BBC - Consider the Lilies

Throughout the book we learn more about Mrs Scott's ideas and attitudes. But how are they revealed, and how do they affect what we feel about Mrs Scott?

Read the following quotes from the book and then write in the spaces what you think the quotes reveal about her. When you’ve finished, you can compare your interpretation with ours.

But she didn’t go and tell anyone of her happiness, for her nature was secretive. So she hoarded it like a pail full of sparkling water in a dark corner. (pg 20)
Her sister didn’t know what to do or say, that was clear. It was also clear that she wished that Mrs Scott would go away or tell her why she had come, but she wasn’t going to do that. (pg 59)
He smiled with a touch of humour but she didn’t smile back. She wasn’t a humorous person. Alasdair had often said to her that she couldn’t see a joke, that she took everything too seriously. But life was serious, wasn’t it? You couldn’t feed and clothe yourself on jokes. (pg 32)
She liked going to church. In fact she wouldn’t know what she would do if there was no church. She liked the minister because he talked well and told the truth She liked to be shaken by the hand by the minister when she was going out. It gave her the impression that she was someone, though she never looked the minister in the face during those brief conversations they had. (pg 7)
Who did Donald Macleod think he was, with that invalid wife of his, with his news from Edinburgh, and his books? A man who didn't go to church wasn't a respectable man, no matter what way you looked at it. (pg 43)
For hadn't the long years of sacrifice taught her anything? Yes, they had taught her to endure more than she thought she could endure. And you couldn't judge God by his servants. As well as this, you could find God in those who weren't his servants. (pg131)
She kept a little behind, wishing to be by herself. She always believed in keeping her griefs private. That night was the worst in her life. To come to the door and know that she would find no-one: to see a house completely empty. It was like coming to her tomb while she was still alive. (pg 82)

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