tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3139017677124620997.post3398229745147764038..comments2024-03-27T05:07:44.092-07:00Comments on Adventures In Keeping House: The Real Villain Of "Pride And Prejudice"Sannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08124283361844607678noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3139017677124620997.post-48240498050120646372015-08-20T10:17:13.822-07:002015-08-20T10:17:13.822-07:00Thanks for the info, I never knew it!Thanks for the info, I never knew it!Sannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08124283361844607678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3139017677124620997.post-40571199671999431992015-08-19T14:51:22.088-07:002015-08-19T14:51:22.088-07:00Something interesting about the entail issue is th...Something interesting about the entail issue is that Mr. Bennet could have actually cut it off. There was a legal mechanism in common use to gain control of the estate, but it would have left the estate under the control of Mr. Bennet who relied on the entail for what economy the family had. Found this out on one of the many Austen fan sites. He was a man who refused to exercise authority over his wife and relied on the entail issue to avoid dealing with her spendthrift, flighty ways. Mrs. Wifnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3139017677124620997.post-49957167244611219812015-08-10T10:36:23.236-07:002015-08-10T10:36:23.236-07:00I find Emma one of the most irritating Austen'...I find Emma one of the most irritating Austen's characters, because of her snobbery, but she gets her comeuppance in the person of Mrs Elton:) Sannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08124283361844607678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3139017677124620997.post-76221190897758055622015-08-10T08:41:24.252-07:002015-08-10T08:41:24.252-07:00One has to reach certain age and certain knowledge...One has to reach certain age and certain knowledge about history to be able to really see what's behind historical novels. To be able to read them in their own contects. I mean I recall that I absolutely admired both Elizabeth Bennet and Emma Woodhouse when I first read the books. Since they were so witty. Nowadays I tend to think that they both have missed some spanking when they were young... ;) <br />Housewife from Finlandnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3139017677124620997.post-34272417857371715342015-08-09T09:12:10.161-07:002015-08-09T09:12:10.161-07:00Dear M., I'm glad you enjoyed this post. I'...Dear M., I'm glad you enjoyed this post. I'm certainly going to write more about P&P, possibly next week. As for Mr.B., since I already belong to the generation of parents, not children, I guess I start seeing things from a different angle. Sannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08124283361844607678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3139017677124620997.post-82449506049465735812015-08-09T08:53:54.377-07:002015-08-09T08:53:54.377-07:00Thank you for this analysis and comments. I'm ...Thank you for this analysis and comments. I'm a young woman and love jane austen's novels and never thought of mr bennet as a villain. May i suggest you do more? It's very interesting and living in this modern world it's difficult speacially for young people to grasp these things or not to read a book with "modern eyes".<br />M.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3139017677124620997.post-49124194936997362982015-08-09T03:22:23.015-07:002015-08-09T03:22:23.015-07:00Hello and welcome to the blog, Victorstamp!Hello and welcome to the blog, Victorstamp!Sannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08124283361844607678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3139017677124620997.post-80715206072231407582015-08-08T21:24:06.100-07:002015-08-08T21:24:06.100-07:00Totally agree. Most tv/movie adaptations portray M...Totally agree. Most tv/movie adaptations portray Mr Bennett as a loveable smartarse who has the wit to see through the 'nonsensical' social mores of the time. He and Lizzy are portrayed as being intellectually above the rest of the household. <br /><br />People today simply don't get how terrible the position of the family is at the beginning of the story. On the death of Mr Bennett they will descend below their class. The girls will have to live with their relatives and go to work as governesses or the like. They won't get good marriages from those positions. Their current social standing is a temporary mirage, they need to get cracking ASAP to utilise it to make good marriages.<br /><br />That things will be OK as long as Mr Bennett is alive, only accentuates his negligence.<br /><br />Mrs Bennett is the only one who explicitly talks about the danger, and in tv/movie adaptations she is portrayed as being a buffoon. Of course she isn't really portrayed well in the book either, I think Austen's point with her is that she isn't behaving constructively.<br /><br />Most people today just don't have the brains to internalise the radically different mores of that time. Once they work out that both Lizzie and Darcy are proud and prejudiced, they smile smugly and imagine they have cracked the Da Vinci code.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3139017677124620997.post-74842659239525214662015-08-07T04:09:13.594-07:002015-08-07T04:09:13.594-07:00Housewife, from the novel I get the idea that Mr B...Housewife, from the novel I get the idea that Mr Bennet was too lazy to bother:) He could have at least hired a governess for the girls, and since he was the master of the house he had by law the final say about how the money would be spent. He could have easily locked Lydia up, if he chose to. But he preferred sitting in the library:) <br /><br />Now concerning Col. Brandon, may be his sentimentality was satirically meant? I think it's OK for a man to be romantic now and then, as long as he has other qualities to compensate for it. Don't forget that Brandon fought a duel with Willoughby. Also, when it comes to a pretty girl, men' reason nearly always goes out of the window. Sannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08124283361844607678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3139017677124620997.post-1213066608957809792015-08-07T02:10:48.326-07:002015-08-07T02:10:48.326-07:00About colonel Brandon: I wonder if it was fashiona...About colonel Brandon: I wonder if it was fashionable back then for a man to be sentimental, or was that later? I personally don't like that feature in a man. Men are not supposed to be too romantic, either. :) If reason doesn't