Pride and Prejudice Character Review: Georgiana Darcy

*Warning: This post contains spoilers about Pride and Prejudice. Read at your own risk if you are unfamiliar with the book.

There is something to be said about a well written, human character. They leap off the page and speak to us as if they were right in front us, as flesh and blood human beings, instead of fictional creations.

In this series of weekly blog posts, I will examine character using the characters from Pride and Prejudice to explore how writers can create fully dimensional, human characters that audiences and readers can relate to.

If we are lucky during our childhood, we have parents and other relations who love us and want to shield us from the dark and sometimes murky reality of the outside world. But we all have to grow up eventually and face that dark and murky reality.

In Pride and Prejudice, the harsh facts of the adult world and how heartbreaking it can be are represented in Georgiana Darcy. Georgiana is Mr. Darcy’s younger sister by little more than decade. In the care of her brother and her cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, since her father’s passing, Georgiana is growing up sheltered from the world. Over-protected not only because she is 15, but also because of the large inheritance that will be hers one day,  Georgiana knows little of the real world.

Then George Wickham comes back into her life. Her brother’s childhood friend (the snake that he is), pretends to have fallen in love with her and almost convinces her to elope. But they are discovered before the wedding vows are spoken and Mr. Wickham’s true motives are revealed. In the words of a certain rapper who will not be named because I have a particular disregard for him “he ain’t nothing but a gold digger”.

Georgiana’s broken heart must be soothed by her brother. While she is still young yet and has (hopefully) plenty of time to find a husband who will love and respect her, this first heartbreak has left a mark on her psyche that will always be a part of her.

To sum it up: growing up is hard. There are grey areas in life and people who are not what they seem to be. The character of Georgiana represents an innocence and a stage in life when we are beginning to grow beyond the comfortable confines of childhood. Georgiana’s story is one that in our way, we can relate to. A good writer creates not only recognizable characters, but recognizable narratives.  If the writer is able to create that recognizable narrative, it is one more hook that sinks itself into the audience’s conscious and keeps hold until the story is done. Like a recognizable character, a story without a recognizable narrative, the audience or reader is likely to not care and move on. If the audience or reader does not care, then the writer has not done their job.

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Death Comes To Pemberley Part I Recap

*-This recap contains spoilers.  If you have yet to read either of the the books or watch the miniseries, read at your own risk.

Jane Austen’s most famous and beloved novel, Pride and Prejudice ends happily ever after. The union of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, the reader hopes, is to be a long and blessed one.

Last year, author P.D. James took her readers 6 years into the future of this couple. Mingling the characters of Pride and Prejudice with murder mystery, Death Comes To Pemberley asked viewers the following question: Who murdered Captain Denny (Tom Canton)?

Elizabeth (Anna Maxwell Martin) and Fitzwilliam Darcy (Matthew Rhys) are in the midst of wedded bliss. Life at Pemberley has become normal. Their son, also named Fitzwilliam, is a hearty, healthy and energetic boy who wants for nothing. Georgiana (Eleanor Tomlinson) is of an age to marry. The entire household is in a frenzy, as the Lady Anne Ball is approaching.  The last thing they want or need is the accusation murder on Darcy land.

Enter Colonel Fitzwilliam (Tom Ward) and Henry Alveston (James Norton). The Colonel, who is Georgiana’s c0-guardian after the death of her father, has begun to look at his young cousin differently. While the Colonel may see her in a different light, Georgiana seems to have made her choice elsewhere.

Invited to the Lady Anne Ball are Elizabeth’s parent’s, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet (James Fleet and Rebecca Front). For the sake of his wife, Darcy rolls his eyes and deals with in in laws, as many men have and will do. While Mr. Bennet characteristically retreats to his son in law’s library, his wife foolishly chatters on how wonderful Mr. Wickham (Matthew Goode) is , unaware of his true nature and his attempted seduction of Georgiana.

As a the lady of the manor, one of Elizabeth’s duties is to visit those that live and work on the land. Mr. Bidwell (Philip Martin Brown) has been a loyal servant. Elizabeth has become friendly with his wife, Mrs. Bidwell (Jennifer Hennessey), his bed ridden son, Will (Lewis Rainer) and his daughter, Louisa (Nichola Burley). Louisa has just returned from visiting her sister with a child she is caring for that she has claimed is her sister’s. But there is something about the child that does not add up.

