#the eternity of 2x10 is the epitome of period piece excellence with the glances and longing stares etc. etc.

[sparklycardigan]

I actually made several gifsets where I compared Jess and Rory's scenes with Elizabeth and Darcy's, so I'd love to hear if you have any particular notes on them and their similarities (the posts: x, xx, xxx)

Hey, sorry for not answering this sooner, I needed to go back in time to not only consult with Jane Austen on the matter but also introduce her to Gilmore Girls, so it naturally took a while. Jokes aside, I was finally able to gather up my material and pick out the most interesting parts of the book for this particular post, so let’s start shall we?

*A little something before the madness that this post is about to become: your gifsets are pure magic which thought of mine you were probably able to pick up on based on the tags I leave under them, but I can’t help it. your art>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

“Miss Bingley told me,” said Jane, “that he never speaks much, unless among his intimate acquaintances. With them he is remarkably agreeable.” (spoken in regards to Mr. Darcy)

Okay, this is exceptionally Jess-like (obviously), but the thing about the similarity that strikes me the most is that it’s not about these characters being shy or not having anything to say (because they both have SO much to say), it’s about choosing not to say anything because it feels like wasting words on someone they deemed unworthy of their company. Then there’s this paragraph in the text:

“Come, Darcy,” said he, “I must have you dance. I hate to see you standing about by yourself in this stupid manner. You had much better dance.”

“I certainly shall not. You know how I detest it, unless I am particularly acquainted with my partner. At such an assembly as this it would be insupportable. Your sisters are engaged, and there is not another woman in the room whom it would not be a punishment to me to stand up with.”

which I feel like is very important because it shows that Darcy is perfectly aware of this trait of his (his wording here is almost the same as Jane’s), just like I believe Jess to be, the point is that neither of them views it as a fault. And that is the precise aspect of both the relationship between Jess and Rory & Darcy and Elizabeth I find myself drawn to. It’s not the lack of self-awareness that troubles these personalities, it’s the absence of a fresh and sharp perspective that keeps them from improving. Rory and Lizzie are praised for their behavior (especially by their parent figures, Lorelai and Mr. Bennet, whose opinions they value the most) to the point of their flaws appearing to be not so flaw-resembling in their own eyes, and for Jess and Darcy, they are used to the way people perceive them, neither sees the point in changing one’s self because it will all result in nothing (if you ask them), so they stick to their previously established patterns. And then, when the respective pairings encounter for the first time, you have this phenomenal questioning of perspective on each side. Whether they consciously push each other to be and do better or not, they do it, including the little and the big moments. Darcy finds Elizabeth calling him out on his behavior during the ball offending at first, but he later reconsiders it and realizes the error of his ways. And Elizabeth expresses her opinion on the situation not at all subtly may I add, which is also a big part of the reason why her words make such an influence on Darcy in the first place *queues in Rory yelling: “You don’t care about Luke or his feelings!!!!!” or whatever the exact quote is* (which is the scene I refer to as “Holden Caulfield 2.0 and the charms of fixed toasters” 🎇The Caulfield Call Out🎇 in short). For Lizzie, the moment of questioning is clearly when she discovers the truth about Wickham and more importantly the validity of Darcy’s words (After which she lists her own faults, suddenly becoming aware of them, and exclaims: “till this moment I never knew myself” and that goes hand in hand with what I explained above. Jess and Rory are all about individual growth and exploring who they are in detail. The core of their relationship was being on the other’s team regardless of their own involvement in it, despite the relationship drama. That part was never in question, the “I want you to be happy and yourself whoever you are as long as it’s you” part.) which I would connect with Rory finding out that Jess didn’t in fact get that black eye while fighting with Dean like she originally thought.

*I can’t find the document where I put the quote, but there’s something about Elizabeth being aware of Darcy being affected by her declarations despite him smiling in reaction to her accusations which is also very Jess and Rory if you ask me.

A bit more of Jess-like Darcy related sentences that require no special explanation (and there's also this):

“Darcy, on the contrary, had seen a collection of people in whom there was little beauty and no fashion, for none of whom he had felt the smallest interest, and from none received either attention or pleasure. Miss Bennet he acknowledged to be pretty, but she smiled too much.”

