Welcome to the last day to enter your name for a chance at one of TWO 10th Anniversary Collector’s Editions of A&E’s Pride and Prejudice. If you haven’t already, check out the contest rules and learn more about the prizes at the A&E store.



In Pride and Prejudice, even more than in in other Austen stories (except maybe for Mansfield Park, of course, where the house is the title!) locations seem to become like characters in the tale. Darcy’s Pemberley=grand, glorious, beautiful, elegant, aristocratic in the best sense of the word, able to add to Darcy’s already great attractions. Lizzy, after all, tells Jane she first started to love him when she saw his “beautiful grounds at Pemberley!” 🙂 Longbourne=comfortable, prosperous enough, maybe a bit shabby in a cozy way. Rosings=huge, imposing, overwhelming, gaudy (though of course Lady Catherine DeB. doesn’t think so! She paid 800 pounds for the window glazing alone!). These houses are representative of the characters who live in them, an extension of their personality, symbols of their place in the world. With such heavy expectations placed on the poor houses, I don’t envy any location scout sent out to find them!

In the book The Making of Pride and Prejudice (chock full of great pics and behind the scenes info) there’s a whole chapter on “Location Hunting,” detailing the searches far and wide for the perfect Pemberleys and Longbournes. It’s all a bit like the hunt for Scarlett O’Hara in 1939!

In the end, Luckington Court stood in for Longbourne, which was the most complicated to find since it required “a drawing room, dining room, library, large hall, staircase, landings, and three bedrooms, as well as extensive gardens” (a prettyish wilderness?).

Pembroke, the grandest house in the story, was actually two places–the exteriors at Lyme Park on the Cheshire/Derbyshire border, the interiors at Sudbury Hall in Derbyshire. The Making of Pride and Prejudice states “Some people think Jane Austen was thinking of Chatsworth House as Pemberley, but in fact Chatsworth is referred to in its own right in Pride and Prejudice. (though Chatsworth was used in the 2005 movie)

Rosings was Belton House in Lincolnshire, “a splendid Restoration country house with wonderfully formal gardens to the front.” Mr. Collins’ rectory was found nearby (of course!) at The Old Rectory at Teigh.

Meryton was actually a beautiful village, Lacock, in Wiltshire, which I was lucky enough to visit a couple of years ago (and Diane, too!). It was so much fun to get to wander around finding all the locations from the series–“Oh, look, the assembly rooms! Hey, there’s where they saw Darcy and Bingley riding past when they met Wickham!” Yes, I am a P&P geek and I don’t care who knows it!!!

What would your ideal Regency abode be like? The perfect place to live with your Number One Austen Hottie from Cara’s post, to store your fab Regency wardrobe and all your Austen–and Risky Regency–volumes? (Personally, I’ve always been a sucker for a cozy cottage, with climbing roses over the door and a large fireplace where Matthew and I could curl up together in the evenings…)

Plus a few links (in case you want to plan your own P&P tour!):
Lyme Park
Sudbury Hall
Chatsworth
Belton House
Lacock

This week, the Risky Regencies are giving away two copies of the new 10th Anniversary release of the BBC/A&E Pride and Prejudice, which stars Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. This limited edition includes both the DVDs of the award-winning miniseries and the illustrated companion book. To learn more about this very special edition, visit the A&E Online Store here.

To enter, all you have to do is put a comment on any of our Risky Regencies posts from this week. Full rules are here.

And now–

Welcome to Friday’s Edition of Who Wants To Be A Regency Heroine!

One of the best things about Jane Austen‘s characters is that they behave like real people do–they’re insecure, and stubborn, and willful, and shy, and flirtatious, and easily persuaded, and controlling.

And that’s just the heroines.

So today I’d like to ask a two-part question:

Which Jane Austen heroine are you most like in real life?

and

Which Jane Austen heroine would you most like to be?

For me, the answer is simple: I am most like Anne Elliot of Persuason, and I would most like to be Elizabeth Bennet of Pride and Prejudice. I’m easily persuaded, shy, able to deal with a crisis quietly and efficiently and, let’s face it, I’m not so young. I’d like to be witty, smart-mouthed, stubborn, fierce in defending my beliefs, and 18 again.

