Category: Fanon vs. Canon
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Mr. Darcy Punched Up: A Reaction to “Jane Bennet Married Down”
Earlier this year the wonderful writer Kirsten Odegaard published this post Jane Bennet Married DOWN: A Peek at Social Class in Pride and Prejudice and if you haven’t read it, you should check it out. She points out that as member of the landed gentry, Jane is decidedly upper class compared to Bingley who has…
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How Jane Austen Uses Names
And which names are never given Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and Colonel Fitzwilliam are never named in the entirety of Pride & Prejudice. Fan fiction and adaptations have given them first names, but Austen never revealed names if a person would be addressed by a title instead. Mrs. Bennet is addressed as “mamma,” “sister,” and…
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Fanny Price is the New Pink
I saw a comment about Fanny that floored me because it made so much sense. On a thread about polarizing characters, User appletreerose said, “with Austen’s male characters, she often opposes a charming louse with a good man who doesn’t easily catch the eye. I think Mansfield Park is the only time she does this…
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Why bother with my ‘Darcy’?
Why bother with my Darcy? Why not just re-read – for surely everyone here will certainly have read it! – Pride and Prejudice, itself? I was asked this question by a sceptical fellow tennis-mad friend. “After all,” she added, “You’ve admitted that the plot is mostly the same.” FIRST ANSWER: Because Austen never married. In…
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Is Captain Wentworth a Jerk? + An Excerpt!
The argument that indicts Captain Wentworth usually goes something like this: When he and Anne Elliot were first engaged and she broke it off, she was very young. He had nothing except a dangerous career in the Navy during a war. It might end in promotion but was more likely to end in death. Anne…
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Buddy the Elf Meets Jane Austen – A Christmas Post
10 Funny Christmas Quotes to Describe Jane Austen’s Characters Only a true Austenite will appreciate them all… (Well, An Austenite and somebody who likes the movie Elf.) Enjoy! 10. “We Elves Stick To The Four Main Food Groups: Candy, Candy Canes, Candy Corn, And Syrup.” :: Mr. Woodhouse’s nightmare come to life; it’s even worse…
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Darcy Smiles a Lot Actually (even before Pemberley)
And it’s important to the plot (Darcy is almost always portrayed as very stern, even in illustrations) A friend of mine, Firawren, on Tumblr counted the smiles of every male lead in Austen, and the results may surprise you: Yes, Mr. Darcy actually smiles or expressess happiness quite a bit. Data for this graph: 8…
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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…