The Psychology of Lydia Bennet | Pride & Prejudice
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.พ. 2020
- Today I'm going to attempt to theorize why the insufferable teenager Lydia Bennet is the way she is.
*Note: I'm aware Lizzie is the *second oldest, not the oldest Bennet sister. I mention her first in the birth order only because she's main character of the book (and I therefore think of her first).
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I've been reminded that the Bennets tried for a boy after Lydia was born, so please disregard the statement regarding the addition of more children. I believe my point that Mr. and Mrs. Bennet reacted to Lydia differently when realizing there wouldn't be a son still holds. I appreciate the comments making sure I was aware of the fact that they kept trying for a son, but unfortunately videos are static and it's not something I can edit or amend, even though I wish I could!
Agreements/disagreements about Jane Austen novels are some of the greatest discussions on earth. I'd forgotten that that they were still trying for a son, so blessed be the inaccuracy in the video and blessed be those that found it. It's a little bit of heaven.
Lol... I love your video. However the statistics do not apply to my Italian/Spanish family. I am the youngest of four sister's and the only one with a degree and a career. I did however enjoyed your video.
They may have officially been still trying, but that doesn't mean that Mr. Bennett wasn't losing hope and becoming more and more checked out from the process. Let us also remember that the more time he spent in Mrs Bennett's company the less he esteemed her. He would have also been losing hope in her developing her mind and becoming a good companion. So I think you are still right about the arc of his attitude towards his family.
And while Mrs. Bennett may still have been hoping for a sixth child, that wouldn't have stopped her from coddling her youngest. It's possible that she coddled all of her babies until the next one came along. And their ended up being no natural check on her spoiling of Lydia. So I don't think your theory is any weaker for this fact.
(Indeed, doesn't the author specifically write that it was Mrs. Bennett who continued to hope for a sixth child? Not both of them.)
You may want to look into this, but Jane was the eldest Bennett daughter, followed by Elizabeth.
There's been a note in the description box about that since this video went up. I accidentally said one before the other.
I feel so sorry for Lydia because she is 1000% a product of her environment and her parents' disappointments. For me, I think it's obvious that Lydia is responding to her mother's doting, her father's neglect, as well as the more positive reception that Jane and Elizabeth get from pretty much everyone outside the family. She gets more praise from her mother than from anyone else, so she adapts her behavior to get as much praise from her mother as possible. She sees that Jane and Elizabeth are more universally admired than she is by their community, so she tries to one-up them with a totally different sort of behavior that ends up attracting morally dubious people, and again, her mother's praise.
Marriage for Lydia is not a life-long partnership with another person, it's a game where she can beat her sisters simply by marrying first. She never once thinks about what it actually means to be married. She thinks about how people (specifically her mother) are going to perceive the fact that she managed to catch a man first. So of course she ends up in a horrible situation, married to a man who would probably throw her over given the right price and who is never going to treat her with anything remotely resembling respect. And the shine on her marriage is still so new at the end of the book, that she's still excited about and proud of her marriage and the fact that she "beat" all four of her older sisters.
I always find myself worrying about Lydia's physical and emotional safety as Wickham's wife. Wickham doesn't strike me as a man who had any qualms about taking his frustrations about his "undeserved" lower position in the world out on the wife he got forced into marrying. And would she have even known that respect was something she should want from husband? Mr. Bennet never respected Mrs. Bennet and he made that very clear to everyone, but particularly to his children who witnessed all the ways he picked at her and made fun of her. With Lydia emulating her mother so much would she have even realized she should be looking for something else in a partner? How many good marriages did she see? Jane and Elizabeth had the Gardiners as examples, but it seems like they were sent to the Gardiners because they were the oldest and it was easier to just send them off for a couple of months. The younger girls didn't get the same opportunities. How much were all three of the younger girls disadvantaged by that?
THIS. this was always my thought. i don't understand how we leave the book on such a particularly bleak note for lydia and are not meant to care about her. it's a happily ever after for jane and elizabeth, but absolutely not for lydia. i am deeply upset by the way she's written off as having to face the consequences of her being impulsive and childish... when she's an actual child. lydia's treatment spoils the end of the book for me, but it's why i love the lizzie bennett diaries as an adaptation. i find the way they explore her character far more nuanced.
This comment is excellent. I had never considered the damaging impact on her of seeing her own parents' dysfunctional marriage and a desire to impress! By the end she's a victim of neglectful parenting and dare I say it, child sexual exploitation. I desperately worry about her at the end of the book.
@@yogiwithabook Austen did inform us at the end that, as unsettled as Lydia's life was with Wickham, her elder sisters were and would be there for her. She would never be alone and destitute.
Given the awful parenting of the Bennets, it's fortunate that the daughters weren't more damaged.
You make some good points. I always just supposed Lydia got what she deserved for being such a brat and a shameless flirt, with no regard for her family’s reputation.
You can't just feel sorry for kids though. She is a near adult and old enough to know right from wrong. She had good role models and a good religious upbringing. Her parents enabled that bad behavior but she wasn't a victim.
I think your analysis was spot on, but I also think Lydia was a naive teenager who got groomed by a very calculating adult. Lets not forget that Darcy's sister, who seems to have a very different personality also almost fell into Wickems trap.
Actually, it makes you wonder whether that was part of Darcy's motivation for going to find Wickham and Lydia in London? Georgiana was basically the same age (and straight out of school, I think?) when Wickham tried to persuade her to elope at Ramsgate, leading Darcy to realise that the lady companion /chaperone he'd found for his sister (Mrs. Younge) was totally unsuitable. Move forward a year or so, when Lizzy and the Gardiners visit Pemberley (which is at essentially the same time as Wickham and Lydia are eloping from Brighton), and Georgiana has a new companion (Mrs. Annesley), who we are told helps her out when she's hosting Mrs. Gardiner and Lizzy by prompting her to offer tea, making conversation and generally helping her get used to hosting guests. (Georgiana is, after all, only 16; it must have been unusual to be a hostess to anyone at such a young age.) I presume, after the fiasco with Mrs. Younge, Darcy interviewed new companions very carefully before settling on Mrs. Annesley. When he hears about Lydia eloping with Wickham, he must have thought, "This could have happened to my sister", and at that stage, he is in love with Lizzy enough that he doesn't want to see her family ruined because of her sister's stupid teenage behaviour. (Plus, Darcy's cousin Col. Fitzwilliam is the younger son of an Earl so Darcy might theoretically be an Earl's grandson, and Miss Bingley mentions that Darcy's great-uncle was a judge, so he had relatives in high places, and Wickham would know that.)
@@katehurstfamilyhistory I think it is one of the matters compounding to it, though I still think the "guilt" he gives himself as a reason is the strongest factor. He saw that exact same thing was happening to his sister, it's just that by luck he found out early enough and had enough rapport with Georgiana that she confessed and abandoned the plan. To protect his and hers reputation, he quietly buried the issue and did not expose Wickham to anyone. To be fair, it is likely that he would have assumed Wickham was mainly after Gerogiana to get back to Darcy, instead of being notorious in trying to trap young girls, who might not yet quite understand the ramifications of what they are doing. (Lizzy likely was not in that kind of danger, while being interested, was more mature and would not trust promises only.) But the fact that Darcy didn't expose Wickham left W free to continue his bad behaviour. Which later came back to bite Darcy when his love's sister also fell for Wickham's trap.
@@katehurstfamilyhistory All of that, AND Darcy knew if he couldn’t resolve the scandal, he couldn’t marry Lizzy. Had Wickham known of Darcy’s feelings for Lizzy, he could’ve named his price to marry Lydia.
