#kitty bennet

[raincitygirl76]

This is a good point I hadn’t considered.

Starting a reread of Pride and Prejudice and keeping an eye out for some things that have been mentioned by the Austen fandom:

1) The Bennets do not seem so notably wealthy – by gentry standards – as has been suggested by parts of the fandom, nor does Mr. Bennet in particular seem so blameable in not having saved a more substantial inheritance for his daughters.

The Bennets have two thousand a year for 7 people. This is, IIRC, a little over twice per person what the Dashwoods have in Sense & Sensibility (500 pounds a year for four people), and the Dashwoods are very much at the low end of the gentry. It’s about half what is considered a notably rich member of the gentry in this book or others (five thousand a year, like Mr. Bingley has, or four thousand a year which is, I think, what Henry Crawford has).

Also, it seems like Mr. Bennet is impeded in his management of the estate by Mrs. Bennet, from this line from Mr. Bennet (when Mrs. Bennet is urging him to use the pretext of the horses being needed for the farm to not send Jane to Netherfield in the carriage, so she will be obliged to stay overnight if it rains): “They [the horses] are wanted in the farm much oftener than I can get them.” Combined with the early narratorial statement that the solace of Mrs. Bennet’s life is “visiting and news”, this suggests conflicts between her using the horses for visiting purposes and the needs of the horses for the farm. (Though I wouldn’t have expected carriage-horses to overlap with farm work much.)

Mr. Bennet feels less like someone who is by inclination negligent, and more like someone who has, over 20+ years, grown tired of re-fighting the same battles over and over with his wife (who is incapable of absorbing any idea that is counter to her own inclinations), and largely given up. He baits his wife, but he does do some necessary things promptly: after insisting to his wife that he will not visit Mr. Bingley, he is in fact “among the earliest” to do so.

I see Mr. Bennet not as an unsympathetic character, but as the “failure state” of both Elizabeth and, in a lesser way, Darcy: this is who you become if you have no one close to you whom you respect as a peer. (Darcy wouldn’t be as openly mocking, but his interactions with Miss Bingley when Elizabeth is at Netherfield – brief and curt – give a flavour of what he’s like around someone he’s close to who is bothering him.) Elizabeth likes her father; he visits her regularly after her marriage and there’s no indication either her or Darcy mind; but his life isn’t the future we want for Elizabeth. Nor is it the future he wants for Elizabeth, as we see with his response to both Mr. Collins’ proposal and Elizabeth’s telling him of her engagement to Darcy.

2) I’m noticing the connections between Elizabeth’s and Darcy’s early conversations more this time. For example, on one evening at Netherfield they debate whether a plable temper (Bingley’s) isca good bad thing, with Elizabeth saying that being easily convinced by your friends of matters of no great import, based on your affection for them, is amiable. In a later conversation at Netherfield, Darcy says (in comment on his non-mockable faults): “My temper I dare not vouch for. – It is I believe too little yielding – certainly too little for the convenience of the world…My feelings are not puffed about with every attempt to move them.” This feels like a response to what Elizabeth was saying earlier, meaning their conversation (in contrast to Miss Bingley’s mix of flattering him and twitting him about Elizabeth, it is one where he’s being argued with; he seems to prefer that) has stuck in his head.

On a funnier note, the earlier conversation had Darcy condemning humblebrags (“Nothing is more deceitful than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast”), but I suspect that he’s engaging in it here, and actually prides himself on his resoluteness.

3) While Miss Bingley isn’t a villainness, she’s certainly an unpleasant person. She’s mean, she’s two-faced (mocking her “friend’s” relatives behind her back while her “friend” is sick, though being usually kind and courteous to her face), and she doesn’t have enough sense or perception to pick up on when her flattery towards Darcy and her insults towards Elizabeth are annoying Darcy.

