Christmas break was a two-week long sleep, food, and wine fest and it was AWESOME. Turning 27 was less awesome. As I confessed to several on my friends on the anniversary of my birth, that age always makes me think of Charlotte Lucas (Collins). For the 1.5 male readers of my blog, Charlotte Lucas is Elizabeth Bennet's best friend in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. She is, according to Ms. Austen, "a sensible, intelligent young woman, about twenty-seven," and her life SUCKS HUGE BALLS. She is, at 27, considered to be a near-spinster. She is plain and poor, and not particularly romantic. Her main accomplishment in the course of the novel is marrying a fat, stupid, and annoying parson after he is turned down by her friend and his cousin, Elizabeth. She ends up living a somewhat comfortable but sad existence, contriving ways to avoid her husband by sending him on errands in the parish and distracting him with the garden. Elizabeth, as anyone with a modicum of estrogen in their blood will know, ends up marrying Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy is rich, handsome, brilliant, and passionate. Elizabeth is twenty years old.
I guess what I'm saying is that I would REALLY like to not be Charlotte Lucas, but on this latest birthday I can't help but think of her. It's less about who, if anyone, I marry, but about accomplishment. In the world of Austen, marriage is accomplishment, and the younger you are when you accomplish the better (and less despicable) you are. Things aren't that different today, at least as far as accomplishment goes. You got Mark Zuckerface and all his kin making billions by age 22, and you gotta feel a little loserish when you're toiling away in a job that positively bores you and still have student loans to pay off. At age 27.
I know that this is just maudlin reflection and I've also had a few glasses of wine in preparation for tomorrow (a couple really hard meetings happening), but if there's anything I can take from it it's that I probably should spend less time thinking about Jane Austen characters. Seriously, they died at, like, age 40 and didn't have electricity. What the fuck did they know?! Moaaar wine!
For real, though, I want my 28th year to be better than my 27th. I'm not dead yet, but I'm not getting any younger and there really isn't time to waste. At least if I don't want to I don't have to marry a stupid fat parson, so, silver lining?
Really, one is truly better off as a woman in the 20th century, at least in an industrialized western nation. As an obsessed Austen fan, I must note that at some point in my life, I needed to understand that Mr. Darcy was not going to ride up on any horse, let alone a white one. Anyway, according to Frank Capra, you already have a wonderful life, because you have friends. As far as I know, Mark Zuckerface doesn't have too many friends.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to a certain extent... I have been at this job search for two years and everyone around me is getting married or having babies. I guess that's to be expected now that we and all our friends are in our late 20's. It's hard not to feel unaccomplished or pressured. I have to be grateful though, despite not having the dream job, being married, or living in a cool location, etc. I'm not working in a sweat shop or in a field and I have great family, friends, and my health. Life IS better for women in the 20th and 21st centuries as Berta said but it's hard not feeling the same unaccomplished feelings that Jane Austin characters often feel.
ReplyDeleteAllow yourself to have that pity party every once in a while but then it's time to pick yourself up and keep on this journey called Life. Set realistic goals and work towards them. It's all easier said than done, I know it!
As a man, I can't relate to any of your difficulties. We have won and always will. Maniacal laugh....MANIACAL LAUGH!
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