Who would be my special dinner guest?

My writing prompt this week, which sometimes turns into a blog post, was which celebrity would I enjoy having dinner with. As I couldn’t think of one individual, I expanded it to three, died or alive, that I would find interesting. I know that they say to not meet your heroes, but I think it is fun to think of what would happen during a hypothetical dinner. I picked three celebrities, then I thought why did I chose these individuals and what would we discuss? My celebrities I chose Charlotte Bronte, one of my favorite authors, Queen Victoria, an historical figure and Queen Elizabeth II, the longest reigning monarch.

First, the author Charlotte Bronte. I have loved her books for a very long time. I actually enjoy her books over Jane Austen’s (gasp!). I would love to discuss her books in particular Jane Eyre (1847) and the events which inspired her stories. How much of her real experience made it into the book? And did she add a bit more drama for the books? She was born on April 21, 1816 and experienced tragedy at a young age. The death of her mother in 1821, after which her father sent his daughters to the Clergy Daughters’ School where her older sisters, Maria and Elizabeth, would die of tuberculosis in June 1825. The school became the inspiration for the Lowood School in Jane Eyre. She would continue her education and found work as a governess in Brussels, Belgium, which became her inspiration for her books, The Professor (1857) and Villette (1853). Since books by women authors were seen as less than worthy, Charlotte and her sisters, Emily and Anne, decided to publish under masculine pseudonyms. Charlotte Bronte was published as Currer Bell. She died on March 31, 1855, weeks before her 39^th birthday.

Second, Queen Victoria and how she inspired an era which is named after her. She was born Alexandrina Victoria on May 24, 1819 and became Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on June 20, 1837 when her three uncles died with no surviving legitimate heirs. She became a national icon, identified with strict standards of personal morality. Her long reign, known as the Victorian Era, was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific and military change in the United Kingdom as well as the world. Victoria was the first to wear a white dress at her 1840 wedding to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Austria, which inspired many women to wear white and it is a tradition which is still carried on today. She also helped popularize many of our Christmas traditions such as Christmas trees and sending Christmas cards. When she died on January 22, 1901 at the age of 81, she held the longest reign at 63 years, 7 months and 2 days until her great-great-granddaughter, Elizabeth II, surpassed her on September 9, 2015. She was one tough lady who survived at least six assassination attempts and multilingual, speaking English and German fluently as well as French, Italian and Latin. She even learned Hindu and Urdu phrases when servants from India came to Windsor Castle.

For my third person, I chose Queen Elizabeth II. I have long admired the queen as she was thrusted into a role she was never expected to fulfill. Her father, King George, would take the throne after his older brother, King Edward VIII, abdicated in order to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson. During World War II, at 14, Elizabeth would broadcast over the radio, speaking to the children who had been evacuated from London during the Blitz. In February 1945, after she turned 18, she was appointed as an honorary second subaltern in the Auxiliary Territorial Service where she was trained as a driver and mechanic. She married Philip Mountbatten, a prince of Greece and Denmark, on November 20, 1947 and would have 4 children, Prince Charles (1948), Princess Anne (1950), Prince Andrew (1960), and Prince Edward (1964). As I mentioned above, Queen Elizabeth II is the longest reigning British monarch in 2015 and the longest reigning monarch in history after the death of Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej on October 13, 2016. At this post, she has reigned 66 years 11 months and 3 days and has no plans to abdicate. The queen rarely gives interviews, and little is known about her personal feelings. However, she maintains a sense of religious and civic duty and takes her role as queen very seriously. In 2000, she said “To many of us, our beliefs are of fundamental importance. For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ's words and example” (Christmas Broadcast, December 25, 2000). While she does not have any real power in the British government, she performs the State Opening of the Parliament, which opens a new session of Parliament.

In conclusion, from my favorite author to an historical world leader and the history making monarch, these dinners would be filled with fun conversations about literature, culture and world events which these individuals have seen in their lifetimes. The three women lived very different lives, and each had something to say about the world around them. Charlotte Bronte wrote novels and poetry but had to hide her gender as publishers were reluctant to publish a woman’s work. Queen Victoria followed in the footsteps of Queen Elizabeth I and refused to allow a man to dictate her role as queen. Queen Elizabeth has become a beloved queen to many around the around. While being famous, it would be interesting to see how much they would or could have in common with me. Who would you choose?

