The Other Bennet Sister

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Hadlow’s empathy for Mary throws into sharp relief the brisk dismissiveness with which she was originally treated; in Pride and Prejudice, Austen pins her down with a couple of adjectives, invites the reader to find her ridiculous, and moves swiftly on. In The Other Bennet Sister, Mary herself seems almost aware of a change in dispensation as she emerges from the hermetically sealed environment of Pride and Prejudice, into the world beyond: “There was no one to judge her … she might change if she wished to.” Reunion: We get to revisit so many great characters, Jane and Bingley, Lizzie and Darcy, Collins and Charlotte, the Gardiners and many more. It really felt like a kind of reunion! It’s been a long time since I have given a definitive five star review, but I really, really loved this book.

Kuiper, Kathleen. "Bennet family". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc . Retrieved 2021-04-10. Bibliography [ edit ] Mr. Bennet, the patriarch of the Bennet family, is a landed gentleman. He is married to Mrs Bennet, the daughter of a Meryton attorney, the late Mr Gardiner Sr. [8] Together they have five daughters; Jane, Elizabeth (" Lizzy"), Mary, Catherine (" Kitty"), and Lydia Bennet. None of the daughters is married at the beginning of the novel, much to Mrs Bennet's dismay given the likelihood of Mr Collins inheriting her husband's estate. The story follows some of the beats of P&P, although slowly, including a trip to the lakes with the Gardiners. (Mary notes that Jane and Elizabeth both escaped to their aunt, so why shouldn’t she do the same?) Lady Catherine’s visit to Elizabeth, demanding to know if Darcy has really proposed, is echoed in Caroline Bingley demanding to know if Mary has received a proposal. There are also cute references to Austen passages here and there. Debut novelist Hadlow manages it with aplomb.... [writing] with sensitivity, emotional clarity, and a quiet edge of social criticism Austen would have relished. Entertaining and thoroughly engrossing." I didn't want to pretend that, actually, she was a beauty in disguise. There was never a moment in my book where [there's a revelation like] "But why, Miss Bennett, you're really rather beautiful." You know, she I think she's a perfectly ordinary looking woman in a family of beauties. And I think that's very tough.Woolf, Virginia. "Jane Austen". The Common Reader. Archived from the original on 2012-03-28 . Retrieved 2013-02-14– via University of Adelaide. In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice , Mary is the middle of the five Bennet girls and the plainest of them all, so what hope does she have? Prim and pious, with no redeeming features, she is unloved and seemingly unlovable. Baker, William. "Critical Companion to Jane Austen: A Literary Reference to Her Life and Work". Facts on File, 2008, p.407. Mrs. Bennet sniffed. “It’s kind of you to say so, sister, but I’m afraid I can’t agree. For so young a girl, she has no bloom at all. Not like Jane and Lizzy. Their bloom is always very much remarked upon.”

Maternal branch [ edit ] The three Gardiners from Meryton: Mrs. Philips, Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Gardiner. [17] Le Faye, Deirdre (2003). Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels. London: Frances Lincoln. ISBN 978-0-711-22278-6.

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In short, Mary is miserable and is willing to try anything even securing the interest of the bumbling and bothersome cousin Collins who has come to Longbourn in search of a wife. If she thought her homelife was misery, being overlooked by Mr. Collins even after she put her best foot forward and made a horrid spectacle of herself at the Netherfield Ball teaches her that being invisible is even worse. Some critics, however, point out that it would be unfair to see only her faults. Her obsession is justified by the family's situation: the cynicism of Mr Bennet will not prevent Mr Collins from inheriting Longbourn. She, at least, unlike her husband, thinks about the future of her daughters in seeking to place them socially, [34] (although it is just as likely that she anticipates being able to rely on them financially in the event of being left a widow). In an environment where there are numerous young ladies to be married (all neighboors, the Longs, the Lucases, have daughters or nieces to marry) and few interesting parties, she is much more attentive to the competition than her husband. [35] She does not neglect her daughters, while he merely treats them mostly as "stupid and ignorant as all the girls", and is shut selfishly in his library. [22] Mr. Gardiner and Mrs. Philips contribute to the progress and outcome of the story, but at levels reflecting their respective social standings. But when that fateful day finally comes, she slowly discovers that perhaps there is hope for her, after all. Wohlfeil, Markus; Whelan, Susan (2007). "Confessions of a Movie-Fan: Introspection Into a Consumer's Experiential Consumption of 'Pride & Prejudice' ". ACR European Advances. E-08.

