I have recently gone on a bit of a Jane Austen binge and am now in awe of the fact that a group of books in which marriage and a woman's dependency on men for her happiness can bring so much happiness to this single lady. After all, it seems that if one does not have a man, one should simply be the sad novel reader pining and dreaming. However, even though the stories are entirely fiction and only the worst characters possibly came from Austen's own experience, somehow, they do give hope. Austen's characters are none of them perfect. They exist on a spectrum from naive to prejudiced(which I admit are qualities that may both occur in one person). I am here to analyze the female heroins and there male counterparts in a list from best to worst protagonist.
1. Elizabeth Bennet& Fitzwilliam Darcy- I love her because there is no other character with as sharp a wit and as hillarious a tendency to mock the lesser characters. She is by far the most amusing. Darcy's brooding nature and his loyalty to those he loves coupled of course by the fact that he is basically the prince in shining armour, makes him the dreamiest of Austen men. His arrogance and prejudice might be unnatractive if it didn't make him so perfect for Elizabeth because their sparring is arguably the most romantic love story.
2. Charlotte Moreland and Henry Tillney- Although in my opinion Northanger Abbey is the least known and perhaps the most different of the Austen books, it is nice to see a man bestow such an obvious affection without being married or devious on one of the Austen Heroins. Charlotte is also very interesting and imaginative, although we can safely say that she is one of the more childlike characters. She is very innocent and kind. Henry is as dashing and charismatic as most of the villainous scoundrels of the Austen series, but he has a big heart. win-win!
3. Emma & Knightley- I have always loved Emma because her well-intentioned matchmaking leads to such a disaster. She is stubborn and childish at times, but she really does love her family and friends. She is as intelligent as Elizabeth, but has the advantage of wealth to make her a little louder in giving her opinions. Also, she is unable to control her emotions at times- especially jealousy. She is perhaps the richest heroine of the Austen series and that allows her to have the most follies. Knightley is practically perfect as we all know and the only wedges between them are in Emma's imagination.
4. Anne and Capt. Wentworth- This story makes me the saddest because Anne is definitely portrayed as the weakest character as she is the only one not able to go after her heart. Then again, she is the only one who falls in love with a poor man, so perhaps we will never know who is the strongest. Although this story is somewhat heartbreaking, it also offers us hope that true love can stand the test of time. Anne, though in none of the movies, is written to be a handsome girl and also is the most tender and quiet. She has a secret desire to travel and her adventuerous nature perhaps has lessened over the eight years she has mourned for Captain Wentworth. In the end, she is able to escape her horrible family for the man she has always loved. Wentworth is strong and honorable and certainly one of the most attractive men precisely because he lacks that wretched "gentility".
5. Elinor and Edward- Sense and Sensibility always somehow reminds me of Pride and Prejudice more than the rest, even though none of the characters are the same. The only thing I can think of is the strong affection for the two central sisters even though they are very opposite in matters of the heart. Elinor is a very strong woman, which is good since Edward seems to be somewhat of a weaker, though very devoted man. Watching him almost mary Lucy was very frustrating because one thinks that if it hadn't been for her chasing bigger fish, they might have married in the end. Meanwhile, we know that it was necessary for him to be engaged to her first for the family to accept Elinor.
6. Fanny and Edmund- Somehow neither of these characters gets the best praise among readers. Fanny appears to be too moralizing and Edmund seems very weak and foolish indeed. He is also the only man destined to end up with a Heroine who is genuinelly tempted by another woman. The other Austen men are usually in the midst of ladies throwing themselves at them and yet can only think of one woman. He comes around in the end, but only after Fanny reveals the foul nature of his betrothed by letting her expose her desire for his sick brother's money. Somehow, I still love this romance because childhood true love is also a beautiful story.
7. Marianne and Colonel Brandon- We really never see much of this couple, but when I saw the movie adaptation with Alan Rickman, I couldn't help but fall in love with him. Marianne is very young and very juvenile, but I love how she can't contain herself because she is the only protagonist who always speaks the truth and her feelings. This makes her frustrating, but amusing. Colonel Brandon's devotion wins out in the end and don't we all wish that there was a man in the background, perfect, but overlooked at first.
Ahhh, I love Austen and her stories, can't help it. They are more prefectly gift wrapped than a christmas present, but even a cynical pessimist can't help but believe and love.
<3 Proud Perriwinkle
