Last summer, Jennifer Ehle agreed to answer questions put to her by bloggers and fans alike. DaddyPundit at Blogcritics published some excerpts. The whole interview is available here, at the Jennifer Ehle Fan Blog.

My favorite bit?

Of the following men from Pride and Prejudice – Mr. Darcy, Mr. Bingley or Mr. Bennet – which would you want your son to grow up to be like and why?

~ These are the options?! It’s amazing the species continues.

Ouch! Now that you put it like that Jennifer, I guess you have a point.

Update: Thanks so much to Tina from the Jennifer Ehle Fan Blog for notifying us about the Ehle interview. I spent a little more time with the interview, and found this lovely bit as well:

“The relationship between Mr. Bennet and Lizzie was always my favorite part of the book. It was, for me growing up, the love story in the book; and I would weep whenever I reread it and would get to the bit where Lizzie tells Mr. Bennet that Darcy is the best man she has ever known. It is such an important part of the whole female fantasy of the story — the favorite daughter who idolizes her father above all men and then, when he fails to protect Lydia from herself, is exposed as a mere human being. Then, and only then, is the young woman free to find her own mate and open her heart to him.

I suppose I will expose myself as a shallow thinker when I admit to never having considered that particular aspect before, that Elizabeth loved Darcy only after her father’s great failing occurred.

Of course that’s one reason I love Jane so much; no matter how many times you read her you always can find something new.

I will own to be a bit scandalized by this most shocking admission by Ehle:

I have always loved Austen — Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion are my favorites.

Still have not read Mansfield Park or Northanger Abbey.

Not read Northanger Abbey? Somewhere Mags is reading that and weeping.