Why studying literature can be funny…
Posted by Neelakantan K.K. on November 19, 2007
in unexpected ways.
I won’t say anything about how we get to broaden our horizons and stuff. Just a small sample
From Emma by Jane Austen
Mr. Elton returned, a very happy man. He had gone away rejected
and mortified–disappointed in a very sanguine hope, after a series
of what appeared to him strong encouragement; and not only losing
the right lady, but finding himself debased to the level of a very
wrong one. He had gone away deeply offended–he came back engaged
to another–and to another as superior, of course, to the first,
as under such circumstances what is gained always is to what is lost.
He came back gay and self-satisfied, eager and busy, caring nothing
for Miss Woodhouse, and defying Miss Smith.
Now this is after Mr. Elton has declared his love for Emma and has been rejected. He goes away mortified. Emma had in fact been trying to get him to like her friend Harriet, a girl of little money and inferior social standing. Mr. Elton goes away and returns engaged to someone else.
Nothing new so far. But let’s read it like this.
He had gone away rejected and mortified. He had gone away deeply offended .He came back gay.
When you read it like this, it suddenly become so much more entertaining. 
Heheh I leave it to you to find other such entertaining meanings.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: boredom, English, Humour | 12 Comments »
