#austenposting

[austenposting]

It doesn't matter how often I hear or read the first sentence, it doesn't lose any of its impact. I know it has this effect on other folks, presumably not least because it's eminently meme-able. But I also love most how Austen immediately shoots the reader with a cannon upon opening the book. "This how y'all think?"

She writes a truth, not the truth. That's presumably also a language thing (language evolves and there is a lot of language in P&P that is indeterminate where today we'd use a determinate form; I'm not getting a language degree for this; the internet will have to deal with my uninformed takes) but it does pair amusingly with its "universally" acknowledged status.

We immediately know what's coming: there will be a single man. He will have a large fortune. And someone will want to give him a wife. It's the whole plot! In a line! To start the book! And yet the journey is still hilarious and entertaining and enjoyable. Just incredible. Really brings home that what matters most is how the story is told, and not whether the plot is unusual or new.

Of course, once she's shot us through with cannon, Austen goes on to really drive the point home. England is a country where people are both incredibly isolationist and (still!) insist on being a monarch in their own castle, but it's also a country where 'shoulds' and 'shouldn'ts' are strongly enforced by societal reinforcement and shaming. (That's why they're so good at queuing. And so bad at therapy. They're all perpetually worried someone is going to point at them and shame them.) So, society decides how you act, and society has decided that what a single man of large fortune should do is marry, and so therefore he belongs to someone's daughter. And one's own daughter would be ideal, naturally.

Also a really good example of how ownership and power flow in odd ways, even in an age that was even more (openly/legally) patriarchal. It's 'comical,' of course, a man belonging to a woman, but it's also a very real truth. We see it today in heterosexual couples discussing cheating dynamics. "The other woman" is a whole-ass phrase we have to describe a woman who 'steals' another woman's 'property'. This, incidentally, is the first of millions of examples of why I'm obsessed with this book. Because it's still 100% relevant today, because it writes about human nature and (this specific) society in a way that's so incredibly recognisable still.

Next we immediately hear about Mrs. Long, who will be a steadfast non-speaking role for the remainder of the book, and that takes us straight into the hilarious (and depressing) dynamic between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet. The first two things Mr. Bennet says in this dialogue are "No" and <silence> and we don't even hear his voice directly, which is very characteristic of how he deals with his wife in general.

Next, we get a lesson in agency and ownership: "You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it." Honestly a sentence I could say to my partners and friends all day long (we're all AuDHD as fuck). No, I don't particularly care about this item or process, but you do, and I'm here to listen. I don't have to care about the content if I care about the person who is sharing it, and I don't have to pretend to, either! <neurodivergent sigh of relief> Of course, I actually enjoy listening to these folks, and Mr. Bennet does not particularly enjoy listening to Mrs. Bennet. He's probably at least mildly curious, though unwilling to admit it, so he's a bit of a shit to his wife about it. Chronically incapable of not being a bit of a dick, Mr. Bennet.

However, Mrs. Bennet, presumably never used to being valued and/or never having learned how to value herself sincerely, doesn't even notice that he's being shitty. Him not actively telling her to shut up is 'invitation enough', which tells us something about her (she loves talking about this stuff and unless you actively run away you will be talked at) and also their relationship (if this is an invitation, what do the rejections look like?).

Unleash the gossip floodgates! He's young, he's rich, he's not from around here (thank heavens he's not somebody's cousin; that sort of thing would make everything a lot more complicated). He's got FOUR horses on his elegantly small vehicle (did we mention he's rich), and he loves the big fancy house in the neighbourhood! He showed up, signed the lease, and is moving in. A rich, wealthy closer! Hallelujah! ---

Link to Internet Archive.

[catgirlizzyhands]

Anne Elliot🤝angry cats

Not fond of bath

[spriggswritings]

The thorpes are fake as hell. Gaslighting assholes. And Cat’s brother? Taking their side? Ew.

Wish I’d read this at 15 or something. The gossip is real.

[dykebeckett]

tom holland as bingley. paul mcgann as mr gardiner. olivia coleman as mrs bennet which is galaxy brain. I have put forward kate mulgrew as lady catherine de whatever

my mom’s pride and prejudice cast would feature florence pugh as jane bennett and little timmy dune boy as wickham

[lorewhoresam]

yeah yeah "You must allow me to tell you how ardently I love and admire you" we've all heard it, what about "I cannot make speeches Emma, if I loved you less I might be able to talk about it more"

[gothhabiba]

follow my Austenposting blog @charminglygrouped

[anneonomus]

half my mutuals have gotten really into austenposting the other half are going insane about greek tragedy. why am i back in undergrad where am i

[myheartisafish]

wentworth’s second proposal

[dumbbitchawards]

Okay I'm done austenposting. For now

[austenposting]

We return with the closing-est of closers, the rich, the mysteriously unknown, the promising Mr. Bingley! He's moving in by September 29th (oh hey, we're getting a season! It's probably summer!) and he's getting the house ready immediately.

