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Siblings- Twins: The Dawbarns http://www.the-cbb.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=7478

Author:	Fiona Mc [ Wed Mar 10, 2010 3:50 am ]
Post subject:	Siblings- Twins: The Dawbarns
The Dawnbarn twins are first mentioned in the St Braivel days in Peggy. They are initially in Mary Lou’s form and described as Maeve Bettany’s friends. They do join forces with Primrose Trevaose and are considered to be some of the naughtiest girls in the school. Often both prefects and mistresses alike will say the Dawbarn twins are born to be hanged. Both girls are usually heavily involved in whatever mischief that goes on in the school such as jiu jitsu and later the midnight feast in the garden. Both girls stay at St Braivel’s until Coming of Age where they are placed in Inter V along with the triplets. It seems Priscilla is starting to grow up whereas Prudence has remained very childish. Despite maturing at different rates, the twins remain close and we do see some lovely moments where Priscilla looks after Prudence in a very non-bossy, I’m the oldest kind of way. (In fact we never find out who is the oldest). Prudence refuses to work and remains very much the naughty girl of the school, Prudence was portrayed as an essentially nice girl who refuses to grow up and is continually into mischief. Neither twin seems to have a nasty streak to them or a temper. Prudence is said to be misnamed and will always say what you least want her to and at the wrong time. In the final year of school however, we see a more grown up side with Priscilla a prefect and Prudence seemingly more mature. So what do people think of them? Do you find them believable? Do you think the prefects, mistresses and Joey Maynard were fair in saying they were born to be hanged when their misbehaviour tended to fall into the nice naughty rather than the nasty (like Margot blackmailing Ted)? Do you like how the twins matured and grew and do you find it believable that Priscilla grew up ahead of Prudence? Please discuss this and anything else you want to in relation to the twins

Author:	mohini [ Wed Mar 10, 2010 6:09 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Siblings- Twins: The Dawbarns
I liked the twins and wish there was more about them. Their naughtiness is more believable and I like the way they mature. Joey and the other mistresses always mention that they were born to be hanged but I get a feeling that secretly they all enjoyed the pranks. With Margot they knew it was nastiness and not naughtiness.And it could not be cured by hanging Margot. On topic of twins, EDB does not show a special relationship between the various twins barring very few incidents. Twins are mentioned as normally as sisters. Only the Trips mention their tripletship and Mc Donalds Fiona and Flora are shown to have a special relation. Look at all the twins in the series Madge/Dick, Peggy/Rix, MAeve/Maurice, Angela/and her twin Carter, Flora and Fiona. None of them are identical nor share special moments or thoughts. Madge goes to support Dick (Because she is his twin we are told ) when Moliie is getiing operated. Wait Wait. I think I will stop now and get my ideas clear. Something is wrong somewhere in the above passage

Author:	JB [ Wed Mar 10, 2010 9:46 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Siblings- Twins: The Dawbarns
I like the Dawbarns. They’re only the girl-girl twins in the series who are recognisable characters (unlike the Carters for example). I see Joey making the “born to be hanged” remark with a shake of her head and a smile on her face. They don’t do anything worse than she did when she was a pupil and, as you say, Fiona, it’s a nice naughtiness. I think Joey (and the staff) would treat more serious misbehaviour in a less flippant way. Moving OT for a moment, do we ever see how Joey reacts to Margot throwing the book-end at Betty? I know a lot of the blackmailing business is kept from her. I’m glad EBD brought the twins to Switzerland and that we see them mature. I particularly like the interaction between them in Coming of Age when Prudence is in bed after a misadventure and Priscilla reminds her of their father’s threat to send her back to England if she gets a bad report, before giving her chocolate. IMO they’re two of the strongest supporting cast members in the later Swiss books and I find it perfectly believable that one grew up faster than the other. There’s a lovely moment in Redheads when Val Gardiner wonders why she should do as Prudence says when she isn’t a prefect and she used to behave so badly. I find this a perfectly logical reaction from a younger girl who’s in trouble a lot and we see Prudence has started mature. I wonder why EBD didn’t have more same gender twins in the series? Perhaps she though they’d take some of the spotlight away from the triplets? ETA - I forgot about the Ozanne twins. They feature heavily in places but I wouldn't say they were distinct characters.

