*

In the book "Pride and Prejudice" Lydia's elopement with Mr. Wickham violated
everything that was considered decent and appropriate in the society at the
time. Victorian society was very oppressive for women but Lydia stepped out of that and
into what would later become a bad marriage that would end in divorce. Lydia marries
because of romance and lust for Wickham.

Lydia's elopement with Mr. Wickham makes the other sisters appear more chaste and
appropriate and also allows Mr. Darcy and the Colonel to further explain their goodness.
Lydia's impulsive actions are the opposite of her sister's actions which results in their
marrying their intellectual counterparts and making good marriages.

Explain the ways in which Lydia's elopement with Wickham further the
plot, and portray theme of "Pride and Prejudice."

The elopement is a crucial step in the plot development. Keep in mind that as Lydia nad
Wickham are eloping, Elizabeth is in the throes of confusion over her attitude towards
Darcy. She has regretted her harsh words towards him earlier on in the story, and has
spent a wonderful couple of days at his home. She heard glowing reports from his
housekeeper and staff about his kindness and good character, and he himself has been all
graciousness and civility and warmth to her and her aunt and uncle. So, she is really
wondering if her original assessment had been correct. She still battles with holding
herself above him though.

When they get the news of the elopement, Elizabeth realizes that she is truly out of the
running for Darcy; she is now linked to a huge family scandal. This makes her long to be
in Darcy's favor even more. Then, when she discovers, later on, how Darcy actually
stepped in and made the situation right, it solidifies her good opinion of him, and her love
for him. The elopement brought her down in pride just a bit, and elevated him in her
eyes; this all supports the main plotline of Darcy and Elizabeth overcoming their
preconceived notions about one another.

This event also allows Darcy to show Elizabeth that he harbors no ill-will towards her,
and to show her that he wants to make up for his messing up the situation with Jane and
Bingley. It's a chance for him to show her just how good he is, and how wrong she was
about her assessment of him.

The elopement was a critical plot element in the storyline, one that turned Darcy and
Elizabeth towards one another, revealing to each their own weaknesses and flaws, and
providing a chance for them to make amends.

1
Sketch the plot pyramid for "Pride and Prejudice."

1. The Initial Incident:The story begins with the arrival of the rich and handsome
Mr.Bingley who occupies Netherfield Park as a tenant in the county of Hertfordshire a
little before Michaelmas (29th of September). The Bennets are his immediate neighbours
and Mrs.Bennet whose main preoccupation in life "was to get her five daughters
married" considers him to be a suitable match for her eldest daughter Jane and does her
best to bring Jane and Bingley together. However, the plot proper begins In Ch.3 in the
Meryton Assembly Ball with Darcy the friend and confidant of Bingley refusing to dance
with Elizabeth and insulting her by remarking, "she is tolerable, but not handsome
enough to tempt me."

2. The Rising Action: The plot becomes 'complicated' with Jane Austen ironically
revealing to the readers and not to Elizabeth that Darcy much against his wishes has
begun to be attracted to Elizabeth when she visited Jane who had taken ill and was
staying at Netherfield Park: "Darcy had never been so bewitched by any woman as he
was by her. He really believed, that were it not for the inferiority of her connections he
should be in some danger." (Ch.10). The plot becomes further complicated with the
arrival of Collins who after failing to get Jane for a wife sets his eyes on Elizabeth and
furthermore with the arrival of Wickham to whom Elizabeth is immediately attracted to.
Thus in the 'rising action' we have Darcy secretly in love with Elizabeth, and Collins
wishing to marry Elizabeth, and Elizabeth herself being attracted to Wickham the
charming young officer from the militia. The most important incident in which all these
matters come to a head is the Netherfield Ball in Ch.18, which takes place on Tuesday,
November 26th.

3. The Crisis, of course, is Darcy's proposal to Elizabeth in Ch.34, which takes place at
Hunsford in Collins' parish in the county of Kent during the Easter vacation and her
instant and angry rejection, which is followed by Darcy's long letter of explanation in the
next chapter and Elizabeth's recognition of her foolishness in Ch.36: "till this moment I
never knew myself."

4. The Falling Action: is the section in which the plot becomes disentangled. Collins gets
married to Charlotte and Elizabeth writes a letter to her aunt Mrs. Gardiner in Ch.26
clearly stating that she was never in love with Wickham: "There can be no love in all
this." Their visit to Pemberley in Ch.43 marks an important turning point in the plot with
Elizabeth realising that Darcy is no longer his usual proud self and by the end of Ch.46,
she is definitely in love with Darcy. But everything is upset by the news of Lydia's
elopement:"and never had she so honestly felt that she could have loved him, as now,
when all love must be vain."

5. The End: The plot ends with Darcy proving that his love for Elizabeth is genuine and
that he has been purged of his pride by secretly making a financial arrangement for
Wickham who had eloped with Lydia in order that he marry her. The story ends with
Bingley marrying Jane (Ch.55) and the plot ends with Darcy once again proposing to
Elizabeth and she accepting him this time (Ch.58).

2
 *

Introduction of Wickham, his nature and his elopement with Lydia in the
novel Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen?

Mr. Wickham, on the surface, appears to be a kind, charming, benevolent guy. He is

courteous, friendly, socially skilled and very gentlemanly. Elizabeth immediately likes
him, because she can talk freely with him; his sense of humor is nice, and he is very
amiable. Plus, when she first meets him, she discovers that he is a victim of Mr. Darcy's
cruelty, supposedly. Since Elizabeth had negative feelings towards Darcy already, this
made her more fond of Wickham; he too didn't like Darcy, and he too had been
victimized by him. So, they form a bond.

However, through a series of events, Elizabeth comes to find out just how deceptive
Wickham is. His charm and social wit cover up an ungrateful, spiteful, poor man who
simply uses people for money in order to fuel his vices. His charm is a tool to get what
he wants. Darcy reveals that Wickham frivolously spent his inheritance money, then
tried to seduce his younger sister into marrying him (for money), and had been on the
prowl ever since.

Then, he elopes with Lydia, which is a bit of a mystery, since she doesn't have that much
money. He was perhaps hoping to fanagle himself into some of her uncle's money, but
more likely, he just found a willing participant on a foolsigh whim, and acted
spontaneously, without thinking. Darcy and Lydia's uncle have to step in and make
things right, trying to patch up the social embarrassment of it all. So, Elizabeth, through
her sister's hasty marriage, is stuck with Wickham for good.

Why does Wickham elope with Lydia?

In the novel by Jane Austen "Pride and Prejudice" Mr. Wickham has no money.
However, he is very handsome and a lady pleaser. He has a magnetic attraction to Lydia,
the daughter of Mrs. Bennett. She is attracted to pretty things, dancing, nice clothes, and
frivolity.When Lydia meets Mr. Wickham, she is enamored with him. She is somewhat
spoiled and demanding and gets her way by coaxing him to marry her. She runs off with
him because she has no dowry and he has no money. She knows it is not the marriage
that her mother or sisters would approve of. He is in trouble for debts and needs to get
away. He takes her a long so that he will not have to go alone. Their good looks and
energy seem to compliment each other. The marriage between the two begins to fall
apart. Austen uses the characters to show the difference between a hasty and a good slow
developing relationship such as Elizabeth's and Darcy’s.

3
 *

In Pride and Prejudice, to whom do Lydia and Wickham elope?

Lydia and Wickham were thought to have gone to Gretna Green, a town in Scotland
where fast weddings for elopements were performed. However, once their itinerary was
traced, it became clear that they had not gone to there.

As revealed in Chapter 52, Mr. Darcy was acquainted with Mrs. Younge, who had been
governess to his sister Georgiana when Wickham tried to elope with her and who had
aided Wickham in his elopement plans. Darcy found Mrs. Younge's residence in London
and from her eventually learned the whereabouts of Lydia and Wickham.

When they first arrived in London, Lydia and Wickham had indeed gone to Mrs. Younge
who had sheltered them for a few days. They then moved to a street of which Jane Austen
says, "They were in -- -- Street." So, when Lydia eloped with the wicked Wickham, they
ran to Mrs. Younge who was a familiar with Wickham and who aided them until they
found a private lodging.

Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen

The following entry presents criticism of Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice..

INTRODUCTION

One of the world's most popular novels, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice has delighted
readers since its publication with the story of the witty Elizabeth Bennet and her
relationship with the aristocrat Fitzwilliam Darcy. Similiar to Austen's other works, Pride
and Prejudice is a humorous portrayal of the social atmosphere of late eighteenth- and
early nineteenth-century England, and it is principally concerned with courtship rituals of
the English gentry. The novel is much more than a comedic love story, however; through
Austen's subtle and ironic style, it addresses economic, political, feminist, sociological,
and philosophical themes, inspiring a great deal of diverse critical commentary on the
meaning of the work.

Plot and Major Characters

Pride and Prejudice focuses on Elizabeth Bennet, an intelligent young woman with
romantic and individualistic ideals, and her relationship with Mr. Darcy, a wealthy
gentleman of very high social status. At the outset of the novel, Elizabeth's loud and dim-
witted mother, her foolish younger sisters, and her beautiful older sister Jane are very
excited because a wealthy gentleman, Mr. Bingley, is moving to their neighborhood. The
young women are concerned about finding husbands because if Elizabeth's father, a

4
humorous and ironical man, were to die, the estate would be left to their pompous cousin
Mr. Collins. Mr. Bingley soon becomes attached to Jane while Elizabeth grows to dislike
his close friend Mr. Darcy, whom the village finds elitist and ill-tempered. Under the
influence of his sisters and Mr. Darcy, Mr. Bingley eventually moves away to London.
Mr. Collins, an irritating clergyman, then proposes to his cousin Elizabeth, who refuses
him. He marries her friend Charlotte instead, and Elizabeth visits the couple at their
estate, where she and Mr. Darcy meet again at the house of his aunt, also Mr. Collin's
patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Mr. Darcy proposes to Elizabeth but she refuses
him, partly based on her belief that he dissuaded Mr. Bingley from pursuing a
relationship with Jane. In a letter to Elizabeth, Mr. Darcy explains his actions regarding
Jane and Mr. Bingley, as well as the way in which he has treated his estranged childhood
companion, Mr. Wickham. The next time Elizabeth sees Mr. Darcy, at his estate, she is
better disposed toward him, but they are interrupted by a scandal involving Elizabeth's
sister Lydia, who has eloped with Mr. Wickham. Mr. Bennet and his brother-in-law Mr.
Gardiner attempt to resolve the situation, but it is actually Mr. Darcy who resolves the
situation by paying Mr. Wickham and convincing him to marry Lydia. Mr. Bingley then
returns to his estate in the Bennets' neighborhood and soon becomes engaged to Jane.
Afterward, despite Lady Catherine's attempt to prevent the engagement, Elizabeth
marries Mr. Darcy.

