Jane in January and You – Knowing Your Un-Leading Ladies

I love that you are giving Anne de Bourgh a voice. Looking forward to your new work.

I have always thought that should would have been indifferent to marrying Darcy. The very least she was relieved from the obligation. You have posed a different view that I hadn’t really given thought. I think she was just in love with the idea of being out from underneath her overbearing mother. Darcy would not be a good match for her. Darcy needs someone with a backbone. I have read other variations that have Anne with a little more spirit. I think that she hides it well because of her mother. With the Darcy no longer an option, I think she would look towards Col. Fitzwilliam or maybe she has always fancied him, but could never act on it.

Anne de Bourgh grew up under the thumb of Lady Catherine. Her every moment of life [since the death of her father] had been observed, controlled, manipulated and dictated to by her mother. Was it any wonder that this sapling grew stunted under the shade of such a controlling harridan? She had never been allowed a moment’s peace nor a moment to do or be what she wished.

As you stated, she assumed… because her mother said it would be thus, that she would marry her cousin Darcy. This form of brain washing was of the acutest kind. Anne had never been allowed independence or freedom to make her own choices. Her mother dictated those for her. Anne lived within her own head with her thoughts, beliefs and dreams, never questioning whether her mother’s dictates were truth.

Knowing Darcy as we do… as he grew older, that taciturn behavior intensified. His demeanor no longer shrinking in the wake of his Aunt’s demanding, accusing, and dictatorial ways. His dark and brooding countenance must have been daunting to this tiny sapling, who quietly wondered about her future with such a man.

As time went on, she had to suspect that it was not going to happen. As Darcy grew and became a man… this tiny woman had to know… didn’t she? At some point she had to see that his demeanor was not that of a lover, but a caring cousin. Nor did his actions indicate that they were in a courtship. When her mother discussed their betrothal, she had to see his reaction and countenance to the imperious declarations.

When the guests arrived from Hunsford, Anne would see first-hand what it took to entice a man like her dour cousin. She would quietly observe as his eyes followed Miss Elizabeth’s every move. She would listen as he became animated in conversations with this country nobody her mother declared was beneath them. She would watch as he, and her cousin the Colonel, vied for that lady’s attention.

Elizabeth Bennet, even with her limited accomplishments, was everything that Anne de Bourgh was not. This had to sting and it had to hurt… thus forcing Anne to examine her heart to see what she really felt… not what her mother dictated. A lifetime of thinking her cousin would pledge for her would suddenly come under the harsh light of reality. She had to wonder if her mother saw it as she did… and, what would Lady Catherine do if she did notice?

If Anne liked Elizabeth… she would know that they would see to her comforts in the event of Lady Catherine’s death. She could spend time with them and enjoy the liveliness of their marriage. She could let Rosings and do whatever she wanted… travel or just rest somewhere in peace and freedom.

Thanks for this post and generous give-a-way. I wish you the best on the launch of this work.

I always imagined she would have been upset as I think she would have had her mother continuously tell her that she was destined from birth to marry Darcy so she would have had this expectation. He is also handsome and a perfect gentleman so this would have made the arrangement even more palatable to her. And finally she could get away from her overbearing mother. I believe in canon she ends up staying under her mother’s thumb and never marries. I’m glad that she seems to find happiness in your book!

Although I would like to think of Anne as having her own mind, I just can’t see where she get the courage to form her own thoughts. She knew no one other than her companion, Mr. Collins and his predecessors, Darcy and Col. Fitzwilliam. She has been emotionally stunted by her mother her whole life. Someone like her would need some encouragement to break free. I always wished that Darcy had taken more of an interest in her. He could have told her (privately) that he was not going to marry her but he still valued her as a member of his family. Was she really sick or was it easier to give up. and pretend she was? She seems depressed to me. I would think that she was devastated when Darcy married Elizabeth because that is all she had to look forward to and now even that little chance of happiness was gone. Everyone needs hope.

