Response to "The Humiliation of Elizabeth Bennet" by Susan Fraiman

This article reminds me of the last one because I can not tell what the point really is. It generally is concerned with the sexism of the society that the story takes place in, but I don't see how that is new information. I feel like we grow up knowing about how sexist old European societies were and how much better things are in America in the present. I don't really need to read details about how things were sexist and unequal for women back then, everyone knows that and reading the book itself was enough of a reminder. Fraiman writes at the end "Why, as some critics have claimed, should Elizabeth alone be above the social decree?" (Fraiman 367) This is an example of how I don't really know what her point was. I never knew about what critics have claimed about Elizabeth, and never thought she was somehow outside the social decree in the story. I also disagree with her idea that Lydia and Wickham's story serves as a darker parallel for Elizabeth and Darcy's. I think there is not much of a reason to believe that, in my opinion it was just a dramatic device that fit the tone of the story because it's simple and all about relationships between men and women and a family. Basically a 'marriage gone wrong' is a perfect conflict for the theme of the story, rather than something like a death or something more dark and serious.

I guess I feel like since things were so sexist back then, in order to write an accurate story set place there it has to be kind of sexist. Pride and Prejudice does show that but also is a sweet story with interesting characters and romance and comedy. The only way around the sexism is to not show it which would be almost impossible, or never tell a story in that time and place. So I don't understand the debates and investigations to the underlying sexism in the story. To me it is necessary to show that part of the culture if you want to be genuine, but I never feel like the sexism takes over the story or is included in any way other than to accurately reflect that time and place.

1. Questions: I can't think of any questions so I want to give a special shout out to Mrs. Bennet, who is probably my favorite character. I thought Mr. Collins was the funniest, but Mrs. Bennet made me laugh out loud a few times while reading this book. Times like where she is so concerned her husband will die in a duel, then upset with him for coming home without Lydia. Or when Bingley is coming to propose to Jane at the end and she runs up to get Jane ready, and someone's like what about Kitty, and she's like "Oh, hang Kitty!" she's just really funny how she is so emotional and 180's her opinions all the time.

BBC Pride and Prejudice Part 2: The Suspense

     The second part of the BBC miniseries version of Pride and Prejudice took a very interesting liberty in digressing from Elizabeth a bit and showing more of Darcy. For me, the book always seemed to focus in on Elizabeth more during the second half; the first dwells on her home life and her sisters a lot, and readers see what Elizabeth thinks and does mainly through interactions with others--talks with Jane, for example--rather than her actual thoughts, which we see a lot of as she tours Pemberly and then in smaller moments that tell us what she thinks as well as what she says to Lydia and Lady Catherine. However, the miniseries, although still primarily focusing on Elizabeth, also shows snippets of Darcy and the things he does independent of Elizabeth's company during the second half.
     One of those moments that I really just love is the entire sequence leading up to the two of them reuniting at Pemberly. Shots cut back and forth between Elizabeth touring the estate with her aunt and uncle to Darcy sword fighting and expressing his desire to head home, riding his horse back onto the grounds, swimming in a pool on his estate, and then walking across the lawn. All of these make the suspense build up in the viewer, as even someone who has never read the book will be able to tell that the two are going to meet again. If they were not destined for such a fate, then why would the scenes keep switching between the two, showing a new side of Darcy, who is open to stripping down and swimming in a pool or go for a walk without putting back on his expensive coat, and also a new side to Elizabeth, who is open to admiring all she sees around her and re-working her old opinions of Darcy after the letter.
     In the book, we only have the latter's views and opinions expressed, and not the former's. All we see is Elizabeth viewing the beautiful grounds and trying to come to terms with the letter. Instead of feeling the suspense of the two meeting again, there is only Elizabeth's disappointment at having turned him down. She expresses it in everything, with constant references to her decision, such as,  "of all this, I may have been mistress of!" and such sentiments along that line. One feels bad for her, and the only suspense comes from wishing Darcy would show up and get this love fest going again instead of knowing he will.

Discussion Questions:
     The first time I read this, I really didn't know when Darcy was going to show up again. Did anyone just know he was going to appear at Pemberly?
      Was Pemberly as magnificently portrayed as the book leads us to imagine?