Major Themes

Austen's novel is principally concerned with the social fabric of late eighteenth- and early
nineteenth-century England, a patriarchal society in which men held the economic and
social power. In an often satirical portrait of the men and women attempting to gain a
livelihood, Austen subtly and ironically points out faults in the system, raising questions
about the values of English society and the power structure of the country. Pride and
Prejudice contains many elements of social realism, and it focuses on the merging of the
bourgeoisie and the aristocracy during the era of the Napoleonic wars and at the
beginning of the industrial revolution. The novel is also engaged in an ideological debate
that drives its plot and defines the essence of its main character. Interested in the balance
between pragmatism, or the necessity of securing a marriage, and idealism, particularly
Elizabeth's romanticism and individualism, Austen dramatizes her heroine's struggle to
find a place within the conservative social institution of marriage. The precise nature of
this balance is not necessarily clear, and despite what seems to be a happy marriage, it
may not be entirely possible to reconcile Elizabeth's independence and naturalness with
Mr. Darcy's conservatism and conventionality. Nevertheless, the novel seems to work
toward an ideological balance and an alteration in the fundamental aspects of these
characters that will lead to a reconciliation of the themes that they represent.

5
Critical Reception

Probably Austen's most widely read novel, Pride and Prejudice, which has been
continuously in print since its publication in 1813, has been the subject of volumes of
diverse critical reactions. Evaluations of this work have included condemnatory
dismissals such as that of Mark Twain, measured praises of Austen's sophistication and
wit, and plaudits for the novel as the author's masterpiece. Many early critics focused on
the social realism of the novel, commenting on the depth, or lack of depth, of Austen's
characters. Criticism of the novel from the nineteenth century through the early twentieth
century also tended to regard Austen as a moralist, discussing the value system that Pride
and Prejudice establishes. Critics from the 1920s through the 1950s focused on Austen's
characteristic themes and stylistic devices, as well as discussing her choice of subject
matter and the moral and ideological journey that Elizabeth undertakes throughout the
course of the novel. During the 1960s and 1970s, commentators offered contextual
criticism that evaluated Pride and Prejudice within the literary and social world in which
Austen wrote. It was also during this period that new directions in criticism of the novel
began to be explored. Since the late 1960s, for example, critics have approached Austen's
novel from a variety of linguistic standpoints, such as Mikhail Bakhtin's theory of
dialogism, as well as analyzing the work in terms of postmodern theory and applying new
developments in psychology to the text. There has also been increased attention given to
the political subtext of the novel, suggesting new ways of interpreting its relationship to
the historical context of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. In the later
decades of the twentieth century and into the early years of the twenty-first century, the
most prominent trends in criticism of Pride and Prejudice have derived from the
perspectives of literary feminism, including analysis of the novel's view of female
oppression, its portrayal of the patriarchal society of the time, and its treatment of the
possibility, fantasy, and reality of female power. Feminist critics such as Judith Lowder
Newton have envisioned the novel as a triumphant fantasy of female autonomy, while
Jean Ferguson Carr warns that Austen's exclusion of Mrs. Bennet from the social world
reveals a persistent subjugation of women throughout the novel. In addition to strictly
feminist readings of Pride and Prejudice, many essays not associated with this school of
social and literary thought either incorporate or challenge various feminist claims in
relation to Austen's work.

6
The Use of Dramatic Elements in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

The novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen has several characteristics of a drama. The
novel shares such leading qualities of a drama as dialogue, character development, plot,
theme, action and dramatic irony. The use of these dramatic devices makes the novel
interesting to read.

Dialogue

The novel opens with dialogue. It provides the substance of the play. Dialogue is used to
show the characters speaking directly to each other which give the reader access to the
thoughts and emotions of the characters. It grows intimacy between characters and
audience.

“My dear Mr. Bennet,” said his lady to him one day, “have you heard that Netherfield
Park is let at last?”

All of Austen’s many characters come alive through dialogue. Long, unwieldy speeches
are rare and in their place, the reader hears the crackle of quick, witty conversation. True
nature reveals itself in the way the characters speak: Mr. Bennet’s emotional detachment
comes across in his dry wit, while Mrs. Bennet’s hysterical excess drips from every
sentence she utters. Austen’s dialogue often serves to reveal the worst aspects of her
characters—Miss Bingley’s spiteful, snobbish attitudes are readily apparent in her words,
and Mr. Collins’s long-winded speeches carry with them a tone-deaf pomposity that
defines his character perfectly. Dialogue can also conceal bad character traits: Wickham,
for instance, hides his rogue’s heart beneath the patter of pleasant, witty banter, and he
manages to take Elizabeth in with his smooth tongue. Ultimately, though, good
conversational ability and general goodness of personality seem to go hand in hand. Pride
and Prejudice is the story of Darcy and Elizabeth’s love, and for the reader, that love
unfolds through the words they share.

Plot

The plot of a drama involves unexpected turns, suspense and climax. In pride and
Prejudice we find some turning points which motivate the novel such as Darcy and
Elizabeth’s first meet at the Meryton ball. Darcy’s Pride arouses Elizabeth’s prejudice.
Darcy refuses to dance with Elizabeth upon Bingley’s request, saying that Elizabeth is no
handsome enough to tempt him. Elizabeth hears this comment and greatly hurt. She
immediately takes a view about Mr. Darcy that he will be a man of arrogant personality.

However through the Bingely-Bennet friendship Darcy and Elizabeth are brought into
each other’s company. Again Jane’s illness at Netherfield brings the two together again.
And it is the beginning of his admiration for her.

Now the audience becomes suspicious when Mrs. Bennet’s garrulous vulgarity turns

7
Darcy away from his interest in Elizabeth and leads him to take the docile Bingley to
London. Moreover Elizabeth’s initial prejudice is deepened by the smooth lies of
Wickham against Darcy. She accepts at face value everything that Wickham says about
Mr. Darcy. Mr. Wickham professes to be discrete and hints that he would not defame
anybody’s character, but he defames Darcy. Elizabeth would not have tolerated such a
conversation if anybody except the disagreeable Mr. Darcy were the subject of the talk.
As a result, Elizabeth forms an even more unfavorable opinion about Mr. Darcy than she
had formed before. Her prejudice turns into hatred.

As an another principal turning point the two meet again when Elizabeth is visiting
Charlotte Collins and Darcy is visiting his aunt Lady Catherine at Rosings. Darcy’s old
interest is revived with increased fervor.

Now we see the struggle in Darcy’s mind between his pride and love for Elizabeth with
the handicaps of such relations as Collins, Lydia, Kitty, Mary, Mrs. Bennet and the
inferior family connection with trade. Love wins enough of a victory to bring him to the
point of proposing.

The chief climax of the main story occurs when Darcy proposes to Elizabeth at Rosings
and is refused. Darcy constantly emphasizes the struggles and obstacles that he had to
overcome in order to make him this step. Rather than emphasizing his love, he constantly
refers to all the obstacles which he has had to overcome. This proposal completely stuns
Elizabeth. She thinks that Mr. Darcy is only seeking a wife who is so inferior as to be
ever grateful for a chance to be his wife. She rejects his proposal without least hesitation
and she gives her reasons for her refusal. She mentions his past ill- treatment to Mr.
Wickham and she tells him that he was responsible for breaking up between Jane and
Bingley. And finally she accuses him not behaving in a gentleman- like manner. The
denouement is reached with his second proposal and this time acceptance.

On the very next day, Mr. Darcy hands over to Elizabeth a letter which contains a defense
of him against the charges which she had leveled against him. There is much logic in this
defense and Elizabeth is deeply affected by it. She is forced to acknowledge the justice of
his claims as regards Wickham, his criticism of her family and even his claims
concerning Jane. She comes to a self realization. Suddenly, she cannot remember
anything that Mr. Darcy has ever done which was not honorable and just, while Mr.
Wickham has often been imprudent in his comments. Previously, she had called Jane
blind, and now she has gained a moral insight into her own character and sees that she
has also been blind. Consequently, Elizabeth’s character increases in depth as she is able
to analyze herself and come to those realizations. This self- recognition established her as
a person capable of changing and growing.

Meanwhile, the youngest Bennet, Lydia, rushes into an ill-advised romance with
Wickham, an officer who at first appears charming and trustworthy. Wickham fails in a
ruthless attempt to marry a rich northern woman and impulsively elopes with the naive
Lydia. The 16-year-old girl speaks recklessly, acts offensively, and must gratify her
impulses instantly. Lydia fails to see that running off with Wickham scandalizes her

8
family.

Darcy shows his true mettle by secretly helping Charles return to Jane, by ensuring that
Wickham and Lydia return to Longbourn as a married couple with an income, and by
proposing again to Elizabeth with new humility. Shamed, Elizabeth recognizes many of
her misjudgments and accepts Darcy's proposal. Their personalities soften and blend
beautifully.

Another coincidence brings Elizabeth and Darcy at Pemberly House. He is very warm
and friendly and inquires of her family. There is no trace of haughtiness in the manner in
which he now talks to her and to her relatives. Even more, when she learns the role which
Darcy has played in Lydias marriage, she becomes strongly inclined towards him.

In this changed circumstances Mr. Darcy arrives at Netherfield and proposes marriage to
her. This time she gladly accepts the proposal because she has now begun to think that
Mr. Darcy is truly a gentleman. He also tells Elizabeth that it was her frankness which
had finally revealed to him his shortcomings. He also admits that he encouraged Bingley
to propose Jane. Elizabeth also honestly confesses the change in her feelings and the two
lovers are finally happy.

A plot also centers on a single interest and other sub-actions become involved to it. There
is a quite compact plot in Pride and Prejudice. In Pride and Prejudice the main story of
Elizabeth and Darcy runs throughout the whole narrative. Minor stories, kept under
complete control, are never permitted to obtrude and are always made to contribute to the
main story.

Secondary plots revolve about Jane and Bingley, Lydia and Wickham, Mr. Collins, Miss
Bingley’s schemes, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. The action is developed around the
gradual coming together of Elizabeth and Darcy and their ultimate happiness. The
secondary figures act as foils to the main characters and interact with them to help bring
about the final resolution.

Character

In a drama the characters show significant development. The characters of a drama suffer
from their mistakes and finally learn many lessons. In the same way, here in this novel
we also see the development of characters. The characters who mostly develop are
Elizabeth and Darcy.

Jane Austen’s characters evolve the drama. Throughout the novel, the characters, like in a
drama are developed gradually or step by step. They are placed in different contexts in
which he encounter each other and help reveal their personalities. Darcy and Elizabeth,
for example, undergrow significant changes throughout the novel.

Letter plays an important role to develop the relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy.

