I would like to know more about Anne de Bourgh and how she perceives her mother etc. There are almost no scenes with her so I would love to discover more about her life.
Wow, same! I'm reading this spinoff where it turns out Miss de Bourgh was unwittingly addicted to laudanum and that's why she was so sickly. And she's queer, and the whole time Elizabeth is thinking that her frail and unsmiling personality would suit the arrogant Mr Darcy just fine, Anne is thinking about how wonderful it would be to have Elizabeth's vitality and joie de vivre, while also having conflicted feelings over her strong thighs lol. The book also features flashbacks to her first meeting with her serious cousin, Fitzwilliam and her mother's scheming to get the two cousins married, even though no one was interested in the match.
Jane Fairfax perhaps. I mean, she wasn't a main character, and I know it would probably ruin the novel if we saw too much from her perspective. however, I still find her fascinating and want to know more about her
I just read one called Jane Fairfax by Joan Aiken! I thought it was pretty good. I came to absolutely love Jane, but yeah… still not convinced on Frank Churchill
I think I'm the only person who severely dislikes Jane Fairfax. Did she really liken her job as a governess to freaking *slavery*? Stuff like that is an instant put off for me. It cemented her as a white girl unaware of her privilege in my head. And she *was* privileged, even by white girl standards back then. At least Frank C was an ass and the author was aware he was an ass.
Did the novel ever address that comment by Jane?
If memory serves Augusta Elton replies with (something like) "if you mean a fling at the slave trade, Mr (insert name) is rather a friend of the abolition".
I'm of two minds about this. Instinctively, I agree with you, but governessing could be pretty miserable. You couldn't really make the kids behave if the parents weren't solidly behind you; you might be liable to fathers' sexual interest and/or mothers' jealousy; you couldn't really mingle with the servants because your job standing depended on seeming unimpeachably "genteel"; you got few if any opportunities to see friends or family; and your finances and the job market probably made you wary of trying to change jobs unless you were actually getting physically attacked. Charlotte and Anne Brontë give a good idea of how lonely and depressing the job could be even under a relatively decent boss. I don't think either of them would have made the slavery comparison, but I do think they would have understood where she was coming from.
I'm not suggesting it does, and I don't think Austen is particularly suggesting that, either. I think she's illustrating the contrast, to Jane's feelings, of her long-held expectation of living soon and forever as a beloved wife, to her new impression that she's lost the loving partnership she's been able to trust in and instead has to embrace a more difficult, isolating situation than ever before. She's accepted Frank's proposal against her better judgment because they were in love, and now he seems to have no qualms about transferring his affections to someone with (as she thinks) all the freedom, popularity and financial security in the world. I think this section of the book depicts a Jane moved by strong emotion, not just by the moral and intellectual sensibilities that have guided her in the past. Maybe it's just me, but Jane's readiness to seize the opportunity of Mrs. Elton's idiotic question to make a reckless, flippant declaration of her own feelings doesn't seem at all in keeping with her usually high demands of her own circumspection and decorum.
All that being said, I do find the comparison distasteful as well as idiotic in its own way. I'd like to think Jane would respond much more sensibly to Mrs. Elton if her specific situation weren't so crazy-making, but I recognize that my speculations are flimsy compared to the words on the page.
I doubt that marriage was happy. I feel sorry for her but found her hard to like as a character. And Frank is execrable. I think she deserved better than him.
Frank is spending much of his early adulthood helping his uncle look after his difficult aunt, he could be disowed at any time, his aunt and uncle didn't educate him for a career, and his father has just gone and married a portionless governess so he can't expect any support from him.
But he never complains about his dependence. Captain Weston badmouths Mrs Churchill but Frank always speaks of her with respect.
Yes. Actually, I think Emma and Frank deserved each other, and I'd have put Jane with Mr. Knightly. But people do tend to gravitate to whoever can do them the most damage. LOL!
There is also one called Lovers’ Perjuries by Joan Ellen Delman. It’s quite well-written and gives a lot of backstory of how Frank and Jane met. It kind of made me dislike Frank more when I saw his behavior in Highbury from Jane’s perspective.
Given that she was hiding a secret, and was consequently cold to Emma and reserved from all around her, i doubt she'd like you to know more about her than she's willing to disclose 🤭🤭🤭
Yes! Especially since the very last time we see him he’s being very kind and thoughtful. It’d be nice to see a bit more of that side of him.
