To think Elizabeth Bennett is shallow?

[WobblyArse]

Pride and Prejudice in reality:

He is a massive twat.

She changes her mind about him only when she sees his massive house.

The end.

^ Now that's a piece of fan fiction just waiting to be written!

I liked Lingbourn. Pemberley by Emma Tennant was crap though.

Stupid autocorrect grr

Elizabeth will be busy bonking Darcy night and day, I wouldn't feel too sorry for her.

Not one for purists but I'm watching 'Lost in Austen' on YouTube. Entertaining.

I thought Lost in Austen was great fun.

This thread reminded me of it so I tracked it down. Quite thrilled to find it, it's as amusing as I remember it being.

I think it worked because it had a really strong cast so there was a good balance of the comedy and the drama. Caroline Bingley was ace if I remember correctly!

It is well cast, Mr Darcy just clambering out of the pond now in wet shirt and declaring his love. Collins particularly repellent in this.

Lost in Austen was brilliant. I wish they had made a sequel with Darcy in the modern world.

A mistress of an estate could be very involved in an estate, schools and churches and hospitals, even down to cupboards in rectorys

True, but in a Royal Visit way. Everyone's face washed and hair slicked down when she visits.

The Vicars Wife is at the coal face of social activism and being there when needed.

Just thought I'd throw in an alternative viewpooint! Elizabeth has a life ahead of her doing...well, what exactly? She's supposed to be an intelligent young women. I'd die of boredom without a purpose.

*woman! aggh.

Ladies - choices were limited for ladies (education etc) so you can’t base your opinions on today’s equality

Ladies of means could hold salons and support politics, travel was also an option (the great tour)

Yes choices were limited. I'm not disagreeing. And well done Elizabeth she got a big house and a personable, rich husband.

But an intelligent woman is intelligent whatever era.

I think Charlotte got the better life for an intelligent woman to live.

Holding Salons and doing Grand Tour is lovely, but ultimately rather unproductive.

cataloging Library, visiting tenants, organizing garden

Yes, all very naice.

Actually, it strikes me that Elizabeth and Charlotte would end up looking at each others lives thinking - thats what I want.

ELizabeth, a husband at home, and Charlotte, her husband absent!

Both Elizabeth and Charlotte- as the wife of an enlightened land owner and the wife of a parson - would have had lots of contact with tenants and parishioners. No poor relief, no national health service- there would be plenty for them to do.

Oops, sorry. Should have read before posting!

A friend's grandfather was a gardener on an estate in Scotland. They lived in a tied cottage. The lady from 'the big house' visited the tenants about once a month. If something was cooking on the stove, she'd lift the saucepan lid to see what was cooking. Poaching from the estate? Instant dismissal. This was around 1910. Busy lives keeping the peasants morality up to scratch.

Oh wow what a discussion. MN at its best. I saw the GCSE paper this week and had to stifle a disappointed gasp when the student I was speaking with said she'd not bothered much with P&P as it was boring.

Currently have a friend over from Oz who is a JA expert and fanatic - so we had a go at answering the exam Q.

Now, slightly off topic (of Lizzie's) what do you all make of the other main women characters in P&P?
Lizzie's aunt, my personal favourite and Mr Bingley's sister?

longwayoff
My great aunt experienced similar. Met and married the head gardener of an estate in Norfolk. They had a tied cottage on the estate. The lady of the house and her older daughters would drop by and inspect the cupboards and the cleanliness of the linen. They also expected the doorstep to be regularly scrubbed and the outside toilet whitewashed.