#gardiner girls

[itspileofgoodthings]

Elizabeth Bennet isn’t a girlboss being Mean about the men to be Arch and Funny because she’s playing an elaborate game of hard-to-get; she’s so much more honest and funny and vulnerable than that.

[punkeropercyjackson]

Solarpunk-coded characters

Miles Morales

Aang

Duke Thomas

Orihime Inoue

Flora from Winx Club

Hunter Noceda-Deamonne and Willow Park

The Demeter Cabin(they invented solarpunk in the Percyverse actually)

[lmmontgomerypolls]

poll submitted by 👤anonymous

* these characters would not be competing against each other, they’d be competing against other tributes from panem districts

** emily gif from @emilyofnewmoongifs, anne gif from google

[bugwolfsstuff]

Headcanon that the Demeter girls (Miranda and Katie) sing really badly but their boyfriends (Sherman and Travis) act like they sing like angels

They arent even pretending for the girls feelings they genuinely love it that much

[austinsarts]

POV : you see your queen looking at one of her ladies, and you start to wonder if you are the only gay one in the vicinity.

Just updating you guys with my Mary I and Bishop Gardiner picture, they're so fun to draw.

also have i mentioned this is a 'what if au' where mary i actually had a son by philip, and after philip goes she essentially gets to live her life how she wants.

[muirneach]

her ENTIRE minor league is here??? SIX HUNDRED AND FIFTY PEOPLE????

[antoinette19]

If you like my playlists please support me on Spotify by following my profile or saving my playlists! Thank you! 😊

[angeladugalicswife]

there is so many things happening in this…lauren spazzing out, angela just in the back laughing, kiki not gaf, the fact that they all looked to avary at pumpkin pie…😭😭

[fishofthewoods]

fav type of character is ones that make you confused about which pronouns you should post about them with

[punkeropercyjackson]

Demeter Cabin things

[hycinthrt]

i love how a big part of elizabeth bennet’s character is that she is obviously very smart, she is very observant, but she can easily be led astray by her preconceived notions, by things that she already has convinced herself of believing. and this is most obvious by her not seeing mr. darcy’s proposal coming at all, because girl that man was openly flirting with her. i don’t think this is shown a lot in the movie or the tv series, but he keeps teasing her, answering her witty remarks with a smile, the whole “i am not afraid of you” thing. like, charlotte saw it coming, colonel fitzwilliam definitely saw it coming, the gardiners knew as soon as they saw them together later in the book, mr darcy was not as subtle as he thought he was being

seriously, god bless you jane austen for giving us this romance of two fucking idiots constantly misunderstanding each other’s actions and intentions. god bless you for giving us mr “aha so like what do you think of your friend’s marriage? you wouldn’t mind living away from your family when you marry right? oh, no reason, no reason, just a random thought. and what do you think of rosings, you know if hypothetically you were ever a guest there, no, no reason hehe”, and miss “i wonder why i keep coming across mr darcy during my walks, i even made sure to tell him that this is where i usually take my walks so he can avoid me but we are still??? running into each other???? and he keeps asking me all these strange questions too, what a weirdo”

just, two idiots that were made for each other

[anghraine]

#fascinating#that does change lizzy’s rejection of Mr Collins I think#that is to say they do in theory have a safety net#which at least ensures lizzy doesn’t feel the need to accept out of desperation#(in addition to her gamble that Bingley will propose to Jane thus providing another safety net (via @obi-wann-cannoli)

It does! The idea that Elizabeth is being either very brave or very romantic in refusing Mr Collins because the stakes are so high is, IMO, not really reflective of Elizabeth's thought process or even the narrative treatment of the episode in the novel.

I don't think there's even evidence that Elizabeth is gambling anything with her assumption that Jane/Bingley will happen, or that Elizabeth cares about Jane/Bingley for any reason except Jane's happiness. I'm not sure she ever experiences much anxiety about the future at all until the Lydia situation threatens it.

