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Quentin Compson
Ellen Coldfield is Rosa Coldfield’s much-older sister. She comes from a respectful family, and Thomas Sutpen chooses her as his wife to secure his reputation in town and further his “design.” They have two children together, Judith and Henry. Sutpen is a cruel and unfeeling husband, and Ellen becomes a shell of her former self upon marrying him, seeming to exist in a perpetual state of suspended reality. In some characters’ versions of the Sutpen saga, Ellen is instrumental in orchestrating Judith and Bon’s courtship (not knowing they are actually half-siblings), doing everything in her power to get them alone together and spreading rumors of their supposed engagement around town. She passes away during the war. It is her dying wish for Rosa to come live at Sutpen’s Hundred to “protect” her children from Sutpen, whom Ellen believes is bent on leading his family to destruction.
Ellen Coldfield Quotes in Absalom, Absalom!
The Absalom, Absalom! quotes below are all either spoken by Ellen Coldfield or refer to Ellen Coldfield. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 2
Quotes
He might not have gone out of his way to keep Sutpen in jail, but doubtless the best possible moral fumigation which Sutpen could have received at the time in the eyes of his fellow citizens was the fact that Mr Coldfield signed his bond—something he would not have done to save his own good name even though the arrest had been a direct result of the business between himself and Sutpen—that affair which, when it reached a point where his conscience refused to sanction it, he had withdrawn from and let Sutpen take all the profit, refusing even to allow Sutpen to reimburse him for the loss which, in withdrawing, he had suffered, though he did permit his daughter to marry this man of whose actions his conscience did not approve. This was the second time he did something like that.
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Chapter 3
Quotes
That’s what Miss Rosa heard. Nobody knows what she thought.
Chapter 5
Quotes
I mean that he was not owned by anyone or anything in this world, had never been, would never be, not even by Ellen, not even by Jones’ granddaughter. Because he was not articulated in this world. He was a walking shadow.
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Ellen Coldfield Quotes in Absalom, Absalom!
The Absalom, Absalom! quotes below are all either spoken by Ellen Coldfield or refer to Ellen Coldfield. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
He might not have gone out of his way to keep Sutpen in jail, but doubtless the best possible moral fumigation which Sutpen could have received at the time in the eyes of his fellow citizens was the fact that Mr Coldfield signed his bond—something he would not have done to save his own good name even though the arrest had been a direct result of the business between himself and Sutpen—that affair which, when it reached a point where his conscience refused to sanction it, he had withdrawn from and let Sutpen take all the profit, refusing even to allow Sutpen to reimburse him for the loss which, in withdrawing, he had suffered, though he did permit his daughter to marry this man of whose actions his conscience did not approve. This was the second time he did something like that.
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Chapter 3
Quotes
That’s what Miss Rosa heard. Nobody knows what she thought.
Chapter 5
Quotes
I mean that he was not owned by anyone or anything in this world, had never been, would never be, not even by Ellen, not even by Jones’ granddaughter. Because he was not articulated in this world. He was a walking shadow.
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