Please. Am I the only person on this forum who thinks Beth is completely devoid of sense, character or shame?
I dunno. I don't have a problem with sympathizing with her, and I think Quentin won't do any better, too bad he didn't appreciate her.
I agree with Luciaphil, except that I don't think Beth succombed to Quentin's charms until recently. You gotta realize this was hardly a time of Dr. Laura's judgements and advice. It was probably believed that the love of a good woman could turn a guy around. And, even in real life, it occasionally happens. I see her as resisting him as long as she could. Let's face it, that gorgeous hunk of man could probably seduce most anybody if tried hard enough. And he does seem like he would be, ahem, rather good in the sack. Just to bed him would tie her to him in those days, at least on her part, and then to actually be able to ENJOY it, well, that would be an infatuating factor! Then, once in love, of course, she is going to hope that her love will be enough for him. We have moments in which it appears to be too.
I think Beth tries to do the right thing, though yes, she is too weak sometimes to succeed. Compared to most of the other twits, self-centered egotists and sociopaths running around there, she is practically saintlike to me.
But that's just me.