I was thinking about that part today, the one where we learn that Mr. Parker has abandoned his ancesteral home in the valley for a new, modern one on the hill, and wondering if this is intended to be similar to the criticism of Rushworth's mania for improvement which we see in Mansfield Park.
I also think it's interesting that, although Charlotte is supposed to be the heroine, we have heard almost nothing about her. Prodigious amounts of time have been spent discussing her parents, the Parkers, Lady Denham, Clara, even Sidney (it's spelled with an i in my version--I didn't know anyone had the name Sidney backk then), but Charlotte has hardly been discussed at all. I guess we're supposed to find out for ourselves what she's like--or maybe that there's less to say about her, because she has sense and character and few indosyncrasies.
