Talk:Quartet in Autumn

Contrived?
As it stands, the article includes a statement to the effect that the plot of Quartet in Autumn is "contrived even by Pym standards." Personally, I do not agree; more to the point, however, I wonder whether such a bald statement can be considered NPOV. Barring the addition of a strong citation or quotation, I will be at least rewording or possibly the removing the phrase in the near future. Robertissimo 18:52, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:BarbaraPym QuartetInAutumn.jpg
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Fair use rationale for Image:BarbaraPym QuartetInAutumn.jpg
Image:BarbaraPym QuartetInAutumn.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 04:27, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

Plot summary
I changed a few details about Letty's possible move to the country. The cottage is Marjorie's own: the two women never planned to 'take' it. The woman who displaces Marjorie in the priest's affections is Miss Doughty, so she's a spinster, one assumes, not a widow.

There are some things I have doubts about, but haven't changed. The summary gives the impression that Marcia's decline is brought about by her retirement, but she has clearly been living a socially isolated life since the death of her mother (and has had a serious illness), and her colleagues already regard her as not entirely 'normal'.

I'm not sure that Norman and Edwin play less central roles, except to the degree that with Pym women usually are more central than men. Marcia and Letty's actions don't seem all that significant, unless Marcia's self-starvation is seen as an action. (Her bequest to Norman will change his life, but we don't discover how, except that, like Letty, he now feels he has choices.) Letty's move to live with Mrs Pope is caused by Marjorie's plan to remarry and by a change in ownership of the house in which Letty has a bedsit, and it is arranged by Edwin, so it's more of a reaction than an action.

The last sentence of the summary doesn't seem justified by the text. As I read the very last paragraph of the book, Letty thinks it would be good for the jilted Marjorie to meet Edwin and Norman. The word 'opportunity' is in quote marks in the summary, but it doesn't actually occur. Is 'quartet' here used to suggest that Marjorie will replace Marcia and the quartet will continue in a new form?

But I hesitate because even a plot summary is to some extent subjective. Snugglepuss (talk) 10:51, 8 May 2023 (UTC)

I became less hesitant and made some changes in line with the above. Snugglepuss (talk) 20:16, 26 June 2023 (UTC)