P&P 1995 part 2

One thing I thought was really interesting was that there were a couple of added scenes that didn't happen in the book. In the books these scenes were talked about or inferred, but none were actually witnessed in the book because these scenes didn't involve Elizabeth at all and the book is from Elizabeth's point of view. The scene where Lydia has run off with Mr. Wickham is added in and shows  how Wickham was just using Lydia and Lydia is very oblivious and naiive to Mr. Wickham's intentions. The mini series also shows a scene where Darcy is doing all that he can to try and find Wickham and Lydia after they run away and Elizabeth finds out. This scene shows how Darcy has really changed and become fond of Elizabeth as much to help track down Wickham and pay him off. Another very big added scene is the wedding scene. The wedding isn't seen in the book but the wedding scene in the series is a nice touch for the ending, and adds some humor when they show how everybody is reacting to the oldest bennet girls getting married.

Pride and Prejudice Part Two

There's a lot of interesting stuff to talk about in the last three episodes of Pride and Prejudice (1995). To take a sort of different approach, I'm going to use this blog post to talk about the elements that were not represented in the original text. The environment and set construction of this miniseries was pretty interesting, and I found that they were surprisingly accurate to what I had pictured in my head. The Bennett house was, in my opinion, portrayed on film a bit nicer than I had assumed it would look based on the book. I don't really know why but I imagined it to look like a lower class of home than it was actually represented to be. I assumed the house would be much smaller, older, and less nicely furnished. I also imagined the pemberly house being a bit smaller and with less windows. The lack of decorations and scenery was sort of surprising.

(Also I realize not all of this is super pertinent to the first half of the miniseries, I watched them all during the same weekend)

1. Does the miniseries portray the Bennett family in a  higher class structure than the novel?
2. If so, to what degree?

The Importance of Pemberly

The arrival at Pemberly is a powerful, and pivotal moment in the film. We are show the vast and beautiful grounds, and the massive, stunning mansion. We watch as Elizabeth drinks it all in, and is enchanted. At Pemberly Elizabeth first begins to warm to Darcy. Pemberly changes everything.
So what is so important and powerful about Pemberly? I believe Pemberly is so important to the story because it is the first time we see Darcy truly vulnerable. We see Darcy in his private home. It is a very intimate setting, and we begin to feel as if we are just now seeing the real Darcy. Removed from social circles where he feels awkward, in the privacy of his own home, around people who have known him from birth, we finally get to see who Darcy really is.
No scene portrays this so literally as the scene where Darcy jumps into the lake. This scene is not in the book, but it plays a very important role in the movie. It is a visual representation of Darcy exposed. He is significantly less dressed than he usually is, behaving in a way he never would if anyone else was around. It is in the vulnerable state that Lizzie bumps into him.
Throughout the Pemberly scenes Elizabeth is able to see Darcy at his tenderest, most comfortable and most himself. That would not be possible without the important and intimate setting of Pemberly. Pemberly is so powerful and pivotal because Elizabeth finally gets to see Darcy for who he is.

1).Why does Wickham choose to run away from Lydia if he knows he can get no money from her? Why not convince a richer and equally naive girl to 'elope'?
2). Does Mr. Bennet really change, or are the feelings of remorse, like he said, really "gone soon enough"?

Part 2 P&P episode 6

In episode 6 of the 1995 edition of Pride and Prejudice, about halfway through, Lizzy returns to the sitting room, that she was forced out of by her mother, to inquire of Jane what has occurred with Mr. Bingley.  As she walks back into the room Lizzy receives the news from Jane that Mr. Bingley has proposed, or that he loves her at least and soon will propose. This scene is strange to me because its is absolutely emblematic of the idiotic nature of how 19th century British society behaved. The notion that your life should consist of guarding what your family has procured through endowment over the years and mony made of investment, as well as spending nearl all you time pondering you affection for a women is just astronomically absurd. I understand that this is the point of the book but this scene just was the straw that broke the camels back.

I did however enjoy the acting here. The giddy nature of Mr. Bingley and how Jane speaks to Lizzy is that oldish english type is entertaining and well done in this scene. The sitting room in which the scene centers doesn well to emphasise the nature of the wealth in the Bennett Family.  This is also the point at where Lizzy  seems to know that she is primed for Mr. Darcy.

