Flirting with Fresh Perspectives #« /fe' Original Chick- . Austen's /Vtt& and Prejudice is one of the most beloved novels of time, transcending the literary world to earn a spot on every woman's nightstand. Now, Flirting with Pride and Prejudice takes a fresh and humorous look at Austen's classic tale of looking for Mr. Right, marrying rich and finding true love in the process. lirtatious interludes include: i Karen Joy Fowler, bestselling author of The Jane Austen Book Club, explores the genius of Austen's works, delights in their appeal to the truly feminine and marvels at the timelessness of her work Renowned historical romance author Cheryl Sawyer tells the little known tale of Jane Austen's chance encounter with the infamous Lord Byron ? New York Times bestselling author Teresa Medeiros explains the unfathomable allure of the ever-stoic Mr. Darcy P Popular Salon.com television critic Joyce Millman ponders the implications of a new reality show: Pride and Prejudice f Acclaimed Buffy and Firefly screenwriter Jane Espenson sheds light on one of the most lightly drawn characters of Pride and Prejudice: Mr. Darcy's enigmatic little sister, Georgiana f Bestselling romance author Jill Winters retells Pride and Prejudice to reveal the untold story of Mary's secret life f Celebrated chick-lit, romance and comédie novelist Michelle Cunnah considers how cell phones would have drastically changed the courtship of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy _nifer Crusie is a New York Times bestselling author whose include Bet Me, Faking It, Fast Women and Welcome to Temptation. She is a frequent contributor to the BenBella Books Smart Pop series and editor of Totally Charmed: Whitelighters, Demons and the Power of Three. She holds an MA in feminist criticism and an MFA in fiction. For more information visit www.jennycrusie.com. / Trade Paperback EQÉ umeuA mScAN www.benbellabooks.com Distributed by Independent Publishers Group Cover art + design by Mondolithic Studios Inc. Original Artwork: In Love (1907), Marcus Stone: courtesy of The Bridgeman Art Library/Getty Images FLIRTING WITH ride & Prejudice OTHER TITLES IN THE SMART POP SERIES Taking the Red Pill Science, Philosophy and Religion in The Matrix Seven Seasons ofBuffy Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Discuss Their Favorite Television Show Five Seasons of Angel Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Discuss Their Favorite Vampire Stepping through the Stargate Science, Archaeology and the Military in Stargate SG-1 What Would Sipowicz Do? Race, Rights and Redemption in NYPD Blue The Anthology at the End of the Universe Leading Science Fiction Authors on Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Finding Serenity Anti-heroes, Lost Shepherds and Space Hookers in Joss Whedon's Firefly The War of the Worlds Fresh Perspectives on the H. G. Wells Classic Alias Assumed Sex, Lies and SD-6 Navigating the Golden Compass Religion, Science and Dœmonology in His Dark Materials Farscape Forever! Sex, Drugs and Killer Muppets FLIRTING WITH rejudice Fresh Perspectives on the Original Chick-Lit Masterpiece EDITED BY Glenn Yeffeth WITH BENBELLA BOOKS, INC. Dallas, Texas This publication has not been prepared, approved or licensed by any entity that created or produced the well-known book or films Pride and Prejudice. "Introduction" © 2005 Jennifer Crusie "Times and Tenors" © 2005 Sarah Zettel "'Does this petticoat make me look fat?'" © 2005 "My Darling Mr. Darcy" © 2005 Teresa Medeiros Beth Macias "My Firth Love" © 2005 Lani Diane Rich "A Little Friendly Advice" © 2005 Jennifer "Not Precisely Pride" © 2005 Mercedes Lackey O'Connell "Georgiana" © 2005 Jane Espenson "High-Class Problems" © 2005 Laura Caldwell "Charlotte's Side of the Story" © 2005 Melissa "A World at War" © 2005 Lawrence Watt-Evans Senate "Gold Diggers of 1813" © 2005 Jo Beverley "The Secret Life of Mary" © 2005 Jill Winters "Any Way You Slice It" © 2005 Elisabeth "Lord Byron and Miss A" © 2005 Cheryl Sawyer Fairchild "Pride and Prejudice. With Cell Phones." © 2005 "Jane Austen and the Masturbating Critic" Michelle Cunnah © 2005 Adam Roberts "Bennets and Bingleys and Bitches. Oh My!" © "The Original Chick-Lit Masterpiece" © 2005 2005 Erin Dailey Shanna Swendson "Pride and Prejudice: The Reality Show" © 2005 "Plenty of Pride and Prejudice to Go Around" Joyce Millman © 2005 Lauren Baratz-Logsted "The Evolution of Envy" © 2005 Alesia Holliday "Elizabeth.. .On the Roof © 2005 Jennifer "Jane and Me" © 2004 Karen Joy Fowler. Coburn Originally published in The Believer "Bride and Prejudice" © 2005 Laura Resnick magazine. Additional Materials © 2005 Jennifer Crusie All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. 6440 N. Central Expressway, Suite 617 Dallas, TX 75206 www.benbellabooks.com Send feedback to [email protected] PUBLISHER: Glenn Yeffeth SENIOR EDITOR: Shanna Caughey ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Leah Wilson DIRECTOR OF MARKETING/PR: Laura Watkins Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Flirting with Pride and prejudice : fresh perspectives on the original chick-lit masterpiece / edited by Jennifer Crusie. p. cm. ISBN 1-932100-72-5 1. Austen, Jane, 1775-1817. Pride and prejudice. 2. Women and literature—England—History—19th century. 3. Women—Books and reading. 4. Women in literature. 