Watching repeats of the BBC series of Pride and Prejudice from c. 1995 – found myself longing to live in that time, not because of the romantic stuff, but the care that was taken over language, without sacrificing feeling and wit.
Particularly loved Lizzie Bennett’s response to Lady Catherine de Burgh in the final episode. I soooo wish I could respond in that calm, icy, polite and eloquent manner towards people (especially relatives!) when they wind me up.
Do any of you have literary characters/situations that you wish you could emulate?
Full Version: I Want To Be Lizzie Bennett
I would LOVE to be Lizzie Bennett. I think I am Elizabeth Bennett. I think every girl who's read/seen it thinks they are. 
Failing that, I'll be Anne Elliot from Persuasion, who is also very cool.
Failing that, I'll be Anne Elliot from Persuasion, who is also very cool.
QUOTE(dolcebaby @ May 29 2009, 12:10 PM) 
I soooo wish I could respond in that calm, icy, polite and eloquent manner towards people (especially relatives!) when they wind me up.
I am sure you could with a bit of practice
The words are still used today.
I agree!! The language is just beautiful! So elegant, yet so poignant
Plus, I'd love to wear some of those period costumes!!
Plus, I'd love to wear some of those period costumes!!
BTW I know I mispelt 'because' in the title which is ironic given the subject, but can't edit it now!
I sense the coming of a new thread entitled "Speak like a Jane Austen Character"
I'm just off to take the dog for a turn about the park, although I dare say the heat will prove to be intolerable
Take care that you do not develop a fever or, worse, a putrid sore throat (my particular favourite!)
Lord, what a joke!
See, I wish I was Lizzie, but fear I would end up more of a Lydia at the remotest attempt at Austen-speak, such a heathen have I become these days. Still as long as I don't turn into Mrs B...
See, I wish I was Lizzie, but fear I would end up more of a Lydia at the remotest attempt at Austen-speak, such a heathen have I become these days. Still as long as I don't turn into Mrs B...
QUOTE(ad_libitum @ May 29 2009, 02:21 PM)
I sense a the coming of a new thread entitled "Speak like a Jane Austen Character"
I'm just off to take the dog for a turn about the park, although I dare say the heat will prove to be intolerable
I'd love to be Lizzie Bennet.
Well, the afternoon air was beneficial, despite a disappointing lack of refined society or rich gentleman. Some very unbecoming fashions indeed.
I was grieved to hear about a friend's recent misfortune. It seems she has been very ill used indeed by a young man she met only last week. Apparently, they strolled through the park and he held her hand for a bit. Naturally it was assumed they had come to an understanding, but it seems that no marriage is to take place at all! I feel sorry for her, although I have to say that it wasn't wholly unexpected. Only a fortnight before she was seen sitting on a bench with gentleman quite unchaperoned....
It is a shame though. No doubt this latest scandal will be her ruin, and as I am now nine and twenty years myself there is little hope of a match for either of us.
....
I was grieved to hear about a friend's recent misfortune. It seems she has been very ill used indeed by a young man she met only last week. Apparently, they strolled through the park and he held her hand for a bit. Naturally it was assumed they had come to an understanding, but it seems that no marriage is to take place at all! I feel sorry for her, although I have to say that it wasn't wholly unexpected. Only a fortnight before she was seen sitting on a bench with gentleman quite unchaperoned....
It is a shame though. No doubt this latest scandal will be her ruin, and as I am now nine and twenty years myself there is little hope of a match for either of us.
....
QUOTE(ad_libitum @ May 29 2009, 05:21 PM)
Well, the afternoon air was beneficial, despite a disappointing lack of refined society or rich gentleman. Some very unbecoming fashions indeed.
I was grieved to hear about a friend's recent misfortune. It seems she has been very ill used indeed by a young man she met only last week. Apparently, they strolled through the park and it seems he held her hand for a bit. Naturally it was assumed they had come to an understanding, but it seems that no marriage is to take place at all! I feel sorry for her, although I have to say that it wasn't wholly unexpected. Only a fortnight before she was seen sitting on a bench with gentleman quite unchaperoned....
It is a shame though. No doubt this latest scandal will be her ruin, and as I am now nine and twenty years myself there is little hope of a match for either of us.
....
I was grieved to hear about a friend's recent misfortune. It seems she has been very ill used indeed by a young man she met only last week. Apparently, they strolled through the park and it seems he held her hand for a bit. Naturally it was assumed they had come to an understanding, but it seems that no marriage is to take place at all! I feel sorry for her, although I have to say that it wasn't wholly unexpected. Only a fortnight before she was seen sitting on a bench with gentleman quite unchaperoned....
It is a shame though. No doubt this latest scandal will be her ruin, and as I am now nine and twenty years myself there is little hope of a match for either of us.
....