9
Darcy’s first letter to Elizabeth makes her even more prejudiced against Darcy but at the
same time begin to think deeply about Wickham’s previous story.

Darcy writes his first letter in such a way as if he is showing favor to her, which exhibits
his pride. She rejects his proposal without least hesitation and she gives her reasons for
her refusal. She mentions his past ill- treatment to Mr. Wickham and she tells him that he
was responsible for breaking up between Jane and Bingley. And finally she accuses him
not behaving in a gentleman- like manner. This final accusation gives a serious blow to
Darcy. This is a turning point for his self realization.

Elizabeth learns lessons and changes the way she thinks about some situations. An
extremely rich and famous man, one of the most sought after men in the country falls in
love with Elizabeth, and although she initially rejects his proposals of marriage, thinking
him too proud, does slowly fall in love with him, realizing his pride was only shyness,
and they become engaged. She admits her own faults and overcomes her prejudice
against Mr. Darcy and she becomes aware of her own social and emotional prejudice.
When her friend Charlotte marries Mr. Collins, Elizabeth condemns the marriage as
ridiculous but comes to understand and accept the position her friend was in. The
marriage between Mr. Collins and Charlotte is based on economics rather than on love.

Elizabeth regards Jane as more noble and kind-hearted than herself. Jane is slightly naive,
she expects all people to have pure and good motives for everything and seeks to find
good in everyone. She has not shown much emotion to Bingley's advances, though she
accepts them. She shows little of the same sentiment, although this is just her nature, this
is what made Darcy think Jane would not be much hurt if Bingley left her. This is untrue,
she suffers the loss greatly, though alone and privately.

Lydia and Wickham have each other in an unhappy and impecunious marriage. Miss
Bingley’s jealous envy brings only bitterness and disappointment. Mr. Bennet’s
indolence and failure as a parent brings him the pain and shame of Lydia’s elopement and
Lady Catherine’s arrogance brings about her humiliation in her interview with Elizabeth
and her defeat in the marriage of Elizabeth and Darcy.

Theme

The title of the novel Pride and Prejudice can be interpreted as a theme running through
the novel. Pride is the feeling that one is better or more important than other people and
prejudice is an adverse judgment or opinion formed beforehand without knowledge of the
facts. When we add these two themes together, we get this novel Pride and Prejudice.

The very basis of this book is on Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen created a world in
which most of the people are guilty of Pride and Prejudice and judge each other on the
basis of their pride and prejudice. But pride and prejudice are not very unusual factors in
this world which is based on artificial and conventional behaviors. And Jane Austen
appreciates those who can come out of their Pride and Prejudice and reject the superficial
behaviors. But those who can’t discard their pride and prejudice remain the objects of

10
ridicule till the end of the novel.
Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet, the two central characters of the novel, for the better
part of the novel is the focus of Pride and prejudice respectively. And in the later part of
the novel both Darcy and Elizabeth have come out from their Pride and Prejudice
respectively.

Irony

Irony is the very soul of Jane Austen’s novels and “Pride and Prejudice” is steeped in
irony of theme, situation, character and narration. Irony is the contrast between
appearance and reality.

The first sentence of the novel Pride and Prejudice opens with an ironic statement about
marriage, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a
good fortune must be in want of a wife” (1). A man with a fortune does not need a wife
nearly so much as a woman is greatly in need of a wealthy husband. The entire novel is
really an explanation of how women and men pursue each other prior to marriage. Jane
Austen uses a variety of verbal, dramatic and situational irony through the novel.

The novel is full of verbal irony, especially coming from Elizabeth and Mr. Bennet.
Verbal irony is saying one thing, but meaning the complete opposite. Although Mr.
Bennet is basically a sensible man, he behaves strangely because of his sarcasm with his
wife. He amuses himself by pestering his foolish wife or making insensitive remarks
about his daughters. Mr. Bennet cruelly mocks his wife silliness and is shown to be
sarcastic, and cynical with comments as “…you are as handsome as any of them, Mr.
Bingley might like you.

In chapter 4, Elizabeth confirms her strong dislike for Darcy and criticizes Bignley’s
sisters as well. She is critical of Jane for being “blind” to others. This criticism is filled
with irony, because in the later part of the novel Elizabeth is blind in analyzing Darcy
because of her prejudice against his pride. Shortly in the novel, Darcy grows interest in
Elizabeth, but Elizabeth doesn’t notice it. Elizabeth misunderstands Darcy attraction
toward her. As she was playing the piano at the parsonage, she believes that Darcy is
trying to unsettle her when he stands by the piano to hear her play the piano.

Also, Darcy was blind in the beginning of the novel because he did not realize that
Elizabeth possesses the qualification his future wife must have. Another dramatic irony is
in chapter 39 when Elizabeth is shocked by the behavior that she sees in her family and
realizes the truth Darcy has stated about the weak impression they make.
It is interesting to note that ironically, in “Pride and Prejudice”, it is the villainous
character Wickham and lady Catherine – who are responsible for uniting Elizabeth and
Darcy.

11
Action

Another requisite of drama is action. In Pride and Prejudice there is a great deal of action,
even though it is quite and seemingly unexciting. The characters of the novel do not
behave in any wild or improbable way. Since the picture drawn is of everyday life and
activities, it is easy for us to comprehend it and is that much more real to us.

The elements of drama, by which dramatic works can be analyzed and evaluated, are
categorized into the above discussed areas. And because of the presence of these dramatic
elements we can call Pride and Prejudice as a dramatic novel.

Pride & Prejudice (2005 film)-wikipedia

Pride & Prejudice is a 2005 film based on the Jane Austen novel of the same name. This
second major motion-picture adaption of the novel was produced by Working Title
Films, directed by Joe Wright and based on a screenplay by Deborah Moggach. It was
released on September 16, 2005 in the UK and on November 11, 2005 in the US. (A
previous film version was released in 1940.)

GENRE Drama and Romance

DURATION 2 hrs. 07 min.
STARRING
Donald Sutherland, Jena Malone, Judi Dench, Keira Knightley,
Rosamund Pike
DIRECTOR Joe Wright
PRODUCER Eric Fellner, Paul Webster, Tim Bevan
DISTRIBUTOR Focus Features
RELEASE DATE November 11, 2005
WRITER Deborah Moggach, Lee Hall

Synopsis

One of the greatest love stories of all time, Pride & Prejudice, comes to the screen in a
glorious new adaptation starring Keira Knightley. When Elizabeth Bennett (Knightley)
meets the handsome Mr. Darcy (Matthew MacFadyen), she believes he is the last man on
earth she could ever marry. But as their lives become intertwined in an unexpected
adventure, she finds herself captivated by the very person she swore to loathe for all
eternity. Based on the beloved masterpiece by Jane Austen, it is the classic tale of love
and misunderstanding that sparkles with romance, wit and emotional force. Critics are
calling it 'Exhilarating. A joy from start to finish' (Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times).

12
Plot:
During the early 19th century, the Bennet family, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and
their five daughters—Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine, and Lydia—live in comparative
financial independence as gentry on a working farm in rural England. Longbourn is
destined to be inherited by Mr. Bennet's cousin, Mr. Collins, Mrs. Bennet is anxious to
marry off her five daughters before Mr. Bennet dies. However, Elizabeth, the heroine, is
convinced that she should never marry unless she feels compelled to do so by true love.

Mr. Bingley, a wealthy bachelor who has recently moved into Netherfield, a large house
in the neighborhood, is introduced to local society at an assembly ball, along with his
haughty sister, Caroline, and reserved friend, Mr. Darcy, who "owns half of Derbyshire."
Bingley is enchanted with the gentle and beautiful Jane, while Elizabeth takes an instant
dislike to Darcy after he coldly rebuffs her attempts at conversation and she overhears
him describe her as "not handsome enough to tempt me." When Jane becomes sick on a
visit to Netherfield, Elizabeth goes to stay with her, and verbally spars with Caroline and
Darcy.

Later the Bennets are visited by Mr. Collins, a pompous minister who talks of nothing but
his patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Meanwhile, the handsome and charming
Lieutenant Wickham of the newly-arrived militia captures the girls' attention; he slanders
Darcy, telling Elizabeth that Darcy cheated him of his inheritance. At a ball at
Netherfield, Elizabeth, startled by his abrupt appearance and request, accepts a dance
with Mr. Darcy, but vows to her best friend Charlotte Lucas that she has "sworn to loathe
him for all eternity." During the dance, she makes her disgust with him clear with biting
sarcasm, and Darcy responds in kind. Their complete absorption with each other causes
the other guests to "disappear" for a time, until the music stops.

The next day, at Longbourn, Mr. Collins proposes to Elizabeth, much to her chagrin; she
refuses him, which causes hysterics in her mother, but she has the support of her father.
When Bingley unexpectedly returns to London, Elizabeth dispatches Jane to their aunt
and uncle in London, the Gardiners, in hopes of re-establishing contact between Jane and
Bingley. Then Elizabeth is appalled to learn that Charlotte will marry Mr. Collins, not
because she loves him but entirely to gain financial security.

Months later, Elizabeth visits the Collinses at Rosings, the manor estate of the
overbearing Lady Catherine; they are invited to dine at the grand house and there meet
Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam, Lady Catherine's nephews. Here Darcy pursues a greater
interest in Elizabeth, especially when she replies to Lady Catherine's jabs with spirited
wit. The next day, Colonel Fitzwilliam lets slip to Elizabeth that Darcy separated Bingley
from Jane. Distraught, she flees out into the rain; Darcy chooses that moment to track her
down and to propose marriage — and thus follows the infamous "train-wreck" marriage
proposal. He claims that he loves her "most ardently," despite her "lower rank." Elizabeth
refuses him, citing his treatment of Jane and Bingley, and of Wickham, and they argue
fiercely. The scene provides a close-up of their faces, their minds intense with anger and
indecision. Darcy leaves angry and heartbroken. He finds her later only to give her a

13
letter, which explains that he misjudged Jane's affection for Bingley. The letter also
exposes Wickham as a gambler who secretly but unsuccessfully courted Darcy's 15-year-
old sister, Georgiana, to obtain her £30,000 inheritance.

Elizabeth does not tell Jane what she has learned. Later, the Gardiners take Elizabeth on a
trip to the Peak District and visit Darcy's estate, Pemberley. Elizabeth is stunned by its
wealth and beauty and hears nothing but good things about Darcy from his housekeeper.
Then she accidentally runs into Darcy, who invites her and the Gardiners to meet his
sister. His manners have softened considerably, and Georgiana takes an instant liking to
Elizabeth. When Elizabeth learns that her immature and flirtatious youngest sister Lydia,
who was sent on holiday unsupervised, has run away with Wickham, she tearfully blurts
out the news to Darcy before returning home. Her family assumes their ruin for having a
disgraced daughter, but they are soon relieved to hear that Mr. Gardiner has discovered
the pair in London, and that they will be married. Lydia later reveals to Elizabeth that it
was Mr. Darcy who found them and who paid for the marriage.

