Author: bdelleman
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The Problem with the Compromise Trope
Or, The “Who Is Holding The Shotgun” Problem To preface, I totally understand why writers use the compromise trope: it’s a basic forced proximity set up. It can be very fun to read. What I’m addressing here is problems with the execution and why it doesn’t make much sense in historical context. ————————– We all…
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What do we Really Know about Colonel Fitzwilliam?
Colonel Fitzwilliam: Canon or fanon? I am using the term “fanon” to refer to both Jane Austen Fan Fiction (JAFF) and adaptations, illustrations, etc. The way people imagine Colonel Fiztwilliam seems to be heavily influenced by adaptations and JAFF, more than any other character except perhaps Mary Bennet. His first name is Richard Fanon, not…
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Canon vs. Fanon: Mary Bennet
What do we actually know about the middle Bennet sister? Source I am using the term “fanon” to refer to both Jane Austen Fan Fiction (JAFF) and adaptations, illustrations, etc. The way people imagine Mary Bennet in particular seems to be heavily influenced by adaptations and JAFF, more than any other character except perhaps Colonel…
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Jane Austen’s Brave Refusal to Reform the Rake
I have always read Mansfield Park as Jane Austen’s only tragedy because the Crawfords fail at being redeemed. Unlike Jane Austen’s other dubious men, Wickham, Willoughby, and Mr. Elliot, Henry Crawford, doesn’t commit a major sin until the end of the novel. He is also the only one set up with a reformation path. Henry…
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The Problem with Portrayals of Mr. Collins
Mr. Collins was not a sensible man, and the deficiency of nature had been but little assisted by education or society… Having now a good house and a very sufficient income… Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen I really dislike the way most adaptations have presented Mr. Collins. It seems like they want to lean…
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Imagining Jane Austen’s Heroines (with period portraits)
One of the interesting things about Jane Austen’s writing is that she rarely describes scenes or people. There are some very descriptive passages, such as Elizabeth’s visit to Pemberley, but in general we know very little about the houses the heroines live in or even what they look like. Jane and Elizabeth Bennet are very…
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The Unwritten Proposals in Jane Austen’s Novels
I started making a chart of all the proposals in Jane Austen’s collected works, to prove that proposals can be accepted indoors (common myth, despite the fact that Bingley’s proposal to Jane is accepted and indoors), but then I started looking at the speech. Is a person quoted or just described? It seems Jane Austen…
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Austen Quotes and the Problem with Wit
There are some Austen quotes that sound wonderful when presented alone, but their meaning in their respective novel is almost completely opposite or just simply ridiculous. So I’ve taken it upon myself to “fix” some quotes. Feel free to post them on your wall or computer backgrounds in their more “true” form. (Or their original…
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Who is more Physically Attractive? The Hero or Villain in Each Austen Novel…
By Bethany Delleman I do not own any of the images used in this article, please see below each painting for a citation. I went through each novel and collected quotes that describe the physical attractiveness of every Austen hero and main villain/man of dubious character (I don’t know if Frank Churchill for example can…
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Could Mr. Bennet have Saved Enough for Decent Fortunes on his Income?
I’m not a math person, so when I hear that Mr. Bennet needed to save reasonable fortunes (you know Austen never says dowry?) for his daughters out of an income of £2000 a year, I just don’t get it. So I used a spreadsheet and made compound interest tables.