MovieChat Forums > Miss Austen Regrets (2008) Discussion > Widower with six children - question

Widower with six children - question


Hi,
I understood that Fanny ended up marrying the widower with six children, and know that Jane's last line to Fanny mentioned him. But when was he first mentioned in the film? Does anyone remember who he was supposed to be, or why Fanny ended up marrying him? Was it for money, to help her family?
Thanks!

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I don't remember when he was first mentioned in the film, but the man Fanny eventually married was a wealthy baronet, Sir Edward Knatchbull, who had been friends with her family for a while. He was indeed a widower with six children; and he and Fanny had nine children of their own, which is quite a lot considering Fanny was 27 when they married (Fanny's oldest son was elevated to the rank of baron, and one of her descendants married a Mountbatten, who was a great-great-granchild of Queen Victoria). I don't know if it was affection or for comfort that Fanny married him, but I would imagine helping her family was definitely a major reason for the union. Fanny had been a surrogate mother to her ten siblings since she was 15, and had run her father's house since then. And after her marriage, Fanny still had her share of trials, five of her children and most of her stepchildren died before she did.

Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite.

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SAAAAAD

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(Fanny's oldest son was elevated to the rank of baron, and one of her descendants married a Mountbatten, who was a great-great-granchild of Queen Victoria)

and related to QEII and Prince Philip.

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In the film, Sir Knatchbull is named by Fanny as one of the men sitting around the table playing cards when she and Jane are peaking in the window. However, I didn't think that Jane and Fanny were referring specifically to him when they were playfully vying for "the widower with 6 children," I understood that that was just a joke between them, and that they had foretold the situation of the man she actually ended up marrying was a little bit of irony within the world of the movie.

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Very sad.

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Nine kids, How could it have been anything else but love with all those kids running around and after each one of them they agreed to have yet even more. How does helping her family by monetary means explain this. There must have not been much left for them with her own family dividing up cash for so many.

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