None of your favorite characters are from Northanger Abbey?!? I think I just like Northanger way better than other people seem to. There are so many beautifully drawn characters on this list! I don't know how you can rank them. It's simply too difficult for me. Though, I think for male love interests, it's a toss up between Henry Tilney and Knightly. I know Jane Austen July is almost over, but can we reread Emma together soon? I feel like all of the non-fiction I've been focusing on this month has made me want to reread so many of the Austen novels. This was a brilliant video as always!
I really like Northanger Abbey too - the humour of Henry Tilney is vastly underrated. I may have to reread Mansfield Park- it's been 20 odd years since I read it, but I remember being really annoyed by Fanny as it seemed every other thought she had was how undeserving she was and how humble she should be.
I love Northanger Abbey! It's my second favorite, coming second only to Pride and Prejudice. I'm glad I'm not the only one. So few people seem to really appreciate it.
YES Marissa, let's reread Emma together! And yeah, I do really like Northanger Abbey, but I guess it's been a little while since I read it and Tilney sometimes frustrated me the last time I read it. I'll need to reread that one soon as well. Just all of the Austen!
Marianne Dashwood is my favorite Austen heroine because I identify with her. I too was overly romantic and needed to learn a bit more sense to guide my sensibility. Catherine Morland is so sweet, so innocent, I just want to pet her and give her a tall stack of gory novels. Henry Tilney's droll wit would make him an excellent companion.
Great list, I agree with almost all of your choices (except I dislike everyone in Mansfield Park, sorry...). I'd add Mrs Gardiner, Lady Catherine de Burgh and the Bennet parents to the list. Oh, and Miss Bates, the number one Austen spinster! Jane Austen is so good at writing minor characters! My favourite heroines are Elizabeth Bennet and Elinor Dashwood. So many great characters to chose from though!
This is fun ~ it’s fun to think about the different tropes in Jane Austen characters. Favorite romantic interest: Mr. Tilney. Favorite rake: Henry Crawford. Most despicable character: I mean... this is hard for me. I’ll go with Lucy Steel for now. The list goes on.
Ohh Myy .... I love Henry Crawford too....I feel Austen meant Henry to be exactly the same as the epilogue mentions possibility of him marrying Fanny. I agreee with each and every character you mentioned ... and all your points... I always fancied a Novel with Henry and Fanny actually end up together !! I loved this post !!!
It is always so tricky to "rank" characters as they are not on some nice neat line - just a quick thought has anyone ever written a book where characters from different Austen novels meet? That would be interesting to see them interact.
PD James, in her Murder at Pemberley, doesn't have characters from different books meet, but she does bring in characters from Emma and Persuasion in their futures as people the P & P characters have some contact with. It's one of the better things about the book, which really has pretty much no resemblance to the characters from P & P, and the adaptation is far worse and takes appalling liberties even with James' book.
Ooh I just got to your mention of Henry Crawford! Lol. Hell yes. I think Willoughby is an example of those destructive, extremely selfish people who always sees himself as a victim. He’s till quite a tragic hero almost. Henry is a great character who also sees himself as weak. He and Mary are very entertaining and likable, but also pragmatic and cold hearted. Henry is very intelligent and bored, and because of this he toys with other people, in a very cruel way. It is interesting to see how Henry and Mary were raised. In many ways, spoiled, given anything they could want, except for genuine love and moral examples.
I love to cringe at Mr. Collins. He so perfectly reflects the grasping, class conscious, snobbery of English Society of the Jane Austin era. Anne Elliot is my favorite Austen character.
I agree about Henry Crawford, though I wouldn't say he's my favorite character. But no Frederick Wentworth? The more I think about it, the more he becomes my favorite Austen hero, because he is active and has a wry sense of humor; the only other hero with that wryness is Henry Tilney. And I would rate Anne Eliot higher. She is intelligent, thoughtful, talented, sensitive, and like other middle children, is a peacemaker. There is nobody in her current life who can appreciate these qualities, not even really Lady Russell. And it's hard to include Mr. Collins without Lady Catherine deBurgh; neither is whole without the other. I think the reason you include both Willoughby and Henry Crawford is that both of them could have been good men given the right circumstances. You can't say that about Wickham or Mr. Eliot, for example. And I might find a place on my list for John Thorpe.
@@katiejlumsden I like the Captain, too, and think it realistic that he was resentful that Anne rejected him previously. His worth is proved by his ability to forgive and his realization, after another 8 or 9 years of life, that Anne was still a prize worth more than all the French ships he'd captured.