1. Crusie, Jennifer. PR4034.P73F57 2005 823'.7—dc22 2005016568 Cover design by Mondolithic Text design and composition by John Reinhardt Book Design Original Artwork: In Love (1907), Marcus Stone; courtesy of The Bridgeman Art Library/Getty Images Distributed by Independent Publishers Group To order call (800) 888-4741 www.ipgbook.com For special sales contact Laura Watkins at [email protected] (jonte/it$s Introduction 1 JENNIFER CRUSIE Jane as Universal Social Commentator 5 "Does this petticoat make me look fat?" 7 BETH KENDRICK A Little Friendly Advice 13 JENNIFER O'CONNELL High-Class Problems 19 LAURA CALDWELL Jane and History 25 A World at War 27 LAWRENCE WATT-EVANS Gold Diggers of 1813 33 Jo BEVERLEY Jane and Academe 41 Any Way You Slice It 43 ELISABETH FAIRCHILD Jane Austen and the Masturbating Critic 51 ADAM ROBERTS The Original Chick-Lit Masterpiece 63 SHANNA SWENDSON Plenty of Pride and Prejudice to Go Around 71 LAUREN BARATZ-LOGSTED Jane and the Movies 77 Elizabeth ...On the Roof 79 JENNIFER COBURN Bride and Prejudice 87 LAURA RESNICK Times and Tenors 97 SARAH ZETTEL Jane's Hero 105 My Darling Mr. Darcy 107 TERESA MEDEIROS My Firth Love 113 LANI DIANE RICH Jane's Untold Stories 123 Not Precisely Pride 125 MERCEDES LACKEY Georgiana 133 JANE ESPENSON Charlotte's Side of the Story 147 MELISSA SENATE The Secret Life of Mary 159 JILL WINTERS Lord Byron and Miss A 171 CHERYL SAWYER Jane in the Twenty-First Century 181 Pride and Prejudice. With Cell Phones 183 MICHELLE CUNNAH Bennets and Bingleys and Bitches. Oh My! 193 ERIN DAILEY Pride and Prejudice: The Reality Show 199 JOYCE MILLMAN The Evolution of Envy 211 ALESIA HOLLIDAY Jane and Me 219 KAREN JOY FOWLER WHEN THE GOOD PEOPLE at BenBella Books asked me to guest edit Flirting with Pride and Prejudice, I jumped at it. Then I thought, "Why did I do that?" It wasn't because the book's a classic; they could have offered me Flirting with Bleak House, and I would have claimed a previous deadline. It wasn't that it was my favorite book; I hadn't read it in fifteen years, not since I wrote that grad school paper defending Charlotte's choice of husband. It wasn't even that it was the mother of all romance novels; I love my genre, but I'm not a slave to it. So I thought about what it is that makes Pride and Prejudice such a prom queen of a topic, not only for me but for all the writers who signed on to write about it and all the readers who were going to pick this anthology up to read about it (that would be you). To begin with, there's the author: Our Jane. People get passionate about Austen: the purity of her prose, the vividness of her characters, the reverberation of her underlying nineteenth-century snark. She wrote of a time, but also beyond it; her voice continues to enchant and enthrall; she's one of the Top Ten Dead People We'd Like to Have Dinner With. But if the BenBella people had offered me Flirting with Emma, I would still have had a pressing deadline. So maybe it's the characters: poor but proud Elizabeth; rich and proud Darcy; suffering Charlotte and insufferable Collins; Lydia the slut, Kitty the twit and Mary the prig; the Nightmare Mother and the Careless Father; Wickham the rake and Bingley the sweet; and Lady Catherine, the Character Most Likely to Crush a Tenant under the Wheels of Her Carriage. That's one heck of a cast Austen's got going there, and I admit that for the characters alone I might have signed on. Except I really did have a previous deadline. But then there's that story: the wolf at the door, or at least at the gate, comic proposals and cutting asides, seduction and betrayal, disdain and heartbreak, the low raised high, the high brought low, and one in the eye for Lady Catherine Oh, there's a lot to love in this narrative. But it can't be just that; the story's been told and retold, adopted into other cultures and adapted into chick-lit, and I'm not standing in line for any of that. I'd have been too busy to do Flirting with Bridget Jones, too. No, what makes Pride and Prejudice irresistible is the perfect com- bination of all those forces: the sly but ultimately sympathetic wit, the prose so clear you forget you're reading, the flailing, failing, enthralling cast and the richly over-plotted, understated story. It's like a great des- sert that's good for you, a guilty pleasure you don't have to feel guilty about. The good are rewarded, the bad get burned and we close the book knowing they're still milling about in there, Wickham putting up with Lydia as his punishment for being a rat, Jane and Bingley in clue- less contentment and Elizabeth teaching Darcy how to laugh while not inviting Lady Catherine to dinner. And that, I think, is the key to this anthology. The novel is so alive in our hearts that we want to know what the characters were doing off the page while our attention was directed elsewhere, what happened to them after the book was done, how they'd fare today in modern London, modern Bombay, modern anywhere. We want to chat about what ten thousand pounds a year meant, why all those party boys were in uni- form; we want to compare the plights of the characters to our plights, wonder what would happen if things had been different Face it. We just like thinking about Pride and Prejudice. What's wonderful about this anthology is that the writers are thinking about it in so many different ways, playing with the characters, mess- ing with the plot, taking "what if?" to entertaining absurdity. We've got people who want to talk about history, people who want to talk about sociology, people who want to talk about literature, people who want