I was confused by this. Something about how her father came home to see a woman outside their door with a baby in her arms, and it turned out to be the brother dressed as a woman. He basically brought shame to the whole family, then he went off to India.
Was he crazy? Was he a cross-dresser? If he was crazy, how was he allowed to join the army?
...rolling downhill like a snowball headed for hell...
I don't think he was crazy or a cross-dresser; it illustrates how any deviation from what is considered "normal" or proper would shame one's family. It was just one of those young-&-dumb things people do.
shareThe Rev Jenkyns initially thought the woman outside his house holding a baby was Deborah, since Peter was wearing one of her dresses. This was Peter's idea of a joke. Deborah had recently left the family to go and stay with relatives, she was away from home at the time. What made the Rev so angry was Peter's thoughtlessness. Anyone walking past the house would have seen Peter and his fake baby and they may also have mistakenly thought it was the real Deborah and a real baby. This may have led to the suspicion that she'd really been sent away from home to have an illegitimate child. This could have destroyed the reputaions of both Deborah and Matty forever. Their chances of marrying would have been destroyed if it was thought Deborah was an unmarried mother. This is why their father reacted so violently to Peter's thoughless and stupid prank.
Peter was neither crazy nor a cross dresser. Just an immature and thoughtless young man with a daft sense of humour.
If he had been crazy, it wouldn't have been too much of an impediment to his joining the armed forces at the time. They weren't that picky He joined the Navy not the army.
He looks like what happens when you punch a cow!share
Your explanation is quite plausible. However, there is the additional possibility that Peter was also a closet cross-dresser, and/or gay. Either of those would have added further shame to the family.
I can't remember if Peter ever dates/marries in Return to Cranford. Either one might make the gay conjecture unlikely.
Peter was definitely not either a closet cross-dresser or gay.
Please, one gay character in a Victorian/Regency piece is more than enough. Trying to make other characters gay or tranny or a cross-dresser is implausible.
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<< Please, one gay character in a Victorian/Regency piece is more than enough. Trying to make other characters gay or tranny or a cross-dresser is implausible. >>
Mmmm...I missed this.
Who's the other gay character?
(PS: I wouldn't say having several gay characters in a Victorian/Regency piece would be "implausible", especially as they have quite large casts of characters. I'd say it would be "unconventional".) (Gay people have always been everywhere. And male homosexual experiences were so common in England back then that it was specifically called "The English Vice.")
The rich guy who lives in Italy. It's strongly hinted that he's gay when they all say that he's never going to marry and provide grandchildren for his mother. He even decides to go back to Italy because his lover is sick.
shareHe does sort of flirt with Miss Poole. (I supposed they had been an item prior to his leaving home?)
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