When Bingley and Darcy return to Netherfield, Jane accepts Bingley's proposal of
marriage. The same evening, Lady Catherine pays Elizabeth a surprise visit and insists
that Elizabeth renounce Darcy, as he is supposedly going to marry her own daughter,
Anne. Elizabeth refuses, and unable to sleep, she goes walking on the moors at dawn.
There, she meets Darcy, who has also been unable to sleep after hearing of his aunt's
behavior. He admits his continued love, and Elizabeth accepts his second proposal. Mr.
Bennet gives his consent after Elizabeth assures him of her love for Darcy.

In the U.S. release of the film, an additional last scene shows a newly-married Elizabeth
and Darcy outside of their Pemberley estate showing affection for each other.

Adaptation of the novel

Most works of literature undergo significant cuts when adapted for film; in this
production, the story was compressed into 2 hours and 9 minutes of screen time. Some of
the most notable changes from the original book include:

• Heavy time compression of several major sequences, including Elizabeth's visit to

Rosings Park and Hunsford Parsonage, Elizabeth's visit to Pemberley, and Lydia's
elopement and its subsequent crisis.
• The elimination of several supporting characters, including Louisa Hurst, Mr.
Hurst, Lady and Maria Lucas, Mr. and Mrs. Phillips, the Gardiners' children, Mrs.
Annesley, Mrs. Younge (Georgiana Darcy's governess), several of Lydia's friends
(including Colonel and Mrs. Forster), and various military officers and
townspeople.
• The elimination of several sections in which characters reflect or converse on
events that have recently occurred - for example, Elizabeth's chapter-long change
of mind after reading Darcy's letter.

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Director Joe Wright and screenwriter Deborah Moggach opted for a "muddy hem
version" of Longbourn, presenting a more rural setting than in previous adaptations. [2]
The filmmakers changed several scenes to more romantic locales than the ones in the
book. For instance, in the film, Darcy first proposes outdoors in a rainstorm near a
beautiful lake (Stourhead) in Wiltshire; in the book, this scene takes place inside a
parsonage. In the film, his second proposal occurs on the misty moors as dawn breaks; in
the book, he and Elizabeth are walking down a country lane in broad daylight.

The North American release version included a final scene (not in the novel) of the
married Darcys enjoying a romantic evening at Pemberley. This ending did not test well
with British audiences, so it was cut for UK and international release. The British version
ends with Mr. Bennet's blessing upon Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy's union, thus
circumventing the last chapter in the novel, which summarizes the lives of the Darcys and
the other main characters over the next several years.

[Filming

It was filmed entirely on location within England[3] in the summer of 2004 and used
several stately homes, including Chatsworth House in Derbyshire and Wilton House in
Salisbury (as Pemberley), Groombridge Place in Kent (as Longbourn), Basildon Park in
Berkshire (as Netherfield Park) and Burghley House in Lincolnshire (as Rosings - the
adjacent town of Stamford served as Meryton). The Temple of Apollo and Palladian
Bridge of Stourhead also appeared (as set in the Gardens of Rosings).

Critical reception

The 2005 film was only the second faithful film version after "the famed, but oddly
flawed, black-and-white 1940 adaptation, starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier,"[4]
and until 2005, The Times considered the 1995 television adaptation starring Jennifer
Ehle and Colin Firth "so dominant, so universally adored, [that] it has lingered in the
public consciousness as a cinematic standard."[4] Comparing six major adaptations of
Pride and Prejudice in 2005, the Daily Mirror gave the only top marks of 9/10 to the
1995 serial and the 2005 film, leaving the other adaptations behind with six and fewer
points.[5] The 2005 film is rated 85% fresh by Rotten Tomatoes.[6] Metacritic reported
Pride & Prejudice had an average score of 82 out of 100, based on 37 reviews, and
classified the film as a universal acclaim.[7]

Some critics noted the 2005 film's time constraints do not capture the depth and
complexity of the television serials[8] and called the film "obviously [not as] daring or
revisionist" as the 1995 TV serial.[9] Joan Klingel Ray, president of the Jane Austen
Society of North America, preferred the young age of Knightley and Macfadyen, saying
that Jennifer Ehle had formerly been "a little too 'heavy' for the role,"[10] while Peter
Bradshaw of The Guardian, while heavily praising Keira Knightley for having given an
outstanding performance as Lizzy Bennet "which lifts the whole movie," considered the
casting of the 2005 leads "arguably a little more callow than Firth and Ehle." He does add
that "Only a snob, a curmudgeon, or someone with necrophiliac loyalty to the 1995 BBC

15
version with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle could fail to enjoy her performance." [9] Critics
were divided about Matthew Macfadyen's portrayal of Darcy, expressing pleasant
surprise,[10] dislike for his lack of gradual emotional shift as in the novel,[10] and praise for
his matching the insecure and sensitive personality of the book character better than Firth.
[8]

Pride & Prejudice: The Production (2005)

Although dramatized for television several times (in 1938, 1952, 1967, 1980, and 1995),
Jane Austen’s classic Pride and Prejudice has been a feature film only once before, in
1940, directed by Robert Z. Leonard and starring Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson.
Now, Pride & Prejudice makes its triumphant return as big-screen entertainment and a
passion project for Working Title Films, Europe’s leading film production company.

Working Title co-chairs and Pride & Prejudice producers Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner
reflect, “People remember the two most recent television adaptations, but the only other
film version, from 1940, emphasized romantic comedy. Over the decades, Jane Austen’s
central depiction of Lizzie and Darcy has been appropriated as the core of many other
films – including a couple of our productions. We felt that it was time to bring Austen’s
original story, concentrating on Lizzie, back in all its glory to the big screen for audiences
everywhere to enjoy.”

Producer Paul Webster concurs, noting, “Pride and Prejudice has provided the template to
so many romantic comedy movies that it comes as a surprise that no film proper has been
made for 65 years. The two BBC versions are seminal -- the second one was the most
successful BBC drama ever – but we were intent on making a big-screen version, one that
doesn’t conform to the television drama stereotypes of a perfect clean Regency world.”

Bevan and Fellner comment, “Director Joe Wright’s previous work, including Charles II:
The Power & the Passion [aired in the U.S. as The Last King], had really impressed us.
We met with him, and his vision of how to make the film and tell the classic Austen story
was in tune with ours. For all of us there was no point in reinventing the story, as it is
such a worldwide favorite. But we wanted to present the story as it was written, casting
actors at the ages Jane Austen indicated, and giving them a depiction which avoided the
‘chocolate box’ presentations that television veers towards. Joe is a true romantic, yet he
also shoots the story in a modern way and without subverting it.”

The BAFTA Award-winning director’s unique approach was understandable since, as he

admits, “I had never read Pride and Prejudice, nor seen a television version. I come from
a background of television social realist drama, and so I suppose I was a bit prejudiced
against this material, regarding it as posh. But as I read the script adaptation, I became
emotionally involved and by the end I was weeping. So I read the book, and discovered
that what Jane Austen had written was a very acute character study of a particular social
group. I saw that she was one of the first British realists. She had read the gothic

16
literature which was fashionable at the time, and she turned away from that, and started
writing what she knew, thereby inventing a new genre.

“I got excited about new ways to film the story which I don’t believe have been done
before. I wanted to treat it as a piece of British realism rather than going with the
picturesque tradition, which tends to depict an idealized version of English heritage as
some kind of Heaven on Earth. I wanted to make Pride & Prejudice real and gritty – and
be as honest as possible. Austen’s characters are young people – Lizzie is 20, Darcy 28,
Lydia 15. The emotions they experience are those of young people falling in love for the
first time. I was moved by that and sought to convey it.”

Wright also drew on his experience of directing The Last King. “What I learned from
directing that, my first period piece, was that if you utilize the specifics of a period very
precisely in tandem with emotional truths, it all becomes relevant to a modern audience.”

While researching the late 18th century, Wright and his team kept records of discoveries
and facts which were not spelled out in the film, but which enhanced their understanding
of Austen’s finely wrought characters. Wright remarks, “The establishment of England
was looking across the Channel at the French Revolution – and wondering how it might
affect them. The upper classes were frightened, and made the decision to assimilate more
with the lower classes. Hence, the Assembly Rooms dances in village halls, which people
of Darcy and Bingley’s class would now attend. There, they would mingle with people
they wouldn’t previously have ever met socially. It was a whole new era for society. For
young women, this was very exciting – like, say, Prince William turning up at a High
Street disco. Suddenly, marriage prospects were widened. Bingley handles all this well,
whereas his sister Caroline does not readily embrace the idea of these new associations.”

Screenwriter Deborah Moggach, herself a novelist, notes, “I tried to be truthful to the

book, which has a perfect three-act structure, so I haven’t changed a lot. It is so
beautifully shaped as a story – the ultimate romance about two people who think they
hate each other but who are really passionately in love. I felt, ‘If it’s not broken, don’t fix
it.’

“The Bennet daughters in fact have to get married off or they face ruin; but, to a modern
audience, these girls look pretty well-heeled! So we had to make their plight matter, in
order that the audience cares about the outcome. They seem well-off – they live in a big
house, with doting parents, they have a carriage and servants – but we had to convey that
if they don’t marry well, they could end their lives in penury, shunned by their own class
of people and the lower classes too.”

Moggach reflects, “I’ve emphasized it as being Lizzie’s story. Unlike in the novel, she
keeps her secrets to herself and they are a great burden to her. There are things she can’t
confide to her parents, her best friend Charlotte, or even her beloved sister Jane. Lizzie
suffers alone. She sees her father neglecting her sisters – he ignores Lydia’s follies, which
facilitates her elopement – and she views her parents’ marriage as a tragicomedy. Lizzie
sees Charlotte, for the sake of security, marry the odious Mr Collins, and sees her beloved

17
older sister sink into lovesick misery. She also wonders if her own chance of happiness is
disappearing. As she keeps all this to herself, we feel for her more and more. The truest
comedy, I believe, is born from pain.”

“The Bennets could certainly exist today and, I’m sure, do. It’s only the economics of the
situation, the girls’ dependence on finding a good husband, which are germane to the
period. All the emotions are equally relevant today. Take Lizzie, for example. She has a
mother who is often embarrassing; a best friend who disappoints; unrequited love for
someone [Wickham] who turns out to be a complete cad; sisterly loyalties, jealousies,
and squabbles; and she falls madly in love with somebody [Darcy] she can’t admit she’s
in love with.”

