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Character Analysis Of Mrs Mooney

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Mrs Mooney is successful in trapping Mr Doran into marriage because he is very concern with preserving his social appearance and allows it to influence his decision. Mr Doran only has two options, to “marry [Polly] or run away” (61). However, he cannot erase what has been done or run away from the effects of the affair, for “even his sense of honour told him that reparations must be made for such as sin” (62). In the end, we may infer Mr Doran agrees with Mrs Mooney to marry Polly, as after their meeting, Mrs Mooney calls out to Polly: “Polly! Polly! … Come down, dear. Mr Doran wants to speak to you” (64). So far, as I have shown, Von Uffel has been correct. Mrs Mooney successfully uses the city’s concern for preserving social appearances to trap a husband for Polly. However, Von Uffel is incorrect that Polly is naïve, and that Mrs Mooney exploits her naivete to trap her into marriage. First, I will show that Polly is not naïve; instead she understands her mother’s plan, though her mother is not aware of it. Polly has far more control than Mrs Mooney knows, in fact, as I will show, it was Polly who lures Mr Doran into the trap. Later, she puts on an act to help her mother spring the trap. Though Mrs Mooney attempts to exploit her daughter, she is not successful as Polly actually has more control than Mrs Mooney in trapping Mr Doran. Polly is far from naïve; she fully comprehends her mother’s plan to trap Mr Doran, though Mrs Mooney is unaware of it. Let’s examine the
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