In the village near Pemberley, an argument ensues between Captain Denny and Mr. Wickham. It continues in the carriage on the ride to Pemberley. That is, until Captain Denny orders the coachman to stop and runs out in the forest. Wickham goes after him, shots are fired and Lydia’s (Jenna Coleman) screams are heard as the carriage stops in front of Pemberley. Captain Denny is found dead and Wickham is suspected of being the murderer.

Strangely, despite their strained relationship, Darcy seems to understand that Wickham is not guilty. He remembers a boy who was hanged for poaching and how they witnessed it, despite being told to stay away. Add in the mystery of a spirit haunting the woods and an unknown woman with whom Colonel Fitzwilliam was seen in conversation with about a subject that is yet to be revealed.

I read the book and saw the miniseries when it was online briefly last year. I won’t reveal anything else, but I will let you, gentle reader learn the truth on Sunday.

 

Death Comes to Pemberley- A Good Sequel

There are a lot fanfiction writers out there. Very few are lucky enough to not only see their work in print, but also see it on screen.

PD James’s sequel to Pride and Prejudice, Death Comes to Pemberley aired the UK over the past few days.  I was lucky enough to see it before my American IP address prevented me from seeing it. 

The 1995 Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle minieries is not only the best filmed adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, but the best of the filmed adaptations of any Austen novel.   Any adaptations will always bring comparisons, but this adaptations stands on its own.

Ms. James’s novel starts 6 years after the original novel ends. Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy are happily married with a young son.  On the eve of the annual Lady Anne Ball, Lydia arrives in hysterics that Captain Denny has been murdered and her husband is in the woods surrounding Pemberley.  During investigation and trial, Georgiana must  choose between duty and marry her cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam or choose her heart and marry Mr. Alveston.

I enjoyed it. Ms. James keeps the language and humor of the original novel, utilizing many of the leading characters while keeping the reader engaged in the mystery.

Taking the reins from Colin Firth, Matthew Rhys is a more mature Darcy who is deeply in love with his wife and aware of the responsibility of his station. Anna Maxwell Martin as Elizabeth is a lively and outgoing as she is in the original novel, but with the experience of marriage, motherhood, as well as sharing the responsibility of running the estate.  Lydia (Jenna Coleman) and Wickham (Matthew Goode), as Mr. and Mrs. Bennet (James Fleet and Rebecca Front) are as they are in original novel.

I enjoyed both the book and the miniseries and I look forward to seeing it when it airs on PBS next month.

 

 

 

The Wait

*-These characters belong to Miss Austen; I am simply a humble admirer. The only character that I have created is Bennet Fitzwilliam Darcy.

The Wait

The wait was becoming too much for Fitzwilliam Darcy.

Lizzy’s labor pains started just after lunch, the sun had already set and the child had yet to enter the world.

Mr. and Mrs. Bennet were the only members of the family who had arrived before the birth of the newest member of the Darcy family, the rest of the family would be coming in the next day or so. The only member of the family who declared that she would never go through Pemberley’s doors was Lady Catherine DeBourgh, Mr. Darcy’s maternal aunt. In the nearly three years since her nephew had married Elizabeth Bennet, Lady Catherine had never acknowledged Elizabeth as her niece and in turn, would never acknowledge Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam’s children as family.

“Son, if you continue to walk in that same circle, you will find yourself on the floor” his father in law warned.

Mr. Bennet understood his son in law’s trepidation, the anxiety on the younger man’s face.

“Lizzy is young and strong, I see no reason why she shouldn’t bring a healthy child into the world”.

In his mind, Fitzwilliam was not a grown, married man of one and thirty, waiting for the birth of his first child, but a boy of twelve, watching his father pace around the room with same ferociousness.

His sister, Georgiana was born healthy, but Lady Anne was never the same. She lingered for six months before her body gave out. Loosing his mother was a watershed moment in his then young life, but to loose Lizzy would surely break him.

At the moment when Fitzwilliam could not wait another moment, the creaking of the door announced that Georgiana had entered with a broad smile on her face.

“Come meet your son, Fitzwilliam”.

Bounding up the stairs with his father in law and his sister behind him, Fitzwilliam did not stop until he reached his bedroom.

In the middle of the bed, a sweaty and tired Lizzy, gently held a small bundle her arms.

“Say hello to your papa” taking his son in his arms, Fitzwilliam couldn’t help but be amazed at miracle of life.

“What shall we name him?”.

“Bennet Fitzwilliam Darcy”.

