colonelfitzwilliams:

“People sometimes say, or think, that there’s no sex in Jane Austen and, indeed, sometimes TV and film adapters feel the need to put it in. But it’s there actually, reading between the lines. It’s really clear in Pride and Prejudice that Lydia Bennet has been off for over a month, and she’s only just 16, living in an apartment, in London, with a well known rake. and she’s been living with him and she comes back to Longbourn full of fondness for him. It’s a picture of sexual infatuation, teenage sexual infatuation and we’re to think of this when we sometimes are invited to read between the lines.

"Mr. Bennet, why has he married such a fool as Mrs. Bennet? Why has such a witty and intelligent man married her? Well, he married her when she was young, we’re later told, and attractive and if you’re a gentlemen, the only way you get to sleep with the woman you fancy is by marrying her.

Even Mr. Darcy’s famously disastrous first proposal to Elizabeth Bennet, has, I think we’re supposed to infer, sexual passion behind it. He says ‘You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you. Ardently. And then he goes on to tell her all the reasons why it’s a bad idea that he should marry her. But he’s got to marry her. He’s got to have her. You know? He can only get her by marrying her even though the marriage is from his haughty point of view very unwise. So, I think you feel the sexual passion in his blundering approach. So sexual desire is there, you’re expected to understand it.”

- John Mullan on sex in Pride and Prejudice

1. bluevaldezinator liked this
2. itsbobross liked this
3. sweetpeachicedtea liked this
4. leia-lover liked this
5. aforkinther0ad liked this
6. damnitscully liked this
7. dragonageblog1 liked this
8. khallianessa liked this
9. pleasantlysecretdream reblogged this from colonelfitzwilliams
10. pleasantlysecretdream liked this
11. cluster0fhope reblogged this from colonelfitzwilliams
12. halloween1234 liked this
13. ruffy-strawhat liked this
14. wisegirlandseaweedbrainforever liked this
15. malarkey-art liked this
16. fallen-starr liked this
17. thevillainsmustache reblogged this from hacash
18. thevillainsmustache liked this
19. thesunflowermartini liked this
20. silvertyger reblogged this from hacash
21. silvertyger liked this
22. ladyofthefrostfangs liked this
23. caramelmonkpa liked this
24. maryboleyn liked this
25. fireboltpyxie reblogged this from ssantisheep
26. fireboltpyxie liked this
27. ssantisheep reblogged this from hacash
28. skeletonjane liked this
29. avemartly liked this
30. hacash reblogged this from sweetlyfez
31. aroundtheworldinalibrary liked this
32. i-believe-in-books reblogged this from gendzl
33. casuallyhollering liked this
34. riverroadhabit liked this
35. all-thefandoms liked this
36. chloe-octavia reblogged this from talkaustentome
37. crazypeopleloveme liked this
38. thaddeusly liked this
39. spotsanddots liked this
40. languishingdreamer liked this
41. bookwormdragonrider liked this
42. cronch-monch liked this
43. alinastarkovf liked this
44. heavensentghost liked this
45. julesblackthorns reblogged this from halfagony-halfhope
46. slytherinnoctem liked this
47. jalmari6 liked this
48. blessedwizard liked this
49. nep-tun-ee reblogged this from colonelfitzwilliams
50. nep-tun-ee liked this
51. Show more notesLoading...