Austen Pride

A Tribute to the Books and Characters of Jane Austen

Something About Mary

August 31, 2016 by virgvv

Mary Bennet (Talulah Riley)

Mary Bennet, as played by Talulah Riley in the 2005 movie version of “Pride and Prejudice.”

Good old Mary Bennet. Jane Austen treats her badly, her family treats her badly, her father embarrasses her—though not quite as much as she embarrasses herself. Austen didn’t even like her enough to make her deliciously awful, like Mr. Collins or Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Mary is merely pathetic. She aspires to be what she is not: interesting, talented, pretty, smart, socially adept.

A number of writers, including “Thorn Birds” author Colleen McCullough, apparently think Austen was too hard on Mary. As an article in The Atlantic points out, Mary is enjoying a bit of a heyday thanks to several books (and books-to-be) that focus on her and her story, delving beneath the plain facade of the middle child in the Bennet family.

Well, why not? Even the Marys of this world deserve a life. And for what it’s worth, Austen at least paid some attention to Mary. Other than describing her as irritating and insipid, she almost completely ignored fourth-sister Kitty.

Filed Under: Austen Characters Tagged With: mary bennet

Categories

  • Austen Biographies and Criticism
  • Austen Book Adaptations
  • Austen Characters
  • Austen Novels
  • Austen Quotes
  • Biographies and Criticism
  • Early Works
  • Emma
  • Events and News
  • Jane Austen
  • Jane Austen's Life
  • Mansfield Park
  • Movies of Austen Novels
  • Parodies and Other Fun
  • Pride and Prejudice
  • Romance and Austen
  • Sense and Sensibility

Pages

  • About Me
  • Contact Us

Tags

1940 alan rickman amanda price austen biography books bronte chick lit ciaran hinds colin firth dashwood david rintoul edmund bertram elizabeth bennet elliot cowan Emma greer garson heathcliff henry crawford hugh grant jane jane eyre jemima rooper jeremy jeremy northam jonny lee miller laurence olivier lost in austen marianne dashwood mark strong marriage matthew macfadyen movies mr. knightley mr. darcy novels parody pride and prejudice romance rupert penry-jones Sense and Sensibility wickham willoughby wuthering heights zombies

Copyright © 2023 · Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in