Shades of Darcy
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives Shades of Darcy An Analysis of Three Novelistic Responses to Pride and Prejudice Maria Nedregård A Thesis Presented to The Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages UNIVERSITY OF OSLO In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the MA Degree Spring Term 2014 II Shades of Darcy An Analysis of Three Novelistic Responses to Pride and Prejudice. Maria Nedregård III © Maria Nedregård 2014 Shades of Darcy. An Analysis of Three Novelistic Responses to Pride and Prejudice. Maria Nedregård http://www.duo.uio.no/ Trykk: Reprosentralen, Universitetet i Oslo IV Abstract This thesis explores three spin-off novels inspired by Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Alexandra Potter’s Me and Mr Darcy, Shannon Winslow’s The Darcys of Pemberley and Maya Slater’s The Private Diary of Mr Darcy. Through close-readings of the character of Mr Darcy, and comparing and contrasting the re-interpretations of him with the original character in Pride and Prejudice, I argue that by taking it upon themselves to give Mr Darcy a new story and a new life they are taking an active role in reading Pride and Prejudice and making the change from reader to author. I argue that the authors have taken liberties in changing the character in order to make him more compatible with the fantasies they are trying to fulfill. My analysis has shown how the authors of these novels show loyalty to the character and to Austen herself, by defending his actions and arrogance, and how his arrogance and pride survive the re-imaginings of his character. Through giving Mr Darcy a new story and new destiny, the authors are contributing in keeping the character, and the original novel, alive beyond the original pages of Pride and Prejudice. This thesis is inspired by the field of reception study devoted to Pride and Prejudice and a suggestion to future focus on spin-off literature and fan-fiction in this field. V VI Acknowledgements First, I would like to thank my patient supervisors, Tore Rem and Juan Christian Pellicer, for their constructive criticism, support and positive attitude. I am especially grateful for Juan who stepped in at the last minute, making sure my thesis would be done on time. I would also like to thank Christina Sandhaug for introducing me to reception theory. I am very fortunate to have people in my life who have listened to my frustrations, shown support for my project and discussed through problems, challenges and joys I have experiences through not only the writing of this thesis, but my entire student career. For that I am very grateful, especially to Kenneth Berg, Ine Sophie Andersen, Ellen Kristine Pedersen and Anne Catherine Haugerud Bolstad. It takes a very patient person to listen to someone rant on for ages about characters in a book and unimportant facts that I have collected over the years. I thank you for you unwavering support and enthusiasm. Lastly, I am grateful both for and to my parents, Bjørn Tore Nedregård and Vigdis Lid- Kvestad. I thank you for taking me to England to live when I was a child, and for supporting me when I started picking up books and sitting alone reading. I went out to study a subject neither of them had much knowledge about, both as an area of literary study or a subject for a profitable career, yet they stood by me and supported my passion and enthusiasm. VII VIII Contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... V Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................. VII Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 The Novels ............................................................................................................................. 5 Reception Theory .................................................................................................................. 8 Chapter 1: Me and Mr Darcy ................................................................................................... 18 Plot introduction ................................................................................................................... 18 The First Meeting ................................................................................................................. 20 The Second Meeting & Shattering of Illusion ..................................................................... 22 The Proposal ......................................................................................................................... 33 Anachronisms ....................................................................................................................... 36 Chapter 2: The Darcys of Pemberley ....................................................................................... 40 Plot introduction ................................................................................................................... 40 Mr Darcy and Sex ................................................................................................................ 42 Mr Darcy and Georgiana ...................................................................................................... 46 Mr Darcy and Children ........................................................................................................ 50 Mr Darcy and Pemberley ..................................................................................................... 54 Chapter 3: The Private Diary of Mr Darcy .............................................................................. 65 Plot introduction ................................................................................................................... 65 Mr Darcy and Georgiana ...................................................................................................... 67 Mr Darcy and sex ................................................................................................................. 68 Mr Darcy and Elizabeth ....................................................................................................... 70 Mr Darcy and friendships ..................................................................................................... 78 Mr Darcy and Wickham ....................................................................................................... 81 Mr. Darcy and self-reflection ............................................................................................... 83 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 87 Works Cited .............................................................................................................................. 93 IX X Introduction Fan fictions are texts written about media and popular culture by fans. In these texts, fan fiction authors take up the characters and plotlines of the original media and creatively rework them by developing new relationships between characters, extending plot and timelines, creating new settings, and exploring novel themes.1- Rebecca W. Black Ever since its publication, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice has inspired its readers to take it upon themselves to develop the story further, to add new aspects, to imagine what happens next and to expand the characters beyond their original framework.2 Pride and Prejudice has inspired countless spin-offs, prequels, unofficial sequels and re-tellings, both in printed form and online. In this thesis I will look into three such responses to the character of Mr Darcy. I have chosen novels that all take a different approach to original novel and to the character of Mr Darcy himself, and I will compare them to the original Pride and Prejudice in order to see where these authors have taken liberties in creating a new character, and how they have changed the character to fit their own interpretation. Jane Austen has a fan base, and a creative one at that. For decades, her devotees have written stories on the basis of her fictional worlds – recounting what happened after Emma’s wedding, for example, or what might have taken place after Mr Bennet’s death. Such narratives are instances of “fan fiction”: fiction written by and for fans, which is founded on the characters, settings, concepts, or plots of antecedent texts.3 Sequels, prequels and other versions of events are a common factor with the Jane Austen fan base, used for their own amusement and satisfaction. The area of Austen-studies that concern the cult surrounding both Austen as an individual and Pride and Prejudice as a novel is one that is under constant development, and one I feel should have more academic focus and research devoted to it. Juliette Wells points to literary theorist Daria Pimenova in defining fan fiction: Focusing on how fan fiction is generated, Daria Pimenova contends that “the relationship between fan fiction and its source text is far from clear-cut. The only dependency that can be stated for sure is that or origin. Born out of affection for a particular text, fan fiction borrows its characters and settings and expands its already existent universe without wanting to achieve 1 Rebecca W. Black, ”English-Language Learners, Fan Communities, and