Longbourn

Trace Sarah’s journey as a character to self-realization and love, then discuss how her love affair is a foil to or reflection of the love affairs of the Bennet sisters. How is Sarah’s romance substantially different, what points are the same, and what do those similarities or differences say about class or romantic conventions, in Austen’s time or now?

Discuss the treatment of marriage in the book as both an economic transaction and a romantic ideal. How do other unions in the book, like Mrs. Hill and Mr. Bennett, or Sarah and James, reflect on this definition of marriage? How and why is love and marriage different across classes?

Discuss the attitudes and perceptions toward servantry held by both the employers and the working classes. What is the value given to the different kinds of domestic labor, and what determines that value? What larger argument do you see the novel making about useful labor, industry, and leisure in relation to the present?

Interpreting Baker’s book as an exploration of a darker side of Pride and Prejudice, discuss the different inflection that Baker’s novel puts on the characters of Austen’s novel, considering Mr. Bennet, Wickham, Lydia, Jane, Darcy, Elizabeth, or others. What has she added or taken away from these characters, and what point is the text making with this choice?

Discuss the historical realities that Baker addresses in her novel, such as the realities of employment, war, slavery, or exploitation of women and children. What do these realities add to the novel? Study the comparative absence of these elements in Austen’s novel and discuss what might have motivated the authors’ choices.

Discuss how masculinity is approached in the novel and performed by different characters, such as Mr. Bennet, James, Ptolemy, Wickham, and Mr. Darcy. Compare whether roles and expectations about masculine behavior differ across class and circumstance.

Discuss women’s roles in the novel, particularly the role of matrons and mothers compared to the roles and function of unmarried women. How do roles for women change across class, and what gendered expectations remain the same?

Note the function that material goods play in the novel—clothing and furniture particularly, but other items as well, like the bonnet lace Darcy sends Elizabeth or the creamware that Sarah smashes. How are material and luxury items used to distinguish or underline class, and where do these items have a more symbolic valence?