• Is not the scene shortly after where Lady Deburg is grilling Lizzy in the ‘garden’ not one of the most entertaining?
• What do we think of Lizzy’s reaction to Jane, do you feel that she is more or less happy for Jane than her other sisters marriage? Why or Why not?

P&P Episode 3

In episode 3 of the 1995 edition of Pride and Prejudice, at the beginning of the episode, two of the sisters come running into the house to tell Elizabeth the news that Mr. Collins has made a proposal of marriage to Charlotte Lucas, and that she has accepted. It seems, as she is often found, Lizzy is taken aback and is producing, in her close up shot, to have a look of disdain. Lizzy seems perplexed, this will continue on to the next scene when Lizzy and Charlotte are by the fireplace, and troubled by the news of her friends impending marriage.

Sitting by the fireplace Elizabeth is exsaterbaded by the idea of Charlotte Lucas marrying Lizzy’s cousin, Mr. Collins. Maybe she is regretting her refusal to his proposal or pondering that her friend can do better or perhaps just thinking how idiotic it is to get married for the economic reasons Charlotte lays out  instead of for love. This response by Charlotte to Lizzys reaction after making the her feelings clear by the look of disgust on her face. Charlotte says, “Why are you surprised my dear Lizzy, do think that he is not good enough to procure my hand”. Or some such thing. Old english is sometimes, while exceedingly elegant, hard to follow. What is interesting about this scene is Lizzy seems to react poorly after being called out by Charlotte, she acts with contempt rolling her head as to indicate she has little time for this conversation and then simple tries to make her ‘friend’ feel better by offering a weak supportive statement.

Also I found it interesting that Mr. collins was in the room during this conversation. I thought this was an great example of how the scene really adds to the conversations intimate nature by having a fireplace, the volume of the crackling was clearly amplified for affect.

• Is Lizzy’s reaction to the news of her friends marriage at all telling of a greater issue with the Elizabeth Bennett characters persona of ever caring and friendly.
• Does this scene support or contradict Jane Austen's stance on marriage when we see Lizzy’s reaction to Charlotte’s telling that she is happy with the Collins proposal because he is economically fit and she as as much of a chance at happyness as anyone who enters marriage for love.

Pride and Prejudice - Part Two

While the totality of the BBCs 1995 Pride & Prejudice was quite enjoyable, I would like to focus on one particular scene – the second to last one where Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth are walking and they become engaged. The setting of this scene was remarkable to myself, as they are seen walking down not the concise, clean-cut, beautiful walking paths seen all throughout the rest of the movie, but rather, they are walking down a muddy, messy, dirt lane with cornfields surrounding them, hardly romantic, dare I say? This seems to symbolize the messy background of their relationships, and how things don’t fit perfectly between them. It shows the impropriety of Elizabeth’s family mixed with the haughtiness that derives from Mr. Darcy’s. Also, in this scene it seemed rather odd how Jane and Mr. Bingley were walking so close to Darcy and Lizzy, and how they didn’t notice this significant exchange going on behind them. The last shot of this scene when the Jane and Bingley are seen walking side by side with Darcy and Lizzy following in almost a direct line shows the preciseness that this was to happen all along. As someone else (I forgot who, I apologize!) mentioned earlier, there was no doubt that each of the couples were going to work things out in the end of this miniseries. The ending was more predictable than it seemed to be in the book and the 2005 Wright’s version; nevertheless, I still found it compelling and equally as respectable. In this depiction, reference to Lydia’s immoral behavior seems to be heightened, beginning with her snorting in the first half and ending with her multiple shots lying in bed with Wickham close by. Why do you think that sex is more heavily implied in this version than others? Also, in these scenes, Wickham is always seen with a drink either on his desk or in his hand. He appears as a lush, and thus more significantly unappeased by his relations with Lydia. Do you agree, or disagree, and why so?

