Post by LADY CATHERINE DE BOURGH on Sept 17, 2011 4:19:52 GMT -5
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I am most seriously displeased.
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I am most seriously displeased.
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Alias: Nessie
Other Characters: Holly Uror, Richard Plantagenet, Claudius Chandler
Rewritten City Found Via: Fanfiction.net
Contact: PM
Comments: Rewritten City For The Win.
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00I. Lady Catherine Beatrice de Bourgh
0II. canon ‘Pride & Prejudice’ by Jane Austen
III. years of age 60
0IV. orientation Straight
00V. social status Elite
0VI. occupation Lady Catherine has never done a day's work in her life; she married young and into a class and household where no work was required of her.
00I. play by Kelly Bishop
0II. body type Catherine has never been on the large side but her obsession with fad diets in her younger years (and even now) mean that she’s skinnier than most. She also makes a big fuss over her skin, insisting on it being as pale as possible the better to show off the ‘blue blood’ running through her veins.
III. height Five foot seven
0IV. eyes color Brown
00V. description Lady Catherine is perceived by most people as arrogant, rude and conceited, full of 'dignified impertinence'. However there are a select few who dote on her and see her as the epitome of kindness and charity (chief among them Mr. Collins). As she is head or a member of several important charitable organizations she tries to give such an impression to everyone, stressing in conversation about her devotion to helping those less fortunate than herself (though in truth despite her positions in these societies she does little to uphold their motto's). Lady Catherine, being as high up on the social ladder as she is, certainly dresses the part. She is almost always in a skirt and heels, if not a dress suit. She is particularly partial to Chanel and has the same Chanel suit in many different colours. On occasion she will break from the norm and attempt to dress more casually, but casual for Catherine is a dress shirt and well tailored trousers. She doesn't own a single pair of jeans (or trainers for that matter). She's as fussy about her clothes as she is about her hair; if there's even the slightest crease in her suit or a wrinkle in her stockings she'll go ballistic.
00I. overall personality Lady Catherine is what one would go so far as to say as a prime example of the worst shortcomings of the upper classes. In other words, she's arrogant, egotistical, nosy, bossy and incredibly haughty with it. She frowns on anyone below her in status, often 'forgetting' that she married to gain her elite title and was in fact born in the high class. When you don't address her as 'Lady Catherine' and call her simply 'Mrs. de Bourgh' or, heaven forbid, just 'Catherine', she will probably snub you and despise you forever. She has a habit of stating her opinions and ideas in a very decisive tone, indicating that she is not used to having her opinion contradicted. Lady Catherine is very intimidating what with her habit of looking down her snooty nose at people but she is often underestimated due to the fact she tends to dress in pastels. This is a big mistake to make; she has one of the worst tempers in New York City. To make matters worse the slightest little thing will set her off, from her morning coffee being too cold to the weather report hinting at rain. Some people think Lady Catherine is really a nice person inside but she just hides it inside a tough shell, others think she only became so dislikeable and moody after the death of her husband...who knows? Maybe someday they'll find out.
0II. strengths Bossing people around, getting her way, the ability to talk the hind leg off a donkey
III. weaknesses Her pride, her inability to see others opinions/points of view, money
0IV. goals Find a good husband for her daughter
00I. notable family & friends
Father: Neville Fitzwilliam (deceased)
Mother: Rachel Fitzwilliam (neé Beckett) (deceased)
Sister: Anne Darcy (neé Fitzwilliam) (deceased)
Brother: (Name unknown, father to Colonel Fitzwilliam)
Nephews: Fitzwilliam Darcy (alive and well)
Colonel Fitzwilliam (the same)
Niece: Georgiana Darcy (the same)
Husband: Sir Lewis de Bourgh (deceased)
Daughter: Anne de Bourgh (alive but sickly)
Lady Catherine also has a great deal of upper class acquaintances whom she would call friends, for name dropping purposes, when in reality she hardly knows anything about them. Jane Eyre is a sort-of friend as Lady Catherine admires her paintings but is more concerned with giving her etiquette lessons.
0II. overall history Catherine Beatrice Fitzwilliam, as her name suggests, was born into a family of high social status and superior rank. She was the loudest of the Fitzwilliam's three children to be certain, and could throw a spectacular tantrum if she didn't get her way. She had a terrible temper even at a young age, and was the terror of her siblings.
As she grew older her temper remained the same but she was less likely to indulge in fits of fury. Instead she restricted herself to sneers and snide remarks; this proved useful when she entered high school (a private school with an excellent reputation, nonetheless) when it came to snubbing those she deemed unworthy of her company (quite a few people, as it turned out). It was during this time that she became the unofficial leader of a small group of girls whose frequent topics of conversation included what was 'in', hairstyles and, to a great extent, ponies, of which all the girls had one.
Except Catherine.
Not that she was about to let them know this. She lied about 'her' pony ('Whinny'fred/Winifred) and none of the girls ever found out. A pony was the one thing Neville and Rachel Fitzwilliam weren't going to shell out money for; if Catherine had one then Anne and her brother would want one too, and they most certainly didn't have the time or inclination to run a ranch out of their (admittedly large) grounds.
