The BBC adaptation certainly won't help to make sense of it, as it's a terriby abridged version of the book (not particularly good, either). If you read Strong Poison and Have His Carcase, it might become clearer, though, why she accepts his proposal.
Yes, it is because of the introspection on the river, which is her personal epiphany, but it builds on what came before: She does get along with him very well; she does like him a lot; they have got enough interests in common, but are different enough not to be joined at the hip during their marriage; there is a certain spark of attraction.
But Harriet is completely screwed over after her affair with her late lover, and she hates Peter for being the rich aristocrat who saves her from the gallows and then asks for her hand in marriage; she hates the burden of gratitude of a "damsel in distress" to a "white knight in shining armour". But she finally realizes that their relationship is not bound up by these roles -- because of everything that happens in Gaudy Night.
Sorry for tl;dr comment; Harriet/Peter are one of my OTPs, and I easily get carried away on that subject.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2007-07-09 06:39 am (UTC)Yes, it is because of the introspection on the river, which is her personal epiphany, but it builds on what came before: She does get along with him very well; she does like him a lot; they have got enough interests in common, but are different enough not to be joined at the hip during their marriage; there is a certain spark of attraction.
But Harriet is completely screwed over after her affair with her late lover, and she hates Peter for being the rich aristocrat who saves her from the gallows and then asks for her hand in marriage; she hates the burden of gratitude of a "damsel in distress" to a "white knight in shining armour". But she finally realizes that their relationship is not bound up
by these roles -- because of everything that happens in Gaudy Night.
Sorry for tl;dr comment; Harriet/Peter are one of my OTPs, and I easily get carried away on that subject.