Monica Fairview, Author

What wonderfully diverse answers, as always. You're right, jnaj, I did work you too hard for a Friday. But I'm so glad I did. I love all the different opinions. Meredith, your point about Eliza bottling everything in and perhaps being too independent strikes a cord with me. Funnily enough, that's exactly what Caroline says to Elizabeth in The Other Mr Darcy , at a moment when the two of them bury the past behind them: "I thought you were too self-sufficient," she remarks. As for Mr Bennet, as several of you indicated, he is quite a mixture of things. Though in many ways he doesn't seems to be the traditional patriarchal figure who rules the household with an iron fist, he enjoys his position of privilege in the household and makes the best of it in many ways. The opening scene where he pretends he will not go and visit Bingley is a typical example. He holds the upper hand, because they are all completely dependent on him paying Bingley a call, yet he pretend...

I was just over at Marilyn Brant's page (author of According to Jane ) and spotted a JA quote I didn't know (oh, how did I miss this one?) "Seldom, very seldom, does complete truth belong to any human disclosure; seldom can it happen that something is not disguised, or a little mistaken." JA It's so perfect for the discussion, and I think it's crucial to bear it in mind as we're going through Pride and Prejudice. As for your responses yesterday, what can I say? You're outdoing yourselves. Pretty much everyone brought up something to think about. Of course, Charlotte is the perfect example, particularly since the she and Elizabeth seem to be close friends. You'd think she'd realize that Charlotte needed to get married and wouldn't turn down an opportunity. Which goes along with what Lori and Kt say about Eliza not understanding her mother, either. Mrs Bennet is silly, but she knows how important it is to secure Longbourn, yet Eliza ne...

Oh, I absolutely loved your responses. Tracygrrl, if you're being dorky, long live dorkiness! Every one of you brings in a slightly different angle, which reminds me again of the complexity of Jane Austen's characters, because even Caroline, who is really generally seen as quite one-sided, does things that can be interpreted differently by different people. Of course, I wrote about Caroline, so I can't possibly think that she's bad all the way through, but I would be blind not to see that Caroline's sneering way of approaching the whole issue was obnoxious. If she meant it in any positive way, she certainly didn't handle it very well! It's almost as if, by telling Elizabeth about Wickham, she accomplished a number of things: she could be "helpful," while at the same time showing Elizabeth how mistaken she is to favor Wickham, pointing out that Wickham's background wasn't good enough for Elizabeth (which is fascinating, because no one object...

What great responses we had yesterday! It made me want to jump in and make a comment myself. I restrained myself, however. Funny how we take for granted a term like "passion" when two major writers who are so different have almost opposite concepts of what it is. I really liked the way both Laura and Tracygrrl expressed the contrast between the stormy passions of Bronte and the "uber-polite" world of Jane Austen. But do you really not see Mr Darcy hiding a madwoman in Pemberley? Hmm, I'll have to think about that. What do the rest of you think? I do agree, though, that a common theme in Jane Austen is tempering excess. Thank you all for your insightful comments. And thank you, jnaj, for your link. Today's question is about Caroline : ) Why does Caroline warn Elizabeth about Wickham? You would think she would be pleased to have Elizabeth out of the way with someone other than Darcy, so logically speaking, she should encourage the connection and let El...

Yesterday's question clearly wasn't challenging enough. Too easy. Still, the answers were good. I perhaps should have asked it another way: does Jane Austen create a real character in Georgiana, or is she just a prop intended to show the positive side of Darcy? This is a discussion question I've encountered a few times, and it came up again recently on a small group I was in, though I can't for the life of me trace it back. It's a general JA question, but since we're discussing Pride and Prejudice, I'd would appreciate examples from the novel. It's a long question, and might elicit some long answers, but hopefully some enjoyable ones. Pride & Prejudice Question 6 Many people think of PandP as the epitome of romance. Yet Charlotte Bronte's famous criticism is that: "Anything like warmth or enthusiasm, anything energetic, poignant, heartfelt, is utterly out of place in commending these works: all such demonstrations the authoress would h...

Yesterday's question was a tough one, but some of you had some very perceptive answers. Well done! Recognize the village from my previous blog? I watched Emma last night, as I said I'd do in my last blog. I'll give you a quick summary of how it went, and my general impressions. The mini series starts with a review of Emma's childhood. We see Miss Bates as a fixture in Emma's childhood, constantly reading out letters detailing Jane Fairfax's accomplishments. We see her as she grows up, with Mr Knightly another fixture. Knightly seems inclined to reprimand both Emma and Miss Taylor. We catch a glimpse of John Knightly and Emma's sister, whose marriage Emma believes she engineered. And then Miss Taylor's marriage with Mr Weston. The action starts after Miss Taylor's wedding, where Emma is left quite lonely in a big house with her father. Consequently she seeks out a companion, and she chooses Harriet, who is very pretty but quite empty-headed. K...

I loved some of your answers yesterday. Wet shirt = washing?! That pulls Colin Firth down a peg or two! Some complex answers in there too. I have to say, apart for the eye candy, I do think the scene works so well for other reasons. As Emily puts it, it mirror the changes that have occured from within. The intimacy, the fact that it is startlingly private is in stark contrast to the Meryton assembly. It does give us a different glimpse of Darcy (the "uncivilized" side as South Bay Ladies Tea Guild points out), whom we haven't seen since Netherfield. I read somewhere that it puts both characters at a disadvantage. Elizabeth is very embarrassed at being caught ogling Pemberley, and of course, he's extremely embarrassed to be seen this way by a lady he wants to impress. It's also an unusual scene because he's half undressed (extremely improper) whereas she's fully clothed. The scene has many interesting angles to it. I'm settling in tonight to watch th...