Meaning sexual predators -Wickham knew how to get what he wanted by using his good looks and fake manners . We know of 2 other girls he tried in the book because of their money but I would imagine there lots of other girls he used just for sex if his character was real . Lydia gave herself freely to Wickham and he took it because it was easy to have😖 . Wickham May of thought he could blackmail Darcy to keep Lydia’s reputation good for Elizabeth sake because he suspected that Darcy had feelings for Elizabeth.
@@Grabfma040508 No, he had no idea of Darcy’s feelings for Elizabeth, otherwise he would’ve demanded £20,000 to marry Lydia
Don’t forget that Lydia thought she was stealing Wickham away from Elizabeth and felt she won there too.
To me that is one of the worse things about what Lydia did. Trying to steal your own sisters man breaks every girl code.
I just realized that Lizzie is the way she is because her father doted on her and realized early enough that if she continued with her clever manners of speaking, the more she captured her father's attention.
Exactly just like Lydia figured out with their mother.
Making them, at the same time, each others both polar opposites, but also each other's equivalent.
Daddy Bennett couldn’t be bothered to participate in the family most of the time.
Yeah, I found that to be the case as well. As much as I love how snarky he is (and his relationship with Lizzie), he's a rather absent father to the rest of the girls.
It has always bothered me how positively everyone views Mr Bennett where really he is kind of a selfish, lazy, son of bitch. He's constantly failing to provide any future for his wife or daughters. Not only does he not save any money for them to live on in the event of his death, he also won't hire a governess, and won't take them to town to learn the skills to make them into accomplished women but he can't even be bothered to take them out to where they might happen to meet anyone other than the 4 and 20 families that they have known all their lives. Judging by how much Charlotte Lucas wants to be married yet is still unmarried at 27 it seems prospects are VERY slim in Hertfordshire! Even the biggest beauty in town, Jane, is still unmarried at 21. Add to that how he is constantly mocking Mrs Bennett to her own daughters, belittling her for obsessing on the ONE PATH the girls have to not wind up destitute should Mr Bennett die.
@@cminmd0041 Yeah, like in the 2005 movie they change some of his lines and general disposition to be more fatherly and It really bothered me when watching it. Like I really love the movie, but they made him out to seem like he was a good father, when he was just as bad a parent as Mrs Bennett. He's not snarky, he isn't annoyingly bemused by his "silly and ignorant girls", and they even have a scene where he stops Mary from playing the piano at the ball to keep her from making a fool of herself and the family when he very much did not do that in the book. I believe he even laughed along with others in the book, and Lizzie was the one who had to save her sister from more embarrassment. Like they missed the mark on his characterization in that movie, because like you said, he's not involved with his daughters and he's not engaged in keeping the family's image free from embarrassment.
@@hannahreynolds7611 I like the scene in that version where Elizabeth reads Darcy's letter. I don't remember the make up tbh. I think most Austen adaptations don't really explain or translate the things that a modern audience won't understand, like the need for money to be set aside for the Bennet girls which Mr Bennet doesn't do or the consequences of Lydia running away etc. I think the Lizzie Bennet diaries fits a great job of translating Lydia and the way she's essentially a victim of Wickham and her parents to a modern version.
I believe MR. Bennett was just plain wore out from having to deal with it all . if it wasn't from having to try for a son to inheret the family home and take care if Mrs. Bennett he would have given it all up after the 1st. Two girls . I mean you must admit , Mrs. Bennett's psyce is enough to wear out an Oxford don . as for the rest given the pressure of society at that time to provide dowries , ect for ALL that brood is , well ..... The budget for material to sew all those dresses they MUST have to be presentable at all times was mind bogleing in itself.
Now, can we take a second to appreciate Jane Austen's capacity to create characters that are so consistent! Even the annoying one have an underlying psychology that MAKES SENSE.
I think this speaks to the fact that she really put her observations of real life and real people into her fictional worlds. It’s probably the main reason that she’s one of my favorite authors!
She was a very practiced observer of people and their motives.
I always felt that you could kind of trace the deterioration of the Bennet marriage by looking at their children's adult personalities. You have gentle, kind Jane, presumably born when the marriage was still perfectly stable and happy. The more cynical Lizzie born when things still seemed good on the surface but the underlying tension would have been uncomfortable apparent within the household. The unemotional and introspective Mary, born after the affection between her parents was well and truly dead and probably trying to make sense of human nature and weakness as a result. Kitty, born to a couple that's gone from loveless to outright hostile and so who has only learned how to react to anything but the best of times with petulance.
And then you have Lydia (born after a 2-year gap which has always made me wonder if there was a miscarriage in between her and Kitty), who has spent her entire life in a household where the battlelines have been clearly and publicly drawn between her parents. Who has spent her life hearing about nothing except money woes and how only a good marriage can save her. Whose two closest-in-age sisters are not at all loving towards her. Whose other sisters were probably more caregivers than confederates since there was no nanny or governess and her mother wasn't being arsed by then. Who knows she can only get one parent to love her, since the other is bound to dislike her on principle after one parent has shown an open preference, and everyone knows that Lizzie is dad's favorite.
Honestly, the only wonder is that she wasn't horrifically manipulative in addition to all her other flaws. And her punishment for being born to such unstable, abusive, damaging parents is a husband who had probably already given her syphilis before the wedding even took place. I don't like her character in the least, but it is *tragic* in my opinion.
I think your analysis is chillingly accurate. Parents often assume they can hide the issues between them and that it will not affect a child. We all know that is not how it works - as children our stability and sense of self in relation to others and the outside world is directly connected to the stability , respect and kindness of our parents to one another. The Couple is the foundation of the Family, Family is the Foundation for stable loving Adults to interact in Society . A stable Society creates a Civilization---- -dependent on the Adults in the Society who make the rules, run the wires that keep Society functioning well, will form the Families to continue the next generation and Happy well adjusted Couples are the Founding Stones .
I agree with almost everything you said! However, I would like to point out that Lydia was VERY manipulative of those around her. She regularly manipulated her sisters into paying for things for her, manipulated Kitty to follow her lead and keep her secrets, and manipulated the whole entire Wickham situation to what *she thought* was her own benefit.
I think this is on the money. I've also thought about Mr. Bennet's probable withdrawal from the family over time-- Jane and Lizzie may have still held their father's interest, but by the time Lydia arrives, he has given up. She's under the influence of her mother, period.
@@HeatherAnne10 I see what you mean, definitely. I suppose when I said it's a wonder she wasn't horrifically manipulative, what I meant was that her manipulative tendencies could have been a lot more destructive to others than they could have ended up being. She was, for lack of a better descriptor, careless in her manipulations: she wanted what she wanted and did what she could to get it, but she never intentionally tried to harm or undermine others with them, even if it sometimes happened as a side effect.
@@myrnaskogland1268 I'd argue that a loving household is much more important than the Couple-raising-children is. Parents like the Bennets, to me, are ample demonstration of why divorces should not be hard to get. A loving couple is best, divorced parents second-best, parents who hate each other and remain married worst. But love and honesty are most important to a child's formation.
Its terrifying to think that the well-mannered, passive, people pleasing Jane might have been like Kitty Bennet who is also passive but didn't receive the same love and attention. Or the willful, energetic and free thinking Elizabeth mightve become similar to Lydia Bennet- who is also independent but without the education to make intelligent decisions. Elizabeth was also charmed by Wickham and had she been younger, more naive and been educated to throw herself at men like him, she couldve ended up like Lydia. I can see that happening.
