I think the meaning of the phrase would be that she sees that food and education doesnt give her the gratification trendy apparel does. im not sure about what the context clues are but this should give you an idea. sorry i couldnt fully answer this.
This is more of a psychology question than an English question, but coping mechanisms in general are all used to deal with stress. Stress covers a variety of influences as anything that affects one's mental or physical state.
D.
To entertain I believe
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[She] had kindled the callow fancy of the most idle and shiftless of all
the village lads, and had conceived for this Howard Carpenter one of
those absurd and extravagant passions which a handsome country boy of
twenty one sometimes inspires in a plain, angular, spectacled woman of
thirty. (Willa Cather, "A Wagner Matinee")
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