Jessa, Ben and Their Brood: Making a (Diaper) Mountain out of a Mold House

[Julia]

Unfortunately, Jessa will never understand these cues, which most high schoolers would know. I think P&P would be classified as a "romance" novel to them, totally missing the biting social commentary. As such, it would be on their banned books list, thought of as stuff for the frivolous.  

 

I would have thought that P&P would be banned because Lizzie defies her parents and refuses to marry the (venal, stupid) preacher they set up a match with because she's not attracted to him, and ends up being rewarded with a marriage to a hot, rich guy who isn't an idiot.

[BitterApple]

I think she is self aware enough to know she is below average in everything ( and yes including looks, I think she is your average pretty girl personally) in the real world so she stays in the bubble.

I think Jessa was always looked upon as beautiful because she stood out in a sea of non-descript frump. She was at her prime while Joy was going through her awkward phase, Jill was never a great beauty to begin with, Jana is pretty but doesn't do much to highlight her beauty and Jinger is attractive but held on to the crunchy perm for too long. If you put Jessa in with the better looking Bates girls, you wouldn't even notice her. She's attractive but IMO her looks aren't unique or jaw dropping.

[SometimesBites]

Ben's muse...

https://instagram.com/p/5fvw_TjfuG/?taken-by=jessaseewald

 

Not so modest, Jess. Hannie could comfortably wear that shirt. 

Guess when you're pregnant you no longer have to worry about drawing the eye to your "countenance." What, exactly, is the point of wearing a skirt for supposed sake of modesty, then pairing it with a skin-hugging top? They make this shit up as they go...

[galax-arena]

Ben Seewald thinks that believing in evolution is racist.

“There’s been a lot of, like, tension in America,” Ben Seewald said to Berry, “between, like, blacks and whites, and in the media, too. There’s been all these reports and, like, ‘race war’ and, you know, going on and everything, and these killings and people saying, ‘Hey, we’re trying to start a race war?’ How should we respond to that as Christians?”

 

...

 

“That’s right, there’s no room for racism in Christianity,” said Seewald. “That all comes from the Devil. That all comes from, like, this false religion out here, evolution, that stuff? Teaching that, like, some people are ‘more evolved?'”

Oh, Ben. You sweet summer child.

[Julia]

Ben Seewald thinks that believing in evolution is racist.

 

Of course it is. Because if everyone in America believed that we're all descended from a woman in Africa all hell would break loose, racially speaking.

Edited August 10, 2015 by Julia

[SometimesBites]

According to the Duggar Family Blog (the fan-run one), Jessa is making four more appearances at the Southern Women's Show late summer/fall. (eta: I don't want to link the blog to give it more hits, and an ego boost to Lily and Ellie.)

 

Dates and locations: 

 

8/29 Charlotte; 9/26 Orlando (I see a trip to Disney coming); 10/10 Birmingham; 10/17 Jacksonville. I guess JD will have to fly her, since she'll be so close to term for those last two appearances. It's also noted that minimally-employed Ben will be appearing with her as her lackey again. 

Only in the voyeuristic era of reality television can an inexperienced, uneducated, pregnant 22-year-old who is married to a self-important teenager become an advertised public speaker and pseudo-celebrity, pseudo-expert on hair curling, junk-food dessert-making, and public restroom selfies. Moral self-righteousness paired with an utter lack of intellectual curiosity make for a most insipid and arrogant human being. If there were a hell, it would have to have a large arena dedicated solely to parents who crippled their children with stifling, limiting beliefs.

[Marigold]

I was watching the Jessa Propsal episode because I am procrastinating doing real work.

 

Ben is strikenly similiar to Jim Bob. 

Both so corny and dopey. 

Both think that they know everything.

Both think they are all that.

 

wow

[SometimesBites]

A true tell all book will never happen. As their lifestyles become wealthier and more distanced from the early blanket trained Gothard isolation days, no doubt some of the younger kids will not be drunk on the Kool-aid and may be more Creasters (celebrate Christmas and Easter, but that's about the extent of their religious beliefs/practices). None of the older kids - let's say Josiah/Joy and up - are going to dare step out from under the Umbrella of Protection (and cash) to tell anything. Anyone younger isn't gong to remember the days of prairie clothes, Josh's molestation troubles, the teeny pre TLC house, poverty, blanket training, basically any interaction with Michelle or JimBob, etc.

 

The older girls aren't going to mess with the brand and any income they get from their existing books and speaking tours, the older boys are duller than dirt, the Howler Boys couldn't piece together a sentence, and the Lost Girls are lost.