But perhaps you’d like Emma‘s assuredness? Maybe, you lucky thing, you already have that? Maybe you’ve got Marianne Dashwood‘s impulsiveness? Maybe you wish you had more of her sister Elinor‘s reserve? Or vice versa?

Bonus points if you want to mention which Jane Austen portrayal you’d like to look like: Keira, Gwyneth, Jennifer, Amanda (Root, Persuasion), Greer, Emma (Thompson, Sense & Sensibility), Kate (Winslet, Sense & Sensibility). Or some other portrayal my Friday morning brain is not recalling (I’d choose Kate Winslet, btw, but honestly I’d be happy to look like any of them.)

Good luck, and come back on Sunday evening to see who’s won these fabulous prizes!

Megan
www.meganframpton.com

And the games continue…today, we’re going to take a look at the examples of married bliss in Pride and Prejudice, vote for the most likely to succeed, and imagine how things will go for them in the future.

First, the lovely Mr. and Mrs. Wickham, banished up north, although of course you know Mrs. Bennet will be insisting on a visit (the long-suffering Mr. Bennet in tow) almost as soon as is humanly possible. Life with Wickham will never be boring–think of the excitement Lydia can expect–moonlight flits, stints in debtors’ prison (until Darcy bails them out–for the last time, every time), and lots and lots of babies. Naturally she’ll simper and whisper to her female friends of how passionate a man Wickham is. And I’m sure some of her friends will know exactly what she’s talking about.

Next, Mr. and Mrs. Collins. Charlotte has life very well arranged, as she tells Lizzy–and the gaps are micromanaged by Lady Catherine. In between the gardening, the beehives, and exciting installations of shelves, life will never be dull. The marriage will be childless until the day Lady Catherine tells them it would be extremely appropriate for a man of his station etc. etc. After a few years of earnest procreation, Lady Catherine will make the comment that he seems to have plenty of children, the flow of babies will dry up, and Charlotte can enjoy her comparative solitude once more. And it makes you wonder exactly what was so awful at home with the Lucases that Charlotte was compelled to escape…unless…here’s an alternate scenario: Charlotte produces a baby soon–far too soon–after the marriage. Tongues wag. We see whether Mr. Collins is too stupid to read a calendar. Has Wickham…surely not…then who…

Jane and Bingley. Aaaaw. Sweet, nice, not too bright people who adore each other. How can this marriage not work? I think even with Bingley’s wealth their finances will always be a mess, but they’ll live happily in the country and have lots of children. Jane will plump up a bit. Bingley won’t care. He’ll spend a lot of time riding around the estate, patting his tenants’ children on the head, pretending he knows all about agriculture, and giving dubious advice to his estate manager. The estate manager, of course, will agree with him, because Bingley is so sweet no one (except Darcy) can say no to him, and do what he intended to do in the first place. Later in life Bingley becomes a magistrate and crime rates in the neighborhood soar since Jane won’t let him send anyone to prison, let alone transport or hang them.

Mr. and Mrs. Bennet I hope will get on a little better now the financial pressure is off. Possibly with an empty house (Kitty and Mary will become much more eligible because of the Darcy family connection) they may find companionship with each other. Of course the question remains why they married in the first place. He’s a reserved and educated man who married an uneducated, presumably attractive young woman, possibly for the allure of her fine eyes…and who does that remind you of?

Bingo.

Except Elizabeth and Darcy have evolved and broken the pattern–and of course she’s much smarter than her mother. They have learned each other’s deepest and most painful secrets. I have great hopes for these two. Not that I think Darcy will be particularly easy to live with, and Elizabeth, as mistress of Pemberly, may find her new responsibilities challenging. I hope the loyal housekeeper doesn’t revert to Mrs. Danvers mode. I hope their children are not too perfect, or forced by their father to over-achieve. Of course the rest of the family visit them, annoy them, and bombard them with requests for attention, money, or favors. Darcy may have to disappear for a spot of trout fishing with the guys (but not Wickham who will probably be casting for a card game and/or buxom barmaid in the village) if things get excessively feminine or his mother-in-law talks too long and loud. Because even the rarified heights of Pemberly are not immune to Bennets. I hope Elizabeth keeps teasing Darcy. She may, if he becomes excessively pompous, shove him into the pond now and then to teach him a lesson. And frankly, who can blame her?

