The Other Bennet Sister, Episode 2 — Recap: Marriage or Misery

Opens on: “In the weeks that followed the disastrous Meryton Assembly, I buried myself in my books, hoping to stave off the pangs of shame and humiliation. It was all part of my plan for a new Mary.”

What happened

The below summary might be viewed as spoilery

The show starts with Mary walking with her book telling us that she is committed to changing how she is perceived. “I would think more and feel less… What could possibly go wrong?”

The answer arrives almost immediately in the form of Mr Collins. We move into the dining room, where Mr Bennet is reading a letter from his cousin. Mr Bennet tells them that Mr Collins is to be the one who inherits Longbourn. Mrs Bennet picks up on the key reason for the visit: “Oh, can you not all see? He is looking for a wife.”

In town we see Mary sitting and watching her sisters. She is joined by Charlotte Lucas who, upon hearing that Mr Collins is coming and “…looking for a wife…”, advises Mary to do everything within appropriate bounds of propriety to attract him. She sees the practical part of it. Jane and Lizzy won’t settle so low as the older two sisters and as a clergyman Mr Collins has modest income.

Charlotte Lucas is the one who says the quiet part aloud. “What has love to do with anything?” For women raised as genteel and left with no secure future, the choice is marriage or misery.

Mr Collins finally arrives and is, somehow, both exactly as awful as expected and worse. He tours Longbourn as if mentally moving the furniture into his future home. He praises the dining table while noting the poor natural light. Such delicate little compliments, indeed.

At lunch, Mary tries. She compliments his reading of grace. She asks after Fordyce’s sermons. She is the only person in the room who seems genuinely interested in the things he thinks make him impressive.

Later, in the tea room, Mrs Bennet is determined to have Lizzy impress Mr Collins. She asks her to play the piano but Mary cannot resist correcting her. A few false notes may be a small price for pleasure, Lizzy says. Then Mary is invited to show them how it is done, and Mr Collins compliments the exactness of her playing. Not warmth, not feeling, but exactness.

Of course Mary hears this as praise.

Then Mrs Bennet pulls her aside and makes things brutally clear. Mr Collins is interested in Lizzy. It’s obvious who she thinks is the correct match. Mary points out that she shares more in common with him and that Lizzy doesn’t have any interest in him.

“Your name has not come up!”

Such a sharp sentence! Such a very Mrs Bennet way of cutting off hope before it can embarrass anyone.

Mr Collins then comes bearing news: There shall be a ball at Netherfield. He asks Lizzy for the first dance and if she can sing, announcing that there is “…nothing I admire more than a woman with a wide vocal range.”

We can see the wheels turning in Mary’s mind. She’s going to sing.

When the ball arrives Mrs Bennet gets busy telling everyone that marrying off five daughters is not easy. Of course she thinks Mr Collins should marry Lizzy, that way Longbourn and the estate stays in the family. Lizzy plays the good daughter and entertains by playing the piano. Not to be outdone, Mary sits down after her to do some entertaining of her own.

She sings.

The scene is painful because it is not simply that Mary performs badly. She tries so hard. She wants to be noticed for the thing she has practiced. She wants effort to count. She wants Mr Collins to notice her.

“Mary, you have delighted us long enough,” Mr Bennet says. It is meant to end the embarrassment, but Mary feels embarrassed by it.

Again, we see how well Mary is regarded by others and how overlooked she is by her own family. Hurt and crying, she is comforted by Mrs Bennet.

That might be the heart of the episode.

Then everything happens at once. Mr Collins proposes to Lizzy. Lizzy refuses him. Mrs Bennet is furious. Mr Bennet supports Lizzy with one of the funniest and cruelest parental speeches in the original story. Mr Collins withdraws in wounded dignity.

And suddenly Mrs Bennet turns toward Mary.

Less than a week ago, Mary was told her name had not come up. Now she is expected to be ready to accept Mr Collins if he offers. She knows he will not choose her. Mrs Bennet insists he will, because who else would marry him?

Imagine hearing that from your mother. Imagine knowing she thinks it is encouragement.

But Mr Collins does not choose Mary. He chooses Charlotte Lucas, who accepts him with clear eyes and no illusions. Charlotte has already told Mary the rules of the game. Marriage or misery. Now she has chosen marriage.

By the end of the episode, Jane is moving closer to Bingley, Charlotte has secured her future, Lizzy has escaped Mr Collins, and Mary is left with the same question she began with: what is a woman like her supposed to do?

Her books offer little instruction and less comfort.

And then Mr Bennet collapses.

Father has found a way out, Mary tells us, leaving mother and daughter with nothing except each other.

Fantastic ending to the episode and such a brutal turn. Episode 1 showed us the wound. Episode 2 shows us the trap: Mary can work on herself, read more, practice harder, think more, feel less. But the world she lives in keeps narrowing anyway.