Spoiler Alert! – This post
assumes prior knowledge of Jane Austen’s works – if you haven’t read them, take
note of Ms Austen’s own words: “The person, be it gentleman or lady,
who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.”
I began
this post last year after a Jane Austen binge when I was unwell (a Jane Austen
binge every couple of years is essential for good health and happiness). It’s
high time I finished it (the blog post that is) – so here is a countdown of my favourite
Austen bad boys.
6. John Thorpe, Northanger Abbey – John Thorpe is probably one of Jane Austen’s
most unlikeable characters. In contrast to her other bad boys, he has no
redeeming features. He is uncouth, arrogant and spreads damaging lies about our
heroine, Catherine. He doesn’t have the elegance or gentleman-like manner of
any other Austen cad. Catherine “cannot like him” and nor can I.
“There is not the hundredth part of the wine
consumed in this kingdom that there ought to be.” – John Thorpe
5. Frank Churchill, Emma – Emma is an anomaly in Jane Austen’s canon in that none of
the characters are really contemptible. Granted, Mr Churchill is not
particularly well behaved, flirting with Emma and dissing the one he loves, all
to hide his secret engagement to Jane Fairfax. But in the end, his aunt
conveniently dies, all is revealed and Mr Churchill marries Jane as he always
intended. Emma is not the least heartbroken as she wasn’t really in love with
him anyway. Besides, riding all the way
to London to secretly purchase a piano for Jane means Franky-babe doesn’t cut
it with the truly contemptible lads.
“Our companions are excessively stupid. What shall we do to rouse them? Any nonsense will serve. They shall talk.” – Frank Churchill
4. William Elliot, Persuasion – Anne’s cousin Mr Elliot became estranged from the
Elliot family when he spurned Anne’s sister Elizabeth in favour of marrying for
money. When the family move to Bath, Mr Elliot – now a rich widower and heir to
the baronetcy – renews his acquaintance with Sir Walter’s family and shows impeccable
taste by turning his attentions towards Anne. Anne however is irrevocably in
love with Captain Wentworth and is not at all convinced of Mr Elliot’s
sincerity. Her doubts appear justified when she spies Mr Elliot with Mrs Clay
when he was supposed to be out of town.
Mr
Elliot was too generally agreeable. Various as were the tempers in her father’s
house, he pleased them all. He endured too well, – stood too well with
everybody.
3. John Willoughby, Sense and Sensibility – Willoughby’s a real rotter and by far the
worst of the worst charmers in Austen’s novels. He sweeps Marianne off her feet
(or at least carries her home when she sprains her ankle), fools everyone into
thinking he will propose to her, then cruelly forsakes her for another. The
Dashwoods later learn he disgraced then abandoned Colonel Brandon’s ward, which
caused Willoughby to be disinherited by his wealthy Aunt and forced him to
marry for money instead of love. When Marianne falls ill and her life is in
balance, Willoughby has the audacity to come begging for forgiveness and
declaring his unhappiness with the choices he made.
“Brandon is just
the kind of man,” said Willoughby one day when they were talking of him
together, “whom everybody speaks well of, and nobody cares about; whom all are
delighted to see, and nobody remembers to talk to.” – John Willoughby
2. George
Wickham, Pride and Prejudice – What a
wicked old boy is Wickham! Running up
gambling debts, charming all the women of Meryton (but finding them decidedly lacking
in the essential quality of fortune), making everyone believe he is an officer
and a gentleman, spreading lies and half-truths about Darcy, and topping it all
off by whisking poor, foolish Lydia away from the safety of her family and
friends without any intention of marrying her. In the end, he is caught, forced
into matrimony (with the inducement of large sums of money from Mr Darcy) and banished
to a regiment as far away as possible. Yet, despite all this, Austen manages to
imbue in the reader a modicum of sympathy for Wickham – just another example of
the brilliance of her writing.
“He is as fine a
fellow,” said Mr Bennet, as soon as they were out of the house, “as ever I saw.
He simpers, and smirks, and makes love to us all. I am prodigiously proud of
him. I defy even Sir William Lucas himself, to produce a more valuable
son-in-law.” – Mr Bennet after a visit from Mr and Mrs
Wickham. (Mr Bennet btw is one of my all-time favourite characters in
literature.)
1. Henry Crawford, Mansfield Park – Unlike other Austen bad boys, Crawford may be
charming but he makes no pretence of being good. He’s rich and conceited enough
to always have some rakish scheme in the works, including inducing Fanny Price
to fall in love with him. This backfires on him however, when he finds himself truly
in love with Fanny. Mr Crawford genuinely believes that he could change his
wicked ways if Fanny married him, and he does make a gallant attempt to be good for her sake. Fanny though “…was quiet, but …was not blind.”
She’s never fooled by Mr Crawford, and when he is rejected, he confirms
Fanny’s misgivings by running off with Maria.
[He]
went off with [Maria] at last, because he could not help it, regretting Fanny,
even at the moment, but regretting her infinitely more when all the bustle of
the intrigue was over.
Mansfield Park is the novel, more than any other Austen work, that stays with me long after a reading (or viewing). It's in no small measure because of the complexity of Henry Crawford's character, and I always like to imagine what might have happened had Fanny become Mrs Crawford instead of Mrs Bertram.
