In Defense of Matthew
So much backlash against Matthew. He's my favorite character, dear, sweet Matthew. Many think he's changed a great deal in S2. Thanks to the war, that's inevitable. Unfortunately, as eolivet has pointed out, JF decided to not attempt to flesh out Matthew's character in any great detail, just rendering a few war scenes here and there, and showing him
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YES YES YES.
I would also like to add in here, Matthew IS right in a way to say Lavinia died of a broken heart. To recover from something as awful as the Spainish flu, you need the will to fight! And Lavinia had lost that will because of what happened with Matthew. Yes, she might have died anyway, but she gave up the fight because of Matthew and he knew that and it added so much to his guilt.
Great point, something I forgot to comment on (surprising given the book I wrote). It is true to say she died of that broken heart, especially from his point of view. And honestly if I had been Lavinia, I probably would have died too.
If only we could have gotten more from Matthew's side. Some of this defense might have been rendered unnecessary. Sigh.
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Perhaps - though after series 1, I remember loads of people hating on Mary and having to bitterly defend her, and everything was from her point of view then!
I think to a large extent, some people just refuse to see what's there because they don't like it!
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That conversation is odd, as it seems to indicate Matthew knows she loves him. I think it just indicates he knows she doesn't love Carlisle.
Oh, I don't think it appears that he knows she loves him (if it did, Violet's words wouldn't be such a shock). I think he thinks it's pity -- that for whatever reason, she'd offer to give up her life to take care of him, knowing he won't accept it. He doesn't know she doesn't love Carlisle. He doesn't want to stand in the way of her happiness. It's so desperately sad, because Mary comes the closest she may have come all season to blurting out her feelings, and Matthew sadly misinterprets what she's saying. I honestly don't know what she means in that moment, but it's pretty damn close to "Please don't make me marry him -- I want to be with you." But she's given him no reason to think that's exactly what it is. :(
something tells me he believes Mary felt she HAD to nurse him, out of a duty to her family and him. Lavinia returned out of love ( ... )
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I was just commenting on what many people thought, he must be discussing Mary's love for him and I disagree. I also agree with you he's worried there is pity there, though I would be surprised if he thought Mary would allow pity for another to control her life like that.
I disagree with this, to a point -- I think there is no way he could've possibly been able to process why Mary did what she did. He was drugged up, as you say, and in a lot of pain and his memory probably isn't very good. He leaned on Mary, and Mary allowed herself to be leaned on. That spoke volumes about the implicit trust he had in her -- that he needed her, that she was there, that he didn't have to ask.I think this is a possibility too. It's quite possible he doesn't remember Mary being around him when he was so incapacitated. But just in case he does remember, he probably thinks it was more out of a sense of duty to ( ... )
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I just had to add a resounding YES to this. I think this point is one of the things I have consistently noticed being neglected in arguments against Matthew and it's really frustrating because I feel like it should be pretty obvious to everyone. They don't put into perspective what has happened to him. This is not a wound that will heal. This is permanent. They forget the fact that what happened to him is not small, it's HUGE; and it's huge not only physically but emotionally and mentally as well. EVERYTHING about his world has changed, and this wasn't even some accident, it was the result of war. Compound that to the trauma that comes with the injury itself and it's pretty much one of the worst situations possible. I think it hearkens back to that scene Matthew had with Robert. After Robert asks him what the front is like his countenance automatically changes to this haunted ( ... )
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Oh, ABSOLUTELY -- I think that those lines in 2x02 were VERY deliberate. JF might as well have been saying: "Heads up! That's going to happen to you, Matthew!" Because I actually think (and posted about, way back in the day) there was a very strong indication throughout 2x01 that Matthew really just...thought he was going to die on the front. That it's why he got engaged -- so that would be settled, in case he lived -- and brought Lavinia to Downton so she'd have support if he didn't come back. It's why he was desperate to be friends again with Mary, and kept repeating it ad nauseum, IMO. It's why he went to church before he went to the train station. I really don't think he expects to live -- hence the "bullet that kills them cleanly" remark in 2x02, and the utter TERROR he feels about the hospital then as well.
No ( ... )
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But I do wish people would give Matthew a break. I actually decided to write this in answer to certain blogs I see online hating all over Matthew. I was inspired to write this.
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