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Monday, May 2

Is Mr. Middleton the new Mr. Bennet?

The Daily Mail described Michael Middleton's role in the Royal Wedding as thus:
His role has, in short, been most unusual – stripped of the few patriarchal pleasures still allowed to the rest of us embattled blokes. He may have found himself reflecting on the life of Denis Thatcher. Or possibly even Jane Austen’s Mr Bennet, father of five daughters.
Prince William, Catherine, and Michael Middleton
Ah, Mr Bennet. When Jane Austen wrote him into Pride And Prejudice, she succeeded in creating a kind of literary patron saint for dads with daughters.
He, of course, had good daughters (Jane and Elizabeth) and bad daughters (Mary, Kitty and Lydia). Lizzie was his closest confidante, whose marriage to the vastly eligible Mr Darcy, must have been a mixed fortune. But his younger daughters were dimwits or debauchees. 
Happily for Michael Middleton, his own girls Kate and Pippa seem modelled from the same clay as Elizabeth and Jane.
Read more: The Daily Mail

4 comments:

debs said...

An interesting thought. Its got me thinking who is more like Lizzy, Kate or Pippa?
Thank you for your blogs-I'm so happy that I've found blogs all about Jane and her world. HUGE FAN

Anna said...

What an interesting parallel made! I would add to that that like Elizabeth, Kate (at least physically) seems to resemble her father a lot more than her mother.

Jean | Delightful Repast said...

How fun is that?! Didn't even occur to me while viewing the wedding!

Anonymous said...

Call for papers attached for the Jane Austen Conference we are holding in St. Andrews in September.
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/200sensibilities/CfPs.html