Hmm i think if I had to rank my top ten it would look *something* like this 10. Catherine Morland 9. Mrs. Norris 8. Lydia Bennet 7. Elizabeth Bennet 6. Mr. Bennet 5. Mrs. Jennings 4. Elinor Dashwood 3. Mary Crawford 2. Marianne Dashwood 1. Fanny Price
I cannot understand this sympathy for John Willoughby (NB I agree that villains often are much more interesting than "goodies", but I'm not sure that he is particularly interesting). This is a 24-year-old who has seduced a very naive 16-going-on-17-year-old, left her pregnant, fancied another almost-17-year-old, and decided (of the first) "Well, she shouldn't have let me shag her"; writes and signs an extremely hurtful letter to Marianne and says "My wife dictated it" - so that's all right then. "He really loves Marianne" - does he? Marianne doesn't think so - or rather, is not convinced that his love would have out-lasted his first denial of pleasure necessitated by their relative poverty. He uses the (literally) oldest excuse in the book - Genesis 3:11-12 - "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gavest me of the tree, and I did eat". So it's all the fault of his women! The author tells us, at the end of the novel, that Willoughby's ideal in beauty is (the now) Mrs Brandon: well, he had a choice - and decided that material comfort mattered more than anything else. To blame others for his faults (particularly when they are not there to defend themselves) is not interesting - it's despicable.
None of your favorite characters are from Northanger Abbey?!? I think I just like Northanger way better than other people seem to. There are so many beautifully drawn characters on this list! I don't know how you can rank them. It's simply too difficult for me. Though, I think for male love interests, it's a toss up between Henry Tilney and Knightly. I know Jane Austen July is almost over, but can we reread Emma together soon? I feel like all of the non-fiction I've been focusing on this month has made me want to reread so many of the Austen novels. This was a brilliant video as always!
I really like Northanger Abbey too - the humour of Henry Tilney is vastly underrated.
I may have to reread Mansfield Park- it's been 20 odd years since I read it, but I remember being really annoyed by Fanny as it seemed every other thought she had was how undeserving she was and how humble she should be.
I love Northanger Abbey! It's my second favorite, coming second only to Pride and Prejudice. I'm glad I'm not the only one. So few people seem to really appreciate it.
YES Marissa, let's reread Emma together! And yeah, I do really like Northanger Abbey, but I guess it's been a little while since I read it and Tilney sometimes frustrated me the last time I read it. I'll need to reread that one soon as well. Just all of the Austen!
I love northnager abbey so much. It’s the funniest, hence a strong contender for my #1
Marianne Dashwood is my favorite Austen heroine because I identify with her. I too was overly romantic and needed to learn a bit more sense to guide my sensibility. Catherine Morland is so sweet, so innocent, I just want to pet her and give her a tall stack of gory novels. Henry Tilney's droll wit would make him an excellent companion.
You’ve inspired me to read Lady Susan!
I hope you like it :)
Great list, I agree with almost all of your choices (except I dislike everyone in Mansfield Park, sorry...). I'd add Mrs Gardiner, Lady Catherine de Burgh and the Bennet parents to the list. Oh, and Miss Bates, the number one Austen spinster! Jane Austen is so good at writing minor characters! My favourite heroines are Elizabeth Bennet and Elinor Dashwood. So many great characters to chose from though!
Thanks! Yes, I do rather love Miss Bates, and the others you mentioned. Mrs Gardiner is lovely :)
Well, I thought Mrs Norris would make on this list.
She is pretty incredibly done too.
This is fun ~ it’s fun to think about the different tropes in Jane Austen characters. Favorite romantic interest: Mr. Tilney. Favorite rake: Henry Crawford. Most despicable character: I mean... this is hard for me. I’ll go with Lucy Steel for now. The list goes on.
Ohh Myy .... I love Henry Crawford too....I feel Austen meant Henry to be exactly the same as the epilogue mentions possibility of him marrying Fanny. I agreee with each and every character you mentioned ... and all your points... I always fancied a Novel with Henry and Fanny actually end up together !! I loved this post !!!
It is always so tricky to "rank" characters as they are not on some nice neat line - just a quick thought has anyone ever written a book where characters from different Austen novels meet? That would be interesting to see them interact.
It is very hard to rank them. I'm not sure if anyone's written a book like that - I'd certainly read it if they had though!