Pride and Prejudice 2

Upon watching the second half of the Pride and Prejudice showing, I found myself looking at the show in the same light as the article we read. To that I mean that the show was obviously more focused on the development of the secondary characters and that their performances were more focused on than that of our main character Lizzie or Elizabeth. For this point I point to the numerous additional scenes that Mr. Darcy is in that are not told in the original story. He actually is seen searching all of London until he finds Wickham and Lidia and then forces Wickham to marry Lidia in order to save the name of Lizzie's family. He also paid off the money that Wickham owed. The amount of time that Lizzie is the only focus in the scenes is truly much less than one would think. This thus lowers the effect of the character development of not only Elizabeth but also that of the infamous Mr. Darcy whose television counterpart is shown to be much more of a heroic and respectable man than that of the original Darcy.  Another element of the lack of focus on his character development is the fact they had an attractive man play him. This more appealing representation of Darcy forces the audience to focus on more of hi physical appearance rather than his character.  This is but a single method that adaptations use to alter the representation of character from their original designs in the source material.

PeePee part deuce

Honestly, who didn't see that ending coming from a mile away? Jane/Bingley and Lizzie/Darcy getting together was about as saccharine and predictable as a happy ending could get (I'm surprised Anita Sarkeesian hasn't victimized herself about it yet). But, oh good god, that slow burn of Elizabeth losing her preconceived notions of Darcy was oh so deeply satisfying. From the moment of the ball I kind of knew that Elizabeth was pretty full of herself. That was something I really liked about the miniseries against the book, we get to spend some time with the other characters and not just with Lizzie's inner monologues. I loved the performances by folks like Mrs. Bennet, Mr Collins, Darcy, and most other characters, Lizzie, Mary, Lydia, and Kitty, I feel, were kind of bland.

BBC P&P 2

For the second half of the P&P viewing, I’d like to take a look at how dreamy Mr. Darcy is. You read that right, dreamy. In the book, we are supposed to view him as pompous and arrogant, and while he is wealthy, he isn’t the ideal man for any woman, for he simply isn’t interested in women. But in the BBC production, Colin Firth plays him, who himself is a looker, let’s be honest. And while Mr. Darcy in the novel is handsome, I bet he was never imagined as Colin Firth handsome. Does this change what the audience perceives of him? Makes him less arrogant, since he’s got a nice face? While I definitely think this does play his character up, making him more appealing to the masses, it does somewhat hinder the true character of Mr. Darcy that we meet in the novel. 

BBC P&P 1

The first segment of the BBC Pride and Prejudice seemed to highlight all of the little things that we just assumed were happening in the book but can still make or break a scene in film. Each character was able to carry themselves in the same way as they would in the book; Elizabeth coming off as more high in society than her family with the posing of her face and walk, Lydia making at the time what would be improper for a young lady like herself to be making, and even Mrs. Bennett’s crazy will for her daughters need to be married off seemingly seeping from her pores. With a more objective view on the whole situation, these small pieces of subtle body language and movement can be almost vital to the true portrayal of a character, especially when the characters come from such an acclaimed novel that many view as having some of the most complex and developed characters in today’s literary world.

Questions: While the expressions and body language are vital, does it add an element that takes away from the true nature of the character since we don’t see that in the novel? Did any of the expressions out of place for a character?

Pride and Prejudice: Take Two

Since Jael and I watched the 1995 BBC version together all in one setting, I think I messed up the last blog post we did on Pride and Prejudice by talking about things that happened in the second half of Pride and Prejudice when technically we weren't supposed to be that far ahead yet so I apologize for that. In that blog I jumped the gun by talking about Elizabeth and the Gardiners first view of Pemberley but since I already discussed that aspect of the movie I won't talk about it again. Instead, I'd like to talk about the way Georgina Darcy is portrayed in this adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. In both the novel and in the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice the reader/viewer are given preconceived ideas about what Miss Darcy is like. These notions are put into the reader/viewers head mainly through what Caroline Bingley has to say about her. From the information we gather, Miss Darcy is presented to us as a stuck up, haughty girl who has been given anything and everything. While the last part may be true, the viewer is in for quite the shock when we are first introduced to Georgina on screen. Instead of being presented with a stately and snobbish woman like Caroline Bingley, we see a young girl with a gentle face and a shy and quiet temperament. This portrayal of Miss Darcy is almost identical to what I pictured in the novel. I was extremely impressed by the choice of actress and by the acting done by said actress.

Discussion Question:

Mr. Darcy is one of Colin Firth's most well known roles as an actor. Did you like or dislike his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the film? Do you think he did the Mr. Darcy that we see in the novel justice? Why or why not?