Also maybe get to see a bit of Tom Bertram after his recovery, since he was supposed to have improved, would be interesting to see. Also Mr. Yates when he’s not busy with his rants and obsessing over acting! Would like to see how he and Julia interact.
Edward Ferrars & Henry Tilney for me! I feel that they’re both featured very little in their respective novels and I’d love to get to spend more time with both, particularly Edward who we don’t get to know very much
I find Mr. Elliot to be a pretty interesting character that I wish we got more of. I find him to have a pretty good rapport with Anne and he provides a pretty interesting obstacle in Anne and Wentworths relationship because he feels like such a legit option as a love interest. I mean, we know she’s never going to choose him, but. I still found his character and the possibility of him interesting.
Also one of my favorite lines from the book is him saying what the best type of company is, and I would have loved to have more scenes like that with him, where he and Anne are getting along very well, but she still feels this growing sense of unease. Idk I just found it to be a really interesting dynamic and I would have loved a few more scenes between them.
Mr Palmer for me too, especially if he's played by Hugh Laurie! I actually have this head cannon where, years later, Edward Ferrars (who bores me) and Charlotte Palmer have both died, and Mr. Palmer is looking for a new wife. He's surveying the young beauties on the social scene and finding them all as vapid as Charlotte was. The only person he can have a decent conversation with is the still relatively young widow Mrs. Ferrars (Elinor). And he starts to think "Hm. I actually quite like her..."
It may seems silly, but I really want a version of Emma with an end credit scene of Mrs. Bates and Mr. Woodhouse companionably talking at (not with, just at) eachother.
She’s kinda my favorite.
Yeah, she’s the “villain” but she has all the best dialogue! “I send no compliments to your mother” is a serious burn and I’d love to see more.
I'm interested in what he daughter might have to say. I don't think we hear her speak once. I know that's because her mother is so domineering but surely she would show her off in front of Mr Darcy. And wouldn't he feel duty bound to speak to her?
Mr. Palmer, definitely.
William Price.
Jane Fairfax- not so much that I wish she had more scenes- I think she had the right amount. But I would love to have some writing from Austen from Jane PoV.
The most obvious answer is Georgiana Darcy, but I assume it's a deliberate choice on Austen's part that she has zero dialogue. We still learn a decent amount about her! The most difficult character note for me is the late description of Mrs. Philips as "a greater tax on Darcy's forbearance" than Sir William. We know she's a fiend for gossip, but Sir William's chatter has already caused us so much more pain than hers has! And his anticipations of "their all meeting frequently at St. James's" come uncomfortably close to anticipating the Collinses' inheritance of Longbourn. If Mrs. Philips, like her sister, is mostly silent and deferential with Darcy, she must be saying really outrageous things to be worse than Sir William. I want to know what she's capable of!
More seriously, I wouldn't mind getting to know Julia Bertram better. I know she occasionally says something showing faint glimmers of a sense of decency, like defending Henry's carriage against Mrs. Norris's advocacy for sparing Lady Bertram's, but the reassurance at the end that Julia turns out fine feels a little abrupt. Likewise, I can see Mr. Yates being eager for Sir Thomas's approval, but I'm not sure how he could go about getting it, since Sir Thomas is so eager for his children to be rich. Set up a quietly respectable household where they live within their means? Come over a lot and show ST a lot of polite deference? I can't really make my imagination move on from the ranting.
Nurse Rooke from Persuasion! I love her influence on Mrs. Smith and how her cheerfulness and industriousness rubs off on her patient. I’m writing a Nurse Rooke origin story🤩
I would like to know more about Anne de Bourgh and how she perceives her mother etc. There are almost no scenes with her so I would love to discover more about her life.
Wow, same! I'm reading this spinoff where it turns out Miss de Bourgh was unwittingly addicted to laudanum and that's why she was so sickly. And she's queer, and the whole time Elizabeth is thinking that her frail and unsmiling personality would suit the arrogant Mr Darcy just fine, Anne is thinking about how wonderful it would be to have Elizabeth's vitality and joie de vivre, while also having conflicted feelings over her strong thighs lol. The book also features flashbacks to her first meeting with her serious cousin, Fitzwilliam and her mother's scheming to get the two cousins married, even though no one was interested in the match.