Pride and Prejudice or Jane Eyre: a comparison and contrast of two classic novels

Among booklovers, Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte are beloved and revered. It is common knowledge that Charlotte Bronte was not fond of Jane Austen and didn’t understand why her books were so popular or praised. So I decided to read their most famous books, Pride and Prejudice (1813) and Jane Eyre (1847) again and compare them. Both books have many similarities. There were both written by a woman. The interest in both books is between a wealthy landowner and a woman who is socially beneath him with a woman of class vying for his attention. Both books take place in the English countryside. Both main characters refuse to consider a marriage of convenience. Even though about different eras, Austen’s Regency England and Bronte’s Victorian England, both display the restrictions under which women lived. Elizabeth Bennett and Jane Eyre were both more independent than the eras would suggest but that is true for their authors. Jane Austen never married and Charlotte Bronte eventually married a man she, at first, did not love. The contrast in these books which I will discuss are in the main characters, societal class and the mindset of women.

In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth is upper class, beautiful and outspoken. She is socially inappropriate, often speaking with a sharp tongue to those above her. She ends up with her man, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy and all is well. The tone of Pride and Prejudice, is light and a witty comedy between men and women. In Jane Eyre, Jane is poor and orphaned. She’s plain and speaks her mind with decorum that is unusual for someone of her status. She’s socially awkward. She ends up with her man, Mr. Edward Rochester, but only after tragedy. The tone of Jane Eyre is dark with Gothic elements. Even contrasts are seen in the love interests of each woman. Mr. Darcy is dashing and portrayal of a wealthy man pride and a sense of obligation and consequence. Whereas Mr. Rochester behaves inappropriately with the governess, Jane, and holds nothing back. He crosses a line when he decides to marry his governess which leads them both heartbroken and lost. Rochester is tormented by a secret he must keep and yet he pursues Jane who seems to be a relief from the monotony of high society.

Both books features class, although in different manners. In Pride and Prejudice, the Bennett family is lower landed gentry who are on the edge of poverty if one of their 5 daughters doesn’t marry well. Mrs. Bennett’s whole goal in the book is to marry off her daughters to men who can handle their affairs as well as lift them up on the social ladder. While in Jane Eyre, Jane is orphaned and sent to a charity school at the age of ten. She is forced to find work as a governess. She later comes into an inheritance from a long lost uncle. In Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcy is the only son, raised and groomed as the heir of the family fortunes as well as the family societal responsibilities. While in Jane Eyre, Mr. Rochester is the second son, raised as the back-up and is only in his position because of the death of his older brother. Therefore the attitudes between the two men are extremely different. One of duty and the other blasé as to his social requirements.

 Both books display the mind set of women. In Pride and Prejudice, the overall attitude is that all women think about is marriage. The famous opening line says it all: “It is a truth universally acknowledge that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” While two of the Bennett sisters, Jane and Elizabeth, display cool and calm attitudes about marriage and men, the younger sisters, Kitty and Lydia, are young and too forward. Lydia is so desperate to be married that she runs off regardless of what it would do to her family. The middle daughter, Mary, views marriage in disgust. In Jane Eyre, Jane never gives marriage a thought. As an orphan with no family fortune, Jane is forced to work and marriage would be an afterthought and may be a conscious decision not to as it could interfere with her livelihood. When Rochester proposes, she is shocked and questions his sincerity. When she realizes that he sincere, only then does she give in to the idea of marriage and love.

In conclusion, I’ve always enjoyed Jane Eyre more than I have of Pride and Prejudice. While I enjoyed seeing Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy finally put aside their social restrictions and give in to their feelings for each other. However, Jane Eyre has a darker intensity to the atmosphere and the characters that Pride and Prejudice just doesn’t have. There are certain scenes in Jane Eyre, when I feel my heart race with the events. I feel Jane’s fear, her sadness and her attraction to Mr. Rochester. Also, I am also drawn to the wildness of Mr. Rochester. His “rules be damned” attitude and go after the woman he loves. He is tortured and flawed in ways that Mr. Darcy isn’t. To me, Mr. Darcy is the man your parents hope you bring home but it’s Mr. Rochester who captures your attention. Both books are classics and deserve the attention they received since their publications. In my opinion, Jane Eyre is the better and more exciting book.