The costumes of the period may look all floaty and elegant, but given the corsetry which has to go underneath to make it drape right, I think I'll pass up on the idea.
I love the language used, but it has a problem - people condemn as pretentious those who revel in the wide range of expression available to them. Thanks to having been invaded so many times, English is such a rich language, but is being constricted as we use less and less of it
.
I love the language used, but it has a problem - people condemn as pretentious those who revel in the wide range of expression available to them. Thanks to having been invaded so many times, English is such a rich language, but is being constricted as we use less and less of it
.
I can't help but think that any modern woman might hanker after the life of Elizabeth now and then. (What would the feminists think of us!) Seems to be that a life of sewing, reading, visiting, music and dancing, while my husband and servants managed the estate would be quite pleasant. I'd have time for all the studying I wished. And despite my life of leisure, I might still be thought an 'accomplished' lady!
Of course, I'd probably not a be a gentleman's daughter, and be stuck in service instead...
Of course, I'd probably not a be a gentleman's daughter, and be stuck in service instead...
I love Pride and Prejudice! Studying it in A level English Lit- (which is soon...) I love the way they are all so dignified (well- most of them...) compared to today, and speak so elegantly! I was so born in the wrong time Period...
I imagine feminists nowadays would say much the same thing Mary Wollstonecraft said then! But Elizabeth has a fairly remarkable education for women at the time, given that she wasn't forced to become accomplished, and draw and paint and learn geography by rote, just in case it came up in conversation - she just read loads - learning as any man of the time might. In a sense you could say she's contrasted with Bingley's two very accomplished sisters, who had the ideal upbringing of women of the time, but weren't any fun to be around. Or poor Anne of course.
I AM a feminist, but there's nothing wrong with a bit of dreaming - I wouldn't want to take the negative aspects of Lizzie's life (no being pushed into marriage by my mother please), but I'll dream about the positive ones!
ETA Whoops, did I go on a bit there?
I AM a feminist, but there's nothing wrong with a bit of dreaming - I wouldn't want to take the negative aspects of Lizzie's life (no being pushed into marriage by my mother please), but I'll dream about the positive ones!
ETA Whoops, did I go on a bit there?
QUOTE(tamsin @ May 29 2009, 06:19 PM)
I can't help but think that any modern woman might hanker after the life of Elizabeth now and then. (What would the feminists think of us!) Seems to be that a life of sewing, reading, visiting, music and dancing, while my husband and servants managed the estate would be quite pleasant. I'd have time for all the studying I wished. And despite my life of leisure, I might still be thought an 'accomplished' lady!
Of course, I'd probably not a be a gentleman's daughter, and be stuck in service instead...
Yes, I'd most likely have been a scullery maid... a governess at best
I'm sure there were lots of negatives. I just want the life portrayed in the books/films of being able to sit around and play piano all day
You never see them curled up in agony after having a corset on all day - no wonder they all fainted so much!
QUOTE(ad_libitum @ May 29 2009, 10:00 PM)
Yes, I'd most likely have been a scullery maid... a governess at best
I'm sure there were lots of negatives. I just want the life portrayed in the books/films of being able to sit around and play piano all day
You never see them curled up in agony after having a corset on all day - no wonder they all fainted so much!
My grandmother was in service from the age of 14 (Edwardian times) and hated it. Her name was Olive, but the lady she worked for thought that far too grand a name for a servant and said, "I shall call you Betty"! She was supposed to clean the study, but fell into temptation and started reading one of the books; she got a real rocket for that and had her wages docked!
I'm sure it would have been no better for servants in Jane Austen's day. And I bet even the young ladies of the house weren't allowed to do as they liked - you'd have had to do lots of painting, embroidery, painting and singing as well as the piano. Life was much more cloistered then; mostly you had to wait for it to come to you. I think I much prefer living today, actually!
Has anyone else visited Jane Austen's house in Hampshire? It is surprising modest.
There was a Jane Austen week on in Bath last summer where you could dress up in the period dresses etc... I wanted to but didn't want to go on my own
If it's on this year maybe someone here would like to come with me and we can help each other with the corsets
If it's on this year maybe someone here would like to come with me and we can help each other with the corsets
Although I can do embroidery and read voraciously, and even have one or two accomplishments in the form of music making, I do think I'd have got rather bored - and the idea of intelligent minds being so restricted does appal me - no wonder the era spawned the likes of Mrs Bennett.
And the idea of living without modern pharmaceuticals and modern antenatal care? *shiver* I would have died by this age, so would my sister, so would my son, and my husband...doesn't bear thinking about.
And the idea of living without modern pharmaceuticals and modern antenatal care? *shiver* I would have died by this age, so would my sister, so would my son, and my husband...doesn't bear thinking about.
QUOTE(anacrusis @ May 29 2009, 06:10 PM)
The costumes of the period may look all floaty and elegant, but given the corsetry which has to go underneath to make it drape right, I think I'll pass up on the idea.