“and he was looked at with great admiration for about half the evening, till his manners gave a disgust which turned the tide of his popularity; for he was discovered to be proud; to be above his company, and above being pleased”

“There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of merit or sense.”

“And then you have added so much to it yourself, you are always buying books.” (about Darcy)

And of course the famous:

“I have faults enough, but they are not, I hope, of understanding. My temper I dare not vouch for. It is, I believe, too little yielding— certainly too little for the convenience of the world. I cannot forget the follies and vices of other so soon as I ought, nor their offenses against myself. My feelings are not puffed about with every attempt to move them. My temper would perhaps be called resentful. My good opinion once lost, is lost forever.”

 A little bit of Rory/Lizzie connections:

“Miss Eliza Bennet,” said Miss Bingley, “despises cards. She is a great reader, and has no pleasure in anything else.”

“I deserve neither such praise nor such censure,” cried Elizabeth; “I am not a great reader, and I have pleasure in many things.”

What reminds me of Rory here is more about the essence of the statement than the detail and circumstance in which it happened to be shared. There is The Perfect Rory and there is Rory, one of them is not real (despite being real to so many people in Rory’s world) and one of them is real (and that’s the Rory that is real to Jess). Rory is a great student, she is kind and she reads books. True things but not the only true things about her. Yet again she is expected to fit into this simple statement at all times and is considered to fit into it even when she doesn’t (example: the car crash in season 2). I talk a little about that and how Jess connects to it in the tags of this great post and it all leads to the quote I highlighted above.

“Now be sincere; did you admire me for my impertinence?” (Lizzie)

“For the liveliness of your mind, I did.” (Darcy)

This is a classic Austen line and it definitely applies to Literati and how they are aware of each other completely, for all that they are and most importantly how they admire each other for it.

"It belongs to me to find occasions for teasing and quarrelling with you as often as may be; and I shall begin directly by asking you what made you so unwilling to come to the point at last. What made you so shy of me, when you first called, and afterwards dined here? Why, especially, when you called, did you look as if you did not care about me?”

“Because you were grave and silent, and gave me no encouragement.”

“But I was embarrassed.”

“And so was I.”

“You might have talked to me more when you came to dinner.”

“A man who had felt less, might.”

I chose this paragraph mostly because of the last two sentences (it's also very Emma, the last line, "if I loved you less I might be able to talk about it more" which is simultaneously a Rory and a Jess line). And I don't only mean it in Jess as Darcy, Rory as Lizzie connotations, I think it applies the other way around too considering how Jess and Rory both have trouble expressing their feelings, especially for each other due to their freshness and intensity. That's where most of their problems reside in, inability to comprehend their own feelings. You can't exactly deal with anything if you don't understand its nature and I think that what Rory and Jess experienced in relation to one another felt huge and unfamiliar to both of them to the point of them resenting those emotions multiple times during the course of their history.

Lastly, I love that your gifsets showcase the "I love you" parallels, I've always felt they were pronounced in a similar manner (2005 version of P&P in mind). Also, the scene with Lizzie and her father near the end of the 2005 movie has major Rory "They assume you know nothing, but I knew you." energy, especially the way Keira Knightley portrays that, with such rollercoaster of emotion and face journeys. I'm linking my posts about Literati/The Age of Innocence and Literati/Little Women parallels too, in case you find yourself interested (yep this is me praying for any kind of gifset from you because I am in love with everything you've ever created). Thank you SO much for asking and sorry for replying so late.

#pride and prejudice #gilmore girls #literati #parallels #meta #sparkly answers #idk these guys are ALL period drama #the eternity of 2x10 is the epitome of period piece excellence with the glances and longing stares etc. etc. #and that whole sprinkler scene (i spammed the hell out of your tags with that one😅) #this turned out longer than i intented it to be......... #don't feel like editing this rn #jane austen #rory gilmore #jess mariano #elizabeth bennet #fitzwilliam darcy