Molland's Community

[miriam]

Recently, I got a bit into Tudors, and reading along about Henry VIII's wives, I had a curious impression -- e.g., that the five Bennet sisters share a lot of characteristics with those queens!

- Jane, of course, would be sweet Jane Seymour: mild-hearted, honest, dutiful, and caring.

- Mary, can be likened to Kathryn Parr, the bluestocking with religious interests (in fact, Kathryn Parr wrote a prayer book that was bestselling for two centuries). As Kathryn Parr is the surviving wife, Mary is the 'surviving' daugther, e.g., the one who stays at home when the others have left.

- Kitty is clueless, docile, and unattractive like Anne of Cleves -- easily influenced, easily set aside.

- Lydia has a lot in common with Catherine Howard: heedless, reckless, flirtatious, governed by her instincts, falling for a scoundrel who's not worth the risk, and bringing about the ruin of her whole family, thogether with her own.

- and Lizzy? Oh -- there's Anne Boleyn for Lizzy. Anne Boleyn, who is related not to have been exactly what they called a beauty in those days, but who was commended for her very fine eyes, her wit, her taste, her beautiful singing. Anne Boleyn, of rather modest origin, who had a grudge against the king for preventing her from marrying a man she was in love with, and who apparently was the first -- and the only one -- to reject the king's offers, claiming they were degrading, insisting that their union be based on the terms she dictated. In the end, she was accused of having bewitched the king.

Ah yes, Catherine of Aragon? Let's not forget that there *is* a Lady Catherine in JA's story, exiled to the country, mother of a "sickly and cross" daughter, queening it over every one within her reach, fiercly defending dynasty thinking, rank, and legitimacy --- and in the end quite powerless.

All of which doesn't mean to say that Mr. Darcy will one day get tired of Lizzy, and that their marriage will end in desaster. If there really exists an analogy, and Jane Austen was aware of it, I think it's a fairly good omen that she didn't call her heroine Anne. She chose the name of Anne Boleyn's victorious daughter: Elizabeth.

(Be it noted that one of history's greatest ironies seems to be Henry VIII's crazy craving for a son -- a son! -- a son!!! --, when, after all, it was one of his despised daughters, who became the glory of his house and century. I think JA appreciated that irony. And, BTW, Mrs Bennet is in a similar situation -- always assuming how unlucky she is to not have a son ... and then seeing her least beloved daughter bring more satisfaction and honour to the family than a son could possibly have achieved.)

Just a thought. And, since I've not much been into literary critics of late, I'd be interested to know if I'm the first to draw that analogy.

miriam

[Mags]

Very interesting! I've never heard anything about that, so feel free to lay claim to it.

And one does hope that things turned out better for Lizzy than for Anne Boleyn--but since Darcy was a much better man than Henry, I have no doubt of it. 

[Mandy N]

 I haven't heard of a  Bennet-Tudor analogy either.

Yes, indeedy. Lizzy B and Anne Boleyn were noted for their 'bewitching' qualities &
fine eyes.    
And both ladies knew how to say no. Lizzy refused Darcy's first proposal and Anne refused to be the King's mistress.
Big contrast to their sister/ cousin Lydia B and Katherine Howard neither could say no 

Yet  I think No. 4 got the best deal of the wives. 
Anne of C. not only survived old Henry, but retained  Royal status & goodies.
JA told her family Kitty 'improved materially' and married a clergyman. I like to
think he got  the Kympton living Wickham had wanted.   

Actually,  I've read the Austens didn't like the Tudors much &  JA was no fan of
Queen Elizabeth ! 

[Cyberlibrarian]

I do have one quibble -- Kitty isn't ugly.  And I certainly hope she doesn't smell as bad as Anne of Cleves was reported to. 

[miriam]

Thank you very much for your kind replies. I hope it's OK if I answer them collect.


1.That Jane Austen didn't like the Tudors, is news to me. I know only of one text that could have created such an impression, e.g. "The History of England". But since this early masterpiece of irony was meant to parody Goldsmith, and just makes fun of historians who try to whitewash Mary Stuart, it is most safe to assume that, in most cases, Jane Austen thought the very opposite of what she was saying in this text (and BTW, there is a 'Sharade' in the 'James the 1st' paragraph, to show that she needed very little "widening of horizons", even at sixteen). Moreover, she may have recognized the dramatic potential of a story, even without liking its protagonists.

2. The rejected queen that allegedly stank, was not Anne of Cleves, but Jane Austen's contemporary Caroline of Brunswick. And even in this case, I'd take the claim with a pinch of salt. For Prinny aka George IV was not very subtle when collecting reasons to dump his unwanted wife. First he accused her of never taking a bath, and then he accused her of sharing her bath with a lover. Tsk. No wonder he garnered so little support in his divorce battle.

3. Anne of Cleves may have angered Henry VIII by not falling for him the moment she saw him: he had had the unfortunate idea of approaching her incognito, fat, gout and all, shortly after her arrival in England. And he may have fallen in love with Catherine Howard shortly before his marriage to Anne. So this worthy precursor of George IV claimed he 'suspected" Anne's virginity because of the 'looseness of her flesh', and a month into the marriage, he swore that she was still 'as good a Maid ... as ever her Mother bore her', while poor clueless Anne imagined her married life was just what it should be ... with the king kissing her good night and good morning every other day.

4. I really couldn't imagine that nobody has noticed the parallels before, the more so as Kitty in P&P '95 looks astoundingly similar to an engraving -- 19th century for sure, but it's based on the Holbein portrait -- of Anne of Cleves,

http://www.marileecody.com/cleves3.jpg

and at the inn at Lambton, there's a little portrait on the wall that looks just like Anne Boleyn...

http://www.hever-castle.co.uk/children/picture2.htm

miriam
(sorry to be such a lazy correspondent)