I love the language used, but it has a problem - people condemn as pretentious those who revel in the wide range of expression available to them. Thanks to having been invaded so many times, English is such a rich language, but is being constricted as we use less and less of it
.They didn't wear corsets with the empire-line dresses, so if you were a dumpling I think you just had to go for extra fabric. The slender and daring (or 'fast'
) would dampen their dresses so that they clung, and showed how non-existent the corsetry was. None of Jane Austen's heroines, of course, would contemplate such audacious behaviour
I rather thought they did, and that corsetry didn't disappear until the nineteen twenties or thirties. Certainly the museum of costume in Bath shows some fairly daunting undergarments, and the actresses for the 1990s production of "Pride and Prejudice" were definitely encased in suchlike - it can actually be seen from behind.
Thinking about it, corsetry hasn't disappeared even yet. *heavy sigh at thought of some patients who attend wearing layers of the stuff, which takes ages to remove for examination purposes*
Thinking about it, corsetry hasn't disappeared even yet. *heavy sigh at thought of some patients who attend wearing layers of the stuff, which takes ages to remove for examination purposes*
To the best of my knowledge, the Jane Austen Fesitival takes place every year in Bath. Last year, I was told that it used to be you got free entry to events if you dressed up, but apparently that no longer happens. People still do though, for the fun of it...
Although I was meant to have been an Elizabeth, in that I love music, and embroidery, and reading, I would not have liked at all the constraints on women in that time.
My Great Grandmother was "in service" in the 1880's, and was "used" by one of the titled "gentlemen", and had to leave rather pregnant. Not a nice time, but luckily my Great Grandfather married her as she was.
My Mum didn't discover all this until she registered her Mothers' death with my Grandfather, and saw the birth certificate. It just wasn't talked about in those days.
Beverley.
My Great Grandmother was "in service" in the 1880's, and was "used" by one of the titled "gentlemen", and had to leave rather pregnant. Not a nice time, but luckily my Great Grandfather married her as she was.
My Mum didn't discover all this until she registered her Mothers' death with my Grandfather, and saw the birth certificate. It just wasn't talked about in those days.
Beverley.
I certainly wish parasols would come back into fashion. As a curvy and pale lady, it's hard to find summer clothes that cover up but are cool, unless I wear hideously unflattering kaftan type things. If I could just shelter under a white broderie anglais parasol or some such it would be much simpler. Suppose I'd have to have cotton gloves as well so the hand holding the parasol wouldn't get burned.
I suppose I could just use a brolly but can't quite convince myself not to care about the odd looks!
I suppose I could just use a brolly but can't quite convince myself not to care about the odd looks!
QUOTE(dolcebaby @ Jun 2 2009, 11:34 AM)
I certainly wish parasols would come back into fashion. As a curvy and pale lady, it's hard to find summer clothes that cover up but are cool, unless I wear hideously unflattering kaftan type things. If I could just shelter under a white broderie anglais parasol or some such it would be much simpler. Suppose I'd have to have cotton gloves as well so the hand holding the parasol wouldn't get burned.
I suppose I could just use a brolly but can't quite convince myself not to care about the odd looks!
Now I've seen those somewhere. When I remember I'll let you know.
QUOTE(anacrusis @ Jun 2 2009, 09:37 AM)
I rather thought they did, and that corsetry didn't disappear until the nineteen twenties or thirties. Certainly the museum of costume in Bath shows some fairly daunting undergarments, and the actresses for the 1990s production of "Pride and Prejudice" were definitely encased in suchlike - it can actually be seen from behind.
Thinking about it, corsetry hasn't disappeared even yet. *heavy sigh at thought of some patients who attend wearing layers of the stuff, which takes ages to remove for examination purposes*
Your're right - though I was thinking more of the full-on article from either side of the Regency period. This is a good article http://www.janeausten.co.uk/magazine/page....=325&step=4
I like the reference to the 'shelf-like display'!
The men certainly also wore them when they became a little portly
Most of my knowledge of Regency attire comes from Georgett Heyer
QUOTE(The Old Lady @ Jun 2 2009, 11:56 AM)
QUOTE(dolcebaby @ Jun 2 2009, 11:34 AM)
I certainly wish parasols would come back into fashion. As a curvy and pale lady, it's hard to find summer clothes that cover up but are cool, unless I wear hideously unflattering kaftan type things. If I could just shelter under a white broderie anglais parasol or some such it would be much simpler. Suppose I'd have to have cotton gloves as well so the hand holding the parasol wouldn't get burned.
I suppose I could just use a brolly but can't quite convince myself not to care about the odd looks!
Now I've seen those somewhere. When I remember I'll let you know.
One of these would be very chic, but unfortunately they are £107!
http://www.umbrellaboutique.co.uk/acatalog...uy_De_Jean.html
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