Welcome to bennetsbonnet! I hope you enjoy your stay 🦚
I'm Cora (20s, she/her). Here to ramble about all things Pride and Prejudice and share my analysis.
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I first read Pride and Prejudice at the end of 2023, and as you can tell, I feel very normally about it.
I love all of Jane Austen's novels for various reasons and would find it impossible to rank them, but Persuasion probably comes closest to P&P in my heart.
I've watched and read as many Pride and Prejudice adaptations/variations as I've been able to get my hands on and am always on the look out for more! Currently, I make gifs of my favourite (1995).
I own a healthy (and ever-growing) number of copies of Pride and Prejudice.
My blog is SFW; I try to tag thoroughly but feel free to let me know if you need anything specific to be tagged!
My TBR list is far too long (but it doesn't stop me from buying more books) and I'm slowly making my way through the classics! I sometimes yap about what I'm currently reading on my blog, but you can also find me on Goodreads.
Last but not least, I write, and post on AO3.
Please feel free to use my inbox or reply to my posts to share your thoughts. I'm always delighted to chat to others who share my passion for Jane Austen and her works! :)
April was a pretty stressful month, was hoping May would be kinder to me but alas...
Unfortunately a member of my family for whom I have essentially been a full-time carer for since the pandemic is in hospital at present. I'd hoped it would have given me a little bit of respite from those responsibilities, but sadly I'm back and forth to hospital every day at the moment to visit them and it's taking its toll emotionally and physically. They shouldn't be in for too much longer luckily, and this week they seem to have really turned a corner, so I'm hoping I'll be back to posting about The Book™ and The Author™ before too long. I've really missed being on here but I just don't have the spoons at present :(
May, you were frankly diabolical and if you were a Jane Austen character you would be John Thorpe. I'll be very glad to see the back of you. Over to you, June...
I swear Jane Austen haunts me and I encounter her in the most random places. I can never get away from her or her characters for very long...
My mountaineering disaster hyperfixation has lately returned with a vengeance, so I'm finally reading Jon Krakauer's account of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, Into Thin Air. One of the doomed expeditions included Sandy Hill Pittman, a rich socialite, who brought laptops, cameras and had the latest editions of magazines including Vogue brought to her via yak to Base Camp.
Krakauer really hates her and yeah, some of her behaviour is eyebrow-raising but imo he is far too harsh on her (in quite a condescending and misogynistic way... but then he does have a track record of being biased against people he didn't personally like, he did it too with Anatoli Boukreev... but I digress) I mean, she did bring a huge bag of gourmet food (which took four people to lift!) and a television with VCR when climbing in Antarctica... not sure it's hardcore mountaineering but if people are willing to accept her money to do it then is it entirely her fault?
Anyway, this chapter concluded with a comparison of her behaviour to Emma Woodhouse: 'Pittman was heedless of the resentment and scorn she inspired in others; she remained oblivious as Jane Austen's Emma.'
I do feel like Emma realising that she did inspire resentment and scorn in others due to her behaviour is sort of the entire point of the novel, even if Box Hill is no Everest... but anyway.... a firsthand account of a mountaineering disaster is still a very random place to encounter Austen!
Didn't have a diagnosis cake after my autism assessment 3 years ago as I found the whole process and its aftermath quite traumatic… there was lots of grieving the person that I feel like I could have been if only I had been diagnosed earlier and sadness over how much I had attributed my struggles to a personal failing rather than as the consequence of a lifelong disability. But after (finally!!!) being diagnosed with ADHD too today, I feel a much greater sense of relief and optimism for the future, as I hope I can continue to understand myself better and cut myself some more slack because I’m not lazy or broken… I’m just different!
I find it very funny that the people organising my ADHD assessment (which is finally tomorrow!!) have texted me multiple reminders over the past few days… they definitely know their audience, I’ll give them that!!
However, less fun is the fact that having three weeks notice has meant that I’ve been on permanent Waiting Mode™ since I found out the date,, which is a form of torture in itself. And also the fact that the appointment starts at EIGHT THIRTY and will last for THREE HOURS!?!?! Maybe this is somehow part of the assessment lol.
