Posted by MMMMarcia on October 02, 1998 at 16:36:54:
In Reply to: Re: Maddy vs Cora - Some Roving Reflections posted by Gayle on October 02, 1998 at 14:11:10:
Elaine wrote:
: : Gayle's schadenfreude aside, I second Marcia's *intuition* ... Cora was one thing. Yes, she'd do it. Maddy? Never! They couldn't drive a 4x4 Bronco up there. Cleopatra's litter wouldn't work. There aren't any stagecoach trails ... no way she would have walked it. That leaves helicopters. Besides, they MUST have used helicopters for the equipment.
>>Yes, that's what I really think they did. I can't imagine anything else that would work.
Then Elaine teased:
: : Oh ... Marcia, so as to not ruin your Hawk-ish vision, we'll pretend DDL hauled his bad self up to Table Rock, okay? *wink*
>>I think I said/meant he COULD have sprinted up that trail...he certainly has the strength, stamina and will to accomplish such as that. But as to whether or not he DID do it...I would imagine he would have gone along with the rest of the crew & cast. Helicopter it must have been.
Then Gayle wrote:
: This begets a quizzical train of thought on my part - - the whole story of LOTM ( book and movie alike) deal with the two sisters, British-bred and delicately raised as they can be, being escorted through the mountains and forests from Fort Edward to Fort William Henry. The New York terrain through which they traveled was just as rigorous, if not more so, than the movie set location, yet in the 1700s, it was not uncommon for gentlewomen to make trips like that. Is it possible that a modern Hollywood belle is more delicate and pampered than the stereotypical British, elite, fainting, blushing, vapors-ridden lady of the 1700s? Have we really Come-a-Long-Way-Baby? On the other hand, Cooper may have used a bucketful of literary license, since anyone who had been raised as Cora was would not have had the physical stamina she portrayed in the book (or the movie for that matter). Nonetheless, I think she would have made the effort. Of course, helicopters weren't an option.
>>Interesting points to ponder, Gayle. I have a theory that people were physically stronger in those days than they are today. You kinda had to be tough to survive, even if you were a well-bred gentlewoman. First you had to survive all the myriad untreatable illnesses of infancy and childhood, thus building up immunities to various diseases. Then there's the fact that life was just a lot tougher...no air conditioning, no central heating in winter, no cars to take you hither and yon...even gentlewomen traveled largely by coach (an uncomfortable, tedious and exhausting ordeal) or horseback, which takes a good bit of strength. Of course, a woman of Cora's station in life would not have had to do all her laundry by hand or chop wood, pluck chickens, butcher pigs, iron clothes with flatirons heated in the fire, and bake bread from scratch every day, but had she found herself penniless at some point, those chores would have become part of her existence. I could be wrong, but I think people in those days were made of much sturdier stuff than we might realize. Those who weren't didn't survive long. The weak would have succumbed to illness or thrown themselves from a handy clifftop. Cora was young, strong, and determined, and even though her life in England had never demanded such rigors of her, she was well-equipped to handle them, I believe.
Just my thoughts, for what they're worth. And BTW, if you should run into the Bee Holder, you might mention that he has been given his reading by that Sassy Soothsayer...is he just going to ignore it??? And what about Sassy's payment??? Tsk.
MMMMarcia