An invitation from Bingley to attend the pantomime might not go entirely as expected. December 30, 1811 Darcy laid his newspaper aside. Miss Bingley should not have worried, her little dinner party hardly garnered any notice at all. A few brief words of Sir Andrew’s and Lady Elizabeth’s attendance and little more. Would she be gratified at the mention of her event, or offended that it garnered no more notice that a few brief sentences? … Continue reading →
Each year, Regency era British theaters prepared Christmas pantomimes (pantos) that would begin on Boxing Day and run as long as the audiences demanded them. These were not silent productions, but rather very verbal performances that included the audience as an extra character in plays bearing many similarities to modern burlesque. The Pantomime Tradition The tradition of pantomimes and the pantomime characters in England traces back to medieval theater. Broadbent (1901) notes: A sketch of … Continue reading →
Burning the Yule Log Read the scene: Elizabeth’s First Yule Log here. Read more about Yule Logs here. If you enjoyed this post you might also enjoy:
Continue reading →Kitty experiences Boxing Day charity with the Gardiners. The sounds of hungry children rising drove Kitty from her bed. After brief ablutions, she made her way to the morning room, work bag in hand. Her letter to Lydia balanced on top of the chemisette. Aunt and the children already circled the table. Margaret labored over a picture book whilst Alice carefully sewed something—a doll’s dress perhaps? The boys marched tin soldiers across the plains of … Continue reading →
Mrs. Bennet sets quite the table for her Christmas feast. Later that night, Elizabeth paced the very clean drawing room, waiting for their guests to arrive. Fresh evergreen and holly filled the room with the season’s fragrances, tied with cheery red bows. It should have been a very pleasing scene, but the tension in the room threatened to suffocate her. “Why do you not take a seat, Lizzy?” Aunt Gardiner asked. “I should surely run … Continue reading →
