| abstract
| - Darlene Conner, played by Sara Gilbert, is the second eldest child to Dan and Roseanne Conner, sister to Becky Conner, D.J. Conner, and Jerry Garcia Conner, wife of David Healy, and mother of Harris Conner Healy. Darlene was born in 1977 in the town of Lanford. She initially took after her father, enjoying sports and manual labor, and was remarked to be Dan Conner's son despite sharing her mother's quick wit and smart mouth; also like her father, she was a bit lazy and looked for opportunities to dodge major efforts. In the earlier seasons, Darlene was an underachiever at school, often letting her participation in sporting activities take priority over her homework and upsetting teachers by barking in class. Her performance in both basketball and baseball (pitching) was considerable (at least for the first three seasons) but she had to back out of one game mid-round in Season 1 due to needing her ruptured appendix removed; however, thanks to her contributions her team still won in a landslide. Following her scribbling of a poem that was acclaimed by her school's fine arts department- as well as moving her mother and aunt Jackie to tears- Darlene took an interest in creative writing and expanded on that in later years. Later in high school, her poor grades were more a result of disrespect and skipping classes than lack of work quality; however, she was nonetheless accepted early into a Fine Arts college in Chicago, and subsequently studied there for three years- with Roseanne proudly pointing out that she did so without a scholarship or excess financial support. Darlene also grew increasingly socially isolated in high school, sinking into a depression that her parents did not know how to deal with- although this partially abated after she started working with and dating David. After Becky eloped- setting herself up for a challenging few years away from her family- Roseanne and Dan looked to Darlene to exploit her potential as her sister had failed to. Her pregnancy forced her to take summer school to finish her last year on-time, but Darlene had been prepared for this last hurdle for some time; she received at least one excellent job offer while she was at college, and ultimately started a part-time writing job when she took time off during her last year. Her relationship with her father was especially close; the two would often spend Saturdays working on the boat in the garage, which was to be for Dan and Roseanne's retirement. They both followed the Chicago Bulls in basketball and the Chicago Cubs in baseball. He was more protective of Darlene when she began dating boys than he was of Becky, and Darlene would often be less sarcastic towards her father than towards her mother- although he reacted (initially) much more negatively than Roseanne when Darlene announced she was pregnant, since he always expected more out of her potential than he did of Becky's. Her status as Dan's favorite was confirmed at her wedding when he revealed a secret bank account which he'd been keeping for Darlene as a gift. Roseanne and Darlene's relationship was more adversarial in nature but the two also shared a wicked sense of humor and enjoyed baiting and dominating their nearest and dearest. Darlene was definitely "Roseanne Junior"; her personaity and appearance were definitely closer to her mother's, and as she approached adulthood so did her hobbies. The similarity of their sarcastic, dominating demeanors was a constant source of conflict between the two, but as their adult relationships settled down, they developed a mutual respect for each other. Roseanne would often push Darlene hard at school, as she recognized that Darlene was capable of excellent, creative work but would slack off without constant supervision, which Darlene resented. Darlene would also come back with a witty comment or two, observing that her mother solved problems the same way, and also picked up her abilities to control weaker family members. There were boundaries, and Darlene would never, ever do anything genuinely malicious to any of her family, but she would often stand her ground when pushed and her air of indifference could sometimes be mistaken for callousness. Although Becky was usually considered Roseanne's favorite daughter, it was Darlene whom she looked to for stability more often. Despite pushing her much harder than she did Becky, Roseanne was also more supportive when Darlene truly needed it but would not admit it- especially on the few occasions when Dan became hostile over her relationship with David. Although she often remarked on how she and Dan did not know how to deal with Darlene, Roseanne recognized herself in Darlene on many occasions; the difference being that Darlene grew up in poverty, while Roseanne grew up with a distant mother and an abusive father. Roseanne was visibly upset when she learned Darlene and David were planning to leave the Conner house just after Harris was brought home from the hospital, and felt reassured when she learned that Darlene did want to stay longer; she just thought she was in her mother's way. Darlene had a relationship fraught with conflict and affection with her older sister Becky, who (initially) made much greater academic and social progress than she did. The pair shared a bedroom as teenagers and frequently bickered -- for example, Darlene would call Becky "Barbie Doll", while Becky would often call Darlene "Butch". They could also be mutually supportive, particularly giving each other advice or protecting one another from snooping parents. For example, Becky frequently gave Darlene advice on boys when she first showed an interest; Darlene in turn made every effort to cover for Becky when she and a friend got drunk at age 14, and also gave Becky advice at one point when she became worried about her marriage (though she and Darlene had been drinking schnapps and Becky was a bit tipsy). In adulthood, the two sisters saw one another less frequently, but they each had much greater respect and affection for one another; Becky consoled Darlene when her daughter Harris was born premature, and Darlene was the first one to learn Becky and Mark were expecting and congratulate them. Whereas Becky eloped and made questionable personal decisions, Darlene, defying all earlier expectations, went to college and so began heaping scorn on her sister's academic prowess, often calling her stupid. Regardless of whether or not Becky was in the right in their arguments, Darlene was easily able to best her in their verbal repartees, and they usually ended either in a stalemate or Darlene victorious (though in either case, she usually would get bored and leave). Darlene had a slightly closer relationship with D.J. than Becky did -- Becky would see D.J. as an annoyance and someone who prevented her getting whatever she wanted. Darlene and D.J. would often spar verbally and physically (off-screen) during which Darlene would torment him incessantly (although it was often warranted) but in more private moments, she would always look out for her little brother, giving him advice when he couldn't come to their parents. Her relationship with her Aunt Jackie was fairly close also, although she copied her mother in criticizing certain aspects of her life, specifically her inability to commit to men. Jackie often provided a sympathetic ear when Darlene and Roseanne locked antlers, and sometimes duked it out with her sister to help Darlene. Despite being the less socially pleasant one to be around in almost any circumstances, Darlene is generally closer to her family than Becky is-though part of this stems from the fact that her parents adore David (her boyfriend and later husband), while Roseanne has voiced her dislike of David's brother (and Becky's husband) Mark many times.
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