Kissing his young son’s forehead, Fitzwilliam felt a love that he had never known before. This was his son, his heir. The wait was over, but the journey into parenthood had begun.

Portrait Gallery

*-Of course I do not own any of these characters

*-Please review. The original text from the novel is italicized.

Portrait Gallery

“Bloody hell” Fitzwilliam Darcy opened his eyes, no matter what manner he tried, sleep remained elusive.

He wandered through the halls of Pemberley, until he reached the portrait gallery. It was a mere hallway, but it had been chosen to hold the portraits of Darcy family going back for nearly 200 years.

The most recent portraits were his parents wedding portrait 30 years ago and himself and Georgiana painted a dozen years ago. With every new generation, older paintings had been moved further down, making space for the next generation of Darcy’s.

Fitzwilliam had hoped to add his own family to this wall. The only issue was that the women he so desperately wished to join him on that portrait had blatantly refused him.

“You are mistaken, Mr. Darcy, if you suppose that the mode of your declaration affected me in any other way, than as it spared me the concern which I might have felt in refusing you, had you behaved in a more gentleman-like manner.”

She saw him start at this, but he said nothing, and she continued,

“You could not have made me the offer of your hand in any possible way that would have tempted me to accept it.”

Again his astonishment was obvious; and he looked at her with an expression of mingled incredulity and mortification. She went on.

“From the very beginning, from the first moment I may almost say, of my acquaintance with you, your manners, impressing me with the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others, were such as to form that ground-work of disapprobation, on which succeeding events have built so immoveable a dislike; and I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry.”

Those words had haunted him. He had tried to remind himself how unwise a match with Elizabeth Bennet was. Her family was wholly unconnected in addition to lacking any sort of decorum. It was not for him that he tried to convince himself that she was unsuitable; it was for Georgiana as well.

She was not out in society yet, but she would be in the next few years. If and when he had married by then, his sister’s chances at a good match were as much hinged on her character as his and by extension, his wife and children.

He could do better for a wife, and he could do worse. Caroline Bingley, if he was of a mind to be persuaded, would be a suitable wife. Her rank and wealth would be approved in the eyes of his peers, but to wake up with her everyday, it sent a chill down his spine.

Of course, his aunt would be more than pleased if he and Anne would ever marry. But again, to wake up next to Anne, that would be worse than Caroline Bingley. She was amiable enough, but too amiable.

He needed a wife who would excite him, in and out of the bedroom, who would make him feel like every day was their honeymoon.

That night they danced at Netherfield, he could feel her fine eyes burning into him. If they were not in a crowded ballroom and propriety demanded control, he would kissed her until their lips were bruised and swollen, until she truly knew how much he loved her.

But fate and his foolish pride had chosen otherwise. She loathed him and would likely end up married to another man. His punishment was appropriate, he hoped he might be one day back in her good graces, but if he was unable to, Elizabeth Bennet would always reside in his heart.

Growing Up: A Modern Pride and Prejudice Fanfiction

The only characters that are mine are Bennet Darcy and Travis Connelly. The rest are not mine.

 Growing Up

There was a rush to close the door behind them, a hushing between kisses and the falling of clothes.

“You’ve done this before”.

“College is a marvelous thing”.

Then the lights flew on as the mood quickly evaporated.

“GEORGIANA CATHERINE DARCY”

Two Hours Earlier 

A reunion with Georgiana’s best friends from high school at the local dance club led to another fortuitous meeting.

“No way”.

Standing two feet from them, with his back turned to them was Travis Connelly.  Travis Connelly was Mr. Popular in high school; almost every girl in their class had a crush on him, Georgiana included.

But she was shy at the time and being little sister to a very overprotective Fitzwilliam Darcy was not the way to get Travis Connelly to notice her.

But that was high school and she was no longer a shy sixteen year old.

“Go” Georgiana’s friends egged her. Fueled by her friends encouraged and her last martini she sauntered over to him.

That led to a nearly 90 minute conversation and drive back to her house, where she was sure everyone was asleep.

“This way” she led up the back staircase, where Mrs. Reynolds, the housekeeper would not hear them.

“Where is your brother?” Travis whispered.

“He and Lizzie went out; they won’t be back for hours”.

“Good” they started to go at it when Georgiana stopped him suddenly.

“You have plastic?” she asked.

“Always” he replied.

Then the lights flew on as the mood quickly evaporated.

“GEORGIANA CATHERINE DARCY”

Five minutes before

“Fitzwilliam Darcy, what on earth do you mean?”.