In her adaptation, Moggach paid extra attention to Jane Austen’s dialogue. She explains,
“I’ve sort of pulled a comb through the dialogue; of course, you can’t reproduce Austen’s
fiercely wonderful dialogue in its entirety. But we’ve kept quite a lot of it, because it’s
like cooking with the very, very best ingredients. People love the book so much that they
know it word for word. It was tempting sometimes to veer scenes towards a line that is so
loved, one which you know that if people miss it they will be very upset.”

Wright adds, “In the novel, Austen’s characters are all very polite, waiting until the other
person has finished speaking, before speaking themselves. But I know that, particularly in
big families of girls, everyone tends to speak over each other, finishing each other’s
sentences, etc. So I felt that the Bennet family’s conversations would be overlapping like
that.”

Moggach says, “One of the wonderful things about Jane Austen is that the canvas on
which she painted was very small. Now, that has also been cited as a criticism of her
work; she has been accused of ignoring other social classes of her time, and
contemporary world events. But she did not deny it; she was observing the small piece of
the world that she inhabited. For example, there is no scene in any of her books where
men are alone in a room together. She either didn’t know what they might be talking
about, or she wasn’t interested. The wider world is seen through tiny chinks. For instance,
Caroline Bingley is reading a letter and she remarks, in the script, ‘Lady Bathurst is re-
decorating her ballroom in the French style. A trifle unpatriotic, don’t you think?’ I put
that in as a tiny acknowledgement that all these events were going on in France.

“But my interest lies in the family dynamic and, after all, people don’t read and enjoy
Jane Austen for the historical overview. I’ve got three sisters, so I know what it is like
being with lots of girls – and I had a father who felt out numbered by us. I had previously
adapted Nancy Mitford’s Love in a Cold Climate, and that was also lots of girls and
another father who felt completely outnumbered. So I feel very much at home in this
world of girls sort of giggling and sparring and sharing, having jealousies, etc.”

The filmmakers were determined to shoot the film completely on location in the U.K.,
where the camera would have the luxury of seeing outside from inside and vice versa,
and could actually follow the characters indoors and outdoors. An 11-week shooting

18
schedule was blocked out, and Groombridge, a moated 17th Century mansion, was
chosen to be Longbourn, the Bennets’ house, where the only tranquillity is to be found in
Mr. Bennet’s library. Webster notes, “It is quite unusual for a movie this size to be shot
entirely on location. Part of Joe’s idea was to try to create a reality which allows the
actors to relax and feel at one with their environment.” The approach proved viable early
on; cast members, instead of retiring to movie trailers between scenes, would head into
their own Groombridge bedrooms.

In seeking to avoid what he has referred to as “the picturesque tradition,” Wright

comments, “I believe that when people do period films they are reliant on paintings from
the period, because there is no photography. But in a painting, everything is formally
composed; it’s not real life. Then they do wide shots to show off the period detail of the
sets. I think that the detail is in the small things, like crumbs on a table, or flowers in a
vase. Austen’s prose gave me many visual references for the people in the story, so I used
a lot of close-ups of them, too. I also tried to cut out carriage shots. In a modern-day film,
it’s not very interesting to see people simply get in a car and drive away, so why should it
be more interesting to see people arriving and leaving in carriages? There are a lot of
period film clichés; some of them are in the film and some are not, but for me it was
important to question them.”

To hew as closely as possible to the ages of the characters as specified by Austen, the
filmmakers felt they would be going where the previous film version had not. Webster
explains, “In the previous film, Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson were in their mid-30s,
so the whole notion of this experience being their first love was lessened.”

Elizabeth Bennet is a character who has been strongly identified with, and cherished, by
several generations. Keira Knightley describes her as “every girl’s dream.” Even so, Joe
Wright admits, “I originally hadn’t considered someone as beautiful as Keira. I was
looking for someone who didn’t fit the normal feminine conventions, and was bright and
slightly difficult. I figured Lizzie Bennet would be quite difficult to live with; she’s
tough-minded and questions everything all the time.

“When I met Keira, I realized that she asks questions of herself and other people, and is
really a tomboy. She has a lively mind and a great sense of humor. During shooting, she
kept on surprising me. What does one look for in an actor? Originality of thought;
somebody who is able and willing to give their heart to what they are doing, and is able
to really listen to the other actors. Keira did all of that, and was a hard worker.”

Knightley was keenly aware of the pitfalls inherent in playing such a longstanding
heroine. She says, “There was a huge pressure taking on the role; she’s one of the best
roles in literature for girls. If you’re an actress and you get the chance to play her you
definitely can’t say no. But it is scary, because when you read Pride and Prejudice, you
feel like you own her; I know I did, and I’m sure everybody feels the same way and that
they’ll have a very clear idea of who Elizabeth Bennet is. So this was an exciting
challenge.

19
“Jane Austen’s own critique of her the book was that she felt it was too lighthearted. She
felt the relationship between Jane and Elizabeth wasn’t realistic enough. We took heed of
her comments and tried to bring to the movie a realism that perhaps isn’t so much in the
book, bringing out the idea that these sisters are two girls who have lived with each other
and slept in the same bed for so many years now. They have annoyances and such, but
they love each other and stand by each other, enjoying each other and sharing each
other’s pain.”

Knightley adds, “It was great being directed by Joe because he’s got a very clear vision
of what he wants the entire piece to be like. So he can also say, ‘You can stray a tiny bit,
that’s all right.’ And I think you have to do that to really own a character, to possess the
role. It’s a different process to do a film based on a book, because the inner dialogue of
your character is all written down. So if there was ever a scene where I was having
problems, we would go back to the book and in some way or another it was right there.
But, equally, you have to take a stand and say ‘OK, I know it says this in the book, but
you know what? I can’t do it like that because it doesn’t make sense as far as this goes, so
I’m going to have to change that slightly.’ And then you have to be brave and just do it.”

Casting Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy in the new movie might have posed even more of a
challenge for the filmmakers. However, as Wright reminds, “I had never seen the TV
dramas or the film, so I was able to look for the Darcy I had in my head -- and Matthew
Macfadyen was the only one for me. Darcy is 28, and Matthew was 29 when we were
shooting. I had no interest in casting just a pretty boy; Darcy is more interesting and
complicated than that. He’s a young man who has less than ideal social skills and a huge
responsibility. His parents have died and left him with a massive estate and a younger
sister to take care of, and my sense is that he has had to grow up too fast. Matthew has
incarnated Darcy as that complicated layered person who isn’t easy in his skin and who
isn’t easy to love, yet who is a good person with a sense of honor and integrity. Matthew,
unlike many actors, is not vain, and so was not afraid to be disliked by an audience at the
beginning of the story; we have to dislike him because we are seeing him through
Lizzie’s eyes. And we grow to love him as Lizzie does.”

Knightley confides, “When I went in to read with Matthew, I was so blown away that I
virtually couldn’t get my lines out. I just kept staring at him thinking, ‘What the hell
happened between you walking in as Mathew and you starting to read?’ Because he
actually did turn into Darcy, and the scenes flowed.” Wright adds, “Keira and Matthew
were just wicked together.”

“Matthew’s a man who is sexy in the mode of Richard Burton, with a bit of Alan
Rickman,” muses Knightley. “You need to see that kind of rugged beauty in Darcy,
knowing that here was a man who walks across fields, climbs trees, and very much
manages his own estate. With Matthew, you can see that etched across his face, yet he’s
also got this extraordinary vulnerability. On the page, Darcy reads as being very cold, but
Mathew is so vulnerable through his big manliness that he gives Darcy extra qualities.”

20
Macfadyen sees the character as “very buttoned up; he’s very prideful and haughty. Some
would say, ‘He’s arrogant’; I would say, he’s misunderstood. And a fantastic part to play!
The material is so very richly drawn. Of course, always looming are those who played the
part before you – Olivier and Colin Firth – but that exists with lots of roles. If you worry
about that, then you’ll never take on a role in Shakespeare! Every actor brings something
different to the roles they play.

“Communication between the sexes is probably as confusing now as it was in Jane

Austen’s time. Apart from any physical attraction, Darcy is enchanted by the liveliness of
Lizzie’s mind and her mercurial qualities. The first time they meet, he remarks to Bingley
that she is not handsome enough to tempt him to dance. She overhears this and throws it
back at him with such winning wit that he is immediately enchanted. He is a serious
young man, with huge responsibilities for his estate, and he has never met a young
woman like her. When he proposes to her, first explaining how unsuitable a match she is,
he makes that explanation out of integrity, not out of arrogance.”

Wright clarifies, “In the beginning, Darcy can’t deal with the fact that he fancies Lizzie,
so they are like children in a playground – in the way that kids pull hair because they
don’t know how to express their feelings. He needs her to tease him and to be able to
lighten up with her. She in turn needs someone who has as much integrity, honesty, and
goodness as she has. These are the foundations for what will hopefully be a happy life
together.

“They have a huge effect on each other’s lives from the moment they meet. When he
proposes in the rain, she says that she knew as soon as she met him that he was the last
person she would consider marrying. If you meet someone with whom there is no
chemistry at all, why would you think about marriage at all? And while she is thinking
how much she dislikes him – she is still thinking about him.”

Getting two-time Golden Globe Award winner Donald Sutherland to play Mr. Bennet,
the lone male in a household full of women, was a thrill for Wright. The director states,
“Donald is simply a legend. When I was a kid, I was an actor in a film called Revolution,
more or less a glorified extra, and I used to watch him. Plus Don’t Look Now is one of
my all-time favorite films. Watching him recently with Nicole Kidman in Cold Mountain,
I realized that he could access the tenderness that was required for Mr. Bennet. He did
that – and he seemed to have a ball as the patriarch of this gorgeous bunch.”

Sutherland remarks, “I love Jane Austen, although I hadn’t read the novel for 40 years.
Joe wrote me a letter. He said there was a quality of me in Cold Mountain that he wanted
for the father of these girls – somebody, he said, who didn’t get married until he was 45.
He had to wait until his father died before he married, and then he had 5 daughters. It’s
worth noting that none of them could inherit his estate because the law then was that the
estate must pass to a male heir, in this case a distant relative [Mr. Collins]. All very
intriguing to play.”

21
Two-time Academy Award nominee Brenda Blethyn took on the role of Mrs. Bennet.
Wright notes, “It’s a tricky part, as she can be very annoying; you want to stop her
chattering and shrieking. But Brenda has the humor and the heart to show the amount of
love and care Mrs. Bennet has for her daughters.”

Blethyn’s take on the character is, “Mrs. B has a very serious problem, which nobody
except she is taking seriously; she has five daughters, for whom she has to find husbands,
and eligible men are not so common around Longbourn. When the militia are billeted in
the village of Meryton, she’s delighted.”