It was a chance for Elizabeth to marry Wickham but her aunt gave her perspective which Lydia never got
@@ylvahammarskiold9775 I don't Elizabeth was ever really in danger of falling for Wickham and marrying him; despite her liking him and finding him so agreeable she knew he had no money and consequently it would not be a good match. She was quite clear in talking to her aunt (Chapter 26) that she had not committed herself to loving Wickham, that she saw the imprudence of Wickham falling in love with her (I believe this is a reference to Wickham having no money or prospects), and she agreed with her aunt that she would discourage Wickham from visiting so often after her aunt had returned to Gracechurch Street.
Look at Miss Darcy.
@@dirgniflesuoh7950 Her fortunate outcome is basically only because she has a safety net that is there when she needs it. When Lydia needed her safety net the most (when she was at Brighton) there was no one. Her father didn't care enough about her to protect her, her mother was too ignorant to know about more than just the fun and the person who should have been her protector was ill (or at least not well enough) so didn't do anything either. All in all, I'd say Lydia is failed by basically everyone.
Her father should have taught her because he knew that Mrs Bennet couldn't (she's described as ignorant and Mr Bennet doesn't remedy that) but he doesn't, he has focused only on the eldest two daughters and taught them well, but let the rest of the girls just do whatever. He's a neglectful parent, when Mrs Bennet encourages all the worst behaviour.
@@dirgniflesuoh7950 Lizzie might have been proud and prideful but she wasn't stupid ... you are absolutely correct two others at least (Lydia and Miss Darcy) made the mistake of trusting Wickham with their reputation and safety.
Poor Kitty was what one birth-order writer calls "the Lost Child". She doesn't develop a distinct identity of her own.
And here I am, so relate to Kitty...
The book only covers the time period of elisabeth's story and a brief picture of how everyone acted after she was Mrs darcy. I think it painted a kitty who was going to develop into herself in the public eye. She had several examples of relationships and that pressure to marry well was more just a whim than a need.
I also disagree that the bennet parents were unhappily married. When I read their story, I see to very different personalities that adjusted to life together as an adventure. She is flighty and drama queen, he's quiet and likes his quiet time. And I get the picture of a happy, unique family life.
She does towards the end. It describes Mr Bennett never allowing Kitty to join Lydia despite her repeated letters, instead letting her stay with Jane and Lizzy and with good influences she calmed down and married a clergyman
Another way Lydia "wins" is by her and her parents continuing to flout the social norm of her being to young to be "out." She was never supposed to be allowed in formal public ball type of events because she was too young. Part of Kitty's grumpiness is because she is at that threshold and it should be about prepping HER for her time-out. Instead, the parents are like just forget the rules, we'll treat you all like you're of age to be on the marriage market and Lydia of course got the bump up in attention because she's the favorite. I always felt sorry for Kitty. She got ignored when it should have been close to her time to shine and then was basically punished for Lydia's behavior because the parents suddenly remembered they had a young daughter who needed more discipline than they were previously giving.
I always felt sorry for Lydia the most because at the end of the day she's stuck with a husband like Wickham.
I know :(
Don't worry, he won't be a worry any longer (saw a bit about military history in the UK after the book was written)
She'll spend her life being just like her mother, nagging Wickham about not caring about her nerves. He'll tune out.
Yes! I've seen people say that she got off to easy, but she's married at 15 to a guy who tends to run up debts and then run out them!
It's not gonna be long before they both have his creditors coming after them, and because of the time period she lives in, she's not gonna have anyway of supporting herself.
I don't think that's 'getting off easy"
Yes, but he will also be stuck with a silly thing like Lydia...
characters like Lydia always make me wonder at the variety of situations that Austen watched unfold, mostly around courting, marriage etc. I have little doubt that each one of the romantic kerfluffles that she depicts are based on something she observed in her life.
I'm not entirely sure about that. I think she, like Edith Wharton, keenly saw tendencies of behavior in society and imagined them playing out to dramatic ends. She was part of a big family, so I think she might have noticed some things I speak about in this video, but I think she also had a very robust imagination.
Austen liked to critique current social morals in her books too. It is said Mansfield Park was basically written to criticise the decline in social and moral standards- Edmund and Fanny are her most virtuous hero and heroin couple. I think this was to criticise acting on young lust and first perceptions.
there's a common perception of fiction books written by female authors as being autobiographical, but this is not necessarily true - she observed the courting and class behaviors of her society, and while some events in the novel may have drawn inspiration from people she saw or events she attended, it's more likely that she imagined them with the context of the era
Not only did she feel like she won by marrying first, her mother felt the same and ones again priced her for it, adding to this type of behavior even more. I feel truly sorry for Lydias children and definitely agree that her parents are to blame for her behavior.
According to the sequel, At Pemberly Hall, Lydia had no children and she and Wickham attempted to kidnap a child sired by Wickham with a lowly maid. As a result, the Wickhams were forced to immigrate to America.
@@allisonshaw9341 what is the source of said sequel? I can't seem to find anything about it, which seems strange for "the" sequel.
@@genevieva_b there is no sequel. Not made by jane austen, at least. There is a bunch of other people that wrote 'sequels' to a lot of books of jane austen (think fanfiction) but none are oficial
Me before this video: Lydia is the most annoying Austin character.
Me after this video: Oh poor, foolish Lydia.
I feel empathy for Lydia. Jane Austen is a master at developing characters and none are perfect. That is the beauty. Lydia is 15-16 years of age, a teenager. She is silly, makes stupid and dangerous decisions, but it is the adults and especially the parents duty to guide and rescue her. But her parents have abdicated from that role, especially the father.
I agree. She may get some encouragement from her mother but for the most part she will have only her selfish husband for support. Mrs. B's preference will likely switch to her better married daughters now. I can see poor Lydia with a passel of poorly mannered children that her mother wants no part of. Meanwhile her shameless husband will find a mistress.
Canceling my therapy appointment....
I do feel for the younger Bennett sisters as well as Mary.
Now while I don’t like Lydia as a character due to her thinking everything is a game I can see why she is like that. She is still a literal baby and is very influenced by those around her so I can see why she would act the way she does.
For kitty, I do feel for her. She is trying so hard to be what her mother wants her to be, and is overshadowed by her only younger sibling and then being condemned for her actions. Her acting out is something that is very relatable, as someone who is/was compared to siblings.
Now out of the three, I feel the most for Mary. She was once seen as the most accomplished girl in their village. Overshadowing all her siblings at one point, and then it was like she peaked as a young girl and now is trying to still hold onto what she once had. Being overshadowed by all her siblings in terms of looks and accomplishments. It’s not until Jane, Elizabeth and Lydia are all married that it’s said she started getting more attention from her parents and to me that’s heart breaking
Honestly, I had forgotten that Lydia was the youngest. I thought she was third. Her being the youngest does make sense. I think your analysis is on point. Though I only have two kids there is not doubt that energy and time to parent are diminished. Also, it is easier to turn some of the parenting duties over to your older kid(s). Even if its just for a few minutes, inevitably you have to step out of the room/ house and you tell the older kid to watch the younger. As much as they might want to help, older children are usually not effective at making their younger siblings behave and in fact younger children often intentionally defy their older siblings. So, Lydia was probably well practiced at ignoring her older sisters attempts to discipline her and teach her decorum. She acted out to not just to separate herself from them, but to spite them.
Ah, that's a great point you make about younger siblings not recognizing the authority of older siblings.
