Tumblr crosspost (29 August 2020)
Nov. 10th, 2023 04:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anghraineA Tumblr anon said:
Thank you (for that comment about the Bennet women and poverty). I'm pretty sure we saw the same post and I was like 'i don't know enough about the source time period to say, but I'm pretty sure that's not right'. The Gardiner's were my first thought-Lizzy and Jane both seemed pretty tight with them-but at the end of the day, there's 5 of them yes, and I understand Mrs. Bennet wanting them to get married, but uh, shes not doing a great job of presenting the family if she does? Tiniest violin yes
I replied:
You’re welcome! I’ve seen a lot of those posts (and a lot of articles to the same effect) and it’s just incredibly grating because it largely disregards her very real faults (she’s short-sighted, mean-spirited, self-absorbed, extravagant etc) to make her out to be some poor overlooked Cassandra. And yeah, everything she does impedes her goals.
The Gardiners are really important to this, as you say! They can afford a long, winding tourist trip for three people, they frequently have Jane and Elizabeth living with them, Mr Bennet has no difficulty believing that Mr Gardiner could have shelled out ten thousand pounds for Lydia’s marriage, Mr Gardiner did intend to pay several thousand pounds, and Mrs Bennet shrugs off any gratitude a normal person might feel because she would have inherited Mr Gardiner’s money if he hadn’t gone and had children (uhhhh). The Gardiners are well-off and certainly would have looked after her and the girls—but it would be a major step down from life as the Bennets of Longbourn, and that’s the real problem.
Thank you (for that comment about the Bennet women and poverty). I'm pretty sure we saw the same post and I was like 'i don't know enough about the source time period to say, but I'm pretty sure that's not right'. The Gardiner's were my first thought-Lizzy and Jane both seemed pretty tight with them-but at the end of the day, there's 5 of them yes, and I understand Mrs. Bennet wanting them to get married, but uh, shes not doing a great job of presenting the family if she does? Tiniest violin yes
I replied:
You’re welcome! I’ve seen a lot of those posts (and a lot of articles to the same effect) and it’s just incredibly grating because it largely disregards her very real faults (she’s short-sighted, mean-spirited, self-absorbed, extravagant etc) to make her out to be some poor overlooked Cassandra. And yeah, everything she does impedes her goals.
The Gardiners are really important to this, as you say! They can afford a long, winding tourist trip for three people, they frequently have Jane and Elizabeth living with them, Mr Bennet has no difficulty believing that Mr Gardiner could have shelled out ten thousand pounds for Lydia’s marriage, Mr Gardiner did intend to pay several thousand pounds, and Mrs Bennet shrugs off any gratitude a normal person might feel because she would have inherited Mr Gardiner’s money if he hadn’t gone and had children (uhhhh). The Gardiners are well-off and certainly would have looked after her and the girls—but it would be a major step down from life as the Bennets of Longbourn, and that’s the real problem.