Jane Austen Heroines - Part One, Elizabeth Freakin' Bennet

So, Jane Austen.

She was a poor woman dependant on her relatives for support. She was a "husband-hunting butterfly." She was a dedicated sister and the daughter of a clergyman. She was a girl disappointed in love and a woman disappointed in her prospects. She was a writer, popular in her time and astoundingly respected a hundred years later.

I dig her. It's a little bit annoying that I like Jane Austen so much, because it's kind of cliché, but what can you do? She was awesome. She wrote these witty, insightful novels that teased at the social issues of her time while being light and frothy enough for public consumption. And she wrote amazing women.

There are authors (so, so many authors) who write the same characters over and over again. Despite her limited canvas - she pretty much exclusively wrote about country gentry - Jane Austen never fell into this trap. Darcy is not Knightley is not Wentworth is not Crawford. But more importantly, Elinor Dashwood is not Anne Elliott is not Lizzy Bennet is not Emma Woodhouse is REALLY not Fanny Price. She wrote such a rainbow of fascinating, diverse heroines, strong and flawed and intelligent and unique, and I love it. I love them (except Emma, but we'll get there).

So let's talk about Jane Austen heroines.

Oh, no, Mr. Darcy! Please continue to insult me in public.

I think any discussion on this topic has to start with Lizzy Bennet, because damn. How much cooler can you get than Elizabeth Bennet? The heroine of Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth is clever and caring and prideful and a little bit daring. She's easy to love because she's so modern. You can identify with her. Pretty and smart, she overhears the hot new rich guy in town, Darcy, dissing her, and her feelings get hurt. Duh. Of course they would. A different hot guy, Wickham, is nice to her and talks shit about Darcy, and she believes it. Why wouldn't she?  Obviously, Darcy is an ass. And since Darcy very carefully keeps her from noticing that he's falling head over heels for her, she's taken off guard and PISSED when he proposes, especially since he makes a point of telling her how much her family sucks while he's proposing.

But the thing about Lizzy is, she listens. She learns. She doesn't just let her prejudices run away with her. And I don't care what you say, I find that admirable. It's hard to let go of your pride and your confidence in your own judgment and really accept that you were wrong. And Lizzy does that. She does that - on the strength of one letter from Darcy and some careful observation of Wickham - long before she encounters Darcy being all hot and sweet and a good brother on his own property.

These are what is known as "very fine eyes."

Frankly, Elizabeth Bennet is awesome.

And I'll tell you now, that's why I can't read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It's not because of the zombies. It's not because the Bennet girls are somehow martial arts experts. It's not because WTF, how would Georgian/Regency society even work in those conditions? It's because Lizzy - dear, teasing, loving, brilliant Lizzy - is a bitch to her sister in the first few chapters. Can you say Out of Character? I can, and I said it loudly and repeatedly as I threw the book at the wall.

So what have we learned today? Frankly not much, except that Lizzy Bennet rocks. So much that, and if I were (in a tragic breakdown of birth control methods) to have a daughter, I would name her Elizabeth. And I haven't even touched on the fact that Elizabeth and Darcy's antagonistic-until-it-isn't relationship is the model for a huge chunk of modern fictional romances. But you know what? I'm fine with this post not having a lesson or a point. Because Elizabeth Bennet is just. That. Cool.

Deal with it.

--Al