The rejection of Mr Collins is not really treated as high-stakes drama by anyone except Mr Collins and Mrs Bennet, the stupidest people involved. Of course, it's not unimportant. The ways in which Elizabeth has to simply endure him and then endure his succession of insults without complaint are certainly not unrelated to the handling of gender in the novel, there's foreshadowing (most obviously of Darcy's proposal, which I think is not quite as bad but far worse to experience for Elizabeth, and even Elizabeth's own later pining gets foreshadowed in her rejection of Mr Collins). But the Mr Collins subplot is, IMO, treated as fundamentally comic right up to the moment that Charlotte accepts him. That's where the drama comes from.

It's not that Elizabeth will ever be in Charlotte's position and just doesn't realize until she comes to terms with Charlotte's choice. She never fully comes to terms with Charlotte's marriage (she's still sure after leaving Kent that Charlotte will regret her decision someday, although she clearly hasn't yet), and in reality, Elizabeth will never be in Charlotte's position.

Elizabeth is pretty, she's always been a gentleman's daughter, and she has supportive and fairly wealthy if low-status extended family where Charlotte has no resources of that kind. Elizabeth is going to be fine, more or less. Marriage is the only way to fully hang onto her status or improve it, to be sure, but she's never going to be in the straits of a Charlotte.

I think the point of the Mr Collins subplot is not that Elizabeth is being impractical about her own situation, but that not all women—not most women, not even most within Elizabeth's own social group—can so easily shrug off the opportunity represented by even someone as pathetically repellent as Mr Collins. As circumstances grow more desperate, even a Mr Collins starts to look appealing.

Jane, in her Jane way, puts it pretty concisely:

You do not make allowance enough for difference of situation and temper. Consider Mr Collins’s respectability, and Charlotte’s prudent, steady character. Remember that she is one of a large family; that as to fortune it is a most eligible match; and be ready to believe, for everybody’s sake, that she may feel something like regard and esteem for our cousin.

Ok, I've been thinking about this question a lot and there's not enough evidence in P&P to fully support any answer, but I wanted to hear yours: What is the Gardiners' economic status/How rich are the Gardiners?

Obviously, Mr. Gardiner is a tradesman, but I'm desperately curious to know the extent of his wealth. Does he have a similar income to Mr. Bennet but is just more frugal? Would he have been able to take in his niece(s)/sister when Mr. Bennet died? Does he have Bingley-level tradesman wealth without the massive lump sum Bingley inherited from his father? Darcy assumes that Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner are gentry - but like, Bennet gentry or Woodhouse gentry or Lucas gentry. JANE SKIMPED ON THE GARDINER INFORMATION AND NOW WE'LL NEVER KNOW. So what are your headcanons surrounding the Gardiners' wealth?

Really, the most important Gardiner headcanon that the Gardiner children are immediately charmed by Darcy and think he's like ~the coolest~

thanks queen <3

Six months later: hi!

My opinion is that the Gardiners are very well-off in terms of the usual incomes of the gentry. It's difficult to pin down an exact income range because I'm not a historian or economist, but the literary evidence is pretty suggestive IMO.

For one, Mr Bennet has no trouble believing that Mr Gardiner could have shelled out ten thousand pounds for Lydia; the problem is the struggle of repaying him, as Mr Bennet would feel morally obligated to do. The impression I get is that this would be a lot of money for Mr Gardiner to come up with, but everyone accepts that he could quickly do it, where Mr Bennet could not. And Mrs Gardiner does insist that Mr Gardiner would have paid the money if Darcy had let him, which again suggests that it was reasonably doable for him.

When Elizabeth and Jane first pass the news to Mrs Bennet and try to express the debt of gratitude they all owe Mr Gardiner, Mrs Bennet's response is a bitter remark about how if her brother had not married and had children of his own, "I and my children must have had all his money, you know; and it is the first time we have ever had anything from him except a few presents."

Aside from what this reveals about her character (especially given the remarkable understatement of "a few presents" given everything they've done for Jane and Elizabeth), I think "all his money" suggests an awareness that there would have been quite a bit to inherit if Mr Gardiner hadn't had the temerity to, uh, have children.

