Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask which Bennett sister you are?

147 replies

LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet · 04/01/2023 22:58

I hate to say it but when I was 18 I would have been a total Lydia. Thought myself excellent, liked to party and get attention from boys. I’d definitely have done something fucking stupid like run away with a handsome but twattish commander who didn’t know when to put his little solider away.

These days I’m far more Lizzie. A bit cynical, attracted to men with nice houses and like a to wind up arrogant obnoxious men.

Could never be a Jane. I’m not nearly nice enough Grin

OP posts:
MrsSkylerWhite · 04/01/2023 23:00

Lizzie at 16, Lizzie now. Would have liked to have been a Lydia 😁

hopelessbusiness · 04/01/2023 23:00

Think I'd be Lizzie too...I love her quick wittedness and her ability to stand up for herself.
Wonder if there's any Mary's out there?

Kanaloa · 04/01/2023 23:01

DH and I were talking about this earlier this week because our oldest daughter is definitely a Jane! She’s just so nice 😂

Unfortunately I am and have always been a total Lydia.

Original poster
LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet · 04/01/2023 23:01

MrsSkylerWhite · 04/01/2023 23:00

Lizzie at 16, Lizzie now. Would have liked to have been a Lydia 😁

Noooo Lydia was a dick, and trust me Lydia’s look back in their behaviour and cringe and realise “yeah everyone thought I was a dick” 🤣

OP posts:
Original poster
LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet · 04/01/2023 23:02

hopelessbusiness · 04/01/2023 23:00

Think I'd be Lizzie too...I love her quick wittedness and her ability to stand up for herself.
Wonder if there's any Mary's out there?

Mary is underrated. She just couldn’t be arsed with any of that nonsense of being obsessed with men. Like an apprentice Charlotte Lucas

OP posts:
Untitledsquatboulder · 04/01/2023 23:03

Sadly I'd probably have been a Mary, certainly the plain one hiding behind a book.

determinedtomakethiswork · 04/01/2023 23:04

Mrs Bennet was and still is a Lydia.

hopelessbusiness · 04/01/2023 23:05

@LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet of all the sisters, I'd love to know what happened to Mary most. Wish JA had written a sequel!!

GladiatorSandals · 04/01/2023 23:05

Mary, but actually clever, not just repeating maxims from books and over-eager at the piano because my sisters got the looks.

Untitledsquatboulder · 04/01/2023 23:05

I'd like to think of myself more as a Charlotte Lucas (plain but pragmatic) except the very thought of marrying Mr Collins makes my skin crawl. Just couldn't do it - would rather have been the housekeeper.

Sleeptightnightlight · 04/01/2023 23:05

I think I'm most like Mary. Not particularly pretty or clever and witty. Not terribly interested in parties or men (though I did eventually marry one). No musical talent (though I know I have none, and thus wouldn't subject anyone to it!). Tend to be interested in things others find boring and don't enjoy gossip or smalltalk.

PermanentTemporary · 04/01/2023 23:06

Fantasy: Lydia. Shameless sexpot.
Reality: Catherine. A bit of a follower and nonentity, visibly a disappointment to my parents.

CherrySocks · 04/01/2023 23:06

Mrs Bennet didn't have sex before marriage or run off unmarried with a man, as far as we know, even if she was as silly as Lydia about officers in redcoats.

gemloving · 04/01/2023 23:06

I watched the film tonight and thought this, unfortunately a Lydia but then again, wouldn't have been crazy enough to get married that early / run away.

Kanaloa · 04/01/2023 23:06

Was Mr Collins really that bad though? As a teen I really pitied Charlotte, but now looking back I think she kind of had the right idea. He’s a bit embarrassing, but he is a respectable man who offered her a comfortable and secure life. I think if I lived back then I could settle like that.

MrsSkylerWhite · 04/01/2023 23:06

Just to say, great question btw 😃

FallopianTubeTrain · 04/01/2023 23:06

Kitty I think. Wanted to do the stuff the cool girls did but wasn't quite brave enough and still got told off by my mum anyway 😆

BliainNua · 04/01/2023 23:07

I reckon I'm a Mary. Not smart enough to be Lizzie, not nice enough to be Jane, not outgoing enough to be Lydia, could be Kitty be unlikely - so, Mary I am!
I'm Mary and proud 😆

hopelessbusiness · 04/01/2023 23:09

@Untitledsquatboulder I used to think like that but as I've got older I think she played a blinder! Pop out a couple of children to give her a focus, then shut up shop due to 'women's issues'. Mr Collins was many things but I reckon he'd respect that. Then of course she'd become the mistress of Longbourne and find plenty to amuse her there... certainly could have been a lot worse for her!!

BliainNua · 04/01/2023 23:10

BTW @LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet I love your username 🥰👒

Needhelp101 · 04/01/2023 23:10

hopelessbusiness · 04/01/2023 23:05

@LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet of all the sisters, I'd love to know what happened to Mary most. Wish JA had written a sequel!!

There's a very good book, The Other Bennett Sister, which follows Mary's life after the events of P&P.

I was a total Lydia when younger, sadly not so much now 😁

CherrySocks · 04/01/2023 23:11

I'd be the ag lab's wife, or the housemaid, or a farmer's wife in Ireland or a farm worker's wife in Wales.

[misses point of thread in order to remind self not to identify with affluent historical characters]

Oh, OK I'd be Mary, but with a mix of Lizzie thrown in.

Original poster
LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet · 04/01/2023 23:11

hopelessbusiness · 04/01/2023 23:05

@LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet of all the sisters, I'd love to know what happened to Mary most. Wish JA had written a sequel!!

There is a non-JA one!!

The Other Bennet Sister. Like fanfic but a proper author who stays true to the characters. It’s so good. Got my copy from Amazon. I just pretend JA wrote it 😂

OP posts:
cariadlet · 04/01/2023 23:11

I'm not witty enough to be Lizzie so more of a Mary.

Definitely not a Lydia or a Kitty. They would have driven me mad.

Has anyone read "The Other Bennett Sister" by Janice Hadlow? It gives a whole new perspective on Mary. Since I read that, she's been my favourite of the sisters.

Boombaker · 04/01/2023 23:12

I would like to think Lizzie but more like Mary.