Anyway, excited to finally have some more clarity about why I am Like This and also a bit nervous because I hate talking about myself!!! Also hoping that with this off my mind I’ll finally be able to get back to posting regularly because I’ve missed losing my mind over The Book™ on here!! :)
I find it very funny that the people organising my ADHD assessment (which is finally tomorrow!!) have texted me multiple reminders over the past few days… they definitely know their audience, I’ll give them that!!
However, less fun is the fact that having three weeks notice has meant that I’ve been on permanent Waiting Mode™ since I found out the date,, which is a form of torture in itself. And also the fact that the appointment starts at EIGHT THIRTY and will last for THREE HOURS!?!?! Maybe this is somehow part of the assessment lol.
Anyway, excited to finally have some more clarity about why I am Like This and also a bit nervous because I hate talking about myself!!! Also hoping that with this off my mind I’ll finally be able to get back to posting regularly because I’ve missed losing my mind over The Book™ on here!! :)
I re-read Pride and Prejudice (likely thing for me to do) over the weekend and this time I was really struck by how Wickham is such a brilliant villain and a master manipulator... I think it would have been very difficult for anyone to not be taken in by him and fully believe his version of events.
The thing about Wickham is he sprinkles just enough of the truth in the narrative he tells Elizabeth in order to make himself believable. In particular, it's such a genius move in the way he uses Elizabeth's family to make her feel closer to him and help her believe the worst about Darcy:
'My father began life in the profession which your uncle, Mr Phillips, appears to do so much credit to—but he gave up everything to be of use to the late Mr Darcy and devoted all his time to the care of the Pemberley property.'
Not only is it impressive the way his mind works—as he is so new to Meryton and thus would only have recently become acquainted with the Phillipses and their connection with Elizabeth's family, yet he still has the presence of mind enough to remember this fact and bring it up at an opportune moment—but I also find it incredible the way that he positions himself alongside Elizabeth's family, as though they are equal in some way and looked down on/used by people like Darcy. When, in actual fact, the Bennets have far more in common with Mr Darcy who, like Mr Bennet, is a gentleman with an annual income in the thousands, which places them far higher up the social pecking order than an attorney/steward.
It's... an incredibly audacious move, and perhaps a little surprising that Wickham pulls it off with such ease. Though, when you remember he's supposed to be the most handsome man in the room with bucketloads of charisma to boot... yeah, I can absolutely understand why Elizabeth overlooks that aspect of his behaviour and wants to think of herself as having things in common with him.
I know everyone says that January drags but April has felt endless. This month has been an emotional rollercoaster and I can't believe there's still another week of it left.
TL;DR: a very strange month full of ups and downs which has left me feeling, in an emotional sense, as wrecked as Louisa Musgrove after a walk along The Cobb... but I hope to be back to be posting all about P&P and Austen soon!
Longer version including discussion of various medical dramas (not too graphic) below ↓
All month I've been struggling with what I thought was a really bad ear infection but discovered after four trips to various medical professionals (because good luck getting an ear infection taken seriously as an adult even if you wear a hearing aid lol) and a couple of weeks of uncertainty, including a few days where I was prescribed ear drops that made things worse by giving me vertigo/nausea, the ear swab came back normal... so the drops did work. But even though the infection had cleared on paper, I still felt like my ear wasn't right and there was a blockage in there.
Today I was meant to have wax removed only to be told there's none in the affected ear... which means my hearing has further deteriorated from last year from, when I was first diagnosed with a condition that will make my hearing progressively worse and probably impact both ears. Going to have another hearing test next week, and they are never much fun... but hoping it'll give me some answers I can have my hearing aid adjusted if needs be.
And then... as if my own medical drama wasn't enough, for the past week, pretty much every single day I've been taking a family member back and forth to various clinics/GPs/hospitals (including an overnight trip to A&E!) as a wound they sustained after a fall is now infected. Everyone just seems to be patching it up/passing the buck rather than actually treating it properly and it's very frustrating, especially because it's a bit of an ordeal to get them out of the house. It just wastes everyone's time.