Aside from her lies about ponies and frequent catty comments about other girls' dress sense, Catherine was in fact a pretty good student. She passed all her classes (although she struggled with Maths) and did her homework on time, at least (though whether it was her who did said homework or her after school Maths tutor is a point of debate).
It was during her high school years that Catherine made an acquaintance of Lewis de Bourgh. He was quite a soft spoken and reserved young man, easy for Catherine to twist round her little finger if she so chose (which she most certainly did). It was evident that Lewis didn't mind her particular style of affections (i.e bossing him about) and in fact seemed to appreciate being given such direction. Nor did he seem to mind Catherine's obsessions with clothes, fad diets and having a manicure almost every fortnight. He was a very charitable young man and, even during the hectic last few weeks before school ended, kept up with his various charitable organizations of which he was a member.
A few weeks after graduation, Lewis departed from the area and was said to have made his way to London. Upon his return the knowledge was circulated that he had been knighted, making him an all the more eligible young man. Needless to say Catherine felt very smug about being of such a close acquaintance with him.
It was not long after this that Sir Lewis de Bourgh plucked up the courage to ask for Catherine's hand in marriage. His parents, it was said, were most seriously displeased at the idea of him marrying below his newly gained status, but their prejudices were seen to have been unfounded; upon meeting Catherine they took an instant liking to her and the wedding was arranged for early the next year.
It was two years into their marriage before the de Bourgh's decided they wanted to start a family of their own. Catherine had amused herself the past two years with all the delights and delicacies of the elite lifestyle (not to mention henpecking her husband) while Lewis shrugged it off as just being her way and continued with his charity work, in which he encouraged Catherine to be a participant.
Anne de Bourgh was born late in the de Bourgh's second year of marriage. Catherine was delighted at having a daughter of her own, intending to raise her with all the luxuries she could afford (including a pony). However it soon became apparent that Anne de Bourgh would be unfit for many activities let alone riding a horse. She was of a sickly constitution from birth, very pale and wan, and her mother's love of dressing her in pink did little to help her complexion.
Soon however the task of looking after the child became too much for the self-serving Catherine de Bourgh and she hired a nanny, Mrs. Jenkinson, to do the job for her. She still fawned over her daughter and boasted of her apparent beauty and talent to anyone who would listen, but it was clear that Anne had turned out to be a disappointment to her mother.
It was not long after Anne turned five that her father passed away. To all outward appearances Lady Catherine was distraught but in truth she was not as cut up by her husband's death as many would have expected. She wore black for the customary period, made an eloquent, seemingly heartfelt speech at his funeral and visits his grave every fortnight, although the latter may just be to keep up a good public image.
After Sir Lewis died Lady Catherine took it upon herself to continue his charitable endeavours and was surprisingly good about it. As head of one of the committees she over-ruled her fellows on one occasion to procure a job for an unemployed clergyman by name of Mr. William Collins; the man was eternally grateful and showered her Ladyship with praise (a feat which he still manages today).
At present Lady Catherine resides at the estate of Rosings Park in the suburbs of New York City with Mrs. Jenkinson and her daughter. She commutes to the city centre on an almost daily basis, if not for one of her many charity or club meetings than for one of her beauty regimes or some retail therapy (she seems to indulge in a lot of the latter two). Her current goal in life is to see her daughter as happily married as she was, though whether her plans will come to fruition is anyone's guess. One thing is for certain; if they don't, Lady Catherine will be most seriously displeased.
III. sample postThe series of events in the life of Lady Catherine de Bourgh concerning Miss Jane Eyre were not numerous; indeed they had only met three times before today. It was the last occasion, however, that merited discussion, not only in that the artwork Her Ladyship had commissioned for Rosings' dining room was finished but also in that Her Ladyship's opinion of Jane had been drastically altered.
Jane had enquired about etiquette lessons and in doing so informed Lady Catherine de Bourgh of her background and her recent rise in fortunes (monetarily, at least). Needless to say Her Ladyship had been shocked at the former and delighted at the latter; she, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, owned artwork from Miss Jane Eyre herself! Of course, despite the fact Lady Catherine liked Jane Eyre well enough (and all the more so now), that didn't mean she wasn't painfully aware of her need for the lessons she asked for. Therefore, when Jane requested etiquette lessons, Her Ladyship was only too happy to oblige - she enjoyed telling people what to do, after all, and what better a topic to do so with?
Having issued Jane instructions on how she should look for her first lesson, Her Ladyship had in the time between their last meeting and this, drawn up a curriculum of sorts in her pink leather notebook. She was looking this over as she heard Jane arrive and, having placed her notebook in the pocket of her pink cardigan, Her Ladyship descended the manor's grand staircase and made her way to the sitting room.
If Her Ladyship was pleasantly surprised at Jane's posture she didn't show it. Instead she made her way over to where Jane sat, looking at her with a critical eye (so critical it involved her extracting her rarely used designer reading glasses from her breast pocket and putting them on).
"My dear girl, I'm afraid a ponytail is not exactly 'proper'. Nor do those shoes match that dress."
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SYR INTEGRA of CAUTION 2.0 created this, modified by Yols with Shakespeare lines.
