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Josephine Pinner
Constantia or “Con” is Josephine Pinner’s younger sister. She is softer and less turbulent than her sister—she sympathizes with a mouse in their room who is searching for crumbs—but ultimately helps Josephine leave their father’s room when her sister is overcome with emotion, demonstrating a kind of authority that she seems initially to lack. Though she is often dreamy and out of touch with reality—frequently drifting off into vague and wondering tangents, often about exotic destinations with “camels” in the desert—Constantia is also deeply suspicious, both of the native “runners” who deliver parcels in Ceylon and of Kate, who she believes rummages through her and Josephine’s belongings when they are gone. It is also mentioned that Constantia once pushed her brother Benny into “the round pond,” suggesting that she has a cruel streak (one disguised, perhaps, by her daydreaming). Constantia feels that the life she led while her father was alive was unreal, a kind of nightmare, but she cannot figure out what she wants from life now that she and Josephine have been freed from his command.
Constantia Pinner Quotes in The Daughters of the Late Colonel
The The Daughters of the Late Colonel quotes below are all either spoken by Constantia Pinner or refer to Constantia Pinner . 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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The Daughters of the Late Colonel Quotes
Supposing father had wanted to say something—something private to them. Not that he had. Oh, far from it! He lay there, purple, a dark, angry purple in the face, and never even looked at them when they came in. Then, as they were standing there, wondering what to do, he had suddenly opened one eye. Oh, what a difference it would have made, what a difference to their memory of him, how much easier to tell people about it, if he had only opened both! But no—one eye only. It glared at them a moment and then… went out.
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When Constantia and Josephine enter their father’s room to say good-bye to him before he dies, they are horrified to see their father respond by glaring at them with “one eye only” open, as if accusing them for a wrong they have committed against him. Even in his most vulnerable moment—his last few minutes of life—the Pinner patriarch terrifies his daughters, suggesting the profound and lasting influence of patriarchal authority on women. Indeed, Constantia and Josephine consistently recall the image of this “one eye,” which seems to serve as an omen or warning: though their father no longer directly impacts Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recu
“But—but it seems so weak,” said Josephine, breaking down.
“But why not be weak for once, Jug?” argued Constantia, whispering quite fiercely. “If it is weak.” And her pale stare flew from the locked writing-table—so safe—to the huge glittering wardrobe, and she began to breathe in a queer, panting way.
“Why shouldn’t we be weak for once in our lives, Jug? It’s quite excusable. Let’s be weak—be weak, Jug. It’s much nicer to be weak than to be strong.”
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Though Constantia is the younger sister of the two, she is often more headstrong than her older sister (it is mentioned that she once pushed their brother Benny into a pool during childhood). Ironically, though, she insists that they be “weak” when faced with the prospect of organizing their father’s belongings. Josephine imagines that their father is trapped inside his wardrobe, waiting to burst free and confront them. Constantia accepts this notion and decides to lock the wardrobe, effectively repressing any kind of psychological confrontation with their father, whose tyranny has severely affected them. At the climax of the narrative, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates.
“Is your dear father still so fond of meringues?” asked Auntie Con gently. She winced faintly as she broke through the shell of hers.
“Well, I don’t quite know, Auntie Con,” said Cyril breezily.
At that they both looked up.
“Don’t know?” almost snapped Josephine. “Don’t know a thing like that about your own father, Cyril?”
“Surely,” said Auntie Con softly.
Cyril tried to laugh it off. “Oh, well,” he said, “it’s such a long time since—” He faltered. He stopped. Their faces were too much for him.
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Though Cyril takes his family’s dysfunction for granted—answering his aunts’ questions about his father’s preferences “breezily”—Constantia and Josephine seem unaware that their brother and nephew are not close. Confined to the domestic sphere, where they have been attending to their father for many years, Constantia and Josephine do not recognize how deeply divided their family has become. Mansfield depicts the Pinner family as an archetypal modern family, cut off from traditional principles (especially Victorian values of propriety and family ritual) and torn apart by forces of modernity, including imperialism—since Benny is a colonial administrator who lives away from his son—and Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligend
“I say, Auntie Con, isn’t your clock a bit slow? I’ve got to meet a man at—at Paddington just after five. I’m afraid I shan’t be able to stay very long with grandfather.”
“Oh, he won’t expect you to stay very long!” said Aunt Josephine.
Constantia was still gazing at the clock. She couldn’t make up her mind if it was fast or slow. It was one or the other, she felt almost certain of that. At any rate, it had been.
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Cyril notices that his aunts’ clock runs a “bit slow,” though this may be a fabricated excuse to leave their home early, since he anticipates an uncomfortable visit with his grandfather. Nonetheless, though, time is clearly out of joint in Constantia and Josephine’s household, since the sisters seem both childlike—wholly dependent on others and ignorant about the world around them—and mature (they are nearing middle age and no longer participate in the girlish rituals they used to practice). However, Constantia cannot decide whether time is unstable in their apartment; indeed, the only thing she can decide on is that it Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae volupta
How did one prove things, how could one? Suppose Kate had stood in front of her and deliberately made a face. Mightn’t she very well have been in pain? Wasn’t it impossible, at any rate, to ask Kate if she was making a face at her? If Kate answered “No”—and of course she would say “No”—what a position! How undignified! Then again Constantia suspected, she was almost certain that Kate went to her chest of drawers when she and Josephine were out, not to take things but to spy.
