You've missed supper, but no matter. You could do with losing a pound or two.Enola Holmes · 2020 — Chapter 9 of 12 · 3'14" · B2
Enola at Miss Harrison's School, Explained: fend for oneself
Miss Harrison welcomes her new pupils and tells them what they are for: "You are here to be made into young ladies." The lesson is obedience — how to laugh, walk and speak — and when she speaks to Enola alone, the kindness is just as controlled as the rules.
What happens
Enola Holmes is delivered to Miss Harrison's finishing school, where girls are taught to obey. The headmistress lectures them on becoming acceptable wives and responsible mothers, and warns Enola to live up to the Holmes name. Speaking to Enola alone, she recalls being a friend of Eudoria and claims she would never leave a girl to fend for herself.
Listen for
fend for oneselflive up to somethingkeep something lockedcould do with something
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Now
Phrase of the scene
fend for oneself
to take care of oneself alone
校长嘴上说绝不会抛下学生，话里却点出让学生自己讨生活这件事。
At eighteen he had to fend for himself.
Also in this scene
- live up to something
to reach a standard or expectation
- keep something locked
to keep something in a locked state
- could do with something
to need or benefit from something
Everything marked in this scene
22 notes across 58 lines
to need or benefit from something
You've missed supper, but no matter. You could do with losing a pound or two.weak form
You've missed supper, but no matter. You could do with losing a pound or two.is coming to mean something in this country.to reach a standard or expectation
At this school you'll be given a chance to live up to it.passive with infinitive
At this school you'll be given a chance to live up to it.liaison
At this school you'll be given a chance to live up to it.liaison
But I... And you can begin by closing your mouth.You are here to be made into young ladies.You all have the potentialand most of all untrained.inversion with so
so shall we you.It's because I want to make people happy.I want you to live a full and vibrant life.to take care of oneself alone
and leave you to fend for yourself.My mother had her reasons.We were friends for a while.never ... except ...
to keep something in a locked state
Sleep well, Enola.Enola at Miss Harrison's School, explained
What's really going on
The scene is an introduction to the film's idea of obedience as a system. Miss Harrison frames the school as kindness — "I want you to live a full and vibrant life" — but every detail is control: the girls are told how to laugh, how to walk, and that a door "will always be kept locked." Her speech to Enola is a warning dressed as care. She says she would never leave a girl "to fend for yourself," which quietly admits that being left alone is the thing these girls fear. When she speaks of Eudoria as "a peculiar little thing" who cared only for her own ideas, she is offering Enola a choice: become respectable, or end up like her mother. The closing promise, "You'll thank me one day," is the classic line of someone certain they know a girl's future better than she does.
Theme
PowerMiss Harrison runs the school as a system of control, deciding how the girls should look, speak and think.
IdentityEnola is pressured to fit a respectable mould, while her mother is held up as a warning of what happens to women who refuse.
What you'll learn
- 'live up to' carries more than its dictionary gloss.
- 'could do with' changes the pressure of the reply.
- The surrounding lines set the social temperature.
Listen for
- could do with — weak form
- live up to it — liaison
- closing your mouth — liaison
My mother had her reasons.Enola's defence of Eudoria: she refuses to accept the headmistress's version of why her mother left.
She never truly cared for anything except her own unusual ideas.Harrison's judgement on Eudoria, meant to make her sound selfish and warn Enola off the same path.
We were friends for a while.Harrison claims a past closeness to Eudoria, positioning herself as someone who understands the family.
You'll thank me one day when you're happily married with a pair of strapping boys.The headmistress's closing promise: she is certain that Enola's future happiness lies in marriage and sons.
Questions about this scene
Why is Enola sent to Miss Harrison's school?
Mycroft, her guardian, decides she needs to be turned into a proper young lady. The school's whole purpose is to make girls obedient and marriageable.
Why does Miss Harrison mention Enola's mother?
She wants to warn Enola. By calling Eudoria peculiar and selfish, she suggests that resisting the rules leads to a lonely, disreputable life.
Is Miss Harrison kind to Enola?
Her manner is soft, but her words are control. She offers care and respectability while locking doors and setting rules, so the kindness is part of the discipline.
What is the point of the laughing and walking lessons?
They train the girls to be acceptable rather than natural. Laughing politely and walking a certain way are small habits that add up to obedience.
Enola Holmes · 12 chapters
All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 10pick my brainsSherlock Visits Enola
Chapter 1one's own companyEnola Confronts Her Brothers
Chapter 2unpickEnola Decodes Her Mother's Message
Chapter 3leave someone strandedEnola Hides on the Train
Chapter 4the game is afootSherlock and Mycroft Argue Over Enola
Chapter 5prepare the groundEnola Bluffs Her Way Into Basilwether
Chapter 6for better or worseA Talk of Power Over Tea
Chapter 7lead someone astrayEnola Meets the Dowager
Chapter 8do funny things to someoneTewkesbury Finds Enola's Hideout
Watching · Chapter 9fend for oneselfEnola at Miss Harrison's School
Chapter 10pick my brainsSherlock Visits Enola
Chapter 11see right through someoneEnola Sneaks into the Finishing School
Chapter 12right a wrongEnola and Tewkesbury Flee the SchoolChapter 9 of 12 · about 11 min to go