When I first read P&P all the way through, something that definitely stuck out to me was how bad of parents Mr. and Mrs. Bennet were. Mrs. Bennet had the right goal in mind, (securing her daughters a happy future before her husband died) but was often shallow and went about it as ungracefully as possible, shall we say. She praised behavior in Lydia that almost led to the entire family's downfall, and often ignored the accomplishments of her daughters if they would not directly lead to a potential match. Mr. Bennet, despite being the more sensible of the two, ignored his younger daughters most of the time, and didn't seem at all interested in raising them to be good and sensible people. He found them annoying, but didn't want to or see the need to put in effort to guide them in the right direction.
With parents like that, I can see how the Bennet sisters ended up how they did. Elizabeth was prideful and willingly chose to believe little of many people, Mary didn't care much for other people at all and thought herself a genius, Kitty could be quite bitter, and Lydia... well, this entire video was about Lydia. Jane doesn't seem to have any major flaws due to her parents, but if anyone can think of one let me know.
Jane’s flaw is that she is overly-people pleasing and, for a long time, refuses to see the bad in people. She suffers a lot because of this flaw, because she doesn’t see Bingley’s sisters for who they really are and how they see her. While it seems to have worked out in the end, her forgiving Bingley for abandoning her without a word (and, by extension, telling society she was grasping above her station) could also be seen as part of this flaw.
@@ilcyra Thank you so much for pointing that out! I can't believe I didn't notice that.
I also believe Jane has this tendency to please the people around her because, as the eldest daughter, perhaps she was trying to bring the love and serenity that was missing into her family. Sometimes we see older brothers / sisters take on this protective role and her peaceful and loving nature has led her to be too pleasing to other people, in this quest to bring the harmony that was not present in her family.
One point I don't agree with is that Mrs Bennet wanted to secure her children a happy marriage. She wanted them married before her husband died to atleast some guy with ok means or she'd never had tried to sacrifice Lizzie to Mr Collins then tried to guilt trip her into accepting the proposal while knowing how a marriage with a man incompatible with her led to her young children being ignored and her in turn. Mrs Bennet reminds me of a saleswomen brandishing her goods (her daughters) to any available persob at every occasion.
Younger children also develop skills faster by watching their older sibling(s), and in many cases want to copy those older sibling, even if they are still too young for certain activities.
As a youngest sibling who grew up on the Colin Firth P&P, there were a whole lot of snide comments made in my family about Lydia that always really hit home for me. Can't say it made me particularly sympathetic to Lydia until I was much older, unfortunately, but the comments about her being young and stupid and selfish were always frustrating to hear because I definitely hear similar comments directed at me by my older siblings. Lydia makes bad decisions, but her reasons aren't as stupid as they seem, which you have laid out here EXCELLENTLY. Justice for youngest siblings!
Youngest siblings do tend to get the short end of the stick sympathy-wise, don't they?
The actress in the 95 version is too old to feel sorry for; a genuine 15/16 year old is obviously much more vulnerable, you understand the danger better.
I love how you described Lydia as if she were a real person.
I love P&P too, but I've always assumed the characters are mainly presented as Lizzie sees them.
She sees Jane as an angel because she's the dearest to her heart. She sees her younger sisters as silly and annoying, as pretty much any person sees their younger siblings at certain ages. She sees her mother as terribly annoying (so much that she's a caricature) although she has a point of view which is common sense for the period (for her daughters were indeed in a situation in which a good marriage was important), which again I think it's a way many of us think about our own mothers. And she loves her father so she sees him a very witty man, although she proves to be not very wise.
And of course, does Mr. Darcy change that much from the beginning to the end - or is it that Lizzie learning more about him changes her point of view and therefore the way he is presented to the viewer?
Because I've always felt that this was the case, I could not help that thinking that Lydia was more flirty than Lizzie thought appropiate and therefore presented as a flirt. But as far as we know she's welcome in society so it's to expect that her manners were not actually bad, and most people might have thought she was a very animated young lady - if anything as noisy as any other 15 year old ladies.
This is such a fantastic theory and I wholeheartedly agree!
Great analysis, especially given her relationship with her father. It is very obvious through statements he makes that Lizzy was always his favorite and the same goes for Lydia and their mother. The two girls are a lot alike in the sense that they take over the personalities, almost in an irresponsable manner of which ever parent cherishes them more.
IE Had Lydia been her fathers favorite and Lizzy her mothers, we would have possibly seen a similar outcome opposite the sisters.
I completely agree the characters are portrayed as she believes them to be.
The one thing that I think might argue against this theory is that Austen switches POV too often, especially earlier in the novel, and writes of things that Lizzie cannot know and certainly doesn't suspect. For instance, Darcy's first starting to experience feelings for her. "Occupied in observing Mr. Bingley's attentions to her sister, Elizabeth was far from suspecting that she was herself becoming an object of some interest in the eyes of his friend. Mr. Darcy had at first scarcely allowed her to be pretty; he had looked at her without admiration at the ball; and when they next met, he had looked at her only to criticise. But no sooner had he made it clear to himself and his friends that she had hardly a good feature in her face, than he began to find it was rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes. To this discovery succeeded some others equally mortifying. Though he had detected with a critical eye more than one failure of perfect symmetry in her form, he was forced to acknowledge her figure to be light and pleasing; and in spite of his asserting that her manners were not those of the fashionable world, he was caught by their easy playfulness. Of this she was perfectly unaware; - to her he was only the man who made himself agreeable no where, and who had not thought her handsome enough to dance with."
Great observations here. I'm reminded of an acting choice Brenda Blethyn made in the 2005 version -- Lizzie is snarking about her mother kvelling about Lydia's marriage, and Mrs Bennet turns to her, *drops the dithering*, and sharply tells Lizzie to have five daughters and see if she (Lizzie) can focus on much of anything else. A great moment of insight into a character who, though gauche and apparently thoughtless, is painfully aware (in a way her husband does not choose to be) of the stakes of their society's marriage game.
@@angelagunn7986 Very true! There is a great analysis of why Mr Bennet married Mrs Bennet by Dr. Octavia Fox here on TH-cam which I can recommend. It does criticise the lack of action by Mr Bennet and the important actions of Mrs Bennet in securing the whole family's future, and explains why some of her behaviour doesn't necessarily have to be read as ridiculous
Lydia’s that girl that’s an absolute blast to go out with when you’re in your teens and 20’s but never see again after everyone turns 29.
I think that Lydia pursues affection in men because she doesn’t seem to get any real affection at home from her father. Her only feedback from him is that she is silly. I also wonder if unconsciously she resents her mothers indulgence- there is a saying that is something like “we discipline the ones we love “. She gets no discipline from either parent. So maybe she feels unloved at home. This of course is in addition to all that is contained in the video which certainly adds more depth the relationships within the Bennet family.
I was 14 when a 25 year old guy started to flirt with me and my mom had none of that! I didn't like him but I didn't understood why my mom was making such a big deal out of it. It was a long time ago and dating minors was less horrific at the time. I guess. So, I feel really bad for Lydia and, actually don't blame her for her really bad decisions. (Also, I'm the oldest of three, so I did had a lot more supervision) Thanks for the video, very insightful
I finally got my husband to watch the P&P miniseries and he called Kitty a non character too. He said "her character only exists to look out the window and tell everyone that someone is arriving" haha. I never noticed that before, but it's so true
I think that's a bit harsh on Kitty.
I think that Kitty was a follower who needed companionship. Mary was a natural loner and the Jane/Lizzy bond was too strong for her to break in there.