Mrs. Bennet, born a Gardiner and married for twenty-three years at the start of the novel, is the daughter of an attorney in Meryton. She has a brother and a sister, both married. Though equally vulgar, ignorant, thoughtless, tasteless and gossipy, the marriages of the two sisters have resulted in them moving in different circles - one (Mrs Bennet) married a member of the local gentry, the other (Mrs Phillips) is married to one of her late father's law clerks (doing so was probably what made him the successor to his employer's law firm) - while their naturally genteel brother has gone on to acquire an education and a higher social status in general trade ( in a respectable line of trade) in London. [18] Mrs. Bennet [ edit ]There are also not one but FIVE very indiscreet nods to Pride and Prejudice (some of these direct citations) that takes you completely out of the story because they’re so obvious (yes, I’m looking at you, Lizzie-complaining-about-the-characters-in-her-book-not-seeing-they’re-a-perfect-match). When Mr. Collins is refused by Elizabeth, Mrs. Bennet hopes Mary may be prevailed upon to accept him, and the impression the reader is given is that Mary also harboured some hopes in this direction. ("[Mary] rated his abilities much higher than any of the others; ... and though by no means so clever as herself she thought that if encouraged to read and improve himself by such an example as hers, he might become a very agreeable companion").

Indeed, they are very pleasing,” agreed Mrs. Phillips obligingly. “And I doubt that Mary will ever be admired as they are. But, sister, I wonder if you aren’t rather harsh in judging her as you do? Perhaps she suffers by comparisons. If Jane and Lizzy were a little less handsome, then might she seem prettier in your eyes?” Bottomer, Phyllis Ferguson (2007). So Odd a Mixture: Along the Autistic Spectrum in "Pride and Prejudice". London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. ISBN 9781843104995. Kamal, Sheelan S (2018). Trauma and Remedies for Traumatic Experiences in Four of Jane Austen's Novels (Thesis). ProQuest 2051788900.

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In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Mary is the middle of the five Bennet girls and the plainest of them all, so what hope does she have? Prim and pious, with no redeeming features, she is unloved and seemingly unlovable. In the third part of this story, Mary settles in at her Aunt Gardiner’s house in London. Finally finding a home with people who truly love and value her, Mary begins to change. Gaining confidence and self-worth, she soon attracts the attentions of two suitors who vie for her affections. In one of the novels most satisfying scenes, Caroline Bingley finally gets her comeuppance at the hands of Mary Bennet. Jane's character is contrasted with Elizabeth's as sweeter, shyer, and equally sensible, but not as clever (she is aware of this fact); an introvert, her most notable trait is a desire to see only the good in others. As Anna Quindlen wrote, Jane is "sugar to Elizabeth's lemonade". [41] Jane (along Elizabeth) seems to have taken after her father's side of the family, having been portrayed as a sweet, steady, gentle, genteel girl (unlike her mother). Her inner beauty is matched by her outer beauty. She is favoured by her mother solely because of her external beauty. If Jane has taken anything after her mother, it is a certain inflexibility of thought; but while her mother's inflexibility of thought leans in a wholly selfish direction, Jane's is in a selfless one; Jane is unwilling to think ill of others (barring strong evidence), whereas her mother will think ill of anyone on little-to-no evidence at-all.