We need Margaret.The Proposal · 2009 — Chapter 11 of 14 · 3'42" · B1
Annie Gives Margaret the Heirloom Dress, Explained: burst into tears
A dress fitting on the surface: Annie pins an old gown while the women joke about the fit. Underneath, the fake engagement starts to feel real. A family heirloom is handed over, and one line — "I want you to have it" — turns a business arrangement into something honest. Margaret, there to keep a lie alive, can't hold back tears.
What happens
Annie, the family's best tailor, is fitting Margaret for a dress her own mother made by hand. It turns out to be a wedding heirloom that Annie's great-grandfather gave his bride, a Russian man marrying a Tlingit woman against the odds. Annie tells that story, then offers Margaret the dress and asks her to take it.
Listen for
stay togetherhead downtake no for an answerpart of your lives
00:00 / 03:42Space play · ← → lines · R repeat
Now
Phrase of the scene
stay together
remain together or keep a relationship going
安妮讲起曾祖父母的故事：他来自俄罗斯，她是特林吉特人，当年结婚要得到部落里每个人的同意，几乎被拆散。孙女追问：那他们后来是怎么一直在一起的？
Even when things got hard, they chose to stay together.
Also in this scene
- head down
go or travel in a particular direction, especially toward somewhere
- take no for an answer
to accept a refusal and give up
- part of your lives
still involved in the lives of others
Everything marked in this scene
25 notes across 56 lines
We need Margaret.We need Margaret.We need Margaret.We need Margaret.We need Margaret.We need Margaret.We need Margaret.We need Margaret.We need Margaret.We need Margaret.We need Margaret.We need Margaret.We need Margaret.We need Margaret.We need Margaret.We need Margaret.We need Margaret.can for ability
We need Margaret.nominal clause
We need Margaret.manner clause
We need Margaret.liaison
We need Margaret.liaison
We need Margaret.elision
We need Margaret.We need Margaret.Annie Gives Margaret the Heirloom Dress, explained
What's really going on
What looks like a light, chatty fitting is where the film quietly changes gear. The dress isn't about clothes: it carries the history of a marriage that almost didn't happen, and one line describes that stubborn bride — "wouldn't take no for an answer." Suddenly Margaret, who is only pretending to be engaged, is being welcomed into that history for real. The comic beats — hunting down the fit of the dress, a joke that it's "like an Easter egg hunt" — keep things warm, but the gift turns into a test of who Margaret actually is. And the offer comes: "I want you to have it," and the lie the whole trip rests on becomes the one thing she can't answer.
Theme
Family loveA grandmother passes an heirloom to a woman who isn't family yet, treating her as if she already belongs.
GenerationsThe dress links three generations, and its story of a mixed marriage repeats in Margaret's own uncertain match.
What you'll learn
- Use steal someone away to invite someone playfully.
- Recognize knocked up as informal slang for pregnant.
- Use take no for an answer for determined persistence.
- Catch the reassuring tone of not to worry.
Listen for
- this out — liaison
- charged up — liaison
- pick it — elision
OK I can figure this out I m an intelligent womanShe talks herself through a problem, insisting she's smart enough to handle it on her own.
Oh my God God I hate nature I hate itA blunt, comic complaint: she can't stand being outdoors or roughing it in the wild.
This is a business deal This is just a business dealShe keeps repeating it to convince herself the marriage arrangement is purely practical, not personal.
Whatever you do is what shall beA laid-back blessing, roughly "whatever you choose will be fine," said to let someone decide for themselves.
Questions about this scene
Why does Annie give Margaret the family dress?
She has decided Margaret belongs in the family. The dress was handed down from her own great-grandmother, and giving it away treats the engagement as real — which is exactly what unsettles Margaret.
What does "knocked up" mean here?
It's old-fashioned slang for being pregnant. Annie mentions she was pregnant when she first wore the dress, her joking explanation for why it now fits Margaret oddly.
Why does Margaret get so emotional during the fitting?
She came to Sitka to fake an engagement and get a visa, not to be taken in as family. Being handed a real heirloom makes the kindness hard to accept and the lie harder to keep.
Is Annie's family story connected to Margaret?
Annie points out that her great-grandmother was a lot like Margaret — tough and unwilling to take no for an answer — quietly drawing a parallel between that marriage and Margaret's own situation.
What is the story behind the dress?
It was made by Annie's mother and given by her great-grandfather to his bride. He was Russian, she was Tlingit, and their marriage needed the whole tribe's approval and almost fell apart.
The Proposal · 14 chapters
All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 12off the hookThe Sham Marriage Exposed
Chapter 1let someone goMargaret Fires Bob
Chapter 2turn operations over toMargaret Announces a Fake Engagement
Chapter 3out of your hairMargaret Fakes a Marriage Interview
Chapter 4with cherries on topAndrew Makes Margaret Propose
Chapter 5a meal ticketMargaret Meets the Paxton Family
Chapter 6pulling your legAndrew Brings Margaret Home to Sitka
Chapter 7from the ground upAndrew Turns Down the Family Business
Chapter 8called it offMargaret Meets Andrew's Ex
Chapter 9take this the wrong wayMargaret and Andrew Trade Secrets
Chapter 10a shamThe Paxtons Plan a Barn Wedding
Watching · Chapter 11burst into tearsAnnie Gives Margaret the Heirloom Dress
Chapter 12off the hookThe Sham Marriage Exposed
Chapter 13get my head on straightMargaret Confesses at the Wedding
Chapter 14dawned on meAndrew Proposes to MargaretChapter 11 of 14 · about 16 min to go