what does "her desire to impress, something fancy and successful about her," mean in the context below?

Question

Doctor Fox looked at Elizabeth as he chewed, and nodded and smiled.

She must be nearly forty now, like Dex. Thank God they were never foolish

enough to marry, though no doubt Dexter had poked her when they were

students. He felt like laughing. She was quite plainly not the marrying kind.

Children out of the question. He saw her wide open eyes, her nervous

nostrils, her desire to impress, something fancy and successful about her,

and yet he felt sure she was the kind of woman who’d throw round terms

like theorthodox feminist position.

Does it mean: she wanted to show off by telling about her beauty?

I don't get the meaning of "fancy and successful".

busterwasmycat · Answer

the guy is listing the several things he observes about her. she clearly has a desire to impress, he sees that in her clothes and the way she carries herself (perhaps, the reasons he sees these things is not declared, just what he interprets and I am just offering a possible way that he concludes what he does). The "something fancy and successful about her" part is another, separate observation. it is not really linked directly in any way to, not dependent upon, any of the other observations. It is just one of several things he is listing.

The phrase means that he recognizes something, but he isn't exactly sure what, that tells him she is probably both fancy and successful. Not really anything directly to do with the other thing, the clearly seen desire to impress. They do relate, a bit, but they are not linked.

The phrase means that he recognizes something, but he isn't exactly sure what, that tells him she is probably both fancy and successful.  Not really anything directly to do with the other thing, the clearly seen desire to impress.  They do relate, a bit, but they are not linked.

Pearl L · Answer

maybe she wasnt the marrying type

Gypsyfish · Answer

This is fiction, creative writing, which doesn't always follow the rules of academic writing. It's more informal. The phrase "fancy and successful" really follows "he saw"-- that is, he noticed something that seemed fancy and successful about her. It's not parallel to the previous phrase. He notice her eyes, her nostrils, and her desire to impress him. She was a little nervous about the meeting because she wanted to make a good impression.

what does "her desire to impress, something fancy and successful about her," mean in the context below?

3 Answers