Lydia, like most youngest children was spoilt by her Mother and, having no one else to cling to, Kitty gravitated to Lydia.
Kitty never became her own person (until, maybe,) after Lydia's marriage, though even that is less certain as it seems more like, separated as they were by marriage, Jane and Lizzy "took Kitty in hand" and made her more like them...
I've always just thought that Lydia was most like her mom, and therefore she got indulged by her, and was never corrected by either of her parents. And that Lizzie and Jane were too close to her in age to get her respect.
In a way I've always thought it's pretty sad that her marriage will reflect her parents' situation the most. I think you made a very good point; what do we really know at 16? That was very interesting about the niches; I had no idea about this
Not gonna lie, your argument makes sense. I would also like to argue that the Bennets appear not to be great parents, even at the best of times- I kept thinking that even Jane and Lizzie kept getting left high and dry by their parents, especially in terms of “how to deal with new people and read their intentions”- so Lydia getting the dregs of the dregs makes her teenage attention seeking shenanigans perfectly understandable. Her choice of shenanigans just so happen to have horrific consequences both for her and the rest of her family, which makes everything So Much Worse.
Interesting. And funny to think that you analyze Lydia and her family as if they were real people, not fictional characters. What it tells me is how brilliant Jane Austen was. She knew nothing about the studies and research of today, but only used her razor sharp observation. We all know most if not all of these characters - have seen them somewhere or other in our lives. Genius Jane. That's why we love her.
I think you nailed it!
I thought your comment about kitty was very interesting too. She’s very much the minor character of the five daughters and I always thought it odd she was almost under the thumb of Lydia. It’s a good job she gets to visit Jane and Lizzie a lot in later life as she doesn’t get much attention at home.
And after everything was resolved with Lydia, Kitty was punished. All of a sudden daddy cares and changes the rules.
"She's annoying about it in the book, but she's not wrong." Amen! Mrs. Bennet worked within the constraints of the Regency Era to protect her daughters. I first read P&P in high school and I wish this fact had been pointed out in greater detail rather than just portray her as a dimwit.
I always thought the same thing! I felt like the dad was a bit too calm and that he found it all a bit too humerus, given that his wife and daughters could be left without a home if anything happened to him.
Her flaw is that she is shallow and has very little sense so in her desire to get her daughters settled, her behaviour is so shameless and socially inappropriate that she ends up negatively impacting there chances.
@@nicolealie7138 That's more because she was from a family of merchants, and married up because she was pretty, so she does not know all of the rules and manners in the upper class society.
@@islasullivan3463 True but in the book and by the time Lydia was born she had decades in that society. That is a lot of time-, She also has a merchant brother who is praised for his excellent manners and we see his ability to move in society throughout. If she never bothered to learn the rules of the society of which she married into, and which she desperately wanted her daughters to move up in that is a failure entirely of her own making.
@@nicolealie7138 Her brother was more well mannered partly because he received a better education than she did. As for why she didn't learn them after she got married she was probably busy raising her 5 children.
I read Pride and Prejudice again recently because my bookclub is reading it this month. I found Lydia to be infinitely more insufferable, narcissistic, and selfish than I remembered. 😤 My blood was boiling at some points, like when Lydia says to Jane "Ah, Jane, I take your place now, and you must go lower, because I am a married woman." Ugh. The arrogance and selfishness required to say that when you just almost RUINED your family and sisters reputation. Lydia holds her sisters in contempt and despises them.
Great video by the way 😊👍 I can't feel any sympathy for Lydia though!
THIS. WAS. BRILLIANT. Absolutely loved every second of your thorough and riveting analysis!
Thank you so much! Receiving praise from you about Austen-related content...I'm over the moon!
Thank YOU so much!
My first interaction with the Pride and Prejudice story was actually through the Lizzie Bennett Diaries, a modern vlog that is REALLY sympathetic to Lydia and doesn't force her to end up with Wickham. So in every other iteration of P&P I've seen, I've always felt so bad for Lydia because yes she's annoying but she's also being manipulated by an older man who's knowingly targeting her and doesn't care that her and her whole family's lives will be ruined, and THEN she gets chained to him for the rest of her life. And by the end, the whole family is rightfully furious with Wickham but no one seems concerned at all for Lydia's well-being. Especially since her trying to get a husband by any means possible is exactly what Mrs Bennett taught all of her girls. It feels like no one cares about this poor 16 year old child who's being married off to a manipulative almost 30 year old man. It's gross and infuriating.
The trouble of course is that being married off to manipulative, almost 30 year old man was probably the best outcome Lydia was (at that time) able to get out of this situation. Being chained to Wickham is likely better than ending up in for example brothel. Love was not part of the deal for marriage and being married even to scoundrel would give her more freedoms that any other options available. It's likely that should her infatuation with Wickham end, she would be able to arrange living situation in such way that she would for example be visiting most of the time and avoid Wickham as much as possible. Today things would be different. Of course, back then marriage of 16 year old to much older did happen regularly, even though in lesser degree that many people nowadays assume (not everybody was wed in their teens). So for that time period the age difference would not be that weird. In addition, Bennets had brought Lydia out to the society, which means that in their opinion she was ready to marry, and should be, to some degree, assumed to be adult. Young adult sure, but adult nevertheless. So while our point of view is of course that creepy man manipulated child, the reality for Lydia was, that she was out, marriage age and in adult position in the society. She was bit naive and was manipulated by Wickham for sure, and suffered from the bad parenting she had. But in society's eyes she already had adult level responsibilities and conduct assumed from her. As well as any other young woman of her age.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies does not put her with Wickham in the end. They even have Darcy say, "He tried to run away with my 15-year-old sister." And Jane says, "He's run away with Lydia! She's little more than a child!"
About Mr. Bennet recent I think Lidia just reminded him that he had been a bad father in no preparing for the future and tge situation his family was.
Also when wickham came to lonbourn everyone seemed to like him even Lizzie show preference for him. So I believe all of this just put him in a pedestal in Lidia's eyes and since Lizzie nor Jane told anyone about Wickham real personality...
I think Mr Bennett wanted peace. Checking Lydia would upset his wife so he let it go. He rarely went out in public with the girls anyway, other than church and Bingley's ball.
you dont see that girl unless you work at the welfare office
So I’ve read the book and I just watched the movie. The one with Kiera nightly. And that movie just made me feel so bad for Lydia. I was honestly scared for her, but at the same time so frustrated with her blindness.
What is amazing to me is that Jane Austin’s own observational skills and understanding of people enabled her to build an imaginary family that is so believable even to this day. I mean the Bennetts hold up to modern theory of birth order and psychology! It’s fascinating!
Yeah! greatest novel in the English language kills it yet again
Most likely she based her characters on people she knew/knew of.
Love this brilliant commentary and insight, Olive! Also, now adding Originals to my TBR.
If I remember correctly, Jane and Elizabeth also had many more opportunities than their younger sisters. I always think that their frequent visits with Aunt Gardiner, for instance, had to play a huge role in the formation of their tastes and habits. They were exposed to much better society from a younger age, but this is an advantage that the younger girls don't have. Whereas Lizzy and Jane have Aunt Gardiner for their role model and champion, the younger girls have to settle for walking to the local Aunt Phillips... and the difference in influence is vast.
That is a VERY good point - I wish I would have thought to bring that up! Lydia really could have used a stable, sensible role model. Again, I think it boils down to the fact that there were just...*too many* girls. Their Aunt Gardiner probably wouldn't have had the space to host all five of them at her home and probably connected with the older two first because they came along first. God I love this book.
