By Hannah Calderazzo
Jane Austen is most often known as a great realist writer. Yet, in many ways, Austen’s works also can be seen as fairy tales or Cinderella stories, representing visions of perfect romances and “happily ever afters.” For example, Janice Simpson, Thomas Hoberg, Myron C. Tuman, and Kuldip Kaur Kuwahara, all identify fairy tale motifs in works such as Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Persuasion (1818) and suggest that Austen is influenced by both the Cinderella fairytale and the legends of Scheherazade from the Arabian Nights. However, whereas other works of scholarship on Jane Austen and fairy tales focus on only motifs of fairy tales in the author’s otherwise realist novels, I suggest that Austen’s novels can be read as fairy tales themselves. By interpreting Pride and Prejudice as a fairy tale, I assert that Austen participates in an important tradition of women in storytelling. I argue Austen’s Pride and Prejudice follows in the tradition and conventions of the literary fairy tale, as begun by French women writers of the seventeenth century. In tracing this history, I recognize how fairy tales have been the means whereby women may convey important messages to other women. As Marina Warner and Elizabeth Wanning Harries note, folk and fairy tale stories were often a coded means of passing on information about subjects such as romance and marriage. My work establishes Austen’s role in composing a modern fairy tale story that has given women the opportunity to voice their concerns over centuries, specifically in regards to the subject of consent in romantic relationships.
When considering the definition of fairy tales, Harries writes that “we seem to mean several things at once: tales that include elements of folk tradition and magical or supernatural elements, tales that have a certain, predictable structure” (6). This predictable structure includes the introduction, or the “once upon a time,” where the setting and norms of the society are established. Suddenly, conflict ensues, but then the “helping figure” appears to “restore the original order,” and typically a happily ever after ensues (Harries 8, 10). Harries further acknowledges that “In fairy tales… at least one new character usually appears in the family circle by the end… some character from outside the family who transforms the original configuration…” (8). This structure has most often been understood as significant for conveying information to children. Bruno Bettelheim argues that fairy tales speak to children’s anxieties. He explains that while parents may overlook their children’s worries, “The fairy tale… takes these existential anxieties and dilemmas very seriously… the need to be loved and the fear that one is thought worthless, the love of life, and the fear of death” (10). However, many of the earliest fairy tales were not so simple in their content or structure, and were more often intended for adult audiences. An important early tradition of fairy tale came from female French fairy tale authors who “were writing explicitly for adults” (Harries 32) of their salons and the inner workings of the courts of kings like Louis XIV, attacking the “prejudices and practices that confined and defamed women” (Warner, Beast to the Blonde 49). Eschewing the use of fantasy elements common to our contemporary understanding of the children's fairy tale, Austen evokes this older fairy tale tradition for adults otherwise called “conte de fées”.
Though lacking supernatural elements common to fairy tales, Austen’s work follows conventions of the fairy tale genre, such as utilizing “the presence of enchantment” to create a world “where anything can happen” (Tatar 4). Pride and Prejudice engages with reality through disconnection from our world into a more fantastic universe to confront anxieties about the dangers of romantic relationships with men, and ultimately creates a “happily ever after” through its marriage plot. Interpreting the novel as a fairy tale allows Austen a way to speak to the anxieties of her time revolving around courtship and marriage, such as the possibility of male romantic partners who deny women agency. Austen’s narrative conveys the necessity of a relationship built on consent, both social and sexual, through Darcy and Elizabeth’s interactions. Seeing Austen’s work as a fairy tale also allows for a way to speak about the novel’s significant afterlife. Like so many other fairy tales, such as Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, Pride and Prejudice has also been passed down through generations, and evolved over time into numerous and various adaptations. Series such as The Lizzie Bennet Diaries web show (2012-2013) have altered the story to convey their own messages and warnings, offering a more contemporary feminist twist about consent based on the classic’s original message.