Author:	Mel [ Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:12 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Siblings- Twins: The Dawbarns
They start off in the same form as Mary-Lou, which suggests they are the same age or possibly older, as ML being so clever, is usually one of the younger girls in the form. In Coming of Age they are with the triplets who are thirteen to ML's 16/17. Therefore the twins are 16/17 - is that right? Time goes by, Len becomes HG and is patronising about Prudence now beginning to work, P being still a lower Senior, three years older than Len at 20/21? Can that be? Why were they not wwhisked away like the Ozanne twins who never made sixth form? We never see girl twins achieving do we?

Author:	JB [ Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:17 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Siblings- Twins: The Dawbarns
I think the Dawbarns suffer from de-ageing - a not uncommon complaint in the later books (although some pupils age faster than they should). Quite a few ages go wrong during the Swiss books - Maeve Bettany is born a couple of years before Josette Russell but ends being Head Girl the year after her. I think EBD altered people's ages so that we have two major groups of characters, one fitting around Mary Lou and the other around the triplets. It doesn't make much sense for the triplets to be so much younger than the others in Inter V and for them to be prefects at the same time as some of them.

Author:	Alison H [ Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:37 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Siblings- Twins: The Dawbarns
I think EBD got in a muddle because, as JB said, she wanted to have one group of people revolving around Mary-Lou and another group revolving around the triplets. Jo Scott, Emerence and various other people were also originally in the same form as some of the Gang but then ended up in the same form as the triplets. I like the Dawbarns: they're only "supporting cast" but I feel that I know them better than I know most other "supporting cast" characters. A lot of people are just labelled as naughty, hard-working, lazy or whatever but Prudence and Priscilla are both genuinely three-dimensional characters with believable personalities. Although I do wish that EBD hadn't given them both "P" names and then also made then friendly with Primrose Trevoase, because it confuses me .

Author:	Loryat [ Wed Mar 10, 2010 3:25 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Siblings- Twins: The Dawbarns
I like the twins and feel that later on we do get a sense of two distinct personalities. I think it's quite believable that one matured faster than the other. It's a shame EBD didn't go into this in more depth but, on the other hand, it makes a nice sidestory and an unusually interesting and extended one for the later books. I think the twins are de-aged so that when they come to Switzerland they are about the same age as the triplets other form-mates or maybe even the same age as the triplets? Whether EBD did it consciously or not I don't know, maybe she just forgot the twins orignially started out as contemporaries of ML? At any rate I don't remember anyone saying 'how ridiculous the Dawburns are coming up 22 and still in VIB!'.

Author:	ChubbyMonkey [ Wed Mar 10, 2010 4:05 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Siblings- Twins: The Dawbarns
I have to say that I don't really feel that I know the Dawbarns, so this is proving to be something of an interesting discussion! Admittedly, I do know more about them than most of the other supporting cast, but what I do know could still be written in a fair sized walnut shell. They sound as if they remind me of Ruth and Connie from MT...

Author:	Nightwing [ Wed Mar 10, 2010 8:49 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Siblings- Twins: The Dawbarns
I actually think EBD does quite well with her twins that we see a lot of - the Dawburns and the MacDonalds. Both sets of twins are shown to be close, closer than normal sisters, but to still be distinct personalities. I actually think she did a better job with her twins than she did with the triplets - with the triplets, she was so busy emphasising how different they were that she never seemed to realise that they had a fair few similarities, too. With the twins she gets the balance right. I always assumed the "born to be hanged" thing was said with a bit of a smile and a bit of a groan - as in, the twins are impossible to deal with, as as soon as they've been punished for one thing there they are, busy with the next bit of mischief! I think Prudence was far more of a candidate for "the naughtiest girl in school" than Emerence was, by the way!

Author:	judithR [ Thu Mar 11, 2010 10:00 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Siblings- Twins: The Dawbarns
I did wonder if the Dawbarns were identical? Isn't there a bit at the beginning of Richenda about how alike they are & "three girls as alike would be a problem". The quote isn't exact.

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