Excellent point - plus, if you work out the relationships, Mr. Gardiner, Mrs. Bennet and Mrs. Phillips are all siblings. So Mrs. Phillips is the girls' aunt by blood; interestingly, she is also married to a man who lives in Meryton, so close to Longbourn. (Which also makes you wonder - did the Gardiner siblings come from Meryton originally, did Mrs. Phillips move there when she married and the future Mrs. Bennet met Mr. Bennet on a visit, or did Mr. Gardiner move to London because it was better for his business? The Bingley sisters say he's "in trade", but that could be anything - he could be a merchant, or co-owner of a textile factory somewhere, and you could get wealthy in those jobs in those days!) If Mrs. Bennet and Mrs. Phillips had basically stayed within, say, 5 miles of wherever they were born, they might not have seen much of the world. (Think of the Bingley sisters reaction to Mrs. Bennet's boast that she knows "four and twenty families" well enough to ask them to dinner - the Bingleys were probably on dining terms with three times as many households.) Whereas we know Mrs. Gardiner came from Derbyshire; whether she met her husband because he visited Derbyshire on business or whether her family had the means to take her to London for "a season" is never really explained, but she has seen a bit more of the world, is said to be a bit younger than Mrs. Bennet, and seems to be up to date on things like fashion. (When she visits for Christmas, Mrs. Bennet says to her, "I am very glad to hear what you tell us, of long sleeves", so clearly Mrs. Bennet views her as a bit more cosmopolitan.) So you're quite right - we can imply that Mrs. Phillips, Lydia and Kitty's role model, had the same level of education as Mrs. Bennet, marries a man described as "broad-faced, stuffy uncle Phillips, breathing port wine", who only lives a few miles away. (Plus, we also know how Mrs. Phillips loves to gossip! When Lydia elopes, she comes to Mrs. Bennet and "cheers her up" with stories of how Wickham's time in Meryton was peppered with drinking sessions, he's in debt to most of the shopkeepers and he's tried to seduce most of their daughters! So maybe you can infer that Mrs. Phillips and Mrs. Bennet's mother was also a bit of a gossip, too?) There's no wonder Kitty and Lydia turn out the way they do.
yep, I always felt that the Gardiners mostly had the elder sisters visit in order to have them be 'seen' and meet more people to improve their pool of marriage candidates. They likely felt it important to get the eldest married off then they would focus on the others in their turn. I imagine that visits to the Gardiners were filled with attending whatever social functions they could at their social rank, being seen at plays etc and hoping that one of the girls would attract someone with the funds needed to look after the rest of the family. Then, they would also have the benefit of not only Mrs. Gardiner as a role model but seeing exactly what was accepted in London. I've always imagined that this exposure to a greater polite society outside Meryton was the reason Jane and Elizabeth were so different to the rest of the family.
Mr. Gardiner living near his warehouses, makes me think he was something in imports / exports which would make him more of the large-scale merchant class vs just regular tradesman/shopkeeper. I'll have to re-read the book more carefully to make sure i'm not mixing up fanfiction - but I had thought Fanny's father was a solicitor like Mr. Phillips. Which could have made him a second, or plus, son of a gentleman, and also why his son took up one of the classes of trade more linked to gentry classes. It's not the trinity of church, army, law - but I seem to remember reading something about import merchants and shipping concerns being another option for the business minded spare son who couldn't stomach one of the other options.
Wow, I love your take on this. Birth order and the need for a son explain a lot! Also, Lydia really is one of those nonconformists who move the world -- she's the pivot for the final arc in the plot. If she hadn't run off, how would Darcy ever have proven himself to Lizzie? Thanks!
Darcy has already won Lizzie over before either of them know that Lydia has run off with Wickham.
@@davidwright7193 I agree. I think saving Lydia was just a convinient way for him to express the good character traits that Lizzie had already discovered he had all along.
I am #4 out of 5 girls. I feel Kitty in my soul. My younger sister is my mom’s favorite and was 100% the golden child. I am the forgotten child. This hits me in my soul.
This makes so much sense. I’ve always been fascinated with Lydia because sadly, I know of three real life Lydias, two of which really did elope! And all of them are amongst the youngest of a large brood of children. My youngest sister is also similar to Lydia in the fact that my mother was so much more lenient on her than she was to me and my other older siblings especially when it comes to boys. She was allowed to sleep over at her bf’s place at 17 where as I wasn’t even allowed date when I was her age. This video helps me better understand people like Lydia more.
Once again, you have chosen such a thoughtful and unique approach to discussing P&P. To say this is a comprehensive character study is an understatement. This rationale explains the actions of Lydia as well as several of the other family characters so well. I wonder how much of it was conscious plot structure on Austen’s part.
Thanks! I think much of it was intentional on Austen's part. Since she, herself, had many siblings, I think she deeply understood the dynamics.
I don't think I had ever truly contemplated the place Lydia occupies in the Bennet family (being the fifth *daughter*) and how that made her who she is! I love how Austen's text offers room to have discussions like this one, that makes us observe a character's behavior that is very much in your face, but at the same time isn't exactly explicit in its motivation. Great video! I desperately want to reread it now! :)
I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts on Lydia in this way. I remember reading about birth order and career success in my anthropology classes, and I hadn't thought to make the connection between Lydia being last-born, her flirty, risk-taking ways and what she does later on in the book, but I would say, from a theoretical perspective, it does make sense, and it is consistent with studies on multiple-children families.
I come from a family of six daughters. The older ones had more responsibilities and had higher expectations. The girls in the middle were opinionated and bold, and the two last girls were completely irresponsible. The younger ones battled more demons then the rest of us and still do. They were also the favorites. Lydia's parents did her an injustice. Oh, well. That's parenting as you age.
This is excellently done. I also think of the natural boundaries in the law of consequences that children have to learn. Oldest kids tend to get parented to learn them and have consequences enforced; youngest kids can tend to not get the lessons so explicitly, or can even get “rescued” out of experiencing consequences for behavior as children by their siblings, lack of enforcing rules by the parents, or other reasons. Lydia doesn’t seem to ever understand the consequences for her actions, leading me to wonder if she ever had consequences (natural or disciplinary) enforced for poor behavior as a child. Goes right along with your entire theory on birth order and tired parents!
(I just remember learning most of my lessons through natural or appropriate disciplinary consequences while growing up! But then... I’m an oldest 😉)
I definitely think you're right about this, but I think there's even more to the "rescuing" thing - parents who've had many children also learn from their own experiences with parenting the older kids. They know what's coming and how to best help the child, or how to bail them out after seeing the older kids grow & go through certain life experiences. I think parents don't want their younger kids to suffer the way the older ones had to (when they themselves lacked the parenting experience to intervene), so they end up "babying" the younger kids more where the older kids went through things & learned from the experience. That's my guess, anyway.
I am the eldest of 3 brothers, with an age-gap of 2 years and almost 13 years respectively. There were so many things I was not allowed to do behaviourly as a child, and had to pay for my own birthday 'present', a microscope when I was 10 or 11.Also, several years later, I was not allowed to learn to play guitar at home for fear of disturbing the neighbours. My middle brother was the favourite between us until the youngest came along. And he was given everything on a plate, it seems. Nothing was spared him. It would seem that my parents were using myself and my middle brother as test-articles, and then using what they had learned on my youngest. The exact opposite of the Bennet scenario.
