I will be reviewing Mr. Darcy and the Secret of Becoming a Gentleman in the next few days, but in the meantime, I’m happy to welcome the author, Maria Hamilton, to Diary of an Eccentric today. (Especially since I learned she’s a Boston Red Sox fan! That will make my husband happy!) Please give a warm welcome to Maria Hamilton, who is here to discuss her fascination with Jane Austen’s characters.
I have long been fascinated with the characters Jane Austen created in her novels and in particular with the wonderful people that inhabit Pride & Prejudice. I believe the characters of Pride & Prejudice endure because Austen took the time to fully form each of them. While many authors bother to ensure that their lead characters are as realistic as possible, it is Austen’s attention to her secondary characters that provides enough detail to allow her story to resonate for over 200 hundred years. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are a prime example. They do not inhabit that much of the plot, but each has sufficient strengths and flaws to make them fully animated. Mr. Bennet is intelligent, wry, and stands up for Elizabeth when it truly counts – siding with her when she is being pressured into an unfortunate marriage with Mr. Collins. Mr. Bennet is also inattentive, selfish, and derelict in his duties as a parent and husband. He is neither totally good nor bad, and readers could easily disagree over whether he is a good father.
Similarly, Mrs. Bennet is silly, harsh, embarrassing, prone to gossip, and exhibits an alarming amount of favoritism toward some of her children. She also loyally believes that any man would be lucky to marry any one of her daughters. Mrs. Bennet almost appears to be the story’s comic relief, except that her fear for her family’s precarious future makes her the one realist in the family and provides an explanation for her other flaws. Mrs. Bennet seems to have the least sense of any of them, while simultaneously demonstrating more wisdom than her more intelligent husband by at least worrying about her family’s ultimate welfare.
The same is true for many of the other characters. Charlotte Lucas is an unerringly good judge of character who makes what seems to be one of the worse decisions in the novel. Is she a clever pragmatist, or did she lack enough faith to wait and work for true happiness? Jane is all that is lovely and, at different times, irritating in her passivity. Wickham is despicable, but you understand and recognize him. Then there is Darcy and Elizabeth. You love them each, but can see how they created their own obstacles. It is the mix of these contradictions and competing characteristic that make each person in the novel a fully formed individual. As such, I could not help but envision them in other situations where they could act accordingly.
This led me to write my novel Mr. Darcy and the Secret of Becoming a Gentleman. In it, I introduce the reader to Mr. Darcy immediately after Hunsford when he is attempting to overcome Elizabeth’s rejection and struggling with the knowledge that he has unfairly separated Mr. Bingley from Jane. He determines to correct his mistake much earlier and in the process of doing so has to return to Hertfordshire. He asks Jane for a private interview in order to determine if she still has feeling for Mr. Bingley, and Mrs. Bennet assumes that Darcy has come to court Jane. Once Darcy is thrown into Elizabeth’s company again, he vows to show her, by every civility in his power, that he that he can be a gentleman worthy of her esteem. As Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy become reacquainted, he pursues her and a slow courtship evolves as they attempt to see each other without their prior misunderstandings.
My story focuses on the dialog between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth and tries to explore their developing intimacy. I wanted to see how the characters would react in some of the scenes that I wished were in the original book, like Darcy asking Mr. Bennet for permission to marry Elizabeth, Darcy telling Bingley that he was in love with Elizabeth and had wrongly separated him from Jane, Caroline learning that Darcy had asked Elizabeth to marry him (twice), and Darcy and Elizabeth’s transformations from suitors to husband and wife. In doing so, I wanted to keep to Austen’s original intent but give the characters enough room to act in new ways. I think I accomplished my goal, but I will leave it to the readers to decide.
Thanks, Maria! Austen did pay much attention to detail when it came to her characters, and I’m glad there are authors who love them as much as I do and are willing to continue their stories or explore the “what ifs” so I can keep enjoying them long after finishing the original novel.
Courtesy of Sourcebooks, I am giving away a copy of Mr. Darcy and the Secret of Becoming a Gentleman. To enter, please leave a comment with your e-mail address and tell me your favorite secondary character in any of Austen’s novels and why. Because the publisher is shipping the book, this giveaway is open to U.S. and Canada addresses only. This giveaway will close at 11:59 pm EST on Sunday, May 29, 2011.
**Please note that this giveaway is now closed**
Disclosure: I am an IndieBound affiliate and an Amazon associate.
© 2011 Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reproduce or republish content without permission.
Mrs. Bennett is an entertaining and amusing character in the Austen book.
Would love to win this novel.
harvee44 at yahoo.com
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She certainly can be hilarious!