To ensure authenticity among the latter, the production employed members of the
Napoleonic [Re-enactment] Society for the scenes of the militia arriving and leaving the
village (filmed in Stamford, Lincolnshire). It was at the start of the 19th Century that the
British Army commenced a 15-year campaign against Napoleon’s Army. Extras were
schooled in how to march and wear the uniforms. The county militia would have mainly
been made up of volunteers, with the officers being of a higher social status (those who
had a stake in the particular county, perhaps a large parcel of land). It was seen as the
duty of the upper-class male to serve his county for a time in this manner.

The purpose of the county militia was twofold: to act as the second line of resistance,
should a foreign army invade the British Isles, reassuring the people of their safety amid
rumors of invasion; and to discourage any possible riots or sedition, as the Crown and
Parliament were ever wary that some subjects might decide to follow the French or the
Americans and declare themselves to be a republic.

Women’s own motions for independence were all but inconceivable. Echoing Donald
Sutherland’s comments, Brenda Blethyn reminds, “Mrs. Bennet’s concerns are
compounded by the fact that women had no status then. The inheritance laws mean that
her husband’s estate, her family’s home, will be inherited by a distant cousin when Mr.
Bennet dies. That means, she and her daughters could be cast out to fend for themselves –
or even sent to the workhouse. So the solution is for at least one of her daughters to marry
a man wealthy enough to take care of all the family. She is trying to solve the problem as
best as she knows how.”

“I believe Mrs. B came into her own marriage with a very small dowry, and that they
married for love – which, as the story shows, was not so common then. You can see that
they feel something for each other. He is tolerant and kindly, although he cultivates
interests outside the drama of his home – books, plants, wildlife...She is sometimes an
embarrassment to her family, but then too all parents can be embarrassing.” To play the
Bennet sister who is perhaps most affected by her mother’s efforts, Wright comments, “I
was looking for the opposite of Keira in a way; an actress who could portray the period
ideal of what a woman should be, since Jane is hailed as the beauty of the family.
Rosamund Pike was simply perfect and is wonderful in the role.”

Of her character, Pike says, “As the oldest Bennet girl, Jane would have had a lot of
responsibility bringing up the younger girls, so she has a slight maternal instinct. But I

22
didn’t want to play her as this very demure and slightly dull character. People say, ‘Oh
Jane’s a bit staid.’ I play her as someone who laughs a lot. We wanted the whole Bennet
family to be a household that’s filled with laughter and movement; if you’ve got lots of
girls all living in a house that they are beginning to outgrow, then you get this sort of
farmyard whirlygig of a family.”

Wright adds, “The sisters all had to have similar characteristics so you can see that they
come from the same stock and they all find each other funny.”

Pike adds, “Unlike Lizzie, Jane likes to think the best of people. She has found that the
easiest way to get through life is to think that people are nice and good, and not to be
suspicious about other people’s negative motives. Jane doesn’t have much pride or
prejudice, really…

“Jane Austen wrote such a sensationally romantic story. It got to me all the time during
filming. It’s deeply romantic, and I think in this day and age we need films with romance
at their core out there. They can light people up.”

The lone American in the cast is Jena Malone, whose empathetic portrayals of young
women convinced the filmmakers that she was the top choice to play Lydia Bennet.
Malone felt that she well understood the teenager, noting, “Lydia’s focus is purely
ribbons and soldiers. She’s 15 years old and is in love with the idea of being in love,
spending her time thinking about the clothes she’ll wear when she meets boys. She can’t
really approach a lot of men, only those of a suitable social status. That’s why she finds
the idea of going to the balls so exciting; it’s the only place where she could dance with
such a range of boys, even the tradesmen’s sons. Her day-to-day life was very simple,
because she had no housework to do and no school to attend – her education is being
neglected. Because she is the youngest of the Bennet sisters, she has more freedom than
the others.

“Yet, her options are so much different than young women’s today. For Lydia, the only
way to secure a future is to get married; otherwise you would live with your family or
leave home and be a governess to someone else’s family – which gives you a lower social
status, and no hope of marrying anyone of your own particular class. Many women
became much more pragmatic about reasons for marrying, and the idea of marrying for
love even came to be regarded as frivolous. But Lydia, being in love with love, is
overjoyed to elope and fails to foresee any of the disastrous consequences, intending to
be able to lord it over the other sisters that she is the only married one.”

Rounding out the Bennet sisterhood, screen newcomers Carey Mulligan and Talulah
Riley won the roles of Kitty and Mary Bennet, respectively. Wright remembers, “This
was the first film job for both, and they were both huge Jane Austen fans. So they were so
excited about the whole process that it created a heightened atmosphere for the family
sequences.”

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Another Jane Austen fan realizing a dream by participating in the film is Tamzin
Merchant. She was cast as Georgiana, Darcy’s sister, after writing a letter to the casting
director and

explaining how she was perfect for the part. After meetings, Tamzin was indeed offered
the role, even though she had no previous acting experience. The novice threw herself
into the work, even learning to play the piano selections that Georgina would be playing
on-screen.

The role of Darcy’s formidable aunt Lady Catherine de Bourg necessitated someone with
considerably more acting experience – and the filmmakers felt fortunate indeed to secure
the participation of Judi Dench. Wright remembers, “On our first day of filming, we shot
a dining room table scene. Now, as any director will tell you, that is difficult. And, with
Dame Judi Dench at the head of the table on the first day of my first feature, I was
terrified. But she is a complete professional and a genuinely nice person; it was a joy to
watch her transform herself into such a difficult woman.”

“She’s unspeakable,” Dench says of her character. “She’s autocratic, suspicious, and
pretty tricky; she wants Darcy to marry her own daughter. I knew the book well. Do you
know, it was written when Jane Austen was so young. Then she put it in a drawer and left
it there for years…It is a masterpiece and a great love story. I was pleased to be offered
the part, and I wanted very much to work with Joe. He is 33 years old, and it’s very nice
when you’re my age to be asked by somebody so young to do something for him. He has
integrity.”

Behind the scenes – literally – Wright called upon a frequent collaborator, production
designer Sarah Greenwood. He offers, “Sarah and I have a professional shorthand and
understand each other. I always involve her as early as possible, and together we worked
to inject reality into the locations for Pride & Prejudice.”

Another early decision for the director was the approach to wardrobe, in tandem with
costume designer Jacqueline Durran (late of Vera Drake). He explains, “I find empire
line dresses are very ugly, so I did some research. Although the novel was published in
1813, Jane Austen wrote her first draft of Pride and Prejudice, then called First
Impressions, around 1797. So we used the fashions of the earlier period, where the waist
on dresses was lower and more flattering. When Caroline Bingley appears, she would
obviously be wearing the latest creation. But Mrs. Bennet’s dresses are earlier than 1797,
and Lady Catherine’s are even earlier, because those two would have best clothes from
previous years in their wardrobe. Jacqueline, working with Mike Leigh, comes from a
very character-oriented British realist style of filmmaking, and her use of fabric and color
for this movie was exquisite.”

Keira Knightley remarks, “When the men in the cast stood around in their normal clothes,
we Bennet girls could chat away to them. As soon as they wore their costumes, the
sisters, myself included, were suddenly faced with these sexy creatures and we turned

24
into giggling idiots who couldn’t string a sentence together. They were so well-
costumed!”

Joe Wright concludes, “I think that what Jane Austen wrote is a fairy tale on some levels.
I believe that all the best fairy tales are based in social realism, have inherent emotional
truths which remain relevant through the generations, and are worth telling over and over
again. Today, people are still falling in love, people are still prejudiced against others,
and people are still too proud on occasion. We like to be told that love exists, and this
story is a joyful and satisfying affirmation of that. Pride & Prejudice is a love story about
how to try to understand one another.”

*
Pride and Prejudice 2005; Movie Review
Charlotte Bronte famously criticized Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice for its ‘neat
borders and delicate flowers.’ The novel, she wrote, had ‘no open country, no fresh air,
no blue hill, no bonny beck’ – merely ‘elegant but confined houses.’ Fair or not, she
could have had no such complaints at Joe Wright’s outdoor extravaganza of the elements
that is Pride and Prejudice 2005. The film is shot so beautifully, with such sweeping
grandeur that at times its easy to forget that it’s sourced from a Jane Austen novel.
Google searches for ‘Pride and Prejudice cliff’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice rain’ have
emerged in great numbers since this adaptation. This is of course testament to the fact
that the movie’s romantic additions have become lodged in the minds of many new fans,
much like Colin Firth’s dip in the lake.

The Script
Despite the intervention of the cliffs, the rain and the elements, there is a genuine attempt
to keep the storyline close to that of the novel. Adapting the book into a feature film, the
task of screenwriter and novelist Deborah Moggach, must be hugely challenging. Pride
and Prejudice is such a concise and complete novel that, as Virginia Woolf said, ‘you
cannot break off a scene or even a sentence without bleeding it of some of its life.’
Moggach does a commendable job, however; the first twenty minutes rush through the
story at break-neck speed, the Hursts are cut and Mr. Wickham’s role is cut down to an
absolute minimum – but all these choices seem defensible.

The dialog is generally excellent, although less faithful to the original than the 1980 and
1995 BBC series. There are a few clumsy moments, such as when Charlotte says to
Elizabeth ‘Don’t judge me, Lizzy. Don’t you dare judge me!’ in a manner more suited to
a rerun of the Ricki Lake show than the Regency era. However, there are thankfully only
a few of these moments and they shouldn’t detract from your enjoyment of the movie.
Other passages, such as Darcy’s proposal in the now famous rain scene, are written and
delivered beautifully.

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The Direction
The movie is undoubtedly the handsomest adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, or indeed
any Jane Austen novel. Joe Wright comes from a social realist tradition, and focuses on
the little details that bring the Regency period to life. He said: ‘I wanted to treat it as a
piece of British realism rather than going with the picturesque tradition, which tends to
depict an idealized version of English heritage as some kind of heaven on earth… I think
that the detail is in the small things, like crumbs on a table or flowers in a vase.’

The Cast
The lead roles of Elizabeth and Darcy are played by Keira Knightley and Matthew
Macfadyen. In 2005 both of these actors were close to the ages intended for them by Jane
Austen, and they have obvious chemistry together. Knightley’s Elizabeth is bright, feisty
and inquisitive, while Macfadyen plays Darcy with an obvious vulnerability from the
start. This makes his character transformation, which of course has to take place within a
two hour film – rather than the course of a novel or television series – much easier to
believe.

Donald Sutherland is a rather frail, downbeat, yet sentimental Mr. Bennet. This makes for
some touching scenes, particularly at the end of the movie. Brenda Blethyn’s Mrs. Bennet
is excellent, only slightly less shrill than Alison Steadman’s but played along very similar
lines. The highlight of the cast for me is Tom Hollander as Mr. Collins. He is so perfectly
inept socially, so nervy yet so contrived in his manners. It’s also nice to see a Mr. Collins
of roughly the right age, although Hollander is certainly not the ‘a tall, heavy-set man’
that Jane Austen envisaged. Nevertheless, he injects so much humor into the role and
embodies the absurdity of the character so fully that such pedantry is unwarranted.

