Hello!
I hope everyone is enjoying these posts! There's a very good chance that I'm just talking to myself. But I like to think that I'm not the only person in the world who likes to discuss fictional characters at length. Right? Any other LBD fans out there - please comment and add to the discussion!
Today, I'm going to discuss one of my absolute favorite characters in The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (and Pride and Prejudice): Jane Bennet. My main problem with Jane is that, in the book, being the nice sister makes Jane a bit of a doormat. Mr. Bingley breaks her heart and when he comes back and proposes, she accepts, apparently without the slightest hesitation. Now, I appreciate that she doesn’t let her pride get in the way of her happiness but I’m not sure Jane has any pride to speak of. In The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Jane actually has backbone, self-respect, and complexity of character. In one of my favorite episodes in the show, she tells Lizzie, “I won’t let one failed relationship define me.” It’s such a good line - not only as a life lesson - but because in the book, Jane’s one bad relationship completely ruins her life until Mr. Bingley comes back and patches it up.
In The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Jane starts off completely in tune with her literary counterpart: she’s sweet, she’s patient, she’s motherly, and she falls for Bing Lee as soundly as you please. However, from the get-go, her character has a bit more spunk than she does in the book. Again, don't get me wrong: I find nothing wrong in having a sweet, kind, mild-mannered, polite, patient heroine (Snow White and Cinderella are totally underrated) but I do think it's important for a character to have self-respect. From the earlier episodes of the show, we see that Jane is not afraid to speak her mind. She constantly defends Darcy, even though no one likes him, she calls Lizzie out frequently on having too narrow or skewed a mind-set, and she unapologetically stands up for her family. In one of the best episodes in the show, Charlotte makes a joke about Lydia being drunk and Jane immediately shuts her down. As Dumbledore taught us, it takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your friends. This little character moments pave the way for a stronger Jane than we have known in the books.
In Lydia's episodes, she takes a trip to visit Jane. Her choice in companionship is not accidental. In the show, Jane is a rock. She's kind and giving and wise. She's a sister Lydia can turn to who won't criticize or scold for skipping school, who will provide guidance and advice, but gives her the freedom to be her own person. Jane is a remarkable older sister and the way she treats both of her sisters reveal what an awesome person she is.
Jane's character starts to really develop different than her literary counterpart after she follows Bingley out of town. In the book, Jane goes to London immediately after Mr. Bingley’s departure in the hopes of running into him and winning him back. She returns home unsuccessful and unhappy and basically pines away until she has something more urgent to do, like worry about Lydia. In the show, Jane follows Bing to LA. However, once she’s there, she changes. She comes home for the holidays having discovered what it’s like to be independent and be in a job that appreciates her. She has the confidence to council Lizzie on her own future and by the final act of the show, no one is really sure if “new” Jane would even accept Bing. The best part is: she doesn’t! It’s one of my favorite things in the show: when Bing asks Jane if he can go with her to New York and she turns him down. Ultimately, she does agree to it but with conditions and it’s made very clear that she plays a dominant role in their relationship. Later, when we’re given an update on how the couple is doing in NYC, we find that Jane is loving her new job and that Bing is very good “arm candy” when he accompanies her for a business dinner. I love it! Jane moves across the country to further her career and Bing follows her there, agreeing to the rules and limits she establishes for their relationship. We already know that they’re compatible because they’re both so sweet and kind and see the good in people. And we know that they truly love each other. In the show, I’m confident their relationship will work out. In the book, I’m confident it will work out too but mostly because the characters have developed so little from the beginning that their relationship is basically the same as it was during their initial courtship.
P.S. Can we talk about Jane's clothes and hair? Everything she wears is absolute perfection! She has a couple of dress that look like they've been dip dyed or something - so cute!
In Lydia's episodes, she takes a trip to visit Jane. Her choice in companionship is not accidental. In the show, Jane is a rock. She's kind and giving and wise. She's a sister Lydia can turn to who won't criticize or scold for skipping school, who will provide guidance and advice, but gives her the freedom to be her own person. Jane is a remarkable older sister and the way she treats both of her sisters reveal what an awesome person she is.
Jane's character starts to really develop different than her literary counterpart after she follows Bingley out of town. In the book, Jane goes to London immediately after Mr. Bingley’s departure in the hopes of running into him and winning him back. She returns home unsuccessful and unhappy and basically pines away until she has something more urgent to do, like worry about Lydia. In the show, Jane follows Bing to LA. However, once she’s there, she changes. She comes home for the holidays having discovered what it’s like to be independent and be in a job that appreciates her. She has the confidence to council Lizzie on her own future and by the final act of the show, no one is really sure if “new” Jane would even accept Bing. The best part is: she doesn’t! It’s one of my favorite things in the show: when Bing asks Jane if he can go with her to New York and she turns him down. Ultimately, she does agree to it but with conditions and it’s made very clear that she plays a dominant role in their relationship. Later, when we’re given an update on how the couple is doing in NYC, we find that Jane is loving her new job and that Bing is very good “arm candy” when he accompanies her for a business dinner. I love it! Jane moves across the country to further her career and Bing follows her there, agreeing to the rules and limits she establishes for their relationship. We already know that they’re compatible because they’re both so sweet and kind and see the good in people. And we know that they truly love each other. In the show, I’m confident their relationship will work out. In the book, I’m confident it will work out too but mostly because the characters have developed so little from the beginning that their relationship is basically the same as it was during their initial courtship.
P.S. Can we talk about Jane's clothes and hair? Everything she wears is absolute perfection! She has a couple of dress that look like they've been dip dyed or something - so cute!
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