 

If any additional books come out, it will be Mothering advice from Jill and Jessa, a mild redemption book from Josh, a courtship/marriage book from a guy's perspective from Josiah, and that's about it. From a marketing standpoint, they really should've created a Little Josie wisdom picture book describing the virtues of wearing leggings under skirts, not licking everything in site, and fighting those horrible abortionists who tried to kill her.

 

In a nutshell, the threat of isolation and hell, combined with the lack of personality and gumption, is all greater than a few thousand dollars from a book deal. There's never going to be a true tell all from the kids. 

It wouldn't at all surprise my to find that a couple of the younger Duggar kids manage to forge a path out from under Gothard and Jim Bob, especially now that the TV show has faded to black. But I think chances are very good that it will be the next generation to fully uncouple from the Duggar trainwreck. I'd love to be a fly on the wall on some actual college campus where a Duggar grandchild tells a story to friends about how her grandparents were these uber-religious nutjobs who had almost 20 children. Fly free, future Duggars! 

[Churchhoney]

 

Ben Seewald thinks that believing in evolution is racist.

 

“That’s right, there’s no room for racism in Christianity,” said Seewald. “That all comes from the Devil. That all comes from, like, this false religion out here, evolution, that stuff? Teaching that, like, some people are ‘more evolved?'”

 

Glad to see that Ben's made a real effort to find out what his opponents actually think before he slams them as the Devil's coworkers.

 

I can see why he so happily signed up to be a semi-Duggar. He's such a follower, wants to be part of a movement, is crazy about having some cause to jump onto and spout self-righteous crap about. But he's clearly way too lazy and possibly stupid to really think anything through for himself. He's so eager to be the pontificating big man but he's never had an original thought in his life. I'd overlook his constant empty parroting of what his elders preach if he were 13 or so. But he's almost 20, and if you're not questioning anything by that age there's a high likelihood you're among the hopelessly brain-dead cases, I would bet. When it comes to ignorance, self-righteousness and smugness, at least, he and Jessa look like a great match.

 

This is the kind of thing that I'm actually glad they're getting some continued media attention for. Of course, with over 40 percent of Americans rejecting evolution -- generally for reasons quite similar to those of whoever taught this garbage to Ben, I'm guessing -- he could turn out to be a galvanizing force for a new American anti-evolution revolution, I suppose. If enough young kids find him hot enough.  I can just see all those 14-year-old girls refusing to attend biology classes because hot Ben has told them that they're both the work of the devil and racist to boot. ... (Of course, I gather that the majority of today's high-school biology classes already make only the lightest mentions of evolution.)

Edited August 10, 2015 by Churchhoney

[sometimesy]

Jessa has access to tv and internet now. She has every opportunity to read all the classics from free booksites online, or search science sites if she wants. It's up to her as the parents are no longer restricting her. I don't feel bad for the marrieds or the adults anymore. They choose ignorance and isolation.

[WhineandCheez]

Ben Seewald thinks that believing in evolution is racist.

 

I love that exact transcript of his words, putting in every "like."  Whatta hoot. 

[kokapetl]

I think Jessa is massively insecure about herself and her family. She's also in denial. I've noticed when someone critiques the Duggars, Jessa gets very defensive and downright bitchy. For such a "realist", she certainly cannot handle criticism or the truth.

I've said it before, if Jessa wasn't a Fundy, she'd be a model/trophy-wife type.

  

Yeah, she shatters pretty easily. 

That tough facade she puts up is pretty transparent to us though.

Trophy wife, yes but hardly a model. Shes short and I mean while she is good looking there are plenty of other attractive young women out there. I know plenty of people who are just as pretty as Jessa IRL .

 

I think thats part of it too- in her fundy world she really is queen bee. She would absolutely be the bitchy popular girl in hs. I think that she just has that type of personality that she has to be the prettiest, fundie-est, best everything and its not hard to achieve that in fundyland. 

 

I think she is self aware enough to know she is below average in everything ( and yes including looks, I think she is your average pretty girl personally) in the real world so she stays in the bubble.

While she's prettier than most, trophy wives are kind of about the bodies, and I don't think she has long thin legs. She probably actually knows how she compares, and if she had them, the flexible modesty rules would be bent once again and we'd know about them.

[Aja]

 

Ben Seewald thinks that believing in evolution is racist.

 

Oh, Ben. You sweet summer child.

