Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Fridge / PrideAndPrejudice

Go To

1[[AC:FridgeBrilliance]]
2* Although I loved Creator/JaneAusten's ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'' even from the first time I read it, my one major issue with it was the too HappilyEverAfter ending -- the heroine gets a handsome, super rich husband who's changed his entire [[TheStoic stoic]], haughty personality out of love for her (good luck trying to find any guy in the real world who would actually do that for a girl!) and goes off to live in an opulent, ten-acre paradise. For some reason (possibly due to my own family's issues), about the third time I read it, my view of the ending ''completely'' changed, and I now find it, if anything, too ''depressing'', not because of anything to do with Elizabeth's marriage but because of Lydia. No, I don't feel sorry in any way for Lydia herself but for her family, who are now forced to baby-sit this stupid girl and her ManipulativeBastard of a husband for the rest of their lives because their expenses always exceed their income. The Bingleys are apparently forced to live with the most detestable people in the novel, and poor Mr. Darcy is now bound to financially take care of his ArchEnemy; whether he refuses them at Pemberley or not, how distasteful that must feel to him! Through the perfect combination of malice and stupidity, the Wickhams become a lifelong burden for three families, and this will most likely never change. How could I ever find this to be HappilyEverAfter?! - {{Lale}}
3** If you consider Lydia's situation there is plenty of reason to feel sorry for the girl. She is 16 when she runs away with Wickham, obviously not particularly clever (she is described as a silly girl with not much in her head other than partying, men and fashion) and both her parents have failed to give her any proper education or understanding. Her father doesn't pay much attention to her, he rather ships her off to Brighton than deal with her getting on his nerves, and her mother spoils her and is obsessed with getting the girls married. So when she throws herself at a handsome young man with charm and a decent position she is pretty much doing exactly what she has been taught to do, while being incapable of grasping the impact of her decision. From today's perspective it is madness that a teenager would be considered so tainted by eloping with her first crush that she will drag her whole family down unless she marries him. And Jane Austen herself, though much more familiar with those social expectations, points out the craziness and inevitability of the situation ("And they must marry! Yet he is such a man!"). So, thanks to Darcy's meddling to save Elisabeth, (not entirely selfless as he admits himself, as his chances to marry her depend on her being "untainted" by her sister's behaviour,) Lydia ends up in a loveless marriage with a bad man and shunned by her own family. Not exactly a happy ending.
4*** One major reason spurring Mr. Darcy to hunt down Mr. Wickham is that he knows well how conniving Mr. Wickham can be to a young girl. His sister Georgiana almost met the same fate. Even if Lydia were not a silly girl, Wickham might have found a way to persuade her to leave her family. Darcy may feel partly responsible for not seeing that Wickham had found another girl to dupe. The arrangement can also allow Darcy to oversee the couple and make sure that Wickham is not treating Lydia too badly.
5*** Let's be totally fair to Mr. Darcy and his efforts to get Lydia stuck into a loveless marriage for the sake of public approval. The first thing he did when he found the couple was to try to talk Lydia into leaving Wickham and returning to her friends, and he even offered her as much aid and protection as he could provide. He pushed Wickham into agreeing to the marriage only when he couldn't persuade Lydia to take any other course. The only alternative at that point, due to her stubbornness, was to basically allow Lydia to be Wickham's prostitute until he abandoned her in some unknown place as a pauper.
6*** The problem that everyone trying to save Lydia faces is that she ''thinks'' that she has been very clever in running off with Wickham, and that belief only increases after the marriage (which she wanted and Wickham did not). She even gloats that her sisters shall have to address her as "Mrs. Wickham" due to her being the first of them to marry. Lydia does not see past Wickham's red coat, nor does she care to try. The only person being forced into the marriage is Wickham himself. She was the BrattyTeenageDaughter during an era when her age was not a barrier to marriage. Especially since she imagined herself as upstaging Jane and Lizzy by marrying before them. Matters were only made worse because Mrs. Bennet was as taken in by Wickham's charm as Lydia and so mother and daughter alike were oblivious to what a terrible prospect Wickham was.