4) Elizabeth gives very little indication of being a bookworm (nor a tomboy), in contrast to some characterizations. Even in the scene where her reading is mentioned, she is in fact largely ignoring the book in favour of paying attention to the conversation at the card table; she picked up the book more out of prudence (the card game is gambling and she guesses they are betting too much for her means) than intrinsic interest. In two other scenes at Netherfield – during the few times she is not tending to Jane – she is doing needlework. Her muddy walk to Netherfield is inspired by affection for Jane and desire not to use the carriage needlessly, not by a love of muddy walks.

5) Despite some posts I’ve seen on use of Lizzy vs Eliza as nicknames for Elizabeth Bennet (Lizzie is more common), both Charlotte Lucas and Miss Bingley do refer to her as Eliza at some points.

[wlwarhammer]

If I was mrs bennet I’d also loose my fucking shit because why am I the only one worried about destitution AND you’re all treating me like I’m crazy and hysterical for it

[didanagy]

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (2005)

dir. joe wright

[fangerine]

"You have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love...I love...I love you."

PRIDE & PREJUDICE (2005) dir. Joe Wright

[nadireedperez]

shoutout to kitty and lydia bennet for being a rare female example of Those Two Idiots

not just one cringefail losergirl but TWO of em. austen truly was ahead of her time

[bethanydelleman]

Helen Burns, Jane Eyre, Fantine, Les Miserables, Satine, Moulin Rouge, Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, Finding Neverland, Isabel Neville, The White Queen, Mrs. Hale and Bessy Higgins, North and South, Frances Hindley, Wuthering Heights, Mrs. Alma Wheatley, The Queen's Gambit, Queen Anne, The White Queen

[myladyrey]

i love that period piece of media (bridgerton, little women, pride and prejudice) with the eldest who dreams of love and getting married (daphne, meg, jane), the feminist daughter (eloise, jo, elizabeth), the quiet one who plays the piano (francesca, beth, mary), and the childish but lively youngest (hyacinth, amy, kitty/lydia).

[haunting-jane]

i was watching pride and prejudice with my dad and he joked that kitty and lydia are the merry and pippin of 19th century england

[green-ajah]

Pride and Prejudice (1995 ) ⤷ Polly Maberly as Kitty Bennet

[elmorinn]

Janeuary Day 23 - Bonnet 🎀

@janeuary-month

The younger Bennet sisters trying on some fancy Bonnets! :D

from left to right - Lydia, Mary and Kitty :3

i love them i think they deserve to have some good time (as if having a good time wasn't the only thing they did throughout the novel x))

[princesssarisa]

I'm trying this poll about the Bennet sisters again, because the first time, so many people responded "Because the younger three are literal children." I admit I hadn't considered that the age gap might explain everything. Although I'm not so sure it does: why are Jane and Elizabeth also better than their parents, then?

Speaking of which, the last time I posted this poll, someone lectured me in the tags about the first option, informing me that Mr. Bennet isn't a good dad. They obviously hadn't read my other posts on the subject, because I'd be the last person to ignore Mr. Bennet's flaws as a parent! But since he is portrayed as smarter than his wife (not a better person, just smarter), then maybe he could have given Jane and Elizabeth positive guidance by being a more hands-on father to them than he has been to the younger three.

[didanagy]

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (2005)

dir. joe wright

[variouspolltournaments]

Anti-Propaganda is not allowed. Please only give reasons to vote for something and not give reasons to vote against something.

Propaganda

Stanford and Stanley Pines: They are twins, both of them are weird, with one of them being a polydactyl, genuis scientist and the other being a skilled scam artist. They deafeated a nightmare demon together, just after they refused to hold hands. Their realtionship is pretty fraught

[specificpollsaboutbooks]

Book Siblings

Round 2

[aria-baerose]

[urbanxcamper]

Mini essay on Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Personal Opinion.

Pride and Prejudice is a great read for both young people and adults because it tackles important issues that everyone can relate to. The story dives into love, morals, family dynamics, and how social status affects people. Plus, it’s super interesting to check out since it gives a glimpse into the traditions, entertainment, and everyday life of folks from over two hundred years ago.