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Great gustpost 🙂
I do love my variations
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Me, too. 🙂
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I just love those spinoffs, so please do enter me. My favorite secondary character is Mary…I just love how naive she is and how she loves to interject her talents on her sisters…such a younger sister…trying to get attention and prove her sisters wrong.
I’ll add this to my sidebar for you too.
savvyverseandwit at gmail
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Thanks, Serena! I think that’s why you enjoyed A Match for Mary Bennet so much.
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Not entering, as I am swimming in books, but had to exclaim over this interview and the book. I was particularly taken with “…I wanted to see how the characters would react in some of the scenes that I wished were in the original book,” as I’m always wishing for more from my favorite books. This sounds like such fun — can’t wait to see your review of it!
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I’m swimming in books, too, so I’m hoping to post my review later this week (fingers crossed).
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I love Mr. Bennett, the way he tunes out his silly wife, but hangs tough when it comes to Elizabeth’s best interests. Thanks for the giveaway
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I think it’s great that he loves Elizabeth so much he won’t force her to marry Mr. Collins even though her future is so uncertain if he dies. I love the comments he makes to Mrs. Bennet.
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Jane Bennett from Pride and Prejudice. She was just lovely 🙂
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I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like Jane! 🙂
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I just finished this over the weekend and LOVED IT!
It took off right where Pride & Prejudice left me with the feeling of “What if we could get into Darcy’s head.”
I gobbled up the book and sighed at each turning page. So BRAVO Maria Hamilton! This one made me dream of Darcy and Elizabeth all over again.
PS Do you think Keira Knightly might be interested in reprising her role for this book… I say let’s do it and convince her Darcy – Matthew Macfadyen to DO IT!
Miramax you have to DO IT!
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I’d love more Austen-related movies, too. 🙂 Glad to hear you enjoyed this book!
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Excellent guest post!
I am partial to Mr. Bennett, because he wants Elizabeth to be happy. (Linda B says it well in your comments.)
Wonderful giveaway–please enter me. suko95(at)gmail(dot)com
I’ll post this in my blog’s sidebar.
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Thanks, Suko! Mr. Bennet is a great character, which is why I’m always sad in those variations that kill him off. LOL
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I will be reading this one sometime in the next few weeks….very excited 😀
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I’ll keep an eye out for your review!
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I always liked Mr. Knightley in “Emma”. I think because he was the only one who could control Emma, just a little bit. I loved Emma, but, she needed a strong man to lead her in the right direction some of the time, and Mr. Knightley was that man.
iowagramma.ann@gmail.com
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I’m reading Emma now, and I agree that he can rein her in a little bit. I love the one argument toward the beginning about Harriet.
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I am going to have to go with Kitty Bennet. I think she would turn into a fun person after getting away from Lydia. 🙂 This book looks lovely, thank you for the giveaway!
liedermadchen(at)hotmail(dot)com
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I’d love to read more about Kitty in one of the variations.
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I’d have to go with Mrs. Bennett. She infuriated me so much that she became a favorite character of mine. Always so insistent and concerned about society.
Thanks for the giveaway!
thecozyreader @ gmail.com
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I’ve always found her more funny than infuriating, but I think it’s because I saw the old movie in high school, which begins with a carriage race and Mrs. Bennet shrieking. LOL I didn’t read the book until much later.
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I’ve tought it over, and well, I can’t think of any other character than Mrs Bennet. But I think I love her so much because of the 1995 version of P&P and Alison Steadman’s performance. She is so good and so funny!
Thanks for the giveaway.
nehlee at hotmail.com
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That was a great movie version!
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Mary is one of my favorite characters. She tries so hard and yet always falls a little short. I always wanted her to have her own book and find a HEA.
marlenebreakfield(at)yahoo(dot)com
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Marlene, you should read A Match for Mary Bennet by Eucharista Ward. I’m sure you’d love it as much as I did!
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Lady Catherine de Bourgh–you have to have more than one villain, right?
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Oh, of course! She’s certainly a character you love to hate.
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my favorite secondary character would have to be MrsBennett……..she would be a lead in a comedy in these modern times!!!!!
thank you for the giveaway & good luck to Maria on Mr Darcy & the Secret of Becoming a Gentleman……….
Cynthia
cyn209@juno.com
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Seems like Mrs. Bennet is a favorite. She definitely is a hoot.
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My favorite secondary characters would be The Crofts in Persuasion. Insight and depth.
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I love the Crofts, too! Such a cute couple.
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[…] out this guest post by Maria Hamilton to enter to win a copy of the […]
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This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to all who entered or just stopped by to read the guest post. The winner will be chosen via Randomizer.org, notified by e-mail, and announced shortly.
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