[Comprehensive Classics] Detective Mary

Lydia has been particularly depressed lately.

When Jane and Mary returned, she gave Mary the five hats she had lost in the bet, and the long confinement ended.But when she was embroidering, when the day Lydia was looking forward to day and night came, she was not so happy.

Because the days after the lockdown ended were not as beautiful as she had imagined.

The wedding of Jane and Mr. Bingley is coming soon, parents and Jane are busy all day preparing for the wedding.Yesterday, Mr. Bingley just wrote a letter, saying that he would return to Netherfield in three days to participate in the wedding planning army, which made Longbourn even more upset.

As soon as everyone was busy, Lydia, who was the most favored and lawless, naturally lost her status as a baby in the family.Especially Mrs. Bennet, who spoiled Lydia too much. She is so busy with her eldest daughter's wedding that she has no time to care what Lydia thinks.Lydia was self-willed several times, but all she got was reprimand and scolding.

Where did the original Lydia suffer from such grievances?

It all began when Mr. Bingley moved to Netherfield Manor.

Thinking about it carefully, it was at the ball where the thieves were provoked that Mary made a big show, and after that, she attracted the attention of others again and again, and became eager to communicate with others. .

All the attention was taken away by Mary, who was usually the most inconspicuous and unlovable, how could Lydia be reconciled.

She was very much distressed, and even a little angry that Mr. Bingley had moved near Longbourn.

Especially the sadder Lydia was, the more she cared about what Mary had said.

She was right when she said that Mr. Wickham would leave him for other rich ladies if they had little money to inherit; Naturally, she will come back and try to please Lydia.

And since Miss King left Meryton, and Lydia met Mr. Wickham in the street, he has returned to his former kindness.

Mr. Wickham is Mr. Wickham, still so handsome, still so considerate, and every word he said entered Lydia's heart. Lydia should have been happy, but whenever she tried to be happy, Mary A half-smile expression will appear on Lydia's face first.

... nasty Mary! !

I just know how to show off the books, deliberately talk against everyone, and my mind is full of how to show off, I hate her to death!

Lydia doesn't want to admit that Mr. Wickham is a greedy and lustful person, but Mary's words are always lingering in her mind, making Lydia reluctant to alienate Mr. Wickham, but also afraid to agree to his dance. , in her 15 years of life, she still had such a complicated mood once.

Lydia had vaguely dismissed Mr. Wickham's invitations and advances for several days.What makes her even more uncomfortable is that she is depressed and anxious here, while the culprit of everything, the annoying Mary, still looks leisurely.

Just like today.

Early in the morning, Mrs. Bennet ordered several Bennet sisters to do this and what to do, and each of them received rather trivial tasks.Lydia was whining and complaining with Catherine, but Mary rolled up her sleeves and quickly finished her work. Then, with a pen and paper in hand, she preemptively found a place with good light in the living room, and began to consider her serialization. .

By the time the rest of the Bennet sisters were done, Mary was already writing and drawing on paper.

Seeing her stop writing, Elizabeth asked curiously, "Are you thinking of a new story, Mary?"

Mary: "Yeah."

Jane: "Mary said, this time I'm going to write a circus story."

Elizabeth asked in surprise, "Murder in the circus?"

Mary: "..."

Why is this the first reaction? Suspense reasoning is not just a murder case, okay?Dead people every day is too bloody and violent.

"It's theft," Mary explained.

"Theft?"

Elizabeth blinked: "It has something to do with the circus? Tell me your idea!"

What a nice thing to hear!Lydia thought angrily.

Isn't it detective novels? Lydia finds them boring to death-of course she thinks any book is very boring.A while ago, Jane sent home a brand new magazine, saying that Mary’s serials were published on it. Mr. Bennet read it several times without saying anything, and when he came back, he left a story about Mary and a story about Mary.

What is so rare?

Lydia was jealous and a little unwilling.Seeing that Jane, Elizabeth, and even Catherine became curious and sat next to Mary, she snorted coldly, took a step without saying a word, and sat down stiffly.

"What are you doing!" Catherine was hit hard by Lydia.

"Why," Lydia stared back, "can't I sit in the living room?"

This is what it means to follow everyone to listen to Mary talk about ideas.

Lydia listened to Mary talk about ideas?

I have to say that Mary thought that the little sister would be angry and depressed, but she didn't expect Lydia to come over to hear her story—if she is interested, at least read the ongoing "Serial Killer Chess Game" !