Pride and Prejudice 2005 is an admirably ambitious reworking of Jane Austen’s classic
story. Its successes are many and, faced with the task of adapting such a labyrinthine
work, Deborah Moggach and Joe Wright can only be commended for their efforts.
Blessed with a fine cast and visionary direction, it is certainly a must-see for fans of the
book. Those who haven’t read the novel, which included Wright himself before he agreed
to make the film, should also enjoy its sumptuous cinematography and sweeping score –
not to mention the delightful performances from Keira Knightley and Matthew
Macfadyen. It’s such a romantic and rustic adaptation that even Charlotte Bronte would
have approved!

Joe Wright’s cinematic adaptation of Pride and Prejudice has a much more earthy and
rustic feel than any of the adaptations to date. At two hours nine minutes, (less than half
the length of it TV predecessors) a lot of the story was necessarily compressed or
omitted. However, Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen, as Elizabeth and Mr.
Darcy, appear much closer to the ages attributed to them by Jane Austen than in rival
dramatisations. Macfadyen’s portrayal has a touch of vulnerability, making him a more
subtle and introverted Mr. Darcy. Keira Knightley’s Elizabeth is sharp tongued and

26
passionate. Joe Wright keeps a lot of the original humor, especially with Tom
Hollander’s hilarious Mr Collins and Brenda Blethyn’s cringe-inducing Mrs. Bennet. The
film’s scenery is breathtaking, which – although a strange thing to say about an
adaptation of a Jane Austen novel – is another of its strong points.

Critical reception was good. The film won a BAFTA for the director and four Academy
Award nominations. Worldwide, the film grossed over US$120,000,000 at the box office
and according to metacritic.com, has an average review score of 82%, signifying near-
universal acclaim from reviewers.

This latest incarnation of “Pride and Prejudice” prompts the question: why do we need
another version of Jane Austen’s classic tale? We’ve seen this particular bit of
storytelling done well so many times that unless a filmmaker is positive they’re going to
be making the definitive version of the film, there’s really no need to tell the same old
story yet once again. And unfortunately, despite some terrific performances by the
veterans in his cast, director Joe Wright didn’t bring anything new to the table with this
version of “Pride and Prejudice.”

The story follows the Bennet sisters, a group of fine young women who, with the
assistance of an overbearing mother, are in search of appropriate men to marry. Only the
father seems immune to the high drama going on in the household as Mother Bennet
strategizes over how to get her brood married off.

Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) is the defiant one of the bunch, struggling against class
restrictions and only wanting to marry for love. She meets up with the taciturn Mr. Darcy
(Matthew Macfadyen) and is both repulsed and attracted to the wealthy gentleman. As
the two are forced together in various social situations, Darcy soon wises up to the fact
he’s smitten with the fair Elizabeth. Meanwhile Elizabeth rejects a foppish suitor,
becomes enamored with Darcy’s enemy, and watches her sisters fall in and out of love
before ultimately giving into the fact she and Darcy are meant for one another.

The cinematography is outstanding and you’d have a hard time naming a film released in
2005 with better costume and set designs. But in this case the old saying ‘beauty is only
skin deep’ definitely applies as there’s simply nothing appealing below the film’s
skillfully designed surface.

Positive marks do go to the filmmaker for casting actors closer in age to the characters in
the book than usually found in adaptations of Jane Austen’s classic novel. A handsome
and talented group, the cast of “Pride and Prejudice” do justice to the piece in parts, but
the film fails to connect with its audience. There’s an emotional pull to the story that’s
completely missing from Wright’s film. It’s all too cold and distant, as if the entire
production was taking its cue from the brooding character of Darcy.

The most engaging performances of the cast were turned in by the film’s older generation
of actors: Donald Sutherland, Dame Judi Dench and Brenda Blethyn. The younger group
headlined by Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen never came close to achieving the

27
same caliber of performances as their more senior co-stars. I never felt drawn in by
Knightley’s Elizabeth and Macfadyen as Darcy left me cold. Darcy’s supposed to be
standoffish – that’s how Austen wrote the character – yet Macfadyen plays him so
completely dour that he’s rendered uninteresting. He’s so unengaged in what’s going on
that Elizabeth’s attraction to the man is unexplainable.

The actresses cast as Elizabeth’s sisters, including the lovely Rosamund Pike and Jena
Malone, just simply aren’t convincing as siblings. None of the women cast as sisters look
anything alike and their interactions never sell the bond of sisterhood.

As strange as it may sound, I actually preferred the Bollywood/Hollywood mix of “Bride

and Prejudice” more than this slick yet stale adaptation of Austen’s book. At least
writer/director Gurinder Chadha’s colorful and engaging take on the novel was
something completely different from the same old rehashed, warmed-over story. This
“Pride and Prejudice” is a flat, tired regurgitation that’s been done better many, many
times before.

GRADE: C

"Pride and Prejudice" was directed by Joe Wright and is rated PG for some mild thematic
elements.

The movie opens with a long shot of the beautiful countryside. We see Elizabeth Bennet,
the second eldest, (Keira Knightley) reading the last page of a novel. She closes it, smiles
and runs into the house. On the way we see that they have a farm-like place with pigs, a
small pond, etc. In the house all four other sisters are crowded outside an almost closed
door where Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet are speaking. We can half hear Mrs. Bennet
screeching to her husband that he must go speak with the new neighbors for their
daughters. They continue their bickering outside where the youngest girls and giggling
and everybody is smiling and happy. We learn that Mr. Bingley (Simon Woods) is
coming to live in the countryside. He is rich, handsome and single. Mrs. Bennet insists
that Mr. Bennet go introduce themselves because she wants one of her daughters to marry
him. Mr. Bennet said that he already spoke to him and there is a ball that they are to
attend. Everybody laughs and goes wild and the two younger sisters pester Jane (the
eldest) for clothes to borrow.

Large doors are swung open and we see a majestic ball taking place. People are dancing
happily. All of a sudden things come to a halt and everybody is staring at the doorway
where we see two men and a woman. An elderly man says something like, "Mr.
Bingley..." and a pathway clears for them to walk to the front of the room. Once they are
there the dancing continues. Elizabeth is standing off the side with her best friend
Charlotte and Jane. Elizabeth asks who the miserable young man is beside Mr. Bingley
and she says that is his friend, Mr. Darcy (Matthew McFayden). "Miserable he is but
poor he is not," she says. Soon Mrs. Bennet gathers all her girls except for the youngest

28
two (Lydia and Mary) who are off dancing. They introduce themselves to Mr. Bingley
and Mrs. Bennet makes Jane stand out to him. Mr. Bingley and Jane dance together
almost the entire night. Elizabeth asks Mr. Darcy if he dances and he says, "Not if I can
help it." Later on Elizabeth and Charlotte are hidden in the back when they hear Mr.
Bingley say that there are so many pretty girls. Mr. Darcy says the only handsome
woman is Jane. Mr. Bingley replies that Elizabeth is quite good but Mr. Darcy says not
good enough for him. Elizabeth is offended but they laugh at how miserable he is.

The next morning everybody remarks how Mr. Bingley seemed to really have liked Jane.
Jane also mentions how dreary Mr. Darcy was. A letter comes from Bingley's sister,
Caroline (Kelly Reily) asking that Jane dines with them. It is stated that Mr. Bingley will
be out, however. Jane asks for the carriage but Mrs. Bennet clearly says she will go on
horseback. It starts to rain and Mrs. Bennet says her plan worked perfectly (now Jane will
have to stay overnight with no carriage). A letter comes from Jane saying she is ill.
Elizabeth is upset and walks to their estate to see Jane. We see Jane in bed and Mr.
Bingley is taking good care of her. He is cute and a tad clumsy when he says he is glad
that Jane is sick. But not that she is sick, that she is at his house. Mr. Darcy and Caroline
are sitting there and see Elizabeth with her messy hair and muddy shoes. Caroline
remarks on how dirty she is.

Everything seems to be in plan but we see Mr. Bingley smiling in love and Caroline says,
"You can't be serious."

Meanwhile, Mr. Collins, cousin to the sisters, comes to town. He is an idiot and is
egotistical, extremely unattractive, and everybody dislikes him. His intention is to marry
Jane but Mrs. Bennet tells him that she is soon to be engaged (assuming Mr. Bingley). He
then says that Elizabeth will do. Mrs. Bennet is eager to marry off a daughter to Mr.
Collins because their estate will be given to him (closest male relative in the family) and
Mr. Collins has agreed to let them keep the house.

Another ball takes place. Before that Elizabeth meets Mr. Wikham, a soldier in the army,
and he is handsome and kind. When Mr. Darcy and Wikham seem each other they are
extremely cold and Darcy quickly leaves. Elizabeth asks Wikham why he was so cold to
him and he says that Darcy's father took care if him like his own son. When Darcy's
father passed away he was supposed to leave money for Wikham to pursue his studies but
Darcy refused to give anything and so, he is now a poor soldier. Elizabeth hopes that he
will be at the ball but he does not show. Mr. Collins finds Elizabeth and they
uncomfortably dance with each other. Mr. Darcy asks Elizabeth to dance with him and
she agrees. They have a horrible conversation and she dislikes Mr. Darcy even more.

The next day Mr. Collins asks Elizabeth to marry him. He bumbles awkwardly and
Elizabeth refuses. Mrs. Bennet is extremely upset and runs after her. She makes Mr.
Bennet talk to her but he says, "If you do not marry Mr. Collins your mother will never
speak to you again. If you do marry Mr. Collins, I will never speak to you again," and
Elizabeth says thank you to her father.

29
Mr. Collins then proposes to Charlotte and she accepts. Elizabeth is mad that she would
accept but Charlotte makes it clear that she is plain and she needs to marry off well.
Elizabeth goes to visit Charlotte and Collins at their new home. All of a sudden Lady
Catherine de Bourg (a rich elderly lady played by Judi Dench) calls for Collins (they are
somehow connected, I don't remember). Collins, Charlotte and Elizabeth go to her house
which is absolutely gorgeous and rich. They see Mr. Darcy there and it is made clear that
Lady Catherine is his aunt. Along with Mr. Darcy is a friend of his.

Elizabeth later finds out from Darcy's friend that he convinced Bingley not to marry Jane.
She is really upset and later on runs out in the rain. Darcy finds her and proposes. He says
that she is of inferior birth (offending but he didn't mean it that way) and she says he is
the most proud person in the world and would never marry him. He says, "then I am sorry
to have wasted so much of your time" and leaves.

