son to make him avoid alcohol is certainly the most glaring example of how rigid and extreme she is in service to what she believes is proper behavior. The way she sails in to nurse her miserable husband seems to be about her perceived duty and her self-image as a "good wife" rather than much feeling for Arthur himself.