In the book, we see multiple examples of Lydia overstepping bounds and not facing any consequences, and even getting rewarded. She steals Kitty's bonnet-- Mrs. Bennet orders Kitty to just give it to her. She goes over her allowance-- she gets her older sisters to give her some of theirs. She spends all the money which was meant to buy a meal for Lizzy and Maria on their way back from London on an ugly bonnet-- Lizzy pays for the meal. Whatever Lydia wants, Lydia gets. I wonder if she realizes how close she was to not getting Wickham as a husband, even after she had been living with (and having sex with) him for weeks. Darcy gives her an option to return to her family instead of marrying Wickham, but she insists. But does she realize Darcy had to bribe and buy off Wickham, or does she just think it was her will and stubborn nature that made it happen, as usual?
For me it’s not as much what she did, as much as it is her nonchalant attitude about what she put her family through. It’s not her fault really, Mrs. Bennet enabled her behavior quite a bit.
I think it's the fault of all three. Mrs Bennett indulged her. Mr Bennett turned a blind eye for peace and quiet. But Lydia was 16 and old enough to know better.
That's also normal for someone her age, though. It's been more than well documented that all teenagers tend to be self-absorbed, and scientifically proven that this is because their prefrontal cortex is still developing.
It's not that she's just bad, it's not even just that she has bad parents (although both Mrs and Mr Bennett leave a lot to be desired!), it's that her brain, and specifically the parts involved in impulse control, long term thinking, and emotional regulation, is not mature.
@@MsJubjubbird Erm...not really.
Austen's characters are so realistic that 200 years later we are treating them like people we actually know.😊
Thanks very much for this interesting and long-overdue analysis of Lydia's character and her role in the Bennet family. I have been unable to find another reviewer/instructor who even attempts to see Lydia as more than the bad seed of the Bennet family. Good for you!
What a creative and refreshing look at Pride & Prejudice. I have re-read the novel many times since I was a teenager and I have come to have a better understanding and perhaps even some empathy for characters like Lydia and Amy March. I think you made some really valid points about the demands on women through family and societal expectations to marry. Many of us bow have the luxury to earn a living on our own and marry for love if we choose to and I think it's important to set aside that assurance when reading a book that doesn't grant women of that time the same luxury.
As to *why* the Bennet sisters are so different... Well, first there's the influence of their Aunt-&-Uncle, the Gardiners. But, seeing as they cannot always be around, I have almost-always figured that the Sisters had had a caring Grandmother (I'm thinking Mr. Bennet's mother), who had taken it upon herself to raise her grand-daughters, not approving of her daughter-in-law's approach (and just not approving of her daughter-in-law, at-all). 'Grandmama Bennet' will have passed-away at a time where it would have effected the sisters' upbringing, say, that Jane was around 12, Lizzie was around 10, Mary 8/9-years-old, Kitty was around 7 and Lydia was around 5...
What do you think?
Possible. Or Mr. Bennet had a more hands on approach to parenting with Jane and Lizzie. But no longer did by the time Lydia came along. Maybe fusteration of knowing he won't have a son.
I am 5th of 7 siblings (yes, full blooded siblings). I obviously didn’t get as much attention as a kid so I acted out more. No ones fault. I could have easily fallen into the same situation as Lydia. But that didn’t happen. But my youngest sister had 6 siblings to advocate for her. We all encourage her into sports. Told our old school parents to let her be. Remarkably she became as accomplished or more then us older siblings. She got her masters & phd! I admire her. I like to think we older siblings did “plant the seed” to her success by nurturing her into competitive sports (volleyball & softball). She strived to prove herself to be who she became.
More! More! More! Your analysis of Lydia's character is spot on. I have seen excellent analyses as well of the characters of Mary and Kitty Bennett, the two sisters still at home after the marriages of Lizzie and Jane. These character analyses stir in me a longing for a sequel to Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen filled the final pages of her masterpiece with a description of the ensuing lives of the many P&P characters but I wish she had gone beyond these brief words and given us a sequel. I would like to see today's screenwriters and producers attempt to give us the sequel.
And how much more of a genius does it make Jane Austen, that she understood birth order intuitively and was the second youngest of eight! Shouldn’t she have been more sympathetic to Lydia?
I think so. But I think she relates to the older kids, not the younger ones, and sees them almost as nuisances, frankly. Jane and Lizzie are kind of like Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra. They were very close.
Peharps but sometimes authors need to be a little mean to express themselves in the best way possible. P&P wouldn't have the same impact if things turned out better.
Omg, now I want to read the novel from Lydia's perspective 😁😁
That would be so interesting!!
Try 'Lydia: The Wild Girl of Pride and Prejudice' by Natasha Farrant; it tells the story quite sympathetically from her perspective and I remember it being pretty good fun!
The fact is, parents do get tired of "holding the line" when they get to the younger children. With the older ones they're usually more fearful of making a mistake, and often overly strict and perfectionistic. Since the older ones survived and are turning out reasonably civilized, they have less fear for the younger ones, as well as less energy. Since it seemed they needed both parents to properly chaperone four daughters out in society, is it a surprising that the fifth daughter was included? They may have felt she was safer there under their supervision than home alone with the housemaid whom she could manipulate. I don't agree that they were horribly abusive parents, although like most people, they had flaws. Nor were the tensions over not having a boy uncommon.
Great video! Listening to you talk about Lydia makes me appreciate even more Julia Sawalia’s portrayal of Lydia in the BBC miniseries! So much going on in that character!
She was such a great Lydia!
Yes and have you seen her in Absolutely Fabulous when she plays the over sensible daughter. Great contrast.
Thanks, for this great analysis! I've often felt bad for Lydia - being only a product of her upbringing.
After this I'm also (again/constantly) in awe of Austen's writing! To be such a good observer of character that even her side characters are so lifelike! She basically wrote by intuition what people years later needed studies to find out. In my opinion that's why her books are still so loved today: She didn't really write about status or even love. She wrote about people and those haven't changed at all.
On a site note: this is the first video of you I've seen, and I have to compliment you!
I never quite understood what Mrs. Gardiner meant when she was talking about Mr. Darcy: “...there is something pleasing about his mouth when he speaks”
Now I do :)
Beautiful, well-read and able to make interesting conversation - You would be married of so quick in Austen's time! ;-)
I have sympathy for Lydia through most of the situation even when her visit was a lot to take, it was clear to me she didn't get what her running off with him put her family through. It clearly didn't click for her the social rules she'd broken or the consequences for her and her sisters if it hadn't been resolved by Darcy. There is one thing that bugs me in the end though applying to Lizzie for money straight away upon her engagement that's very leech like and an indicator of a selfish streak that while understandable for an over indulged youngest to an extent is still a major flaw.
The older Vlog series of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries casts Lydia exactly as how you describe, but in a family of 3 instead of 5 and that is where I first began to love Lydia. Thank you for this extra addition
I really appreciated this character study. I loved how you made these characters seem like real people and made me sympathetic for Lydia and Kitty. Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books and I am always looking for adaptations.
I just finished “Pride and Prejudice” last night-my first Jane Austen book. I greatly appreciated hearing your thoughts on the psychological aspects of birth order, parenting multiple children, and the family members specifically!
Question: is Mrs Bennett a Karen? I saw an article that argues this but Lady Catherine seems to bean outright one
Lady Catherine is a full on Karen. The way she feels like its her right and that people should be grateful for her overbearing judgement is such a Karen thing.
Mrs Bennet though... not sure. I'd say shes more of an entitled, ditzy, dimwitted, probably very flirtatious kind of woman. I guess she'd be the person they'd make Blonde jokes about?
