“No, good company requires only birth, manners and education”
Por qué es buena
Only cuts the definition down to birth, manners and schooling.
Registro
Formal
Úsala tú
In that room, good company requires only a title and a smile.
00:00 / 02:15
00:00 / 02:15
Mr Elliot Defines Good Company, Explained
Persuasion · 2007
Capítulo 5 de 7 · 2'15"
A morning visit slides from cousins arriving in Bath into a fight over the phrase good company. One standard is clever, well-informed people who talk a great deal. The other is colder: "No, good company requires only birth, manners and education." Respectable society, on that account, asks for almost nothing else.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:43–1:29
What Good Company Really Means
46s
Mr Elliot Defines Good Company, explained
What happens
A morning call follows a wasted visit to Camden Place. Newspaper news says the Dalrymple cousins arrive in Bath today. The talk turns to good company: clever, well-informed people with a great deal of conversation, or only birth, manners, and an education that is not very particular. The reply calls the first the best, not good company, then mentions Mrs Clay and being too fastidious.
What's really going on
The cousins due in Bath are only the opening. Someone grants the Dalrymples are nothing in themselves, then still calls family connections worth preserving, since they are "regarded everywhere as good company." A second voice wants clever, well-informed people who have a great deal of conversation. The reply shuts that door. "You are mistaken. That is not good company. That is the best." Good company "requires only birth, manners and education," and the education "is not very particular." Anne shakes her head. She is not satisfied. The talk then turns to people "beneath" her father. Mrs Clay is named, and the answer is only that it is possible. Worry that the connection may leave the father unhappy is the speaker's own "too fastidious." The last line gives it back as praise: she has "a better right to be fastidious than any woman I've ever met."
Key lines & what they mean
- “No, good company requires only birth, manners and education”
- In this argument, good company is not the clever, well-informed, talkative people. Birth, manners, and education are enough, and the next line adds that the education is not very particular.
- “My dear Anne, you have a better right to be fastidious than any woman I've ever met.”
- The speaker has just called a worry about the father too fastidious. The reply treats that pickiness as a privilege greater than any other woman's.
Theme
- Class — Good company is priced at birth, manners, and a loose education, while clever, well-informed conversation is set above it as the best.
- Satire — The speech that defends rank also admits the education is not very particular, which undercuts the very standard it praises.
Qué aprendes en este capítulo
Puntos de enseñanza
Repasa justo después de verMi nivel0/6
A1–C2 es la escala MCER. Las tarjetas por encima del nivel elegido se atenúan y la reproducción no se pausa en ellas.
Puntos de lengua
Toca una tarjeta para saltar a ese momentoFrases de oro
Una gran frase en sí misma: por qué y cómo usarla“My dear Anne, you have a better right to be fastidious than any woman I've ever met.”
Por qué es buena
Fastidious becomes a right she has earned, not a fault.
Registro
Formal
Úsala tú
You have a better right to be fastidious than anyone I know.
Siguiente · 06recover fromLa escena: He Does Not RecoverPreguntas frecuentes
La pregunta, luego la fraseWhy is the education called not very particular?
Good company has just been said to require only birth, manners and education. The next words are, "and, with regard to education, I'm afraid it is not very particular." Education is kept in the standard, then immediately loosened: it counts, but it need not be strict.
Why does Anne shake her head?
The dialogue states it: "My cousin Anne shakes her head. She is not satisfied." That follows the claim that good company requires only birth, manners, and an education that is not very particular. The idea just offered to Mr Elliot was different: clever, well-informed people and a great deal of conversation.
Is the fastidious compliment only praise?
Just before it, the worry is that a connection may leave the father unhappy, followed by "But perhaps I'm too fastidious." The reply says she has "a better right to be fastidious than any woman I've ever met." It accepts the pickiness and calls it a right. It does not say the worry itself was mistaken.
Who is beneath the father in this talk?
The lines mention people "beneath him," whose absence would divert the father's thoughts. The question "You refer to Mrs Clay?" gets only "It is possible that I do." No other name is given.