It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single woman in possession of a large fortune must be a total bitch. At least, it's a universal truth in the world of Jane Austen. After all, although the novelist may be remembered for her restrained Regency romances, at their core, her novels are each rapier-sharp exposés of the hypocrisies and cruelties of a social world governed by class — as such, she doesn't always have too much time or sympathy for the people who sit at the top of the pyramid. Chief amongst her upper-class villainesses is Caroline Bingley.
The ultimate Regency era mean girl, Caroline Bingley, walked so that Regina George could run. Sneering, vicious, utterly terrifying and always dressed in the height of the day's fashion, Pride & Prejudice's Caroline Bingley is the Austen character we all absolutely love to hate. She spends most of her time peering down on the Bennet family and vying for Mr Darcy's affections by trying to get him to join her in making fun of them. When Darcy finally, effectively, tells her to shut up and leave him alone to admire Lizzie Bennet's fine eyes, it's a victory for audiences and readers everywhere.
But perhaps it's high time we stepped into Caroline's extremely fashionable shoes and saw things through her (not so fine) eyes. Perhaps it's time we took inspiration from The Other Bennet Sister and gave Caroline a chance.
In BBC's The Other Bennet Sister, Mary Bennet (Ella Bruccoleri), the frumpy, tedious, plain middle Bennet sister, finally gets her shot at a leading lady arc. Meanwhile, Caroline Bingley is also given a little more colour and nuance. While Mary's role in the original Pride & Prejudice story is that of comic relief, Caroline is shuffled into the role of romantic rival. Her only job in the original story is to be a foil to the sparkling, witty Lizzie — her cruel, sneering comments and devotion to social climbing give us a tidy little example of a woman who is, without a doubt, the wrong choice for Mr Darcy. But The Other Bennet Sister is all too aware that we have gotten into a habit of reducing secondary female characters into easily digestible stereotypes. And so, while Mary gets her chance at being a fully formed three-dimensional character, deserving of sympathy and capable of love with the right person, there are also little suggestions throughout the show that we may have misjudged and overlooked Caroline, too.
Tanya Reynolds' Caroline is just as cruel as every other Caroline Bingley, from Anna Chancellor's sniggering, wicked take in 1995 to Kelly Reilly's disdainful 2005 version. At least, she is at the beginning, when she can't help but mock poor Mary's spectacles. Later, when Caroline spies Mary talking to eligible bachelor Mr Ryder, she sidles up to do her usual mean girl act. “I have to say, Miss Bennet, how refreshing it is to see a young woman with the courage to defy the dictates of fashion when most of us are foolish enough to want to look as well as we possibly can," she says with a smirk. “You are an example to us all.” Later in the evening, Caroline puts Mary down again, comparing her to her sisters, before essentially telling her to back off, Mr Ryder, cruelly warning her that it will only lead to heartache. But then, Mary calls her out: “You seem to know a great deal about rejection,” she says, hinting at Caroline's failure to land Mr Darcy.
All of a sudden, the dowdy, bespectacled Mary Bennet and the sneering mean girl queen bee Caroline Bingley don't look so different after all. While vastly different in personality, looks and social status, at the end of the day, aren't they both simply women desperate to secure their futures in a world where marriage is the only measure of social and financial success for women?
Yes, Reynolds is serving up the same old bitchy Caroline Bingley — but this time, we are given a hint as to why Caroline is the way that she is.
For Caroline, as with all of the women in Pride & Prejudice, marriage is everything — and for a woman like Caroline, raised in a family with a decent amount of money and social status, a good marriage is essential. Not only will it guarantee her financial future, but it will also determine whether she'll be respected in society by her peers. While someone like Mary or even Lizzie might not care too much about these delicacies of social life, for someone like Caroline, they mean everything.
And I do feel just a touch of sympathy for Caroline. Clearly, she had pinpointed Mr Darcy as the perfect match. No, she may not love him, but she wasn't looking for a marriage based on love. And, to be perfectly honest, Mr Darcy seems to care much more about social status at the beginning of the story. In fact, in his first appearance, he is just as sneering and judgmental as Caroline is. It's easy to imagine that in the past, the pair did enjoy a few catty bitch sessions together. So, when he suddenly starts simping for Lizzie, it's no wonder Caroline is confused, disappointed and, in her own way, heartbroken.
And so, in The Other Bennet Sister we see her trying to start the whole process of finding a suitor and securing the proposal she needs. From scratch. At the ripe old age of around 20, she only has a few more seasons before she is deemed to be a failure and a spinster. While it may not seem like it to us, the stakes are high for Caroline. And as The Other Bennet Sister goes on, I'm sure we'll only see more of the carefully concealed fear and desperation that is driving her. So perhaps we should all cut her a little more slack.
A new one for your watchlist, period drama fans.
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