“Your cousin has his moments”.

They had been out to dinner with William and Charlotte Collins, celebrating Charlotte’s birthday.  Both Will and Lizzie considered her cousin rather odious, but Charlotte was Lizzie’s best friend, so William Collins was tolerated, if only to a point.

“When every other word out of his mouth isn’t Mrs. DeBourgh…”.

“Oddly, he didn’t mention her once”.

“That is his present to Charlotte this year, one day without your aunt being mentioned”.

“That is what I call a birthday present”.

“How was your dinner, Mr. Darcy?”  They were greeted by the housekeeper, Mrs. Reynolds.

“Excellent, where is everybody?”.

“The children are asleep”.

“Georgie” Lizzie asked.

“I don’t believe Miss Georgiana has returned home”.

“That’s strange, she usually calls when she is on the way home” Fitzwilliam flipped open his phone.

“Well perhaps she has already come home, if you excuse me, I will retiring, good night”.

As Mrs. Reynolds walked toward her room, the house was oddly quiet, almost too quiet.

Then the sounds started.

Grabbing the nearest weapon they could, which was their son’s plastic baseball bat, they creeped toward the noise and opened the door where the noise was coming from.

He flipped on the light, not expecting to see the source of the noise.

“GEORGIANA CATHERINE DARCY”

“Mr. Darcy, sir, it was pleasure to see you again, Mrs. Darcy” Travis dropped the condom, pulled his pants up and ran out as fast as his legs could carry him.

“What is this meaning of this?” he demanded as his sister attempted to return her clothes to their previous state.

“A little fun, can’t I have little fun once in a while?”.

“Not that kind of fun, young lady”.

“Excuse me, I am after the little sister of Fitzwilliam Darcy who has to be in locked in at night…”.

“Do not put words in my mouth, after all I have done for you..”.

“Will, that is enough; Georgie, I don’t know where you were tonight, but you’ve drunken enough to loosen your tongue.  You’re going to sleep it off and we will talk about it in the morning, like calm, rational, sober adults” Lizzie stepped in.

Brother and sister meekly complied.

The next morning, Georgiana dragged herself to the breakfast table where Lizzie placed a rather fowl looking and smelling drink in front of her.

“Smells like cat pee”.

“It’s not, it’s my father’s hangover cure, now drink up”.

“Mommy, Aunt Georgie looks sick” Will and Lizzie’s five year old son, Bennet commented.

“Never you mind your aunt, just finish your breakfast” Lizzie replied.

“Georgiana, we need to talk”.

“Let her shower, Will”.

“Georgie, I gave your clothes from last night to Mrs. Reynolds to take to cleaners. I also laid out your clothes for today”.

“Lizzie, I am not the sixteen year old I was, you don’t have to treat me like a child anymore” Georgiana stepped out of the shower.

“Your behavior last night was childish. What were you thinking drinking that much and taking a stranger home?”.

“I am so tired of being treated like a child, Lizzie. I am 22; I would like experience some things for myself”.

“You will, Georgie, I promise you, but you can’t scare us like that”.

“Are you dressed?” Will knocked on from outside.

“Two minutes, Will”.

“I’ll let you get dressed, whatever he says, he only loves you”.

“I know, Lizzie, thanks”.

“What you did last night was irresponsible and foolish” Will began “I am not trying to lock you up, I just don’t want to experience some things that you are not ready for”.

“I am not so innocent, Will, you and Lizzie did it all the time, even before you were married”.

“That’s not the point. I want to be an uncle, but not right now. You’re my only sister; I’m only looking out for you”.

“I know, Will, just let me try, that’s all I ask”.

“It may be a little hard for me, but I will try. So, that boy…”.

“Travis”.

“Do you like him?” Will asked, trying not to sound uncomfortable.

“He’s from high school; he never gave me the time of day then. He was there, I was there…”.

“I get it. There was a girl who was in my sociology glass sophomore year of college.  Wouldn’t give me the time of the day, I later found out she thought I was rude and self centered”.

“What happened to her?”.

“Will, Georgie, I hate to interrupt, but we promised the kids we would take them to the zoo today” Lizzie knocked on the other side of the door.

“Tell them five minutes” Will replied.

“I will get them ready” Lizzie replied before walking away.

“This conversation is not over. Rest up and we will talk about this Travis boy when I come back” Will started to get up.

“Will, whatever happened to that girl from college that you liked?”.

“I married her” Will said with a smile, walking out.