7** Although if you think about it even further, it's possible to see that things aren't that great for Wickham either; while Darcy has taken care of his debts, that means that Wickham is in ''his'' debt -- and if he crosses the line too far (as he used to love doing), Darcy's no doubt more than willing to set the dogs on him. He's been given a cushy post in the military, but it's a cushy post in a go-nowhere regiment in the middle of nowhere (as far as the characters are concerned). He's saddled with a stupid wife he does not love who, again because of Darcy, he can't do anything about. Yeah, he and Lydia are saddling themselves on Jane and Bingley, but that's partially because Jane and Bingley are way too nice for their own good, to an at-times stupid degree, and it's implied that they're gradually reaching even the limit of ''their'' patience with these obnoxious spongers and are planning on kicking them out. So, while it doesn't look like punishment on the surface, digging deeper reveals that Wickham isn't quite the KarmaHoudini he appears.
8** Also, this troper would like to point out that Darcy never traded in his personality for a completely different one. Such was the brilliance of Jane Austen, that the changes to his personality were simply Elizabeth seeing a different side of him; being around pleasant and elegant company and away from the less well behaved people at the dances (her aunt and uncle when compared to her family are practically nobles in their behavior), him being wrong and caught on it for the first time in the novel (there was no way he could deny that Elizabeth was right about Jane loving Bingley so he had to admit his wrongdoing), and him being more comfortable on his home turf than in some stranger's house with no one he knows. This troper's 'aha' moment involved this and the relation to the title, how prejudice often blinds us to a person's good traits, and how we are so sure we are right that our entire view of a person changes when proof comes up showing us what a idiot we are. Note that also, the Darcy archetype at the time was NOT a sexy staple like in today's romance, but the least desirable man to chase after. Thus, prejudice also addresses the natural bias women had at that time against the stuffy, socially awkward type... who ends up being actually pretty awesome once you get to know him.
9*** And it's even more brilliant than that. Remember in his letter after the failed proposal, he talks about Wickham nearly seducing his sister "last summer". Bingley took Netherfield at the past Michaelmas, which is in September. So no wonder Darcy was not a particularly happy or friendly guy in Hartfordshire--his beloved sister had almost been ruined LESS THAN TWO MONTHS AGO!
10*** Not only that; remember how, not long after, he says that he's too impatient with the faults of others and can't forgive slights against himself? In other words, he's still absolutely furious over what Wickham did; however, of course, Elizabeth and the audience don't know about that yet.
11*** Although towards the end Darcy himself does admit that he was just a bit of a dick early in the novel and that he did genuinely deserve a large part of Lizzie's condemnation; the above is correct in that he didn't trade in his personality for a new one, but he did have to address his own flaws and improve his character in order to make headway with her.
12* The first time I read ''Pride and Prejudice'' I wanted to tear the binding apart. The book was written so eloquently and was so full of itself that I was enraged. This author is spending time talking about the most trite topics, describing the most idiotic, pompous people I have ever seen in literature. So then my friends convince me to re-read it two years later and everything fits. When I realized it was satire, everything changed. Suddenly the characters become true and masterfully detailed. I missed the point the first time because I took it {{serious|Business}}ly.
13* An early Victorian audience would have ''immediately'' twigged that Mr. Wickham was a whinger and shouldn't be taken seriously when he complains to Lizzie. That bit when he complains he's just "an officer in the militia" and has no money? He needed to [[ValuesDissonance pay for his commission.]] That's about $100,000 in today's money for an ensign's position (a 2nd Lt.) There's no indication he got it otherwise from merit.
14** Indication or not, it's very, ''very'' unlikely that he would have earned it. While soldiers could be promoted from the ranks to officer status, it required an act of such (suicidal) courage that the officers in charge would look like idiots if they ''didn't'' promote the soldier. It could happen, but Mr. Wickham really isn't the kind to go in for suicidal acts of courage.
15** The other point that would have made them twig Mr. Wickham is a whinger is that he's in the ''Militia'', not the Regulars. There was a war going on: since the primary job of the Militia was to guard against invasion, they couldn't be sent overseas. Militia regiments, therefore, were a combination of training regiments and the Home Guard. Mr. Wickham has got himself the cool uniform (attractive to girls like Lydia) but avoided anything dangerous - like going overseas to fight.