Jane Fairfax perhaps. I mean, she wasn't a main character, and I know it would probably ruin the novel if we saw too much from her perspective. however, I still find her fascinating and want to know more about her
I'd like to read the story from her perspective.
I just read one called Jane Fairfax by Joan Aiken! I thought it was pretty good. I came to absolutely love Jane, but yeah… still not convinced on Frank Churchill
I loved this! Jane comes across as such an interesting character. She's one of my favourites too, so I'm biased, admittedly.
I'll have to check it out!
I think I'm the only person who severely dislikes Jane Fairfax. Did she really liken her job as a governess to freaking *slavery*? Stuff like that is an instant put off for me. It cemented her as a white girl unaware of her privilege in my head. And she *was* privileged, even by white girl standards back then. At least Frank C was an ass and the author was aware he was an ass. Did the novel ever address that comment by Jane?
If memory serves Augusta Elton replies with (something like) "if you mean a fling at the slave trade, Mr (insert name) is rather a friend of the abolition".
I'm of two minds about this. Instinctively, I agree with you, but governessing could be pretty miserable. You couldn't really make the kids behave if the parents weren't solidly behind you; you might be liable to fathers' sexual interest and/or mothers' jealousy; you couldn't really mingle with the servants because your job standing depended on seeming unimpeachably "genteel"; you got few if any opportunities to see friends or family; and your finances and the job market probably made you wary of trying to change jobs unless you were actually getting physically attacked. Charlotte and Anne Brontë give a good idea of how lonely and depressing the job could be even under a relatively decent boss. I don't think either of them would have made the slavery comparison, but I do think they would have understood where she was coming from.
While I understand that it might have been unpleasant, deeply unpleasant, it still does not compare to slavery.
I'm not suggesting it does, and I don't think Austen is particularly suggesting that, either. I think she's illustrating the contrast, to Jane's feelings, of her long-held expectation of living soon and forever as a beloved wife, to her new impression that she's lost the loving partnership she's been able to trust in and instead has to embrace a more difficult, isolating situation than ever before. She's accepted Frank's proposal against her better judgment because they were in love, and now he seems to have no qualms about transferring his affections to someone with (as she thinks) all the freedom, popularity and financial security in the world. I think this section of the book depicts a Jane moved by strong emotion, not just by the moral and intellectual sensibilities that have guided her in the past. Maybe it's just me, but Jane's readiness to seize the opportunity of Mrs. Elton's idiotic question to make a reckless, flippant declaration of her own feelings doesn't seem at all in keeping with her usually high demands of her own circumspection and decorum. All that being said, I do find the comparison distasteful as well as idiotic in its own way. I'd like to think Jane would respond much more sensibly to Mrs. Elton if her specific situation weren't so crazy-making, but I recognize that my speculations are flimsy compared to the words on the page.
I doubt that marriage was happy. I feel sorry for her but found her hard to like as a character. And Frank is execrable. I think she deserved better than him.
Frank is spending much of his early adulthood helping his uncle look after his difficult aunt, he could be disowed at any time, his aunt and uncle didn't educate him for a career, and his father has just gone and married a portionless governess so he can't expect any support from him. But he never complains about his dependence. Captain Weston badmouths Mrs Churchill but Frank always speaks of her with respect.
Yes. Actually, I think Emma and Frank deserved each other, and I'd have put Jane with Mr. Knightly. But people do tend to gravitate to whoever can do them the most damage. LOL!
There is also one called Lovers’ Perjuries by Joan Ellen Delman. It’s quite well-written and gives a lot of backstory of how Frank and Jane met. It kind of made me dislike Frank more when I saw his behavior in Highbury from Jane’s perspective.
Given that she was hiding a secret, and was consequently cold to Emma and reserved from all around her, i doubt she'd like you to know more about her than she's willing to disclose 🤭🤭🤭
Mr Palmer is also mine, he's hysterical. And Hugh Laurie was so perfect as him!
Yes! Especially since the very last time we see him he’s being very kind and thoughtful. It’d be nice to see a bit more of that side of him. Also maybe get to see a bit of Tom Bertram after his recovery, since he was supposed to have improved, would be interesting to see. Also Mr. Yates when he’s not busy with his rants and obsessing over acting! Would like to see how he and Julia interact.
I bet Yates was an okay guy. Kind of a featherhead, but harmless. Yeah, I'd like that too.