I can't remember what it's like to not have some appointment or other lined up. It's pretty draining!
Anyway, the good news is that after almost 3 years on a waiting list (which I was initially told would be 13-14 months and then last December they told me it had increased to 7 years!!!!) I finally have my ADHD assessment next month. Actually more than good news. It's amazing news! I'm a bit nervous but excited to finally, I hope, get some answers as to why my brain is Like This and perhaps start medication in the not too distant future.
On the whole, it just feels like one step forward and two steps back... but I'm hoping that May will be a little kinder, and to finally have a week free of encountering medical professionals (as wonderful as they mostly are)!!
Curious* about the overlap between people who have read Pride and Prejudice and people who enjoyed The Other Bennet Sister, so with this in mind....
I watched The Other Bennet Sister and I...
Have read P&P; liked TOBS
Haven't read P&P; liked TOBS
Have read P&P; disliked TOBS
Haven't read P&P; disliked TOBS
Haven't read; haven't watched; don't care
See Results
Voting ended onApr 20
*And I am genuinely curious. This isn't coming from a place of malice and it isn't my intention to start discourse or give ammunition to people who look down on others for having not read classics (trust me, that's not what I'm about) I'm just so intrigued because people seem to be really loving this adaptation and are now maybe even more familiar with Mary than P&P and that's very interesting to me!
I'm especially curious to hear the perspectives from people who have both read P&P and like TOBS! If you'd like to share in the tags/replies or however you feel comfortable doing so, then I'd love to hear your thoughts. I'm not here to judge you, or to tell anybody that they're wrong for how they feel about a piece of media, though I may see it differently, I respect your right to have fun and to enjoy things! :)
Ultimately I strongly encourage anyone who enjoyed this adaptation to read (or listen to an audiobook of) Pride and Prejudice. Mary is not as prominent (otherwise TOBS wouldn't exist lmao) but there are plenty of other delightful characters to discover, who I hope that you will get as much enjoyment out of as I do!
I recently praised the book I'm currently reading, Jane Austen in 50 Words by Maria Frawley... but there is a pretty glaring Pride and Prejudice related error that makes me wonder whether I should even continue because how on earth did this get through peer review before it was published?:
When in Pride and Prejudice Elizabeth Bennet playfully asks Mr. Darcy, "Is not general incivility the very essence of love?" she means that people in love, wholly absorbed by one another, cannot be expected to be as aware of others, as solicitous of their feelings, as civility, even ceremonious or begrudged, might require.
I mean, yeah, that is what Elizabeth is getting at... just one problem. Elizabeth does not say this to Mr Darcy. I don't even understand how this error was made because Darcy is not even present when Elizabeth says this? The quote is from a conversation between Elizabeth and Mrs Gardiner in Chapter 25:
“But that expression of ‘violently in love’ is so hackneyed, so doubtful, so indefinite, that it gives me very little idea. It is as often applied to feelings which arise from a half-hour’s acquaintance, as to a real, strong attachment. Pray, how violent was Mr. Bingley’s love?”
“I never saw a more promising inclination; he was growing quite inattentive to other people, and wholly engrossed by her. Every time they met, it was more decided and remarkable. At his own ball he offended two or three young ladies, by not asking them to dance; and I spoke to him twice myself, without receiving an answer. Could there be finer symptoms? Is not general incivility the very essence of love?”
The whole conversation provides a lot more context but basically they're discussing why Bingley went away so suddenly when everything seemed to indicate he was about to propose to Jane (this convo also has a fantastic underrated quote from Elizabeth about how little consolation there is for women in these situations, when 'accident' may separate them from a potential suitor: “It will not do for us. We do not suffer by accident.” Reminds me a lot of the sentiment that Anne expresses to Captain Harville at the end of Persuasion!) and it ends with Mrs Gardiner joking that Elizabeth would have borne it better because she would've laughed herself out of it.