PD James, in her Murder at Pemberley, doesn't have characters from different books meet, but she does bring in characters from Emma and Persuasion in their futures as people the P & P characters have some contact with. It's one of the better things about the book, which really has pretty much no resemblance to the characters from P & P, and the adaptation is far worse and takes appalling liberties even with James' book.
I believe that Henry Crawford would have tired of Fanny after a while and cheated left and right.
My favourite character is mr. Knightly and Eleanor .
Ooh I just got to your mention of Henry Crawford! Lol. Hell yes.
I think Willoughby is an example of those destructive, extremely selfish people who always sees himself as a victim. He’s till quite a tragic hero almost.
Henry is a great character who also sees himself as weak. He and Mary are very entertaining and likable, but also pragmatic and cold hearted. Henry is very intelligent and bored, and because of this he toys with other people, in a very cruel way.
It is interesting to see how Henry and Mary were raised. In many ways, spoiled, given anything they could want, except for genuine love and moral examples.
Thanks :) I find Henry Crawford so, so interesting as a character, and Mary too, especially in terms of their upbringing and so on, like you say.
I havent read MP. I rewatched 1999 MP yesterday and i do like Henry Crawford. Wish Fanny had ended up with him.
The 1999 film is nothing like the book, to be honest! But I highly recommend the book :)
OMG I need that mug in my life. From where did you get it?
From the Literary Gift company: www.theliterarygiftcompany.com/collections/mugs-1/products/jane-austen-mug
Books and Things thank you!
I love to cringe at Mr. Collins. He so perfectly reflects the grasping, class conscious, snobbery of English Society of the Jane Austin era.
Anne Elliot is my favorite Austen character.
Mr Collins is wonderfully hilarious.
I think Mary Crawford is comparable to Elizabeth Bennet in regards to wit and charm, but lacking Elizabeth’s good, moral compass.
I agree about Henry Crawford, though I wouldn't say he's my favorite character. But no Frederick Wentworth? The more I think about it, the more he becomes my favorite Austen hero, because he is active and has a wry sense of humor; the only other hero with that wryness is Henry Tilney. And I would rate Anne Eliot higher. She is intelligent, thoughtful, talented, sensitive, and like other middle children, is a peacemaker. There is nobody in her current life who can appreciate these qualities, not even really Lady Russell. And it's hard to include Mr. Collins without Lady Catherine deBurgh; neither is whole without the other. I think the reason you include both Willoughby and Henry Crawford is that both of them could have been good men given the right circumstances. You can't say that about Wickham or Mr. Eliot, for example. And I might find a place on my list for John Thorpe.
I do like Frederick Wentworth, just apparently not as much of the rest of these :P Anne Eliot is amazing! And yes, Lady Catherine is pretty great too.
@@katiejlumsden I like the Captain, too, and think it realistic that he was resentful that Anne rejected him previously. His worth is proved by his ability to forgive and his realization, after another 8 or 9 years of life, that Anne was still a prize worth more than all the French ships he'd captured.
Hmm i think if I had to rank my top ten it would look *something* like this
10. Catherine Morland
9. Mrs. Norris
8. Lydia Bennet
7. Elizabeth Bennet
6. Mr. Bennet
5. Mrs. Jennings
4. Elinor Dashwood
3. Mary Crawford
2. Marianne Dashwood
1. Fanny Price
Good choices - Fanny Price is the best!
I am beginning to like Mr Collins as you do, but I don't honestly think he is that exaggerated.... ;)
I cannot understand this sympathy for John Willoughby (NB I agree that villains often are much more interesting than "goodies", but I'm not sure that he is particularly interesting). This is a 24-year-old who has seduced a very naive 16-going-on-17-year-old, left her pregnant, fancied another almost-17-year-old, and decided (of the first) "Well, she shouldn't have let me shag her"; writes and signs an extremely hurtful letter to Marianne and says "My wife dictated it" - so that's all right then. "He really loves Marianne" - does he? Marianne doesn't think so - or rather, is not convinced that his love would have out-lasted his first denial of pleasure necessitated by their relative poverty.
He uses the (literally) oldest excuse in the book - Genesis 3:11-12 - "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gavest me of the tree, and I did eat". So it's all the fault of his women!
The author tells us, at the end of the novel, that Willoughby's ideal in beauty is (the now) Mrs Brandon: well, he had a choice - and decided that material comfort mattered more than anything else. To blame others for his faults (particularly when they are not there to defend themselves) is not interesting - it's despicable.