I have to agree with you that I can't see an Elizabeth/Bingley pairing if we use the characters written by Austen. Elizabeth has put forth the effort to educate herself as best she can and made use of her father's books. Bingley doesn't seem to care one way or another, his thoughts are so fast that he can't even write legible letters and doesn't even finish his thoughts. Elizabeth and Jane attempt to curtail their sister's actions into something more acceptable in society, however, Bingley doesn't even recognize that his sister's tend to insult and demean his neighbors and the Bennet's especially.
I could see them spending their lives alone and tolerating each other and coming together mainly to have children which Elizabeth would see to it that they are taught and Bingley's sisters would try to thawart her and see to it that the children turn out to be just like Caroline and Louisa. This could be a big problem for Elizabeth. I just can't see their personalities melding into anything beyond a marriage of perhaps contentment and maybe even into resentment later on.
As for the Colonel, well, we don't know much about him except the Colonel's own words of
"Our habits of expense make us too dependent, and there are too
many in my rank of life who can afford to marry without some attention
to money." I believe we were given some info there for a reason.
Now, if we make the Bingley or Colonel characters more Darcy-like, to make him more acceptable to Elizabeth and her spouse having a very happy future, then the pairing would not be Austen's characters.
Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet are the main protagonists in P&P. The other characters have supporting roles and many of them could be interchangeable but I just can't be comfortable with a D&E for anyone else but each other. Just my opinion of course...writers should write their stories however they want, there will always be readers to enjoy them.
I could see them spending their lives alone and tolerating each other and coming together mainly to have children which Elizabeth would see to it that they are taught and Bingley's sisters would try to thawart her and see to it that the children turn out to be just like Caroline and Louisa. This could be a big problem for Elizabeth. I just can't see their personalities melding into anything beyond a marriage of perhaps contentment and maybe even into resentment later on.
As for the Colonel, well, we don't know much about him except the Colonel's own words of
"Our habits of expense make us too dependent, and there are too
many in my rank of life who can afford to marry without some attention
to money." I believe we were given some info there for a reason.
Now, if we make the Bingley or Colonel characters more Darcy-like, to make him more acceptable to Elizabeth and her spouse having a very happy future, then the pairing would not be Austen's characters.
Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet are the main protagonists in P&P. The other characters have supporting roles and many of them could be interchangeable but I just can't be comfortable with a D&E for anyone else but each other. Just my opinion of course...writers should write their stories however they want, there will always be readers to enjoy them.