Amy's Lexical Choices In 'Dreadful'

Amy’s lexical choices reiterate the notion that she finds Laurie’s actions appalling. By repeatedly using the intensifier “really,” for instance, she highlights the true extent of her disapproval. She does not care to mimic his attempts at dispelling the tension with humor, either, opting to instead strike him with the truth by pointing out, among other things, that it is not wickedness with which he is afflicted, but something more dangerous: sheer “indolence.” “Dreadful,” “foolish,” “selfish”: these are but a few of the many adjectives she uses when describing him. Each, with its negative connotations, is incredibly incriminatory, reinforcing the idea that she genuinely finds his behavior repugnant. Amy also asserts that he has been “faulty, lazy and miserable” at every opportunity he has had to be “good, useful and happy;” again, by juxtaposing these two antithetical …show more content…
By using that specific verb and pairing it with her “grave, almost sad accent,” Amy is able to make a quiet but poignant point. She goes on to ask him if he is “ashamed” of himself, implying that he should be – and that she is. It is also in conversation with Laurie that Amy reveals what exactly it is about his behavior that troubles her: it is that he has become exceedingly “frivolous,” content with spending his time being “petted and admired by silly people.” The adjectives and verbs Amy uses here all denote a sense of juvenility, implying that Amy at least feels it is high time Laurie grew up. It is thus also interesting to note that this speech could just as easily be describing a younger Amy March; for this Amy to now be making a speech condemning the kind of actions she might have engaged in in the past thus suggests not only that one is capable of radical change but that the drive to make such a change is the true measure of growth or civilization – not one’s honing of one’s ability to appease and please “silly