 

1. I think the last people who officially said "Hey, we're trying to start a race war" was the Manson Family and they gave up on that a while ago

2. False religion--ahhh, finally a subject Bin can pontificate about with some semblance of authority

3. Bin, try talking to someone else besides extreme-fringe white supremacists about evolution, you might learn something (so be careful.)

Edited August 10, 2015 by Aja

[ariel]

Ben Seewald thinks that believing in evolution is racist.

 

Oh, Ben. You sweet summer child.

Oh sweet Jesus, Bin is such a moron. What's so sad is that he's about to become a father.

[NEGirl]

It's sad to think people pay attention to the rants of an unemployed, uninformed, and undereducated 20 year-old.

[JoanArc]

I'm debating watching the video.

 

 

“There’s been a lot of, like, tension in America,” Ben Seewald said to Berry, “between, like, blacks and whites, and in the media, too. There’s been all these reports and, like, ‘race war’ and, you know, going on and everything, and these killings and people saying, ‘Hey, we’re trying to start a race war?’ How should we respond to that as Christians?”

Jessa got herself a real peach. Quick, somebody point out to Bin that Jesus wasn't white.

 

Edit: Ok, I steeled myself and watched. Maybe Dante should've pointed out that Bin's a part of a religious movement who's sole purpose is to produce AS MANY withe people as possible. White republicans.

Edited August 10, 2015 by JoanArc

[CofCinci]

It's sad to think people pay attention to the rants of an unemployed, uninformed, and undereducated 20 year-old.

I hope that we are the only people listening to him -- and we do it to make fun of him. Ben might have survived Roe vs Wade but he wouldn't last in this tread.

[Churchhoney]

I hope that we are the only people listening to him -- and we do it to make fun of him. Ben might have survived Roe vs Wade but he wouldn't last in this tread.

 

He's so uninformed that I don't think I've ever seen him make it past the first opposing statements in any argument he's gotten into. You'd think that the desire to win a debate somewhere sometime would motivate him to study up past the opening thesis statement of the people he parrots, so he could make at least one or two more relevant responses. But, nope. Next time out he's just as uninformed as ever, including about what people say on his side of an issue. He's apparently got the Duggar work ethic down pat. Wonder how he does at scrubbing toilets.

[toodles]

Oh sweet Jesus, Bin is such a moron. What's so sad is that he's about to become a father.

This times a million.  Pinhead, whoops! I meant Binhead, needs to just sit down and shut up.  One of these days someone is really going to call him out on his crap and he will be up shitcreek without a paddle big time.  I hope it's on film (or whatever) and off to Youtube it goes.  I cannot stand children telling the grownups what to do and how to think.

Edited August 11, 2015 by toodles

[kokapetl]

This is from Jessa's Instagram, but I'm certain this is Ben's work. How many bibles do you think he goes through each year?

[MyPeopleAreNordic]

I teach at a community college in the South, and this doesn't surprise me at all. I see parents do their best to sabotage their children's college education on a dismayingly regularl basis. It seems to come from insecurity--"if the kids get educated they might think they are better than us! We never went to college and we're fine!"

I do as well, Fosca. I've seen it too - a lot of it seems to be jealousy. Parents are sometimes jealous that their children are getting opportunities and being exposed to things they were not. (I also saw it at the state university where I worked.)

[MyPeopleAreNordic]

1. I think the last people who officially said "Hey, we're trying to start a race war" was the Manson Family and they gave up on that a while ago

2. False religion--ahhh, finally a subject Bin can pontificate about with some semblance of authority

3. Bin, try talking to someone else besides extreme-fringe white supremacists about evolution, you might learn something (so be careful.)

I also thought about the Manson Family when he referenced the "race war" thing.

I hope Ben didn't take physical anthropology at his community college. If so, his teacher has got to be banging his/her head against the wall and wondering how to show his/her face to co-workers in the coming weeks.

Edited August 11, 2015 by MyPeopleAreNordic

[Sew Sumi]

I seriously doubt that Boob and Mechelle know who Jane Austen was. I think their ban on "worldly" reading materials in favor of allowing their loinfruit to be exposed only to the Bible and Gothard-issued/approved book(let)s, is based on fear and ignorance. Not on specific knowledge about what's in any of those "evil" worldly novels.

 

As to Jessa - I'm trying to stay on topic here - for all the Duggars' incessant babbling about how special and religious and extra-specially-righteous they are, does she really know all that much about the Bible? Is she better informed about the Bible's content and meaning than, say, one of her contemporaries who wasn't home-schooled and who wasn't "home-churched" but regularly attended church and Sunday school, and perhaps some kind of Bible study? What kind of religious/Biblical education has Jessa received? Besides being a J'slave to the Fabulously Blessed And Extra-Special Duggar 'rents and absorbing their righteousness and wisdom by osmosis?