16* You've got Mrs. Bennett, who's snarked at by everyone -- her daughters, her husband and by Austen herself. To begin with, I was quite content to join in with the ridicule, but I later realised that she is the one person with no power: the girls have power as unmarried women, because they have some choice over whom they get married to; her husband has power as a man; and Jane Austen has power over their lives as the author of the story. To cap it all off, it's Mrs Bennett's attempts to get some kind of power- by getting attention and influencing her daughters' lives- that make her the character everyone snarks at. Ouch. -aimsme
17** And while one can make fun at her obsession with marrying off her daughters, that is her JOB. She's pretty good at it too: when Mr. Bennet reads the letter from Mr. Collins she immediately realizes that he plans to marry one of her daughters, while the others only figure it out later. Worse still, Mrs. Bennet might blame herself for only having had daughters, or for not being able to bear a sixth child. Her desperation and nervousness in the book may be due to a sense of overwhelming guilt or shame. I have come to have a lot of sympathy for Mrs. Bennet, and am glad that she gets her happy ending too.
18** That's why this troper loves that moment in the 2005 film when Lizzie in frustration asks her mother if marrying off her daughters is really all Mrs. Bennet thinks about. Mrs. Bennet is the most serious we've seen her in the film (and even a bit snarky) when she basically replies, "When you have five daughters to marry off, maybe you'll understand why it's so important to me."
19* I'd sometimes wonder how there can be such a huge gap between the two oldest Bennet sisters and their younger siblings in terms of common sense and intelligence. Maybe it's because when Jane and Lizzy were growing up, the (generally) sensible Mr. Bennet was still in love with his wife and attentive to his family. Whereas by the time Kitty and Lydia were big enough to be educated, he had grown disillusioned with his married life and become the reclusive DeadpanSnarker that we know, who took little account of how his tiresome wife dealt with the youngest children.
20** One fanfiction proposed a very believable theory on the eldest Bennets' quality; the Gardiners used to take them in regularly. They were unable to take the younger sisters as they began to gain their own tribe of children. This also explains the particular closeness of Elizabeth and her aunt; Mrs Gardiner was a surrogate mother figure to her, as Mrs Bennet never truly favoured her.
21*** I'm pretty sure the text says outright that ''both'' Jane and Lizzy are particularly close to Mrs. Gardiner. In any event, it wasn't described as being particularly strange that the Gardiners just randomly took Jane to London after their Christmas visit.
22* Part of the problem for the Bennetts is that England is a Protestant country. In Spain or Italy or Austria, a similarly-situated family (gentry/minor nobility with too many daughters), at least one of the girls would have become a nun. Mary, for example, would have done well in a convent--she would have played the organ in the chapel, taught in the girls' school, and generally been very busy and happy.
23* I for a long while opted to consider Lizzie's remark about realizing she loves Mr. Darcy when she saw his estate as a joke intended to dodge the question, but actually, it had some truth in it. What she saw there and what impressed him was not the financial value of the place, but its ''state'': it was well-kept, well-organized, with the servants happy and gushing about their master. Servants who have known both Darcy and Wickam way longer than Lizzie has. While not a LoveEpiphany, this ''was'' the point she realized she gave credit to the wrong person and should have believed and trusted Darcy instead!
24** Not to mention, Pemberley shows how Darcy is not his aunt. Everything is done with better taste there than at Rosings, and without making an excessive point about it. Lady Catherine practically makes it her business to be a RichBitch just because she can; Darcy spends some time there but figures out he was pushing TookALevelInJerkass territory while he could still backtrack. (He more or less admits this to Lizzy at the end.)
25** Plus, Pemberley is where Lizzy meets [[MoralityPet Georgiana]]. Knowing the full story about what Wickham did to Georgiana, plus seeing Darcy's obvious adoration of her, definitely had a hand in turning Lizzy's opinion around, too.
26* Mr. Bennett has the reputation for being the reasonable one in his marriage, but beyond his neglect of his daughters and his attitude towards his wife being publically disrespected by them and others, there is a moment at the end of the book that shows he's actually kind of spineless on top of it. When Darcy asks him for permission to marry Elizabeth, Mr. Bennett--who regards Darcy as solely the proud, arrogant, bad-tempered rich guy who snubbed his daughter and is detested by her--gives it automatically. And tells Elizabeth that he wouldn't ''dare'' have done anything else.
