#mrs. bennet

[bethanydelleman]

Mrs. Bennet being like, "Look, I've got five daughters, take your pick. It's better to have a little selection. We've got Super Hot and Modest, not your taste? How about... *sigh* Pretty and Kind of Mouthy? Next is the Most Accomplished Girl in Meryton, then um... Kitty, and lastly, the Most Lively Girl You'll Ever Meet. Honestly, if one of them doesn't suit you, in my opinion, the problem isn't my daughters."

[greengableslover]

An unhappy alternative lies before you, Elizabeth. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr Collins, and I will never see you again if you do.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (1995) dir. Simon Langton | Episode 2

[nymphpens]

[sabahkahvaltisiyalnizligi]

[princesssarisa]

Since @bethanydelleman has been posting about blatantly wrong statements that have been made about Pride and Prejudice (by one specific author, but that author isn't the only one who does it), I thought I would share a minor one I once read.

I once came across an online discussion of Mrs. Bennet, which (rightly) criticized the tenancy of fanfic to portray her as having abused Elizabeth all her life.

Amid the accurate arguments that just because Elizabeth is Mrs. Bennet's least favorite daughter doesn't mean she abuses her, there was one inaccurate claim. Someone wrote that we shouldn't assume Elizabeth is really Mrs. Bennet's least favorite daughter, per se, because Mrs, Bennet "only says it in a tantrum" after Elizabeth rejects Mr. Collins' proposal.

Except that's not true.

It's not Mrs. Bennet herself who says calls Elizabeth her least favorite daughter; it's the omniscient narrator. And not during Mrs. Bennet's anger about the rejected proposal either. On the contrary, the narrator says it when Mrs. Bennet happily thinks Elizabeth is going to marry Mr. Collins, as an explanation of why she was less excited about that pending marriage than about Jane and Bingley's.

Elizabeth was the least dear to her of all her children; and though the man and the match were quite good enough for her, the worth of each was eclipsed by Mr. Bingley and Netherfield.

While it certainly doesn't make Mrs. Bennet an abusive mother, the fact that Elizabeth is her least favorite daughter is canon.

That passage above might also undermine the popular claim that Mrs. Bennet is only being practical and trying to secure her own future and her daughters'. If this were true, then wouldn't Elizabeth's apparent pending marriage to Mr. Collins be her greatest joy, since it would ensure that she could still live at Longbourne with them after Mr. Bennet dies? Yet her response is effectively just "Meh... that's nice... but Jane and Bingley!" She doesn't seem to care much about it until Elizabeth makes it clear that it won't happen. I'm very much a proponent of "Both Bennet parents are bad in different ways," and just because Mrs. Bennet has some valid concerns and is treated badly by her husband doesn't mean she deserves much defense.

[burningvelvet]

top lydia bennet moment

[such-a-downer]

I merged my two brainrots in one meme

[talkaustentome]

Don’t mind me, just out here creating Jane Austen memes out of Good Omens stills while processing season 2 (Go watch it!). I’m sure Aziraphale would approve.

Pride and Prejudice x Good Omens

Just like Crowley, Elizabeth knows what’s coming, and she wishes she didn’t have to be there.

I wonder what Wickham’s punishment in the Good Omens hell would have looked like.

“Ah! Jane, I take your place now, and you must go lower, because I am a married woman.” I kinda love how obnoxious married Lydia is.

Truly one of my favourite moments in Austen’s novels, and any love story ever, is Mr. Darcy declaring Elizabeth “tolerable” and looking at her again to confirm his original verdict, only to go: “Daaamn. I was wrong.” (Also, the things I’d do to get a version of Darcy that does the Good Omens apology dance for Elizabeth.)

Thankfully, 10k a year helped Mrs. Bennet to change her mind about Darcy again very quickly.

The biggest change I’ve gone through since first getting into Austen was definitely going from loving Mr. Bennet because of his sarcasm to thinking he’s actually kind of awful.

Caroline Bingley, the original pick-me girl?

[capnsupernova]

I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep so here is a running list of all the reasons I will always love the Kiera Knightly and Matthew McFadyen version of Pride and Prejudice over any other remake ever:

The music. Every time I hear that opening song I feel like the opposite of crawling out of my skin. Like crawling back into my skin after letting my skin sit in the sun for a little while. And the song that Lizzie and Darcy dance to is so moody and angsty and perfect for their relationship and conversation at the time. And the song that plays when her and Charlotte aren't speaking is such a mix of light and life continuing to go on even when you feel such intense loneliness. Ugh. Just the music.

The scenery and the cinematic shots. They turned that movie into an art piece. The scene where here and Charlotte aren't speaking, with the music, and her just sitting on that swing, spinning as the seasons change and people just go on with their lives as if she hasn't lost one of the most important people in her life until she finally hears from Charlotte again. Everything about Pemberley and the journey leading up to it and the way you can see her falling in love with Darcy as she walks through his house and how that alone is enough to get a better understanding of him and his softer, homely side. The scene at the end in the field with the soft light of the rising sun and the fog in the field. The scene after she turns down Mr. Colins, with the pond and the geese and her mother screaming at her. Every scene was given it's absolute optimal shot of emotional and aesthetic quality.