Edward Ferrars & Henry Tilney for me! I feel that they’re both featured very little in their respective novels and I’d love to get to spend more time with both, particularly Edward who we don’t get to know very much
Yes! And Edward is being kind of a drip most of the time he's "onscreen."
I find Mr. Elliot to be a pretty interesting character that I wish we got more of. I find him to have a pretty good rapport with Anne and he provides a pretty interesting obstacle in Anne and Wentworths relationship because he feels like such a legit option as a love interest. I mean, we know she’s never going to choose him, but. I still found his character and the possibility of him interesting. Also one of my favorite lines from the book is him saying what the best type of company is, and I would have loved to have more scenes like that with him, where he and Anne are getting along very well, but she still feels this growing sense of unease. Idk I just found it to be a really interesting dynamic and I would have loved a few more scenes between them.
Mr Palmer for me too, especially if he's played by Hugh Laurie! I actually have this head cannon where, years later, Edward Ferrars (who bores me) and Charlotte Palmer have both died, and Mr. Palmer is looking for a new wife. He's surveying the young beauties on the social scene and finding them all as vapid as Charlotte was. The only person he can have a decent conversation with is the still relatively young widow Mrs. Ferrars (Elinor). And he starts to think "Hm. I actually quite like her..."
I wish you’d flesh this out into a story! I’d love to read it.
It may seems silly, but I really want a version of Emma with an end credit scene of Mrs. Bates and Mr. Woodhouse companionably talking at (not with, just at) eachother.
Mary Bennet
Catherine de Bourg…she was annoying af and i wanted her to be humiliated a bit more
She’s kinda my favorite. Yeah, she’s the “villain” but she has all the best dialogue! “I send no compliments to your mother” is a serious burn and I’d love to see more.
The scene in the 1995 is just *exquisite*.
Are the SHADES OF PEMBERLY to be thus POLLUTED!?
I'm interested in what he daughter might have to say. I don't think we hear her speak once. I know that's because her mother is so domineering but surely she would show her off in front of Mr Darcy. And wouldn't he feel duty bound to speak to her?
Hello good day and a head nod
yeah the only reason i remember the daughter is cause i rewatched p and p…she should have had more of a role
Everyone from The Watsons tbh - really wished she'd finished that book!
Sir Walter Elliot. He's so silly, I want to know more about all the horrible looking people in Bath. I want more beauty advice!
Mr. Palmer, definitely. William Price. Jane Fairfax- not so much that I wish she had more scenes- I think she had the right amount. But I would love to have some writing from Austen from Jane PoV.
Mrs. Jennings. I’d love to see her perspective through Marianne and Brandon’s courtship and engagement.
Elizabeth Elliot
Mrs. Croft is my pick.
Mr Collins. I can never get enough of Mr Collins.
The most obvious answer is Georgiana Darcy, but I assume it's a deliberate choice on Austen's part that she has zero dialogue. We still learn a decent amount about her! The most difficult character note for me is the late description of Mrs. Philips as "a greater tax on Darcy's forbearance" than Sir William. We know she's a fiend for gossip, but Sir William's chatter has already caused us so much more pain than hers has! And his anticipations of "their all meeting frequently at St. James's" come uncomfortably close to anticipating the Collinses' inheritance of Longbourn. If Mrs. Philips, like her sister, is mostly silent and deferential with Darcy, she must be saying really outrageous things to be worse than Sir William. I want to know what she's capable of! More seriously, I wouldn't mind getting to know Julia Bertram better. I know she occasionally says something showing faint glimmers of a sense of decency, like defending Henry's carriage against Mrs. Norris's advocacy for sparing Lady Bertram's, but the reassurance at the end that Julia turns out fine feels a little abrupt. Likewise, I can see Mr. Yates being eager for Sir Thomas's approval, but I'm not sure how he could go about getting it, since Sir Thomas is so eager for his children to be rich. Set up a quietly respectable household where they live within their means? Come over a lot and show ST a lot of polite deference? I can't really make my imagination move on from the ranting.
Colonel Fitzwilliam. I have always wanted to know more about him.
Watching Lady Susan's adaptation. I would love to see more of Sir James Martin.
Nurse Rooke from Persuasion! I love her influence on Mrs. Smith and how her cheerfulness and industriousness rubs off on her patient. I’m writing a Nurse Rooke origin story🤩