Fitzwiliam is an awesome name
Okay here is something people aren’t saying (probably because they’re not thinking it:) Fitzwilliam is an awesome name. A truly awesome name.
In fact, my second-born son will be named Fitzwilliam. (My first born son will be named “Johnny Danger” and he will save the world.) Fitzwilliam will woo women undaunted for years, and have sonnets written about him by uniquely rebellious girls in colleges everywhere.
That whole sentiment is inspire, of course, by Jane Austen, who invented Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, forcing women to swoon over him for the next century and a half.
I love Jane Austen, and I suspect that my assistant would love her too. Unfortunately, he can’t stand period pieces. He rolls his eyes every time he catches me watching a film adaption on the TV (he rolls them particularly hard if he catches me crying). But I forced him to watch Clueless, and he admitted to enjoying it very much.
So I’m declaring him a Jane Austen fan, and an Olde English hater. Which is fine, even if it does mean that he misses the intricacies of her work, but that’s his loss.
As much as I love Mr. Darcy, I’ve always been a Mr. Knightly fan myself. Mr. Darcy is someone you fall in love with over the course of the story. His rough edges melt away and you see the passion inside of him. Mr. Knightly is someone you’ve been in love with all along but you didn’t realize it until just this moment.
Maybe I prefer Mr. Knightly because I’ve always considered myself to be a Mr. Knightly kind of person. Mr. Darcy demands a strong reaction the moment you meet him – anger that turns into love. But Mr. Knightly… he sits with you for awhile and becomes that nagging voice in the back of your head that eventually you realize you can’t live without him.
That’s me right there. I seem somewhat forgettable at first, but in the end, you realize, you can’t live without me.
And, if you can endure another book plug, if I had to compare my characters to Jane Austen (and I don’t but I’m going to): Jack would totally be Mr. Knightly (albeit, a less… protective version – he never gives proper advice the way Knightly gives Emma), and Peter would be Mr. Darcy.
So there you have it. If you like vampires and/or Jane Austen, why not give My Blood Approves a try?
This entire post was inspired by the brilliant Jane in June event going on at Book-Rat’s blog, which I’ve told you about before. And based on the amount of stuff she has going on at her site, I’m convinced she doesn’t sleep, and exists only to blog/read/write about Jane Austen.
Also, she posted my letter to Jane Austen (among other fancy postings by other even fancier people), and you should check it out, if you enjoy reading things I say.
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According to Jane is today’s giveaway (signed.) Thought I’d mention.
And yeah, sleep is going to be a beautiful thing, come July…
I have not read “According to Jane.” I actually haven’t read very much Jane-inspired fiction, and I really should.
I lean toward Frederick Wentworth in “Persuasion.” Fierce, loyal, willing to fight for love, yet subdued. Being Ms. Austen’s final book…it tends to be overlooked.
Have you read “According to Jane” by Marilyn Brant? Jane Austen is like the main character’s conscience. Fun for any Austen fan.