Little Nell Wrote: (in part)
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>
> JA tells us at the end of the novel that
>
Quote
Jane and Elizabeth, in addition to every
> other source of happiness, were within thirty
> miles of each other.
So Jane did live
> happily ever after..nor something that would be
> possible with a weak or easily led man in my
> opinion.
I agree with Sandy C's observation about fanfic diversity, and I am happy to see characters that divert from Austen's. It can make for some very good scenarios that take different paths from the one that Austen would have.
However, as a reader I also appreciate trying to understand Austen's messages. So, I think Little Nell makes a really good point with her observation. I had not considered that line from Pride and Prejudice when I started this thread. I suppose one could posit a weak Bingley as being possible in a universe in which Jane is happy, but I think not. "Every source of happiness" suggests to me that she is happy in her marriage and her life and has her sister nearby, the latter being the icing on the cake. Austen's Jane and Bingley live happily ever after.
I have read fanfic in which Bingley is a womanizer or he is such a poor provider that Jane ends up poor and struggling. Or, he simply so ineffectual as a husband he puts her on a pedestal instead of treating her as a woman wants to be treated by a husband. Many writers give Jane "someone stronger," like the colonel or some newly created character. This is all fine with me. But, as Nell points out, Austen writes that Jane was happy with Bingley so I doubt Austen would have written any of these other scenarios.
I am not saying it is wrong for a reader to come to a different conclusion than Austen. Just because she liked Bingley--and the evidence is she did--does not mean every reader must like him. It's like Mansfield Park and Fanny Price. Some readers actually believe Austen meant for Fanny to be seen as a mousy, small-minded hypocrite and Mary Crawford, lively and outspoken, is the novel's "real" heroine. I think it's fine for a reader to see the characters this way but it is incorrect that Austen wanted you to see the characters this way.
Similarly, readers can have such a personal, almost visceral reaction to Bingley's allowing himself to be persuaded to leave Jane that they assume Austen does not regard Bingley well. A reader must separate his or her feelings from what Austen is communicating. Just because she is happy with Bingley does not mean you have to be, but you do need to recognize that she is happy with Bingley.
It is true that despicable characters oftentimes fare quite well in Austen. She did not send Wickham to gaol or the poorhouse, as many fanfic writers would do. Austen left Willoughby in a luxurious marriage to a rich woman where he could perhaps pine for Marianne or even sometimes reflect on his cruelty to Eliza Williams, instead of really punishing him as some fanfic writers have done. Lucy Steele's duplicity earned her an income twice as nice as Eleanor's -- but Eleanor was happy and a definitely a better person. Perhaps virtue is meant to be its own reward?
Anyway, I think Austen meant that Bingley was a good man who made Jane happy. But that is not the way he has to be in every fanfic.