Pride and Prejudice-Darcy's change

One of the things that I found a bit troublesome about the original Pride and Prejudice was how Mr. Darcy's character didn't seem to change all that much for me.  We do get to see how he changed in that he acted kinder towards people after Lizzies rejection of him, but after watching the television adaptation, I got to see how he changed emotionally as well.  To me, it seemed that his character in the book remained roughly the same from the beginning to the end, as a sort of proud, intellectual man, so I was really happy to see how the adaptation was able to play off more of his emotional state during his transformation.
The first scene that illustrates that's change in the greatest was when Mr. Darcy first proposed to Elizabeth.  Up till then, Mr. Darcy always had this emotionless, almost irritate look to his face and acted in an extremely intellectual manner, never allowing his emotions to show.  This image of Mr. Darcy is immediately shattered in this scene when he enters Lizzies room, practically running, with a look of unease to his face.  He then proceeds to take nearly a full minute pacing back and forth in her room, nervously staring at Lizzie while making vain, hesitant indications that he wishes to speak.  These actions destroy the image that was earlier built of him in the series, with him often standing still with his own thoughts, and it was certainly a change to what I had built of his character from reading the book.
In all, I liked how the television series made Mr. Darcy appear more human as he changed throughout the story.  He never gets fully over his intellectualism, and I'm grateful for that, as it is still a major part of his character.  These subtle changes to his character made me feel happier for both Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth, as now we can see how the both of them change for the better, all for the love of the other.     

Pride and Prejudice 1995

Overall, I found the 1995 Pride and Prejudice miniseries to be an adequate if not comparatively excellent adaptation of the original source material. There's a lot to discuss and it's pretty challenging to narrow the focus down to just one subject, so I'm going to take the most predictable route and just go with a straight-up Lizzie Bennett discussion. Honestly, the main challenge that the filmmakers were faced with was probably the way in which they represented it's lead character. I felt that the Lizzie Bennett of the 1995 adaptation was almost like a different person than the original character. I realize that a lot of people express that concern when they see their favorite characters adapted to a new media, but she just didn't feel like Lizzie to me. First of all she acted like a forty year old woman who was playing the role of like a 17 year old. Which was creepy, personally. Second, I felt like they took some pretty big liberties with her representation. As I watched this 17 year old witty and humorous girl getting portrayed as a quiet and serious looking middle aged woman, I couldn't help but feel that they failed to capture what made Lizzie "Lizzie". That's not to say I didn't like it... but one of the main draws on Lizzie in the book is that she is sharp and really interesting, and they didn't give her the spotlight she needed for this miniseries. Maybe their focus on improving minor characters got in the way, but to me personally, I'm left with two questions:

1. Why does Lizzie not feel like Lizzie, and am I the only person who felt this way?
2. Why is literally everyone else given an improved representation over the source material?

Pride and Prejudice

            Pride and Prejudice makes an interesting adapted form in BBC’s 1995 production directed by Simon Langton. The opening scene starts off by introducing Bingley, one of the main protagonists in the series, who is looking at possibly renting one of the manors in the countryside. He decides to take it, unknowingly starting a spiraling course of events that will alter the lives of all the characters within the novel. As Bingley rides away towards the manor the camera pans over to a single woman standing atop a hilltop over looking the property. This is the main protagonist Elizabeth Bennet.  Already with this scene she has been set up as a character that is a keen observer and watcher.  Elizabeth walks home, opening up a scene to introduce another set of characters. The squeals and cries of girls can be heard within the house as Elizabeth approaches the window to her father’s study. Peeking into the window, a moment of eye contact and smile of understanding is shared between Elizabeth and her father. This sets her a part from her other sisters already, a special bond established between Elizabeth and her father is implied.  As for he elects to grant Elizabeth his attention, while at the same time avoiding the rest of his offspring.

            With this opening episode the personalities of all the characters within the novel is established, except with a slight variation, which might be due to the change of medium. For instance we see a new developed ability for characters to fight the judgments made by Elizabeth.

            Do you think the fidelity of the characters was kept pretty well?

            For the slight alterations made, would you say that it had a positive or negative impact on the story?