"Do we know him?" "Never head of him." "Anything else notable?" "He's going to marry one of our daughters." "Is he now."

We the reader have known from page one that this is the single man in possession of a large fortune, but Mr. Bennet is just discovering it now. And he's immediately going to make fun of his wife about it. We later learn that he's actually not a stupid man, intellectually-speaking, but at this stage in the book we don't know. He might be dumb! Mr. and Mrs. Bennet apparently have daughters, plural (a terrible misfortune, they all need dowries) so presumably Mr. Bennet should be well aware that they need husbands eventually, and he's either thick or being an ass.

Ah yes, being an ass. "Is this total stranger moving here to marry one of our daughters whomst he cannot possibly know" is straight-facing something patently ridiculous, and Mrs. Bennet immediately takes the bait. She is always 300% sincere in her feelings and thoughts, they are loud and expressed instantly (constrained only barely by the societal rules she understands), and she's incapable of recognising that other people might act differently to her. This is the first of many of Mr. Bennet's traps that she walks into, and she does it with gusto. Possibly also because that's besides the point, or rather her point, which is why she brought this up to Mr. Bennet in the first place: He needs to go meet this man so this man can meet their daughters and fall in love with one of them.

Mr. Bennet continues to be an ass. He's obviously not going to do something as shockingly outlandish as sending his daughters over there without following the usual forms of introduction, but he's smart enough to be satirical about societal norms to suggest it. He's also setting his wife up for further verbal abuse by pretending to compliment her.

She takes it. We can see that she does actually think pretty well of herself, but she would never actually confess that out loud. Partially because the English confuse self-esteem with arrogance and compliments are at best to be turned back on the giver, and at worst, denied strenuously. Partially because gender stuff, heaven forbid a woman speak plainly of her good traits (oh hey 2025 didn't see you there). We also get a casual lore drop! Not only do they have daughters, they have five of them! Bruh. Sympies for your unforchies.

Also they're all "out" (=grown-up), i.e. have entered into society, which isn't really how things were usually done. How old is the oldest one? Have they been unsuccessfully trying to marry these girls off for ages? No wonder Mrs. Bennet is freaking out about a new rich guy in the neighbourhood.

Tangent aside, Mr. Bennet gets to call his wife ugly in a plausibly deniable way, and she doesn't realise or doesn't care, because the point is, can he please go see Mr. Enthusiasm Moneybags. Incidentally, this is interesting - it's usual to visit new folks when they move into a neighbourhood, so she's not actually asking him to do the usual. She's saying, GET HIM FOR US before someone else grabs him.

"What? Nah. I'm not feeling it."

Listen, Mr. Husband, you have five daughters. Wouldn't it be nice if we could get at least one of them to marry rich. But also, Mrs. Bennet also clearly lives her life through her daughters to some extent. It's an establishment for the daughter, yes, but also for them. A wealthy son-in-law? A retirement fund!

Also, our friends are going to meet Mr. Retirement Fund. Even though they usually don't go visit people (possibly because they're Sir and Lady?). It is a Thing To Be Done! You must!

---

Link to Internet Archive.

[catgirlizzyhands]

Would pride and prejudice be like,,, borderline erotica on cardassia?

[spriggswritings]

Imagine being a sad old man who invited a young woman to be friends with his sad, lonely daughter and said woman immediately mistakes your sadness for being some Machiavellian villain just because you dont want to talk about your dead wife.

Honestly a hilarious misunderstanding, i often conflate my sadness with evil.

[darcybeth]

just to be clear as a new follower im decidedly here for the austenposting

i am giving you a little kiss on the forehead tom succession mr darcy american ending style

[thenineofus]

Jane Austen is like: I HATE COUSINS FUCK OOOOOOOOOFF

[spriggswritings]

Maybe its just my penchant for dykery, but starting to feel like Catherine could ditch the brother and go for Eleanor? He can stay as the comedic third-wheel.

(Fr tho feeling like the mrs. Morland and Tilney should have a classic 19th century platonic romance. And afterwards a less platonic one)

[spriggswritings]

Man, Northanger Abbey was one of the most fun reads ive had in ages. Parodising but still heartfelt. Wish id have read it in my teens, it’d have joined the list of perfect comfort media. As it stands, i for sure am re-reading it in a while!

Also the old man ended up being evil… evil with greed…