The summer tourism journey also doesn't seem to represent a severe expense for the Gardiners, though it would be outside the realm of possibility for some. They're not super frugal, but they're also not going to pull a Sir William Lucas and abandon the source of their income, or take an estate or something to distance themselves from trade, and end up unable to provide security for their children or any significant luxuries for their loved ones and themselves. So the Gardiners do make practical decisions like living near Mr Gardiner's warehouses and continuing his business in town.

Darcy (in Elizabeth's opinion) mistakes the Gardiners for "people of fashion" rather than gentry per se. This is interesting because Darcy originally considered the entire Meryton neighborhood, including the local gentry, as people noticeably not of fashion. This concept of people of fashion is typically more about fashionable high society than trade vs gentry IMO.

For instance, Mr Hurst is described as "a man of more fashion than fortune"—i.e. someone with high society credentials from his family, but not a lot of money, though he has enough to maintain a house in Grosvenor Street. (I think the implication is that the Hursts considered their status and Louisa Bingley's 20,000 l. from trade a fair exchange.) So likely, Darcy is not confusing the Gardiners for minor rural gentry, but even higher-status people if Elizabeth is analyzing his reaction correctly, based on their appearance, apparel, demeanor, etc.

This is definitely a time when wealthy people in trade could pass for people of fashion, but I think it would ordinarily take some doing, and though the Gardiners are stylish and relatively young, they aren't trying hard in the way that the Bingleys are. Yet Darcy, who went on a whole tangent about trade cooties during his proposal, can't even identify the Gardiners as people in trade upon meeting them—that's important.

(It's also significant, of course, that he's surprised to discover their exact connection aka that they're Mrs Bennet's relatives, which is honestly pretty fair. In any case, he evaluates Mr and Mrs Gardiner on their own considerable merits by this point.)

So again, I get the sense that the Gardiners are quite well-off people who spend their money on nice enough things that they can be mistaken for a completely different class than their own, but are not specifically aiming for that or super extravagant, either. Their habits seem rather similar to Darcy's, actually—I don't think they're anywhere near as wealthy, but they're wealthy enough that they can approach major expenditures fairly casually, as he does. But unlike Darcy, it will always be contingent on Mr Gardiner's business success and they have to plan around his work and the possibility of sudden changes in terms of his work.

I personally think that Mr Gardiner would undoubtedly have been able to take care of his sister and nieces in the worst case scenario. Six women used to a high standard of living (we know Mrs Bennet is extravagant; it's only Mr Bennet's frugality that keeps the Bennets out of debt as it is) would probably be a strain, but I don't think beyond the income level indicated, even accounting for the needs of his immediate family.

When Mrs Bennet is dramatizing herself during the Lydia disaster, she tells Mr Gardiner, "if you are not kind to us, brother, I do not know what we shall do," and he assures her of his affection for both her and her entire family. This could be seen as a sort of empty redirection that avoids promising anything, especially given that her catastrophizing fantasy scenarios are extremely unlikely, but I think that's a misread of his character.

I see his reply as a tactful assurance that, in the (improbable) event of Mr Bennet dying in a duel, his affection for her and her daughters would indeed ensure his protection of her and her daughters. There's no doubt from anyone that he's capable of doing this, though it would certainly mean a change in their style of living that Mrs Bennet would vocally resent.

So while this isn't super-specific, I hope it helped!

Normally I don't need to do this, but I would like to add a sort of credit/disclaimer: I didn't initially notice all these signs and my understanding of the Gardiners' standard of living and general circumstances was, I believe, strongly influenced by JulieW of the Life and Times board at Republic of Pemberley back in the earlyish 2000s (maybe about 2006?).

The L&T board is sadly gone (or was the last few times I checked), though ROP clings to life, but she knew a lot more about Georgian history and culture than I ever will, and these references to the Gardiners' prosperity seemed really glaring once she pointed them out.

(Her analysis of Pemberley's age, architecture, and general class significance was also really influential and I'm still really sad that I have to rely on the perfidy of memory about it.)