rule them, how can we trust them? <br /><br />For defence of mr. Bennet: We do not know how much he has tried in the early years of his marriage. Maybe he tried to train mrs. Bennet to save money and behave well and to educate the girls better. But maybe mrs. Bennet was so hopeless that he just gave up and decided to let her take care of everything the way she wanted. This is possible, but not very likely, because mrs. Bennet was not a strong-willed woman, bat rather weak one. I assume that strong-willed and purposeful mand could have lead her better. Housewife from Finlandnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3139017677124620997.post-14598862503244937922015-08-06T23:17:30.840-07:002015-08-06T23:17:30.840-07:00Anonymous, please pick up a handle. Anonymous comm...Anonymous, please pick up a handle. Anonymous comments are not allowed on this blog. <br /><br />al, yes, that's how I understood it, too. Mr Bennet's income was considerable, though, and he could have laid aside a nice sum of money had he chosen to do it. Sannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08124283361844607678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3139017677124620997.post-8088864566600226502015-08-06T22:47:23.805-07:002015-08-06T22:47:23.805-07:00Yes, Sanne, if Mr Bennet had a son, the son would ...Yes, Sanne, if Mr Bennet had a son, the son would inherit. Since Mr Bennet had no son, Mr Collins was the lucky heir. It may have been the law, or the terms of the entailment<br /><br />The estate was entailed (something like held in a trust), and could not be sold (not even the tiniest bit), which limited Mr Bennet's options regarding money. He only had the estate's income (of which he ensured to spend the entirety, with his wife's eager assistance) alnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3139017677124620997.post-41087387442269282272015-08-06T18:55:38.617-07:002015-08-06T18:55:38.617-07:00Read this aloud to my husband over breakfast this ...Read this aloud to my husband over breakfast this morning and we both agree! :) I always thought the father realized his error, but also realized that he didn't have the dedication to do better, even after Lydia ran off. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3139017677124620997.post-61480364462328922692015-08-06T08:10:13.385-07:002015-08-06T08:10:13.385-07:00Housewife, I rather like Col. Brandon myself:) As ...Housewife, I rather like Col. Brandon myself:) As for his taste in women, I think it's perfectly in line with his general character. Sense And Sensibility is, imo, The most traditional of all Jane Austen's books and P&P the most liberal. Others fall in between. <br /><br />It's an interesting idea that people misunderstand her books which can very well be true, due to the changes in perception modernity brought. There is also a theory that she only submitted the ideas and/or plots, while the rest was the work of her male editor, I guess due to discrepancies of style in her earlier, unfinished works and the 6 originally published novels. Sannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08124283361844607678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3139017677124620997.post-8697028175146725762015-08-06T06:14:31.725-07:002015-08-06T06:14:31.725-07:00(My previous comment was in response to al).
Hou...(My previous comment was in response to al). <br /><br />Housewife, I have to leave now, I'll write more later. Sannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08124283361844607678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3139017677124620997.post-46592060002967080012015-08-06T06:11:31.600-07:002015-08-06T06:11:31.600-07:00I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed ...I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed this:) <br /><br />However, as for entail, I was under the impression that if Mr Bennet had a son, he would automatically inherit the estate which otherwise went to Mr Collins because only a man could inherit, in the way the titles were usually inherited by sons only. <br /><br />Mrs Bennet was certainly irresponsible, but at least, she realised her daughters' disastrous prospects. She is depicted in a negative light anyway, while the father isn't. Sannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08124283361844607678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3139017677124620997.post-14776981052376236672015-08-06T06:10:47.757-07:002015-08-06T06:10:47.757-07:00I totally agree with you. I have never understood ...I totally agree with you. I have never understood why mr. Bennet was stupid enough to marry mrs. Bennet in the first place. I assume, that pretty girl with good manners can hide her stupidity long enough to fool a man, but mrs. Bennet didn't even have good manners. Quite the opposite. She was totally unable to control herself. <br /><br />I think people read Jane Austen's books in quite a different way that she ment. I mean most of her characters are really annoying. I admire Elinor Dashwood and Mr. Knightley and that's it. I would like colonel Brandon too, but I despise his taste on women. <br /><br />I did like the TV -series, though. Housewife from Finlandnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3139017677124620997.post-6097285474514307832015-08-06T05:32:21.825-07:002015-08-06T05:32:21.825-07:00Yes, the Bennets were dreadful parents. mr bennet,...Yes, the Bennets were dreadful parents. mr bennet, a 'gentleman', married a solicitor's daughter because she was pretty. his entire future planning was limited to hoping he had a son so the entailment could be broken (entailment-breaking requiring the 'owner's' and heir's consent. Mr Collins was not going to consent to this, as Mr Bennet could have left him with a smaller inheritance). Despite having 5 daughters, he spent all of his income, setting aside none for dowries. He also spent 'frivolously' on books (this would have been the daughters' only inheritance, as it would be personal assets, not the entailed estate). <br /><br />Mrs Bennet cared little about responsibility, or maintaining the social observances necessary to improve her daughters' (already woeful) marital potential. She, despite being a solicitor's daughter, did not ensure her daughters had a grasp of 'household administration'. as a solicitor's daughter, she would have had these skills, but since mr bennet had staff, it was apparently not necessary or important to teach these things to her daughters. Ignoring the minor detail that as un-dowried young women, they were unlikely to marry well enough to have staff.<br /><br />I could go on...alnoreply@blogger.com