I think it's pretty clear that the entire tone of the conversation is quite teasing and playful, even if there is a serious undertone to it (namely Jane's disappointed hopes). It seems to me that Elizabeth is kind of poking fun at Bingley for being so wrapped up in Jane and yet still leaving, rather than it being an actual sincere read of the behaviour of people in love, as Frawley presents it. Elizabeth is kind of asking what women can do in a situation such as this, when they could very reasonably expect a proposal to occur, only to find themselves back to square one.
I also think that, even if Elizabeth was being entirely earnest rather than joking with her aunt, her behaviour does not align with what she says anyway; Elizabeth is never rude, even to people she dislikes. Her civility towards Darcy is a large part of why he made that disastrous first proposal.
Even when she feels uncomfortable because of her feelings for Darcy, she still remembers to behave politely to those around her.
A couple of examples that spring to mind are in Chapter 43, when Elizabeth is distracted by Darcy's appearance at Pemberley and instead of continuing in her incivility, she actually makes a concerted effort not to be rude to Mr and Mrs Gardiner:
... though she answered mechanically to the repeated appeals of her uncle and aunt, and seemed to direct her eyes to such objects as they pointed out, she distinguished no part of the scene. Her thoughts were all fixed on that one spot of Pemberley House, whichever it might be, where Mr. Darcy then was. She longed to know what at the moment was passing in his mind—in what manner he thought of her, and whether, in defiance of everything, she was still dear to him. Perhaps he had been civil only because he felt himself at ease; yet there had been that in his voice which was not like ease. Whether he had felt more of pain or of plea- sure in seeing her she could not tell, but he certainly had not seen her with composure.
At length, however, the remarks of her companions on her absence of mind aroused her, and she felt the necessity of appearing more like herself.
And later on, in Chapter 54, Elizabeth doesn't shout at the infamous unnamed lady who prevents Darcy from talking to her while she is pouring coffee after the dinner at Longbourn:
The gentlemen came; and she thought he looked as if he would have answered her hopes; but, alas! the ladies had crowded round the table, where Miss Bennet was making tea, and Elizabeth pouring out the coffee, in so close a confederacy that there was not a single vacancy near her which would admit of a chair.
And on the gentlemen’s approaching, one of the girls moved closer to her than ever, and said, in a whisper:
“The men shan’t come and part us, I am determined. We want none of them; do we?”
Darcy had walked away to another part of the room. She followed him with her eyes, envied everyone to whom he spoke, had scarcely patience enough to help anybody to coffee; and then was enraged against herself for being so silly!
Again, Elizabeth has a moment of letting her feelings get in the way of her civility, but she quickly corrects herself. Being uncivil to others because of a man is not something she would allow of herself, I think.
Ultimately, claiming that Elizabeth actually 'means that people in love, wholly absorbed by one another, cannot be expected to be as aware of others,' as Frawley does, does not align with the behaviour she displays throughout the novel. Even without misattributing the recipient of Elizabeth's remark to Mr Darcy, rather than Mrs Gardiner, the point doesn't really stand up to scrutiny.
But back to that mix-up over who Elizabeth says it to...
My suspicion is that the confusion originated because of Pride and Prejudice (2005). I think it sounds like something which could come from the mouth of that Elizabeth but it is absolutely not something that she would say to Mr Darcy in the novel. Perhaps she would begin to be so teasing towards him after their engagement towards the end? But even so, I think going on about incivility would be a bit near the knuckle for a newly-engaged couple with such a history of, well, incivility.
It's not exactly the same, but I think this is the closest dialogue between Elizabeth and Darcy to the one Frawley erroneously states is from one of their conversations to each other:
(Off-topic but this is practically 1:1 from the novel! I love that this bit of dialogue was included, so let me give credit where it's due to P&P '05. I do appreciate this an awful lot!)
Even though I think confusing the novel with an adaptation and misremembering a line of dialogue provides a reasonable explanation for where the confusion originated, there really is no excuse for this. Not for someone who is writing an academic book and who should be doing, at an absolute minimum, a veeeery close reading of the text.
