Two quotes & Paper update

"Writers have been using descriptions of their characters' behaviors to inform us about their feelings since time immemorial, and we expect them to do so when we open the book. We all learn, whether consciously or not, that the default interpretation of behavior reflects a character's state of mind, and every fictional story that we read reinforces our tendency to make that kind of interpretation first" (Zunshine, 4).

"'I certainly shall not. You know how I detest it, unless I am particularly acquainted with my partner. At such an assembly as this, it would be insupportable. Your sisters are engaged, and there is not another woman in the room, whom it would not be a punishment to me to stand up with'" (Pride and Prejudice, 50).

Going off of what Zunshine says about relying on descriptions of character's behaviors to inform us about their feelings, I thought back to Darcy and how, at the ball, he was admired for the first half, and then once every realized his character, they all hated him. I thought this was a pretty good example of that moment. We see how rude he is through his language, as well as his pride because he doesn't want to dance with another.
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Lately, I've been having struggling with where exactly I want to take this paper because I can't seem to think of a paper that I'd like to have written. My problem is what exactly to focus on, but I took your suggestion about drawing out the different definitions I have in mind for absorption, and after talking through it a bit it helped me out. I still want to focus on those three definitions and present them as a sort of spectrum or various levels (with "swallow up" being first, "engrossed" being second, and "disappearance" as the ultimate portrayal). My main text is still going to be The Female Quixote, and I'm going to focus a lot more on the language used as her "disappearance" (as opposed to a lot of plot summary I did before). I'm debating drawing in Betsy Thoughtless as a contrast -- one has too little thoughts (Betsy), while the other has too many (Arabella). I'm definitely going to use the quote you gave me ("He found the pensive Fair-one, in a melancholy Posture, her Head reclined upon one of her fair Hands; and though her Eyes were fixed upon a Book she held in the other, yet she did not seem to read, but rather to be wholly buried in Contemplation.") because I think it's a really nice portrayal of Arabella and one of the only moments where we actually see her reading. And in this quote I like how her posture is described -- not only does Lennox say she's in a melancholy posture, she does on to describe exactly what that looks like. It's interesting to note that although she's not looking directly at the book, she is still absorbed in it, which suggests just how absorbed she is. 

I'm still struggling a bit with the definitions and how exactly to go about showing them and explaining them, so I think that'll be my next step in thinking about the paper.