Growing up under such a dominant mother, Anne would escape her confines through her imagination. Weaving stories of herself as healthy prettyish young woman with a penchant for riding her horse in a stylish riding habit. Her interactions with her tenants and seeing to their cares would make her loved by all. As for Darcy, well, he may be handsome and polite, however, there is sadness about him that Anne knew she could never help him overcome. He needed someone with more panache and wit, that even her active mind could not conjure up. So when Miss Elizabeth Bennet arrives and seeing their interactions, or should I say Darcy’s reactions to her, along with Elizabeth being able to stand up to her mother, Anne knew that this was the woman who could bring Darcy happiness. She would go back to her imaginings and try to conjure up a man less taciturn and more fitting for her…someone, who would really put her first above all else.

First, I am really looking forward to reading your new work. I do like versions that include plenty of plot time to Anne, or other supporting characters sharing the main story of D&E. We’ve read many versions of Anne, from spoiled rotten mini-Catherine (don’t like very much) to ghost-like weakling with one step in the grave (too sad.)

I always wondered just for how long, and how sick she was. Was she truly quite ill? Lady Catherine was obviously blind to everything and everyone around her, including the truth of her own daughter which isn’t that abnormal because we’re often blind to our own children’s true person. But…..for Anne…..how much of being sick was a way to escape her mother. And after being told all your life that you are delicate, sick, weak and can’t do the things other people do (brainwashed as has been said) how much would she believe that about herself, or how that opinion of her helped her escape when she couldn’t stand being around her mother. Her self confidence must have been crushed under her Mother’s will. But she must have had an active inner life, unless she was drugged out of consciousness, which I have wondered about too. Either doctor prescribed or self-medicated. Seeing her cousin’s attraction to Elizabeth (although keeping it from Catherine would’ve been difficult) must have given her lots to think about. You can be happy for someone you love and still be unhappy for yourself, dearly wish to be normal, but terrified by the entire scope of that reality.

I always want the supporting characters to have a happy ending…..except the baddies. But even some of those are redeemable.

I have read two P&P variations in which Anne was featured, at least in part. In one, she regains her health with a new doctor from town which she later marries…..in another, she married the Colonel and regained in health enough to provide him an heir. I am more than anxious to learn what HEA ending you bestow on her. Initially, I didn’t much care for her (back in the days when I was new to the hundreds of P&P variations I have since read). I thought her, obviously, sickly, weak and timid. Later I came to have more compassion for her because of the overall conditions of her life under a tyrannical mother – and what else can you call Lady C but a tyrant? Jane Austen left poor Anne in limbo and now all these years later you and others are giving her a voice which we are eagerly awaiting to hear. Thank you so much, Shannon, for all your stories. I’ve read so many of them and have loved them all! Kudos. Who’s next? Mary?

I have seen mny vasiations on the Anne de Bourgh theme in fanfic – expanding her character either in a positive or a negative way. I just don’t see anything in canon to give us an definite direction: JA ONLY gave us Elizabeth’s experiences and her (rather prejudiced) interpretation of them, and whatever other characters told her about Anne and the supposed engagement. Although an evil, shrewish or jealous Anne can be an excellent plot device, I prefer the stories that give her a happy ending – either discovery that her illness can be cured, or a way to find her own freedom like in creative talent, wit, observation; I like to think that Elizabeth might befriend her after her marriage to Darcy, if Lady C can be gotten out of the way somehow. Since sickliness and delicate constitution are such vague terms of the era, there could be almost anything behind them, serious or minor – laudanum overdose, anemia caused by medical bleedings, hypochondry, allergy, digestive problems, heart problem etc. I do like stories where she did have some positive influence during her childhood that saved her from being completely under her mother’s thumb or shaped entirely by her illness: Lady Anne/Mr. Darcy Sr, the Darcy and Fitzwilliam children, Sir Lewis before his death, a more sympathetic nurse or Mrs. Jenkinson; a previous, more positive rector o Hunsford… someone. I look forward to see your version of Anne’s story!