Her parents. The people who play Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are just peak in my mind. I wanted Mr. Bennet to be my dad. His affable distance, his voice, the way he smiled. The way he obviously loved his daughters but also obviously didn't understand them at all. MRS. BENNET I don't care what anyone says. She was peak Mrs. Bennet. I cannot accept anyone else. Her kind of airy, high-strung voice and way of speaking. How her hair and clothes were always in slight disarray. The scene where she learns that Lydia has been married and her family isn't in ruins, how she goes from prone and distraught to immediately like "Married?" with an absolutely light and wistful and hopeful face/voice. A full 360 of her previous mental state.

And then just the individual scenes:

Like a few of the ones already mentioned, the scene after her and Charlotte's fight. How it emphasizes so strongly the relationship between them and how that is so clearly more heartbreaking to her than anything that could possibly happen between her and Mr Darcy. Without a single word spoken or a single action taken besides the spinning and the passage of time it conveys how lost and alone she feels in those moments. The pigs being chased in the background adds a touch of humor but also is a great shot of her despair. This is something Lizzie Bennet would laugh about, something she'd find silly and wonderful and she can't do that now because her friend isn't there with her.

And the scene where she gets the letter from her family about Lydia running away and she comes out after reading it with the intention to tell them what's going on, but she's so distraught and stressed that all she can do it make that sound so she just goes right back into her room and then shows up again a few seconds later much more composed and just says "Lydia's run away" and the look on Darcy's face like "babygirl, I'm gonna fix this. You don't need to know about it, but I am going to fucking fix this because you are sad and that hurts me" just with his face.

(Also Mr Darcy in general, the way Matthew McFadyen's face can go from gloomy and bored and apathetic to so so so soft. Like. kill me, please. If anyone’s face ever did that when they looked at me, I would cut out my whole entire heart and just give it to them, bleeding and beating and all.)

(Full disclosure, this movie was probably my actual first bisexual awakening. Kiera Knightly and Matthew McFadyen can do whatever they want to me.)

The scene where Jane is leaving to go on her trip after Bingley has left her with no word, and she's sitting on the back of the coach and she's smiling but it's such a frozen, practiced smile that never reaches her eyes so you can still see her heartbreak.

At the end, when her and Darcy meet in that field, and he's confessing his love to her and all she says is "Your hands are cold" which isn't I love you, exactly, but then she brings them to her lips and there is so much care and gentleness that it might as well be I love you.

The scene where Mr. Bingley comes back to propose and their all just chilling, lounging in the sitting room until they get the call and they flurry around the room to get "presentable" and then the door opens and they're all just sitting perfectly poised and pretty as if they weren't just flurrying around the room.

Listen.

There are some things I would have liked more of. Like the scene where she comes to visit Jane while she's sick and Caroline says that bullshit about how she looks "positively medieval" and Darcy is supposed get all snappy and say "well, actually, I think the walk made her look more lively." LIke more of him defending her when she's not even around to hear it, becasue that foreshadows so much of his behavior towards the end, including him specifically asking Lydia never to tell anyone that he was the one that helped her get married.

But just about everything else.

Everything.

I don't care that it wasn't as true to the books.

Because in some ways, with the changes they made, it was more true to the books and the characters and the intent of the book. I am of the camp that movies shouldn't be exactly like the book. It should be its own experience. Translating books directly and perfectly into a movie/tv show is just boring to me. Make it something unique. Make it an extension of the story, not a carbon copy of it. Like the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. There is not a single remake of that book that is exactly like the book itself or is exactly like each other, on purpose. Changes should be made, but only if those changes are actually meaningful and better express what is happening between the characters. And the changes made for this movie are so perfect and lovely.

There is so much that is captured without the need for words.

Everything about this movie will always immediately put my heart and soul into a good place. This movie single-handedly makes me believe in love. And not just any love, but a love of understanding, a love that takes work and communication, love between women and the importance of female relationships over all else. The way the scenery and music speak just as much as the characters do.

I just think about that movie sometimes and it makes my heart feel so many inarticulable things.

Anyways. yeah. That's all. Thanks for coming to my 4AM rant about P&P.

[mametupa]

[bethanydelleman]

Please, for the love of all that is holy, stop saying that Mrs. Bennet is the only one "taking the situation seriously."

She is not.

Screaming about a problem doesn't mean you are taking it seriously. If she was taking it seriously, she'd have given her girls a proper education and advocated for saving for dowries. Her little schemes around Jane don't count as taking it seriously.

No one is taking the situation seriously.

[laufire]

Mrs. Bennet was perfectly satisfied, and quitted the house under the delightful persuasion that, allowing for the necessary preparations of settlements, new carriages, and wedding clothes, she should undoubtedly see her daughter settled at Netherfield in the course of three or four months. Of having another daughter married to Mr. Collins, she thought with equal certainty, and with considerable, though not equal, pleasure. Elizabeth was the least dear to her of all her children; and though the man and the match were quite good enough for her, the worth of each was eclipsed by Mr. Bingley and Netherfield.

-Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen.

[melslemonade2]

This is a meme I made, that showcases the character of Mrs. Bennet, or the mother of Elizabeth Bennet. It features a reimagination of the first line of the novel, which originally reads “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” “The most odious woman alive” is a phrase I got from Gilmore Girls, but I believe it perfectly applies here to reference the character of Mrs. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. 

Mrs. Bennet remains a central figure in the novel right from the start, where her interest in getting her daughter married is heavily apparent. In fact, this prospect remains to be the central initiative of her life and pursuits. The following quote showcases it best: “The business of her [Mrs. Bennet] life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news.” Alongside aiding her daughter’s pursuits of marriage, Mrs. Bennet showcases several characteristics that can be only referenced as obnoxious, impeding, and airheaded in a sense. She makes countless remarks about individuals without having an awareness of who is around her, how rude these statements might be, or what affect they have on others. Her recountance of Mr. Bingley dancing with Miss Lucas is one example, as she states how “he did not admire her at all indeed, nobody can, you know...” in reference to her physical appearance. Austen specifically uses the words “mean understanding,” and “little understanding” to directly describe Mrs. Bennet’s character, which even showcases Austen’s feelings towards her. Little understanding cannot mean anything other than dense or dumb.  

[princesssarisa]

Character ask: Mr. and Mrs. Bennet (Pride and Prejudice)

Favorite thing about them: They're both funny characters in their different ways: Mr. Bennet intentionally, Mrs. Bennet unintentionally.

Least favorite thing about them: Well, they're both basically terrible parents to their daughters and terrible spouses to each other. Mrs. Bennet's own foolish behavior makes all the troubles she worries about much worse, while Mr. Bennet's habit of doing nothing except mocking it all is both unkind and irresponsible.

On a meta level, I do sometimes wonder if Austen's portrayal of Mrs. Bennet shows classism (since her socially ignorant behavior stems at least in part from her lower-class background – although her brother Mr. Gardiner doesn't share her faults), and/or internalized misogyny (while Mr. Bennet's flaws are made clear, we never quite lose the sense that Mrs. Bennet is meant to be seen as worse). I understand why so many readers think her portrayal is unfair and mean-spirited, though I'm not sure if I agree.

Three things I have in common with them:

Mrs. Bennet:

*I can be neurotic.

*I can be over-enthusiastic.

*I sometimes make social faux pas.

Mr. Bennet:

*I prefer reading to socializing.

*I can be irresponsible, especially with money.

*I like Elizabeth Bennet.

Three things I don't have in common with them:

Mrs. Bennet:

*I'm not a middle-aged British woman.

*I'm not married and don't have children.

*If I had daughters, even if I lived in Georgian England, I would rather they stay single than be married to the likes of Mr. Collins or Wickham.

Mr. Bennet:

*I'm not a middle-aged British man.

*I'm less witty than he is.

*If I had children, I would remember my duties to them.

Favorite line:

Mr. Bennet:

"You mistake me, my dear. I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these last twenty years at least."

"An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do."

Mrs. Bennet:

"Nobody can tell what I suffer! But it is always so. Those who do not complain are never pitied."

brOTP: Mr. Bennet: His favorite daughter Elizabeth, if anyone. Mrs. Bennet: Her sister Mrs. Phillips, and her favorite daughter Lydia.

OTP: Each other, if only because that's what they deserve. Ideally, though, other people whom they never met.

nOTP: Any of their daughters or their daughters' husbands.

Random headcanon: Mrs. Bennet's first name is Jane. Just because the 1995 miniseries calls her "Fanny" doesn't make that name canon, and in the 18th and 19th centuries, it was common for one daughter in a family, usually the eldest, to be named after her mother.

Unpopular opinion: We don't need to choose whether to side with Mr. Bennet or Mrs. Bennet. This isn't a case of "one is right, the other is wrong" or "one is the good parent, the other is the bad parent." They both have sympathetic qualities, yet they both have glaring faults that nearly ruin their daughters' futures too. The old-school viewpoint of "Mr. Bennet is the likable, sensible parent; Mrs. Bennet is an idiot" and the more recently popular viewpoint of "Mrs. Bennet is just trying to secure her daughters' futures; Mr. Bennet is the bad parent" are both faulty and reductive.

Song I associate with them: None.

Favorite picture of them:

This illustration:

And this one:

Mary Boland and Edmund Gwenn in the 1940 film (dressed in costumes from the wrong time period, but I couldn't resist the sight of Hollywood's iconic Santa Claus from the original Miracle on 34th Street looking very unlike Santa as Mr. Bennet):

Benjamin Whitrow and Alison Steadman in the 1995 BBC miniseries:

Donald Sutherland and Brenda Blethyn in the 2005 film:

[burningvelvet]

mrs. bennet arguing with her husband and emptily threatening to disown her daughter for not marrying an asshole VS. mrs. bennet being unable to comprehend the “horror” and “inconceivable resentment” of her husband not buying their other daughter fancy things for a marriage to a different asshole. she is the perfectly accurate parody of unhappy mothers everywhere