 

I could be wrong, but I suspect Jessa's not really all that well-informed about the Bible. By any standards, including that of the "average" fundie. 

This represents what Jessa "knows." She made these posts to IG in the last hour, both have the same Spurgeon fire and brimstone screed attached as her caption. (If nothing else, Ben has taught her to cite her source material. She was plagiarizing shit for the longest time)

 

https://instagram.com/p/6OYG7IjfnC/?taken-by=jessaseewald

 

https://instagram.com/p/6OeZY3Dfia/?taken-by=jessaseewald

 

If nothing else, it shows how SINGLE-MINDED she is about religion/bible study. She's never really posted much beyond these sentiments.

 

eta: I'm at a community college in the ebil, librul Bay Area. Of the actual 18 year olds I see who still live at home (we have a HUGE older adult student body), they are ENTIRELY supported by their parents to go farther than the parents could ever hope to. Then again, a good number of these kids are second generation American, so the first generation born in the US. Pretty much the opposite attitude of the lassiez faire white Southerners, JB Duggar included. Make of all of this what you will. :)

Edited August 11, 2015 by Sew Sumi

[Churchhoney]

This represents what Jessa "knows." She made these posts to IG in the last hour, both have the same Spurgeon fire and brimstone screed attached as her caption. (If nothing else, Ben has taught her to cite her source material. She was plagiarizing shit for the longest time)

 

https://instagram.com/p/6OYG7IjfnC/?taken-by=jessaseewald

 

https://instagram.com/p/6OeZY3Dfia/?taken-by=jessaseewald

 

If nothing else, it shows how SINGLE-MINDED she is about religion/bible study. She's never really posted much beyond these sentiments.

 

 

Wonder who she's so anxious to see damned. Probably us.

[kokapetl]

This represents what Jessa "knows." She made these posts to IG in the last hour, both have the same Spurgeon fire and brimstone screed attached as her caption. (If nothing else, Ben has taught her to cite her source material. She was plagiarizing shit for the longest time)

https://instagram.com/p/6OYG7IjfnC/?taken-by=jessaseewald

https://instagram.com/p/6OeZY3Dfia/?taken-by=jessaseewald

If nothing else, it shows how SINGLE-MINDED she is about religion/bible study. She's never really posted much beyond these sentiments.

eta: I'm at a community college in the ebil, librul Bay Area. Of the actual 18 year olds I see who still live at home (we have a HUGE older adult student body), they are ENTIRELY supported by their parents to go farther than the parents could ever hope to. Then again, a good number of these kids are second generation American, so the first generation born in the US. Pretty much the opposite attitude of the lassiez faire white Southerners, JB Duggar included. Make of all of this what you will. :)

Shit, maybe those heavily underlined bible posts were hers.

[Sew Sumi]

Without a doubt, Kokapetl. She LURVES herself those submission/service verses. She thinks that she's in God's Mostest Elite-est Class (yes, I did those horrible superlatives on purpose. Not that the Seewalds would know the difference). :D

Edited August 11, 2015 by Sew Sumi

[Gweilo]

This is from Jessa's Instagram, but I'm certain this is Ben's work. How many bibles do you think he goes through each year?

 

If you underline EVERY. WORD. isn't that just the same as not underlining at all?

[Sew Sumi]

I guess the positive is that she can't highlight because those pages are paper thin. No wonder she finds the Spurgeon crap to spew. That comes from Ben's Calvinist influence. Think of Calvinists, I think of that asshole at Mars Hill. Like Ben, he tried to make Christianity all modern and edgy, but failed miserably. 

 

I see a sex scandal in Ben's future. 

[becca3891]

I would have thought that P&P would be banned because Lizzie defies her parents and refuses to marry the (venal, stupid) preacher they set up a match with because she's not attracted to him, and ends up being rewarded with a marriage to a hot, rich guy who isn't an idiot.

Well, yes, even if it wasn't romance-focused, the disobeying her parents regarding her marriage would be a deal breaker as well.

 

I seriously doubt that Boob and Mechelle know who Jane Austen was. I think their ban on "worldly" reading materials in favor of allowing their loinfruit to be exposed only to the Bible and Gothard-issued/approved book(let)s, is based on fear and ignorance. Not on specific knowledge about what's in any of those "evil" worldly novels.