But as Lydia herself said, she wanted to sit in the living room, and no one could stop her.

So Mary just glanced at her in a little surprise, then looked back at Jane and Elizabeth.

"Same as last time," she said, "I only have a rough idea, and the final draft may be completely different from the current idea."

"Then let's talk about inspiration," Jane reassured, "A good article always needs revision."

"The inspiration comes from a wealthy American businessman who runs a circus called pt Barnum."

"what."

When Elizabeth heard this, she showed a clear expression.

"It's the Barnum who played for the Queen!" she said.

"What?" Catherine asked blankly.

Guess also know that Elizabeth will know of Barnum's existence.

A few years ago, their father, Mr. Bennet, brought back an article about Mr. Barnum in the magazines and newspapers.It was also in that article that Mary knew that Barnum was still alive.

His reputation spread throughout the European and American continents decades ago. In 1844, he even brought his circus to London and performed for the Queen at Buckingham Palace, which was a sensation at that time.

Elizabeth also likes to read on weekdays, so she has read this story.

"This Barnum, his circus once caused a sensation all over the world, and there is no other reason, and his exhibition is very special." Mary explained to Catherine.

"What's the difference?" Catherine asked.

"Dwarves who juggle, black housemaids from the Revolutionary War, twins with bodies growing together, bearded women, and more."

"Woman with a beard?!"

Catherine repeated in horror: "How can there be bearded women in this world?"

Whether it is true or not, Mary doesn't know, after all, she has never seen Barnum's circus exhibition with her own eyes.

The understanding of this legendary figure is thanks to Hugh Jackman's music movie "The Greatest Showman". After watching the movie, she went to get a general idea of ​​what the real PT Barnum is like.

The storyline in the movie is inspirational and gentle, which strengthens romance and downplays reality, just like a dream.But in reality, PT Barnum has been criticized and reprimanded.

Countless people said that he despised human rights, and said that he used lies to trick the audience into buying tickets. Mary didn't know the specific situation, but according to the theory of modern public relations, Barnum has a more resounding title than the king of the circus.

——The king of public relations.

Mary has never studied public relations. As an ordinary person in the 21st century, according to her layman's perception, Mary thinks that he can still be called the king of marketing and packaging in the [-]th century.

People in the [-]th century accused Barnum of lying about his exhibitions so that people would ignore the items for sale.However, they would never have imagined that in the past hundred years or so, the "immorality" that people still criticize in words and writings will become an extremely common thing.

After the development of capitalism after World War II, society has undergone earth-shaking changes.Under the guidance of consumerism, everything in society, even people, is an object that can be consumed by entertainment.People's spiritual life has entered an almost carnival state - especially after the Internet entered every household.

Everything is a commodity, and any commodity can be packaged.After this phenomenon became more and more common, what we gradually consumed was no longer commodities, but a false "spectacle".

Everyone is immersed in a spectacle society full of advertising and marketing guidance, where there are shows, performances, and false "public relations" everywhere. As for what it is and what its essence is, it is not the most important thing.

Mary has long been accustomed to such business methods, so when she read the comments and news criticizing Barnum these days, she was quite moved by the strong contrast.

In contrast, it is no wonder that some realist writers would rather miss the aristocratic style of the past than join forces with the emerging bourgeoisie.

Mary, a modern person who claims to be sober, has a lower moral bottom line than people in the nineteenth century.

This gave Mary a slightly different perspective on the case ahead.

“I also wanted to write about a circus like this,” she said, “like Barnum’s circus, the members are either dwarfs or disabled, and they rely on their own defects to make money to satisfy people’s curiosity.”

"Then what does that have to do with the theft?" Elizabeth pressed.

Mary was lost in thought for a moment.

She carefully considered the words, and at the same time quickly cleared up her thoughts.

"Because," she said, "the owner of the circus announced on his first day in Paris that he was not here to perform."

"Then what is his purpose?"

"He's going to take his circus members," Marie said in a long voice, "to steal the most precious painting in Paris—the Mona Lisa."

The author has something to say: Jiang Hua has never read about the subject of public relations, but just checked the character information and evaluations of later generations after watching "The Greatest Showman", and knew there was such a thing.So I chose the entry point I have learned to start the idea.Jiang Hua personally agrees with Debord’s theory on the society of the spectacle, but I also know that many scholars hold opposite opinions on his theory. In terms of literature, history and philosophy, there is no right or wrong. Welcome to hit me in the face with a book, I may not modify the content of the article, but I will definitely read the book w