This is a really cool video! I love the deep dive analysis of a particular character, and I would love to see more of these videos in the future. The study on the career success with order of birth is also extremely interesting! Thank you for sharing!
We are not talking about a person but a character and Austin's development thereof. What a writer! What detentions she gives her characters! We recognize them as genuine even today in this madhouse of a world we live in.
Loved this analysis and how you brought in the theories you read about in Originals! It just makes me appreciate Austen even more, the fact that she managed to (unconsciously or not) tap into some universal trends in human psychology and turn them into such compelling novels. And again, love this series of yours - I look forward to the next video every month!
have read P&P since i was14 regularly and am now almost 70. i think you are pretty much spot on in your analysis of Lydia and also in line with modern family dynamics . Iam from a family of 4 kids . As oldest I followed my parents profession and was a conscientious student and played sport even though I wasnt good at it. The next one is more creative and writes novela as well as raised a family of 4. the next one in very bright unacademic very practical and works in the arts ,photography conservation, builds, renovates, drives buses , and the last one is a police officer and dressage rider. So we haven't competed at all from our teens, meet up regularly and enjoy each others company. we differ from each other more than we differ from our friends!
I feel bad for Kitty, and hope she found herself later on, and had a happy, fulfilling life. Maybe she went to visit Lydia and Wickham; Lydia's life was becoming a bit "real", and she was worse for wear after a couple kids. Kitty meets a nice widower, who's children are grown, or better yet, never had children. She ends up becoming the cherished, and a bit spoiled, wife is his later years. Go Kitty!
Loved your analysis of Lydia. Linking her character, as well as the other Bennett daughters, to birth order was fascinating. Looking forward to more - I subscribed.
Enjoyed this video and your analysis thoroughly! I think it was very well-done, your behind-the-scenes, so to speak, take on the character and behavior of each member of the Bennet family, and most especially Lydia of course 👏👏👏
Thank you! You’ve deepened my engagement with one of my annual reads. Well done you!
I like how analytical your reviews are. So much better than anything I've seen on TH-cam up to this point. I had to subscribe.
This is excellent, like a verbal essay showing the mind at work combing through a complex topic!
Very insightful analysis of P&P, birth order, and family dynamics. Excellent video.
What a wonderful analysis of my favourite book! I'm not even halfway through the video and already love you :)
Fantastic discussion! I really love how you brought in research to understand how birth order can affect behavior. It definitely brings a lot more understanding of Lydia's character. I hope you do many more of these psychology of ___ character videos!
I'm definitely planning to keep on going with these! Not sure who I'll take on next...
I think your analysis is on point, what really defined Lydia, in my opinion, was her behavior at the end, and it reminds me a lot of Mrs. Bennet relationship with her brother, thinking that the two oldest were to provide for her and her husband, as a married couple. I'm still debating on Mary's role, would you consider making a video about her?
I never thought of Lydia quite like that. Thank you for sharing your insight on her.
This is a really thought provoking analysis, thank you
This is so good- especially about the oldest/ younger sibling section
How did I miss this video!? I've been thinking quite a lot about birth order recently, and I think it's really interesting to apply this theory to everyone's fave youngest literary sister. Well researched and well-said, Olive!
Awesome analysis, Miss Olive. I really like you sharing what you did from the expert on child birth order. It surely adds up in my family. I never understood why Pride and Prejudice is such a global phenom, and I'm always open to hearing explanations. Yours almost makes me want to re-read it 😀
This was so insightful. I learned so much from this one video. Thank you!
I agree with a lot of your assessment of the difference between the sisters. The one thing I think is overlooked, is the amount of time that is implied that the older sisters spent with the Gardiners. I think we can all agree that Mr. and Mrs. Bennet were not great parents, but I believe that Jane and Elizabeth's time spent with their aunt and uncle benefited them greatly.
Well done! I didn’t expect such a comprehensive and thought provoking analysis, what a pleasant surprise! Definitely earned yourself a subscriber :)
Oh, thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the video and welcome to the community!
I love these psychology type of videos you have been making! They really put some perspective on these characters' behaviour that I have not considered before. In both of your videos you bring attention to the way these seemingly -and realistically- annoying, arrogant and superficial characters were brought up, something that I always felt was crucial when studying any character. It is funny to see that these completely different girls, Lydia and Undine, are ultimately so similar due to their upbringing without boundaries or proper guidance. Please do continue this kind of videos!!!
I'm definitely going to make more! Hopefully I can find a heroine whose behavior isn't as closely tied to her upbringing...I don't want this whole series to be me lambasting fictional parents, hahahaha!
This is so interesting, eye opening and thought-provoking. Thank you!
wow!!! this was a very well thought out character study! ❤❤❤
Lydia is such an interesting character. I love what you said about birth order and how it impacts your success. I would be interested in seeing more about the Bennet sisters.
Fantastic video, also side note your blush looks amazing and that lipstick color is fabulous on you
I really loved this video Olive, I wanted to rewatch this before I embarked on a reread of P&P. I know it will enhance my reading experience.
Interesting and though-provoking analysis!
Excellent video! Loved it!
I think you are 100% correct. Also, if you want the most amazing take on Lydia, please watch the Lizzy Bennet diaries here on youtube. Never much cared for her in the book or movies, but she became my favorite after what they did with her character. They put her in a modern context and the performance and writing are spot on.
Yes! TLBD took into account the fact that she was groomed by Wickham and the show had a much more sympathetic approach to her character. Love Lydia in that version ❤️
This is such an awesome, in-depth look !!!
This video was a very good character study & gave more insight into what I've been think about Lydia for a while. For the longest time, I never cared for Lydia in either the book or any adaptations I saw. Then I watched the Lizzie Bennett Diaries and it gave me a whole new perspective on Lydia and why she does the things she does. While that gave me a better sense of her motives in a modern context, this video helped put it in the mindframe of Austen's time and gave me a whole new way of seeing Lydia, and I can't wait for my next reread with this in mind.
I very much need to watch the Lizzie Bennet Diaries, it seems!
@@abookolive Yes! It's one of the best modern day adaptations of P&P I've seen and it even has supplementary books that expand on it
Great video. :-) And it proves that P&P offers new insights and perspectives with every reread.
Who wants to understand Lydia better, watch the "Lizzy bannet diary"
It portrails her as actualy very cute, desperatly trying to get affection from her very cold acting older sister Elisabeth, helping her out and all thise stuff. She still is an utter disaster, but one that is also fun to watch instead of simply infuriating
Excellent analysis of Lydia. Never thought of her behavior in that exactly that light.
This video blew my mind! I was kind of disappointed when it ended so early. I could've listened for hours. :D
This is fascinating and interesting. I'm a parent of 4. I've seen the same niche finding in my own kids. Oldest is the rebel. Second is "the weird one." Third is the sensitive one. While my youngest is 100% not a risk taker and is the anxious, cautious one, it's still an unfilled niche, so he took it.
Also interesting, because the oldest was such a rebel and got into so much trouble, the leash has been shorter for the kids that followed. If she'd been a total rule follower, the good girl, the bookish one, I think that would have totally factored into how the other kids were raised to follow, and I was way more hands on and involved with the younger kids because I had my daughter young and had almost no experience with kids, but by the time the youngest two came along, I had more of a clue what I was doing as a parent. I totally feel parenting contributed to the Lydia factor, and how parents change and adapt their parenting style due to factors in their own lives and experiences with the older children. No parent raises their first exactly like their last.