As I mentioned before, the 'incivility' quote occurs in Chapter 25... which is a significant amount of time after Bingley & co. disappear from the narrative. Jane first receives the letter from Caroline that informs of the party's departure from Netherfield in Chapter 21, and Darcy hasn't actually appeared in person since Chapter 18! That's seven whole chapters ago! Definitely not the same as mistakenly attributing a line of dialogue to a character who is actually in the scene because you weren't paying attention and Austen doesn't always clarify who is speaking. That would still be poor, but definitely not as disappointing as this.
Absolutely baffling. Actually, typing this out made me mad all over again and now I definitely have 0 appetite to continue reading this. Definitely going to DNF it for now... maybe I'll come back to it at some point in the future but for now I need to leave it for the sake of my sanity😅
I was enchanted by Needle Felted Darcy in your post, but surprised they didn’t have the matching Darcy ornament that matches your Elizabeth! They’re all over Bath, and, much like Ken dolls, sell much less than the Elizabeth. In this image of the Roman Baths gift shop there are 2x as many Kens Darcies as Elizabeths. I have never seen a Needle Felted Darcy and am wondering if it was actually a product that was truly on sale, or a strange homonculus that deliberately came home with you
The plot thickens...
I absolutely love that Elizabeth is outselling him (as she should!) but based on your firsthand evidence there is a chance that the Needle Felted Darcy telepathically controlled me and forced me to bring him home. Suddenly paranoid that the memory of me paying for him is a false one and everything I've done since December was actually his will!!!
OH my goodness, WHAT would I do with the wisdom of an embodied Fitzwilliam Darcy homunculus. Set my personal life on fire and simultaneously demonstrate excellent estate management, I think
I was enchanted by Needle Felted Darcy in your post, but surprised they didn’t have the matching Darcy ornament that matches your Elizabeth! They’re all over Bath, and, much like Ken dolls, sell much less than the Elizabeth. In this image of the Roman Baths gift shop there are 2x as many Kens Darcies as Elizabeths. I have never seen a Needle Felted Darcy and am wondering if it was actually a product that was truly on sale, or a strange homonculus that deliberately came home with you
The plot thickens...
I absolutely love that Elizabeth is outselling him (as she should!) but based on your firsthand evidence there is a chance that the Needle Felted Darcy telepathically controlled me and forced me to bring him home. Suddenly paranoid that the memory of me paying for him is a false one and everything I've done since December was actually his will!!!
I went to the Jane Austen Centre in Bath back in December so naturally there were Christmas decorations for sale in the gift shop. It was late enough that some were reduced, so naturally I had to get Elizabeth and Mr Darcy and now they both live on my shelf in my bedroom.
Elizabeth looks nice enough (slightly questionable facial expression but I choose to believe that this was her exact face when Mr Collins proposed):
But I was a cheapskate and so I ended up getting a Darcy who, put it this way, is aesthetically (and vertically) challenged...:
(I can only assume that they had already sold out of the nicer Darcy ones)
Personally I love them as a pair because Darcy would be so offended to be depicted like this. Maybe if he had been able to see such an effigy of himself then he wouldn't have been so conceited.
The only problem is that it can get a little creepy at night. I was reading in bed and I glanced up and saw this staring back at me:
Hmmm. Maybe I should hide him behind Elizabeth... or throw him in a fire...
Being asexual is very funny sometimes because I remember after I made this post about how lovely Mr Darcy's reaction is to Elizabeth's dishevelled appearance after she walks to Netherfield... I was genuinely shocked when people pointed out that there was perhaps a double entendre at play... that Elizabeth arriving with flushed cheeks attracts Darcy so much because he's thinking of other scenarios where her cheeks might flush like that...
Me: awwww Darcy was interested in Elizabeth even after seeing her with messy hair, muddy clothes and a sweaty face 🥺
Allos: his mind is wandering.... he's more attracted to her because of her messy appearance...
How did I not realise that there is a high chance Darcy is Suffering™ because... well... her hair is a mess and her cheeks are flushed...?!
Look, there's nothing explicit in the text... but there is the hint of a suggestion of where Darcy's mind is at:
Mr Darcy said very little, and Mr Hurst nothing at all. The former was divided between admiration of the brilliancy which exercise had given to her complexion, and doubt as to the occasion’s justifying her coming so far alone. The latter was thinking only of his breakfast.