The female French fairy tale tradition of sophisticated, longer narratives called conte de fées particularly aligns with the ideals of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. These fairy tales composed by women writers were known for being novel-length stories. While modern fairy tales have moved away from this model, Harries explains that these older fairy tale stories, which she also refers to as “literary fairy tales,” were “often long, intricate, digressive, playful, self-referential, and self-conscious,” reflecting the breadth and tone of Austen’s novel (17). The literary fairy tale was established in France by several women writers, such as Marie-Jeanne l’Héritier, Henriette-Julie de Murat, Charlotte-Rose de La Force, and Marguerite de Lubert in the late seventeenth century and it is estimated that “more than two-thirds of the tales that appeared during the first wave of fairy-tale production were written by women” (Harries 17). Harries notes that “conte de fées” were “consciously invented as a complex and ironic comment on the historical moment in which they were produced” (24), reflecting Austen’s conscious writing on the status of women in her Regency Era society over a century later.
More significantly, Austen’s work reflects the desires of the French writers of conte de fées. Warner writes that these women “adopted the conventions of fairy tale to depict the virtues, the sufferings—and the hopes—of their sex” (Once Upon a Time 47). These sufferings included arranged marriages, along with abusive or unfaithful husbands, and hopes such as marrying for love. In other words, their stories spoke directly to specifically female anxieties. The classic fairy tale of “Beauty and the Beast,” for example, can be read as a fairy tale that directly addresses women’s anxieties over arranged marriages. According to Warner, this story “assumed a female audience on the whole who fully expected to be given away by their fathers to men who might well strike them as monsters” (Beast to the Blonde 278). Another example is the fairy tale “Bluebeard.” While the story appears to confront concerns similar to “Beauty and the Beast” in facing a monstrous bridegroom, it can also be interpreted as a story about the fears of childbirth. Though usually Bluebeard is interpreted as a serial killer, the many deaths of his previous wives can also be interpreted as the result of complications in labor. Warner writes that “One of the principal causes of death before the nineteenth century was childbirth, and both child and female mortality was high” explaining that “[i]n the forbidden chamber, Bluebeard’s wife had perhaps found herself face to face with the circumstances of her own morality” (Beast to the Blonde 263). Fairy tales spoke to the female experience, whether it was being sold in an arranged marriage, facing an unknown and potentially monstrous husband, or dying in childbirth.
Austen’s novel, if read as a fairy tale, highlights a unique womanly hope: a romantic relationship based on mutual consent. The interactions between Darcy and Elizabeth demonstrate a relationship based on respect and consent that is lacking in other male-female relationships in the novel, such as Mr. Collins and his proposal to Elizabeth. Uniquely, Darcy continuously demonstrates a level of respect for Elizabeth that indicates a state of gender equality rather than superiority, adhering to the traditions from French women writers’ stories that served “... to reveal possibilities, to map out a different way and a new perception of love, marriage… thus advocating a means of escaping imposed limits and prescribed destiny” (Warner, Beast to the Blonde 24). When Darcy first proposes to Elizabeth, she is stunned by the revelation of his affections, but is angered by his degradation of her family and her belief that he has wronged Wickham, and rejects him. After a heated exchange, Darcy writes a letter defending himself from Elizabeth’s accusations. However, when he approaches Elizabeth to give it to her, he does not insist that she accept his defense, instead simply asking “Will you do me the honour of reading that letter?” (Austen). While he does request that she read his work, he leaves the power of choice to Elizabeth, and therefore, requires her ultimate consent to see his argument. In the opening of the letter itself, Darcy states “Be not alarmed, madam, on receiving this letter, by the apprehension of its containing any repetition of those sentiments or renewal of those offers which were last night so disgusting to you” (Austen). Sarcasm notwithstanding, Darcy is certain to reassure Elizabeth that he will not pressure her again to accept his proposal, or that there will even be any mention of the subject, indicating his understanding and respect for her feelings.