Oh, I'm sure they have no idea about her or virtually any other author. Good point! Knowledge is the enemy in their world for sure.

 

Edit: Ok, I steeled myself and watched. Maybe Dante should've pointed out that Bin's a part of a religious movement who's sole purpose is to produce AS MANY withe people as possible. White republicans.

That really is true. Christian Reconstructionism is scary and that is what they believe. 

[JenCarroll]

Wonder who she's so anxious to see damned. Probably us.

Me. It's actually me.

;-)

[Sew Sumi]

She's banned me twice. Doubly doomed to the fire! 

[yogi2014L]

If you underline EVERY. WORD. isn't that just the same as not underlining at all?

I was JUST thinking that

 

I just picture her reading and being like YES serve the lord with gladness * two seconds pass* YES ENTER THE GATES WITH THANKSGIVING!

Its like every line is an earth shattering revelation for them, lol

 

SMDH

[Liz Tudor]

Slightly OT, but I had a college rommate who color-coded with highlighter pretty much all of her Bible. She loved spouting all kinds of out-of-context passages to prove how "right" she was about nearly everything. We challenged her...a LOT. Where does it say we shouldn't smoke (or drink, or insert sin here)? Flip, flip, flip...she'd quote some weak randomness. The best was for our Jewish roomie, whom she flatly said was Going Straight To Hell, Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200. This from the harlot who would HAVE SEX with her boyfriend, then afterward, they'd get on their knees and pray God's forgiveness (the walls were thin. We'd cram pillows in our mouths to keep from laughing). Yeah, I don't think it works that way. Some 25-ish years later, we all still bring her up and laugh about her.

To make this relevant to Bin and Blessa, this is how I see them using The Word and their belief system--to bully people that aren't on their faith wavelength, and to broadcast how very awesome they are and how Jebus is in their back pockets. Again, yeah, that's the way to live your faith and bring people into it. *eyeroll*

Reminds me of the girls in "Saved."

[Defrauder]

She's banned me twice. Doubly doomed to the fire! 

I think getting banned saves you from the fire.

[momofsquid]

Some of the comments on those fire and brimstone posts are amusing, variations on "I want to see cute pictures, not bible stuff." It seems that there are Duggar fans who haven't really caught onto their message yet.

[Quilt Fairy]

I have got to speak up for my girl Elizabeth Bennett. She may have been considered high-spirited for many reasons, but it was not because she refused to marry Mr. Collins. That was NOT an arranged match. Her mother wanted her to marry Mr. Collins because of the entailment of Longbourne, but her father was definitely against his favorite daughter marrying a man who would not be her equal and make her happy.

[kokapetl]

Some of the comments on those fire and brimstone posts are amusing, variations on "I want to see cute pictures, not bible stuff." It seems that there are Duggar fans who haven't really caught onto their message yet.

Jessa would be wise to follow their advice. Did Jessa not notice that religion was clearly never the focus of the show? Before the weddings and babies it was dentistry and field trips to baseball bat factories etc. Didn't she notice how little those things have to do with fire and brimstone preaching? The closest they came to fire and brimstone was Michelle making that dildo at the glassworks.

[Bella]

Jessa would be wise to follow their advice. Did Jessa not notice that religion was clearly never the focus of the show? Before the weddings and babies it was dentistry and field trips to baseball bat factories etc. Didn't she notice how little those things have to do with fire and brimstone preaching? The closest they came to fire and brimstone was Michelle making that dildo at the glassworks.

 

I agree with your first sentence. As for "Did Jessa not notice..." - of course she didn't! The Duggars had no clue (I need a macro for this). They thought the show was ministry, but as you said, the show was not about religion. There is not a person in that family who's figured out that there's a disconnect between what they wanted to have shown and what was shown.

 

In fact, my question would be "Did Jessa ever get a chance to actually watch the show?" I assume she did, but she was probably surrounded by at least a dozen people chattering away all at once about what was going on in the background. She and her sibs may have watched the show, but I doubt they actually saw it.

[JoanArc]

 

Some of the comments on those fire and brimstone posts are amusing, variations on "I want to see cute pictures, not bible stuff." It seems that there are Duggar fans who haven't really caught onto their message yet.

She wont be able to keep her brand clean with Bin's influence. She better Joel Osteen or Joyce Meyer it up pronto. Jessa, Instagram 14 year olds are fickle!

[Gweilo]

I was JUST thinking that

 

I just picture her reading and being like YES serve the lord with gladness * two seconds pass* YES ENTER THE GATES WITH THANKSGIVING!