So let’s hear your take on whose marriage is the happiest and what you see for them in the future–or give us a recommendation for one of the many sequels by other writers for a chance at one of TWO 10th Anniversary Collector’s Editions of A&E’s Pride and Prejudice. If you haven’t already, check out the contest rules and learn more about the prizes at the A&E store. Comment on each of this week’s posts for more chances to win!

It’s Day 3 of our Pride & Prejudice contest. After yesterday’s eye-candy I hope this post isn’t a disappointment!

Since we’ve talked about heroines and heroes, I’ve decided to talk about villains.

Years ago, I read about a scholarly debate as to who is the villain of P&P. Is it Wickham, Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Bennet, Lydia, Mr. Collins, Miss Bingley or Lady Catherine De Bourgh? I laughed, because I doubt Jane plotted her story around any literary concept of protagonist/antagonist. She was writing about people. More specifically, about families.

You have Elizabeth and Jane—two perfectly lovely sisters with a most Embarrassing Family. Mrs. Bennet–the archetypal foolish, matchmaking mamma. Mr. Bennet, the witty but lax father. Younger sisters including poor, pedantic Mary and the terminally featherheaded Kitty and Lydia.

This mix doesn’t surprise me. As the eldest of 4 (and the only girl) I know that the oldest siblings often turn out more responsible than the rest.

Then let’s not forget the other relative, the painfully pompous Mr. Collins who pays court to Elizabeth once he’s told Jane is taken.

My favorite Embarrassing Family moment from P&P is the Netherfield ball. Poor Elizabeth! Not only does she not see Wickham there, but Mr. Collins makes a fool of himself trying to seek Darcy’s favor. Her mother openly boasts that Jane will marry Mr. Bingley. Her younger sisters behave like hoydens, except for Mary, who shows off at the piano until her father admonishes her, perhaps a bit too glibly “You have delighted us all enough.”

(That last incident reminds me of my once-little brother, who liked to come to the door to entertain my dates with solos on his recorder. One of my own Embarrassing Family moments.)

But Darcy himself isn’t immune to the Curse of the Embarrassing Family. He’s got the stiff, censorious Lady Catherine De Bourgh trying to match him up with her “sickly and cross” daughter. His little sister Georgiana, though sweet and inoffensive in herself, has a potentially embarrassing secret in her past.

Even Wickham is related in a sense; he’s Darcy’s father’s godson. He and Lydia nearly ruin things for Elizabeth and Darcy.

Then in the secondary romance of the story, you have poor Mr. Bingley, a darling of a young man with two poisonous sisters, one of them with the hots for Darcy, or possibly, for Darcy’s ten thousand a year.

I was relieved Jane and Lizzie got the happy ending they deserved…far away from their relations!

“Mr. Bingley and Jane remained at Netherfield only a twelvemonth. So near a vicinity to her mother and Meryton relations was not desirable even to his easy temper, or her affectionate heart. The darling wish of his sisters was then gratified: he bought an estate in a neighbouring county to Derbyshire; and Jane and Elizabeth, in addition to every other source of happiness, were within thirty miles of each other.”

If you’re interested in what happened to the rest of the characters, check out Chapter 61 at the Pemberley website.

So who’s the P&P villain you most love to hate? Who do you think played the role best?

What is your favorite Embarrassing Family moment in P&P?

Any other favorite Embarrassing Family moments (real or fictional) you dare to share?

Answer any or all of these questions for a chance at one of TWO 10th Anniversary Collector’s Editions of A&E’s Pride and Prejudice. If you haven’t already, check out the contest rules and learn more about the prizes at the A&E store. Comment on each of this week’s posts for more chances to win!

Elena Greene
LADY DEARING’S MASQUERADE, RT Reviewers’ Choice Award, Best Regency Romance of 2005
www.elenagreene.com