Darcy’s refusal to continue the subject of marriage after Elizabeth rebukes him contrasts with Mr. Collins’s proposal and his adamant denial of Elizabeth’s rejection. When Mr. Collins initially asks for Elizabeth’s hand in marriage, he assumes she will say yes, and does not specifically ask her to marry him at all. Instead, he ends his reasons for marrying with “you may assure yourself that no ungenerous reproach shall ever pass my lips when we are married” (Austen). He makes assumptions about Elizabeth’s feelings on the matter without properly consulting her, and attempts to propose to her without actually securing her consent. When Elizabeth politely rejects his proposal, Mr. Collins responds that “I know it to be the established custom of your sex to reject a man on the first application,” and persists even after Elizabeth responds “I know not how to express my refusal in such a way as to convince you of its being one” (Austen). While characterizing Mr. Collins as a ridiculous figure, it also contrasts his obnoxious behavior with that of Darcy—both have assumptions that Elizabeth will accept their proposal based on the offered financial security, but once Elizabeth rejects them, Mr. Collins continues his advances, while Darcy ceases discussing the topic. Mr. Collins is not interested in Elizabeth’s opinion, and therefore her consent, while Darcy demonstrates more respect.
When Darcy proposes for the second time at the end of the novel, he again seeks consent. He tells Elizabeth “If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged, but one word from you will silence me on this subject for ever” (Austen). Despite Darcy admitting he is still in love with Elizabeth, her wishes and consent are what is most valuable to him. He will no longer mention the subject if she does not desire it. As Charles H. Hinnant writes, one way Austen’s romances differ from typical courtship plots is that the men have a “boldness in making their true feelings known” that “does not involve an element of deceit in which they pretend to be more in doubt than they really are… [their] address is always uncertain” (307). Darcy’s vulnerability and respect demonstrates the value and esteem that he holds for Elizabeth, and displays how their relationship is built on mutual consent. These interactions between Darcy and Elizabeth exemplify how Pride and Prejudice illustrates that the ideal fairy tale romance, and later marriage, is rooted in respect for one another and acquiring consent from one’s partner.
This emphasis on consent has remained even as Pride and Prejudice has followed the fairy tale tradition of evolving over time to match new historic cultural contexts. One of the more recent evolutions of the Pride and Prejudice fairy tale is The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, a web series that premiered on YouTube in April 2012 and ran until March 2013. Although it was produced almost two hundred years after Austen published her novel, it still retains several of the important lessons and messages that Austen's work sought to communicate in its Regency fairy tale. Set in modern times, with the story told through a “vlog” or “video blog” format, it continues to discuss the importance of consent in romantic relationships through the conflict between Lydia and Wickham, or “George.” In this new Lydia and Wickham narrative, the plot revolves around Wickham’s plan to sell a sex tape of them to be released online without Lydia’s knowledge.
The necessity of consent and the danger of manipulative men is most clearly illustrated in the depiction of this relationship between the Diaries’ Lydia and Wickham. Since sexual relationships outside of marriage are no longer considered taboo in the twenty-first century adaptation, Carol M. Dole and Courtney DuChene write that the series “[recasts] Lydia as testing the limits of less widely accepted sexual behaviors.” Engaging in hook-up culture and allowing Wickham to film them having sex demonstrates Lydia’s rebellious behavior. However, the series presents Lydia as the victim of a manipulative Wickham, rather than as the foolish, silly girl of the novel. Though Lizzie (Elizabeth) first believes Lydia has consented to the website’s release, when she confronts her sister, Lydia reacts with disbelief, as she never imagined Wickham would sell the tape. Once she realizes the website is real, she sobs, screams, and runs out of the room. Dole and DuChene state “this scandal highlights the problematic intersection between personal choice and public judgment” since “[m]any people would argue that a woman opens herself up to exploitation by making a sex tape in the first place.” Lydia herself even expresses this self-condemnation, saying she brought it on herself by letting Wickham create the tape. However Lydia explains she only told Wickham it was okay to film them because “he said I didn’t love him as much as he loved me, and that I needed to prove it” (“An Understanding”, 05:17-05:24). The selling of the tape is an example of Wickham’s emotional abuse, and of the ultimate betrayal of Lydia’s trust by selling it without her knowledge—especially when it will have permanent effects, as Lizzie tells Lydia “You know the Internet is forever, right?... this is going to follow you around the rest of your life” (“Consequences” 03:34-03:40). Wickham’s abuse and lies, including selling the video without Lydia’s consent, illustrates the necessity of women to be wary—to lookout for, and identify, manipulative and abusive behavior from terrible men like Wickham. In the novel, the narrative of consent is focused on honoring Elizabeth’s wishes and desires, opposing male figures who try imposing their will upon her and making assertions about her feelings. As Pride and Prejudice has evolved over time, the discussion of consent has shifted to directly confronting issues of sexual abuse. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries therefore echoes and continues the messages that the fairytale of Pride and Prejudice sought to communicate so clearly.