Its like every line is an earth shattering revelation for them, lol

 

SMDH

 

It reminds me of that episode of the Simpsons when someone (can't remember) calls up Reverend Lovejoy with a problem, and he, jaded, just says "perhaps you should read your bible". When asked what passage, he's just like "meh...it's all good."

 

Having such hateful religious beliefs just seems so exhausting. 

[Marigold]

Those red lines are super straight.  I wiggle all over when I underline. I'm impressed. 

Jessa's Bible, I'm sure. Girls love to underline in Bibles. Some men do but mostly I see women with marked up Scriptures. 

[GeeGolly]

Well if they buy used to save the difference, maybe she reads what others before her have underlined.

[latetotheparty]

I have got to speak up for my girl Elizabeth Bennett. She may have been considered high-spirited for many reasons, but it was not because she refused to marry Mr. Collins. That was NOT an arranged match. Her mother wanted her to marry Mr. Collins because of the entailment of Longbourne, but her father was definitely against his favorite daughter marrying a man who would not be her equal and make her happy.

 

That does it.  Time for a P&P reread.  Or BBC rewatch. *wanders off*

[SpottedCoachDog]

Knowledge is the enemy in their world for sure.

THIS! This sentence says it all. They are not allowed to watch television or read books because one of the cash-cows....um "blessings" might catch a clue that Boob is so full of shit it is coming out his ears! Cults need suppression like normal people need air.

Same goes for what Jessa and Dim know about the Bible. They've been spoon fed the passages that support the narrow cult view. I feel safe in saying they've probably never read it all. The lack of intellectual curiosity in that family is staggering.

[EarlGreyTea]

I have got to speak up for my girl Elizabeth Bennett. She may have been considered high-spirited for many reasons, but it was not because she refused to marry Mr. Collins. That was NOT an arranged match. Her mother wanted her to marry Mr. Collins because of the entailment of Longbourne, but her father was definitely against his favorite daughter marrying a man who would not be her equal and make her happy.

 

I wasn't really equating Elizabeth and Mr. Collins to Ben and Jessa in terms of an arranged match. I was thinking more of how Mr. Collins was a bumbling, ignorant buffoon who was dependent on Lady Catherine. Which Duggar spouse does that remind you of? ;)

 

I had been expecting for Jessa a marriage like Alyssa Webster's fundie political royalty marriage. Maybe the Duggar fame turned off a lot of people in their circle.

 

Mods, is the P&P talk off-topic? Sorry if it is.

Edited August 12, 2015 by EarlGreyTea

[Churchhoney]

Maybe the Duggar fame turned off a lot of people in their circle.

 

Or the clueless, loudmouth backwoods Duggar idiocy. I'm not sure the Gothard crowd would really want hyuck hyuck hyuck hey hey hey as their calling card. It didn't go over well in Arkansas politics, and I doubt it goes over that well in Gothard land either. I suspect a lot of people really think Jim Bob damages their credibility. .

[Sew Sumi]

That does it.  Time for a P&P reread.  Or BBC rewatch. *wanders off*

wet Colin Firth *BBC edition* 

 

*sigh*

 

I wrote my senior thesis on Austen (Persuasion and Mansfield Park...the obvious two were off the table). So yeah as a bonafide Janeite, I am adamant that Jessa personifies Emma. 

[Quilt Fairy]

I second the Colin Firth / Jennifer Ehle version. The most beautiful Lizzie Bennett ever, and well-cast all around.

[Churchhoney]

wet Colin Firth *BBC edition* 

 

*sigh*

 

I wrote my senior thesis on Austen (Persuasion and Mansfield Park...the obvious two were off the table). So yeah as a bonafide Janeite, I am adamant that Jessa personifies Emma. 

 

Yeah, I agree. She's definitely Emma, to the extent that she's any of them.

 

And for a glimpse of her future, we might look to what happens with Emma. She absolutely requires sensible, learned, down-to-earth, kind -- and tough, older -- Mr. Knightley, who knows her inside and out, to have a chance in hell of turning out to be the person she should be instead of the arrogant, entitled, clueless, immature, sometimes thoughtlessly cruel girl that she is. But Jessa got a weak, dumb, ignorant boy who's besotted with her -- one who's at least as silly, preening, insubstantial and know-it-all as Mr. Elton. Doesn't bode well for Jessa's development and ultimate fate, I expect.

Edited August 12, 2015 by Churchhoney

[redlaces]

Stumbled into a book club meeting..