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Constantia thinks about the fact that she can never “make up her mind” as to whether or not she trusts Kate, the sisters’ maid. Constantia’s inability to decide whether Kate is a trustworthy member of the household or not suggests her own ambivalent position about gaining independence after her father’s death. While she and Josephine decide that they might be able to fend for themselves without Kate (whom they kept on while their father was living as a means of support), and that Kate might indeed be untrustworthy, they ultimately cannot be “certain” that firing Kate would be appropriate, since Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint
If mother had lived, might they have married? But there had been nobody for them to marry. There had been father’s Anglo-Indian friends before he quarreled with them. But after that she and Constantia never met a single man except clergymen. How did one meet men? Or even if they’d met them, how could they have got to know men well enough to be more than strangers? One read of people having adventures, being followed, and so on. But nobody had ever followed Constantia and her.
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Josephine reflects on her life as a “spinster”: an unmarried woman nearing middle age. Since she and Constantia have not received opportunities to engage with the surrounding world, free of their father’s influence (and it is implied that they have had minimal education and spent minimal time away from family), Josephine has never had the chance to meet men and potentially find a husband. Marriage would be less restrictive than the life she has led taking care of her father, and yet all of her options in life—those she has realized and those she has not—involve men and patriarchal influence. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut
Until the barrel-organ stopped playing Constantia stayed before the Buddha, wondering, but not as usual, not vaguely. This time her wonder was like longing. […] There had been this other life, running out, bringing things home in bags, getting things on approval, discussing them with Jug, and taking them back to get more things on approval, and arranging father’s trays and trying not to annoy father. But it all seemed to have happened in a kind of tunnel. It wasn’t real. […] What did it mean? What was it she was always wanting? What did it all lead to? Now? Now?
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Constantia contemplates a Buddha statue on her mantelpiece as a barrel-organ player goes by the house, having realized that she and Josephine no longer need to rush outside to silence the player on behalf of their father. Constantia’s interest in the figurine of the Buddha in her apartment suggests her fascination with transcendental concepts and worlds outside of her own, such as Eastern cultures (she also daydreams often about camels in the desert). Yet she has never been allowed to access these other worlds, since her life has been bound up in errands for her father. Though she sees this Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem ac
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Constantia Pinner Character Timeline in The Daughters of the Late Colonel
The timeline below shows where the character Constantia Pinner appears in The Daughters of the Late Colonel. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Daughters of the Late Colonel
Constantia and Josephine have had one of the busiest weeks of their lives, and when they...
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...of the top-hat on the porter’s head. The last time she laughed in bed with Constantia was years ago, when they would stay awake at night talking. She fights back her...
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Constantia wonders if they should have their dressing-gowns dyed black to display their mourning. Josephine finds...
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Constantia says that they will have to mail the papers with the notices tomorrow to get...
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Constantia hears what she thinks is a mouse, but Josephine disagrees, declaring that it can’t be...
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...about butter consumption. When she takes extra helpings at mealtimes, Josephine gets very red, and Constantia gazes away dreamily.
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...table and storms off. Nurse Andrew notes that there isn’t any jam, and Josephine and Constantia wonder what to do, since they don’t want to bother Kate again. Constantia goes back...
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...if the end had been peaceful. Josephine says it had been, but both she and Constantia know that his “eye” hadn’t been peaceful at all. Josephine asks Mr. Farolles to sit,...
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...wants to be helpful to the sisters and offers Communion to them as a comfort. Constantia and Josephine are terrified by this idea, since they feel that their drawing-room isn’t suited...
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Neither Josephine nor Constantia can believe that their father is never coming back. Josephine felt terrified when his coffin...
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Josephine and Constantia decide to try to organize their father’s belongings in his room. While their father was...
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Josephine insists that they have to get it done today and asks Constantia why she keeps staring at the bed. Josephine moves over to open the chest of...
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Josephine decides that their father’s watch would be the most apposite gift, though Constantia is surprised that she would give it to a native to deliver. Josephine ensures her...
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Josephine offers Cyril a meringue, noting that Cyril’s father was fond of them. Constantia asks if Benny is still fond of meringues, and Cyril replies that he doesn’t know....
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...Paddington just after five. Josephine insists that Cyril see their father before he leaves. Meanwhile, Constantia stares at the clock, wondering whether it is fast or slow.
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...his knees. The colonel glares at Cyril in the way that he is famous for. Constantia stares at her father, and he asks Cyril what he has to say. Cyril feels...
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Josephine decides to send Cyril the watch. She and Constantia are interrupted by Kate, who asks them, “Fried or boiled?” They ask her what she...
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Josephine and Constantia retreat into the drawing-room to discuss Kate. Josephine asks Constantia whether they should keep her...
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Josephine remarks that she isn’t sure whether to trust Kate or not, and Constantia agrees. It’s difficult to prove things, and she wouldn’t automatically assume that Kate was malicious....
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...but at that moment, a barrel-organ begins to play outside of their apartment. Josephine tells Constantia to run and fetch a six-pence, but they then remember that they no longer have...
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Constantia looks at her favorite Buddha statue on the mantlepiece, one whose smile always gave her...
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...crying sounds seem to be within her instead of outside. She wonders whether she and Constantia would have married had their mother lived, but then recalls that there had been nobody...
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Constantia remembers the times she came into the drawing-room to lie on the floor with her...
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Constantia approaches Josephine and tries to say something about the future, but Josephine interrupts her. They...
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