Response # 2 to BBC's "Pride and Prejudice"

I definitely enjoyed this mini series more than I thought I would. It is very well done as an accurate representation of the book Pride and Prejudice and it really brings it to life on the screen. I think the casting and the setting is the best part in bringing everything together, I imagine that it doesn't look too different than how it is in the book. This feels like the best adaptation one could do for Pride and Prejudice on the screen because it encompasses so much of the original story while changing very little. It keeps all the important elements in and adjusts things so it flows better on the screen but overall it feels like a very faithful adaptation to the story. Colin First and Jennifer Ehle are perfect casting for the two leads and considering the 6 hour length it really doesn't seem like there would ever be a more accurate representation of the story on the screen than this miniseries. I do enjoy the 2005 film more but it is only two hours and there is much less time for the whole story.

I think the most engaging aspect of the story are the scenes between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. I feel like the story revolves around those two so that even when they aren't together a lot of the time you are still thinking about the both of them. Their scenes are very interesting to me because of how the culture they live in is so polite and refined, they have this kind of social barrier up between them but underneath that there is a lot of complicated emotions. For example, early on you aren't sure what Darcy really thinks of Elizabeth, and she seems a bit confused about him as well. But because the way they interact in their society of everyone being all proper, it is even more difficult to tell exactly what they are thinking. Even as their feelings change for each other as the stories go on, they still treat each other in basically the same courteous way. To me that is the most interesting part of the story to see the way they interact in a formal manner while underneath are complicated emotions.

I think my favorite episode is probably episode four because the part where Elizabeth meets Darcy at Pemberly is a romantic and nice scene. I like it because after all the friction between the two it finally feels like there is starting to be some warm feelings on both sides. As the audience we can tell the two have feelings for each other and it is interesting to see how this plays out during Elizabeth's surprise appearance at Pemberly. This scene is good because it feels like there is no other distractions or waiting for the plot to happen, this part is what the story is all about, the two main characters interacting. I think this is also the time in the story where we really are sold on the idea of those two being together and now we want it to happen in the end.

I think it's interesting how polite everyone is to each other in this story. For instance when Lady Catherine shows up at the Bennets at the end and is so rude, Elizabeth still talks with courtesy. After she turns down Mr. Darcy he wishes her good health and all. It's funny to me how it feels built in to their conversations to have a certain amount of courtesy, even when they are fighting or mad at each other, people are still civil in how they talk. It's funny and I like it.

Response # 1 to BBC's "Pride and Prejudice"

There is a lot that could be written about so I will start off by saying how the 2005 Pride and Prejudice has been one of my top 5 favorite movies since it came out. I am not sure why because everything else I like is action and adventure but I really like the directing, acting, and story in the 2005 film. So when we read the book and watched the miniseries I couldn't help but be influenced by the most recent film because I have seen it so many times.

One thing I noticed about reading Pride and Prejudice is how unique the writing style is. Jane Austen has a way of describing things very well, and she will spend long sentences that can be hard to read at first, but in the end she describes what the characters are feeling very well and you feel like you understand the situation better than in many novels I find.

On to the miniseries, I have enjoyed it more than I imagined I would. For some reason Pride and Prejudice is just a well done story that holds up and is entertaining in a way few light hearted stories are. One thing about the miniseries that I really enjoy is the lead actress Jennifer Ehle. I have seen her around in other films and always liked her but not realized who she is. The thing I like best about her performance is how it feels like the same performance that Keira Knightley gave, I think Keira was undoubtedly influenced by Jennifer's performance. Keira Knightley is one reason I love the 2005 film so much, and I was worried no other Elizabeth could come close. I was surprised at how well Jennifer portrayed Elizabeth and how similar her performance is to Keira's which I enjoyed so much.

The miniseries really brings the story to life, with the production and setting and cast. It also did a great job of matching dialogue and creating new dialogue that fits within the story. In contrasting the mini series with the 2005 film I have noticed a difference which leads me to enjoy the film the most. In the film there is obviously less time so they have to cut a lot of the story, and it feels like they cut a lot of the more dramatic elements, and kept the romance and comedy. This makes the film very pleasing to watch because there is not too much serious drama, whereas the mini series is also great but has the time to keep more of the serious drama. Some people may prefer that, but I enjoy the light hearted aspects of the story the most.

In reading the book and watching the mini series, one thing I notice is my perception of the Bennet family wealth seems off. Originally I always felt like the Bennets were rather poor because Mrs. Bennet is always complaining, and they are obsessed with finding rich men to marry. But then when you pay attention you notice that the Bennets have servants and a decent life. So really they are more like middle class, but because of all the focus on finding rich men to marry I kept thinking of the Bennets as a poor family.

Question, 1. How funny was it when Mr. Collins totally messed up on the dance floor and crashed into someone? Pretty funny. OK I need a real question.

Question, 2.When did English culture change to be more modern? It is so different the way men and women interact in Pride and Prejudice, and I was wondering at what time did England change and become less like the way is was in the story. And Why?

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"?