[bethanydelleman]

It's not just for accuracy's sake that I argue that Darcy isn't shy or painfully socially awkward, it's because it changes the story and makes it worse. Elizabeth telling Darcy to practice talking to people becomes an extrovert demanding that an introvert just get better at masking or some B.S.. But Elizabeth can in fact identify shy people and she's exceedingly nice to them:

With astonishment did Elizabeth see that her new acquaintance was at least as much embarrassed as herself. Since her being at Lambton, she had heard that Miss Darcy was exceedingly proud; but the observation of a very few minutes convinced her that she was only exceedingly shy. She found it difficult to obtain even a word from her beyond a monosyllable... her manners were perfectly unassuming and gentle. Elizabeth, who had expected to find in her as acute and unembarrassed an observer as ever Mr. Darcy had been, was much relieved by discerning such different feelings.

Georgiana’s reception of them was very civil, but attended with all that embarrassment which, though proceeding from shyness and the fear of doing wrong, would easily give to those who felt themselves inferior the belief of her being proud and reserved. Mrs. Gardiner and her niece, however, did her justice, and pitied her.

Elizabeth meets Georgiana and is like, "Nope, nothing like her brother, this girl is super shy." The descriptions are very different too, Georgiana's manners are "gentle" while Darcy's "though well bred, were not inviting". Now is Elizabeth better at reading females than men? Absolutely. But this is an Elizabeth who knows herself better and, more importantly, understands Darcy, and she is like, "Wow, these siblings are super different. One of them will just stare at me without being nervous and the other can barely talk while visiting a party of three even though she's socially superior."

Georgiana and Fitzwilliam Darcy are not the same and one of them shy.

[firawren]

Why do you think there are so many stories where, after Mr Bennet's death, the girls end up working as maids or even in brothels?

A few reasons:

A: Fans of P&P often think the Bennets are poorer than they are, probably thanks to the 2005 movie, but also just anyone who hasn't read the book multiple times could easily make this mistake. The Bennets are rich, and yes, they don't get to keep any of the estate's wealth when Mr. Bennet dies, but Mrs. Bennet has 5k of her own that they will live off of. It's not much for 6 adults, but it's an income, and her brother Mr. Gardiner will doubtless help them by taking in one or two of the daughters or supplementing their money a bit if possible. Who knows, Mr. and Mrs. Phillips might be in a position to lend a hand a tiny bit too.

2: If you're not super familiar with the time period, you would have no way of knowing that girls of their class would never go so low as to take such jobs. Look at Miss Bates in Emma, who has fallen from gentility to real poverty. Even she wasn't forced to get a job. Her community protects her.

D: It's just dramatic, and people like drama. This particular trope isn't to my tastes, but I get it and I won't complain about it, because to each their own.

[bennetsbonnet]

I've just had the best afternoon EVER!! 😭

I went to the theatre to see a production of Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) and I genuinely do not think I've laughed that hard at anything in a long time. It was absolutely hilarious.

Five women played most of the parts, although Kitty was not in it and Mrs Gardiner was just Auntie G!! But the absolute BEST swap was Mr Bennet, who was just a chair with book pages sticking up. 0 dialogue even when the girls/Mrs Bennet were screaming at him for help. I cried.

Personal highlights:

Bingley getting his hand stuck in a Pringles tube when meeting Jane

Elizabeth singing You're So Vain to Mr Darcy and swearing at both him and Mr Collins when they proposed

Smooth Operator playing when Wickham was introduced, who told Lizzy all the Darcy tea while they were smoking outside next to a bin which had 'JANE AUST-BIN' written on it

Mr Collins forcing Elizabeth to sing Lady in Red to Lady Catherine, while he went and danced before her

The actor playing Mrs Reynolds was also Darcy and delivered the accounts of his good character with extra venom, so good

The dialogue was modernised but it absolutely captured the spirit of it, while still keeping some memorable lines like Elizabeth screaming 'what are men to rocks and mountains?' when walking near Rosings and the ULTIMATE swoon-worthy Darcy line 'I cannot fix on the hour...'

Was quite a spontaneous decision to go but I'm sO glad that I did. This particular production demonstrated both how timeless the story is and how absolutely hilarious it is. 10000/10, if it's on anywhere near you, you should definitely see it!!