While The Lizzie Bennet Diaries presents itself as occurring in reality rather than as a fictional adaptation, it still maintains some of the aspects of fairytale found in its source material. Pride and Prejudice instructs its female readers to find love with compatible men who respect them and to avoid men like Wickham. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries embraces these lessons and messages through its depictions of the characters and their relationships, but it also demonstrates the layer of fantasy behind Austen’s work in the way all the main characters achieve happy resolutions. As Lydia says to Lizzie in reference to her videos, “Somebody wanders in and talks about their problems, and by the end, everything is magically better. Or on the way to it” (“An Understanding” 03:05-03:16). The successful resolutions in the Diaries’ follow Austen’s original imagining of a better world; in the modern adaptation career dreams can be achieved, loans paid, romances blossom, and family relationships become stronger in magical terms.
Pride and Prejudice’s ultimate emphasis on relationships based on respect and consent is a fairy tale still relevant to our contemporary moment in light of the recent “#MeToo” movement. The “Me Too” movement began with black feminist activist Tarana Burke’s 2006 creation of the “Me Too” slogan “as a strategy to communicate with sexual abuse, assault, exploitation, and harassment survivors” (Gieseler 2). Since Burke’s movement, the viral #MeToo internet movement has largely been attributed to the events following October 2017 when actress Alyssa Milano tweeted out a message asking women who had experienced sexual assault, abuse, or harassment to respond to the tweet with the hashtag “Me Too.” The response “spread to eighty-five countries with 1.7 millions tweets within ten days” (Gieseler 2). #MeToo has shed light on the prevalent issue of sexual assault and harassment facing women, as “81% of women… reported experiencing some form of sexual assault in their lifetime” (“The Facts Behind the #MeToo Movement”). Therefore, the charm of a partner like Darcy who asks for consent and offers respect will never stop resonating into the present age. Meanwhile, Wickham in all his manifestations is perhaps the most blatant example of a sexual predator, with his charming facade and devious motives—a characterization The Lizzie Bennet Diaries highlights in its adaptation of the novel. His character recalls men called out by the #MeToo movement. Wickham similarly takes advantage of young women like Lydia to satisfy his desires, whether for fortune or sexual pleasure, with no concern for their reputation. Pride and Prejudice warns women to be wary of men like Wickham, who seem pleasant at first, but act without consent or concern. And it also warns the wider social world as a whole about the dangers of these men, naming their problem as a problem of consent in the modern adaptation. As Warner explains, “Fairy tales express hopes… Fairy tales evoke every kind of violence, injustice, and mischance, but in order to declare it need not continue” (Once Upon a Time xxiii). Reading Pride and Prejudice as a fairy tale demonstrates the hope that one day the world of Austen’s fairy tale Regency era could be a reality—a world where women could find partners who appreciate and respect them, and even brush with scandal and emerge unharmed.
Footnotes:
For more on Jane Austen and realism see works such as Kathryn Sutherland’s “Jane Austen: Social Realism and the Novel”, Pam Morris’ Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf, and Worldly Realism (2017), and Christopher Brooke’s Jane Austen: Illusion and Reality (1999).
Jack Zipes writes that “it has generally been assumed that fairy tales were first created for children and are largely the domain of children. Nothing could be further from the truth” (1).
Such men include Harvey Weinstein, who was revealed to have been preying on vulnerable young women for years
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