While I do still think that part of why this moment endears Elizabeth to Darcy so much is because he realises how deeply she cares about Jane and appreciates Elizabeth's lack of vanity about her appearance... yeah... it's probably the other thing, too.
In this scenario, I am 100% Mr Hurst... but rather than breakfast, I am thinking of garlic bread.
Regarding the persuasion comment - i think if netflix really tries & gives the job to the right people, they can absolutely pull off a good adaptation. They can stay faithful to a book and add depth to different layers (with the right producers, writers etc). Not sure if you read the ‘a series of unfortunate events’ books but the adaptation was incredibly good… + I watched mina le’s youtube essay on what makes a book adaptation good which also changed my perspective on the whole topic (really recommend it!!) so I kind of have high hopes despite the different tone setting in the trailer. It also changed my view on why the p&p 2005 adaptation is a good one after all despite the fast pacing + less faithful adaptation of the book
(Anon is referring to my scepticism in this answer about the upcoming P&P adaptation because of Netflix's track record on Austen!)
Yeah, there's absolutely no reason why it can't be a great adaptation and I do really hope it is, Netflix has obviously had plenty of hits; considering the resources at their disposal it's well within their capability to do Pride and Prejudice justice! I did read a bit of that series when I was younger but I haven't seen the adaptation, glad it was good though because I remember enjoying the books!
I do remain a bit nervous because of some of the comments the writer of this adaptation has made about Mr Darcy, though granted they were a few years old and she did say some constructive things more recently. So fingers crossed she has a more balanced approach to the character now and the script reflects that! A different tone (within reason) wouldn't bother me as much as if they completely butcher the characterisation and give the audience an entirely different impression of the characters than what exists in the novel (showing consistency with the novel in terms of the characters and their behaviour/motives is what matters most to me with any adaptation, though I am intrigued by that video... I'll stick it on next time I'm cooking!)
I will give P&P 2005 credit for including plenty of humour and I do think the cinematography has plenty of 'light & bright & sparkling' moments that highlight that aspect of the novel really well. I do hope the upcoming one doesn't try to go so far in the other direction that it ignores the gleeful aspects of the novel, though!
I'm currently reading Jane Austen in 50 Words by Maria Frawley. It examines some of the most frequently used words in Austen's writing and explores how they were emphasised/offers some explanations as to why. It's pretty hardcore lit crit... plenty of which, I confess, is flying over my head (it's been a while since I last engaged with this sort of academic writing!) but I wanted to share a point I found interesting in the entry for 'amiable'.
In Chapter 59 of Pride and Prejudice, when Mr Bennet is questioning his daughter about her engagement, Elizabeth uses that very word to describe Mr Darcy:
“Have you any other objection,” said Elizabeth, “than your belief of my indifference?”
“None at all. We all know him to be a proud, unpleasant sort of man; but this would be nothing if you really liked him.”
“I do, I do like him,” she replied, with tears in her eyes, “I love him. Indeed he has no improper pride. He is perfectly amiable. You do not know what he really is; then pray do not pain me by speaking of him in such terms.”
I suppose I'd never really given such a description much thought, but I do think the heroine earnestly describing the hero as 'perfectly amiable' to her concerned father would seem a little trite for an Austen novel, if you take it in the more modern sense, where Elizabeth would be calling Darcy perfectly pleasant/friendly/nice.
But Frawley explains amiable here is meant in the archaic sense of 'worthy of being loved' i.e. that Darcy has admirable traits that make him worthy of being esteemed and possible for Elizabeth to want to marry him (you can read a bit more about the roots of amiable here). Also Elizabeth doesn't suddenly believe Darcy to be faultless, as perfectly here means to a complete/adequate extent.
Elizabeth is still offering high praise of Darcy indeed, but it is a lot more grounded and reflects the reality of their rocky relationship. Love finding these nuggets because it reminds you that no matter how many times you've engaged with Pride and Prejudice (or indeed any Austen novel) there is always something new to uncover!
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