27** This is somewhat of a modern view. We are expected to like Mr. Bennet more than Mrs. Bennet, but a contemporary reader would blame ''him'', not her, for their younger daughters’ silliness. They might also blame him for Mrs. Bennet’s silliness. He was the ''paterfamilias'', the head of the household; it was his duty to (at least metaphorically) whip his family into shape. It was both his right and his job to insist upon a governess (or at least a better education than "the opportunity to read good books") for his children. Austen’s first readers would have in particular seen Lydia’s elopement as partly Lydia’s fault and partly Mr. Bennet’s for not having adequately supervised and disciplined his daughter. Heck, it's right in the text--Lizzy tells him outright that Lydia will behave badly and shame the Bennets if allowed to go to Brighton, and Mr. Bennet admits that she was right and he should have listened.
28* When Bingley comes back to Netherfield, Mr Bennett's strong aversion to visit him again could be due to his own natural laziness and disdain for social obligations, but also to his resentment for the pain the young gentleman caused to Jane.
29* Everybody knows about Mr. Wickham's hypocrisy when it comes to Darcy, but there's actually another layer, too. First, he says he won't expose Darcy's supposed bad behavior because he respects Mr. Darcy's late father too much, but he gossips about to everyone. Layer number one. Then you realize what else he does--he ''only'' gossips. He spreads dirt about Darcy in whispers because he knows that if he openly told his story, it wouldn't hold up. His version of events can only survive if kept on the down-low (but not so much on the down-low it can't hurt Darcy). Notably, when Lizzy presses Darcy enough for him to actually speak--well, write--openly about what happened with Wickham, Wickham's version crumbles in seconds, even though Lizzy still hates Darcy at that point and doesn't want to believe a word.
30* It is often called out by readers that Mr. Collins gives up on marrying a Bennet daughter after Lizzie rejects his proposal. In particular, many people feel that Mary would have been an ideal match for him. Except that she is not. Mr. Collins saw this marriage idea as a kind of "olive branch" to the Bennet family for the fact that he was going to inherit Mr. Bennet's estate once he died; he was ''never'' motivated by any particular interest in the Bennet daughters themselves, and feels no need to carry on trying to make his offer after he's been rejected once already. Mrs. Bennet, prone to speaking without thinking, at one point makes it very clear that they can afford a cook, and so her daughters have nothing to do with the kitchen, as was normal for women of the upper-class. She also, in a StealthInsult during a different conversation, calls attention to the fact that Charlotte Lucas can and does cook. Mrs. Bennet means to imply that Charlotte is of a lower rank than her own daughters. But this is a clue to Mr. Collins's rationale, as he is very much middle-class and, until he inherits Longbourn, lives a middle-class lifestyle. A wife who knows how to cook and keep house is actually better suited to his present needs than one who is accustomed to relying on servants for these things. So, his passing over Mary, Kitty, and Lydia in favor of Charlotte Lucas actually makes perfect sense, even though Mrs. Bennet would not have realized that she was self-sabotaging her own plans to see one of her daughters marry him by trying to play up their upper-class lack of domestic skills.
31
32[[AC:Fridge Horror]]
33* Wickham's assisted purchase of a commission in a Newcastle regiment is treated as a bit of a cushy version of the ReassignedToAntarctica trope; a seemingly prestigious post in a do-nothing home-based regiment safe from all the fighting. However, only a couple of years after the novel was published, these regiments would see heavy action at the Battle of Waterloo, to the point where the entire officer corps was practically wiped out to a man. Wickham, though neither he nor his author could possibly know it, has a bit of a cloud over his future.
34** For him. For his political family, not so much. Lydia could have remarried after he died, maybe with a better suitor. To be a widow was not shameful in society of the time unless the husband died in some disgraceful manner. Lydia could have covered up her sordid past with Wickham by following her mother's example of SelfServingMemory and seeking sympathy as a tragic young war widow who married an officer only to have him killed in battle early in their marriage. Lacking any kind of fortune and no longer being a virgin, she would not have attracted somebody of status like Bingley or Darcy of course. But with her older sisters being so well married she could probably attract somebody of better character and means than Wickham. Her family would have all played along if only to keep her out of their own homes.
35* Had Darcy not intervened to find Lydia, she would have been left by herself, with no money and no contact with anyone else, because Wickham would have grown bored with her over time, without a legal obligation to provide for her (The 1995 miniseries made a point that Wickham and she had already slept together, so that would had reduced her marriage prospects if she still had any after running with another man), while also damaging her sisters chances to marry well. This is exactly what Mrs. Bennet was fearing that they daughters would have to face if they didn't marry before Mr. Bennet dies.

Top