Tumblr crosspost (15 September 2020)
Feb. 28th, 2024 03:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anghraineAn anon asked:
How old do you think mrs. gardiner is? could she be as young as mr. darcy
I replied:
She could be, though I think early- to mid-thirties is more probable.
The only direct statement about her age, as far as I recall, is that she’s “several years” younger than her sisters-in-law, Mrs Bennet and Mrs Phillips. Mrs Bennet can’t really be under about 40. While “several” is pretty vague and you can interpret it as you will, IMO you have to stretch it pretty far to encompass an age gap of at least 12 years and quite possibly more.
We do know that Mrs Gardiner was unmarried some 10 or 12 years earlier, when she lived in Lambton. Her oldest child is 8. So, if you want to skew younger, let’s say she married Mr Gardiner 9-10 years earlier (though canonically it could just as easily be 11-12). IIRC, historical research suggests that women of the gentry typically married at around 24, while those from the more middling classes tended to marry later. If she was, say, 25 when she married, that would make her 34-5, which I think fits pretty well with her being several years younger than an around 40-y-o Mrs Bennet.
How old do you think mrs. gardiner is? could she be as young as mr. darcy
I replied:
She could be, though I think early- to mid-thirties is more probable.
The only direct statement about her age, as far as I recall, is that she’s “several years” younger than her sisters-in-law, Mrs Bennet and Mrs Phillips. Mrs Bennet can’t really be under about 40. While “several” is pretty vague and you can interpret it as you will, IMO you have to stretch it pretty far to encompass an age gap of at least 12 years and quite possibly more.
We do know that Mrs Gardiner was unmarried some 10 or 12 years earlier, when she lived in Lambton. Her oldest child is 8. So, if you want to skew younger, let’s say she married Mr Gardiner 9-10 years earlier (though canonically it could just as easily be 11-12). IIRC, historical research suggests that women of the gentry typically married at around 24, while those from the more middling classes tended to marry later. If she was, say, 25 when she married, that would make her 34-5, which I think fits pretty well with her being several years younger than an around 40-y-o Mrs Bennet.
But, of course, nothing says she has to marry at a historically typical age. Maybe she was younger than usual! Make her 19, pick the shortest likely duration of marriage, nine years, and then she’d be 28—Darcy’s age. So it is possible, yes.
Tagged: #i do feel like the dynamic with elizabeth makes more sense with a larger age gap than 7-8 years #but it's not beyond the realm of possibility at all! #ngl even with my preferred version #it's weird to think of her as my age