Meanwhile a letter comes saying that the three of them (Darcy, Bingley and Caroline)
will be leaving to the city. Jane's heart is crushed. They pack her things and send her off
to London where Bingley is, in hope that when he hears that she is there he will pursue
her.

Before Darcy leaves he finds Elizabeth and gives her a letter. She reads it and it says that
Wikham took his father's money and gambled it away. Then he asked for more and he
refused to keep sending him money. He also tried to marry Darcy's younger sister to get
money but when he refused to give him money Wikham left, leaving Darcy's sister's heart
crushed. She was only 15. Darcy also does not deny trying to convince Bingley not to
marry Jane but it was only as a friend because he wasn't sure that she loved him as much
as he loved her. Elizabeth understands and is starting to realize he isn't what she thought
he was.

Elizabeth goes off to her aunt and uncle's house, near Darcy's estate. One day they go for
a tour of his estate but her aunt said that Darcy wasn't home. It's a magnificent place with
statues, paintings, etc. Elizabeth is wandering and she hears a piano. She looks through
the crack of a door and sees Darcy's younger sister and all of a sudden, Darcy comes and
hugs his sister. Darcy looks and sees Elizabeth and she runs outside. He catches up with
her and there is some awkward conversation. They say goodbye and she runs off.

Elizabeth's aunt and uncle say that Darcy invited them for dinner the next day. So, they
are back at his estate and Elizabeth is formally introduced to Darcy's sister. She says she
has heard so much about Elizabeth and Darcy smiles awkwardly to Elizabeth. At night
we see Elizabeth crying with a letter. She tells everybody that Lydia has run off with
Wikham and their entire family will be shamed. Mr. Bennet is already looking in London
but their hope is small. The uncle says he will travel to help. Darcy says it is a sad affair
and he leaves. The scene cuts to Mrs. Bennet who is hysterical and says that because of
Lydia all the sister won't be able to get married. A letter comes for Mr. Bennet from the
uncle. It says that Lydia is married to Wikham now. Mrs. Bennet is no longer upset, only
happy that her daughter is married. It says that the uncle promised Wikham 100 pounds a

30
year for the arrangement but Mr. Bennet is smarter and says that somebody else must
have given him a lot more money otherwise he would not have agreed to marry Lydia.

Lydia and Wikham ride a carriage back to their home and everybody is excited except for
Elizabeth and Jane. Wikham bows to Elizabeth but she does not bow back. Lydia at
dinner accidentally slips that Darcy was at the wedding. Elizabeth asks, "Darcy?" and
Lydia says that he found them and paid for everything but she is not supposed to tell
anybody. Elizabeth now understands Darcy was the one who paid Wikham a large sum of
money. Wikham and Lydia ride off.The Bennets are in the marketplace when a random
man says that Bingley is coming back. They pretend that they do not care but Mrs.
Bennet is excited again. All the girls and Mrs. Bennet are sitting in their living room
when Bingley and Darcy knock on the door. They clean everything and put on ribbons,
etc. and Bingley and Darcy come in. There is awkward and short conversation and
Bingley says he will leave. They are all confused why he came in and left. Jane is sad but
trying not to show it and says that Darcy has nerve to show up. The scene cuts to Bingley
rehearsing lines with Darcy. Cuts back to Elizabeth trying to explain that Darcy isn't
annoying when another knock is heard. Bingley comes in, requests to speak to Jane
alone, and proposes. She accepts. Everybody is ecstatic except for Elizabeth. We see her
sitting under a tree with her arms folded. At night she can't sleep and she is obviously
thinking about Darcy.

All of a sudden there is an urgent knock and the whole family opens the door. Lady
Catherine de Bourg steps in very arrogantly and speaks to Elizabeth alone. She asks if
Elizabeth is engaged to Darcy and she says no. She asks if she will promise not to accept
any proposal by him and Elizabeth says no, she will not promise. Lady Catherine
continues to insult Elizabeth and Elizabeth asks her to leave right away.

Elizabeth is upset and steps outside in the middle of the night. She is standing in a field
and in the horizon she looks and sees Darcy walking. He says that he couldn't sleep and
tells her that his feelings have not changed. He says things this time with more eloquence
and clearly says that he loves her. Elizabeth holds his hand and says, "you're cold" and
they lean in touching foreheads.

We see Darcy stepping out of Mr. Bennet's office. Elizabeth walks in and smiles sweetly
at him. Mr. Bennet says, "have you lost your mind?!" to Elizabeth because he thinks that
she hates him. Elizabeth explains everything that Darcy has done and how she misjudged
him. Mr. Bennet says that he is sad to let her daughter go but he consents. The other
sisters and Mrs. Bennet are rather confused and looking at Darcy through the window.
They all thought that Elizabeth hated him but "I guess we were wrong!".The end scene is
Elizabeth and Darcy sitting outside at night. He says, "my dear" and Elizabeth says he
can not call her that because that is what her father would call her mother when he was
cross at her. Elizabeth says he can call her "Lizzie" normally, "my pearl" on Sundays, and
"my divine goddess" when he is extremely happy. Darcy asks, "how about Mrs. Darcy?"
and she laughs saying that he can only call her that when he is extremely extremely
happy (more eloquently than that, of course). He continues to say "Mrs. Darcy" around 5
times and kisses her starting from the forehead, cheek, etc. until finally they kiss.

31
Perceptions on Jane Austin’s “Pride &Prejudice”
With one small change from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, director Joe Wright and
screenwriter Deborah Maggoch effectively alter the way we see both Elizabeth and
Wickham. Wright’s use of camera angles, close-ups and long shots, play an IMPORTANT
role in our perception of Wickham. Changes in setting also lend a different feeling to the
scene in which Wickham and Elizabeth discuss Wickham’s problem with Mr. Darcy.
While the dialogue in the scene suffers little change, although there are some omissions,
the visual impression piques our anticipation of a possible romantic involvement between
Elizabeth and Wickham, as does the book, but we quickly see that this sub-plot is
diverted and does not figure into the simmering LOVE story between the arrogant Mr.
Darcy and the proud Elizabeth Bennett. So, how does a seemingly minor change in the
film adaptation change the way we perceive Elizabeth and Wickham in the film from the
way we perceive them in the book?

As you will recall from Austen’s book, George Wickham is a central catalyst for the
ways in which Mr. Darcy is misunderstood and later redeemed, and through whom
Elizabeth Bennet learns that her brash opinions should be tempered. By reducing
Wickham’s sub-plot in the film, and making a small change in the encounter with Darcy
and the ensuing conversation between Wickham and Elizabeth concerning him, we are
denied the subtleties that help us define our hero and our heroine. In Austen’s version the
encounter between Darcy and Wickham in which Elizabeth first notices something amiss
take place on the street in town where Wickham and Mr. Darcy happen to meet in
passing. Elizabeth, Kitty, Lydia, and Mr. Denny were “still standing and talking together
very agreeably” when Darcy and Bingley are “seen riding down the street”. Darcy and
Wickham “looked at each other”. Elizabeth, our narrator tells us, happened to “see the
countenance of both” …”was all astonishment at the effect of this meeting” (71). The
film, however, presents us with a somewhat different picture when it changes the setting
to that of an encounter across a small brook in the country about 32 minutes[i] into the
film. As Lydia happily remarks that Wickham is “a credit to his profession” the camera
pans around behind Friend to a full shot over his shoulder of Matthew MacFadyen who
plays Mr. Darcy astride his horse. With Lydia’s voiceover comment MacFadyen turns his
horse while looking at Rupert Friend who plays Wickham. MacFadyen’s look is stern and
his countenance is one of disapproval or, perhaps, anger. His hat brim dips to almost
cover his eyes giving him an almost sinister, foreboding air.

If we pay attention we see the blurred, red and gold left shoulder of Wickham just at the
outside right corner of the shot while MacFadyen’s image is somewhat dark in blue and
black against the dark trees in the distance. This imagery might entice us to look
unfavorably on MacFadyen’s character as we see him in a dark light and have an almost
subconscious hint of a ‘golden’ BOY, Wickham. He is hatless which lends an air of
friendly informality. The blurred image of his uniform may suggest a bit of danger in the
red spot of uniform color, but we probably do not suspect that fault lies with Wickham.
When Mr. Bingley then ISSUES his invitation to Wickham in agreement with Lydia’s
enthusiasm he does not seem to notice the unusual encounter between the two MEN. He
barely glances towards Darcy as he turns and rides away; having more trouble controlling

32
his white horse than trying to see what is exchanged. The close-up of Friend as he
answers Bingley with a slight nod and a forced smile shows that his eyes seem to watch
Darcy, who rides off through the trees. A cut-away back to Friend as Keira Knightly, who
plays Elizabeth, turns a puzzled look to Friend, and then another cut-away to Darcy
riding off on his black horse with his coat tails flying behind him, his posture is straight
and shoulders broad as befitting a movie hero, but he almost blends into the shadows of
the trees through which he is riding, giving us another somewhat negative impression of
Darcy.

In this few seconds of film close-ups and long shots we see an obvious difference from
the Austen text which places the encounter between Darcy and Wickham in town and
tells us that Wickham and Darcy both “changed colour, one looked white, the other red”
(71), but she does not TELL us which one was what color. Austen goes on to tell us
Wickham “touched his hat” and that Darcy did not return the polite salutation. So, as
readers we may imagine there was some tension between the two, but the imagery of the
film brings this into focus more adeptly. In the film adaptation, Friend’s eyes seem dark
and brooding and he has no smile which indicates that there is tension between Darcy and
Wickham. He is also in full sunlight with no shade which gives a sense of him being in
the right in the matter, what ever it is. The cut-away back to Darcy riding away is voiced
over with Elizabeth asking Wickham if he is going to the Netherfield Ball and then a long
shot of Knightly and Friend alone together under a TREE.

Wright’s choice of this setting indicates he wishes to convey a romantic moment of

disclosure and the AUDIO allows us to intrude on their conversation. Again, the change
from the propriety of the crowded sitting room in Austen’s novel where Elizabeth would
have been properly chaperoned might refocus our attention on the impropriety of
Elizabeth. Their ensuing discussion could have easily been overheard in the drawing
room and thus seemed to remove the air of secrecy Wickham claims to desire. The
change to a setting where Elizabeth and Wickham are alone in what might be described
as a romantic setting where their discussion is in reality quite private and takes on the air
of a confidence between friends, if not suitors, changes our perceptions of the encounter
and the RELATIONSHIP building between Wickham and Elizabeth.

The long shot, somewhat hazy as if they are in a romantic fog, shows that there is a soft
rain falling and Elizabeth, barely perceptible, is reclining under a tree in dark shadows
while Wickham stands over her in a somewhat lighter shadow, as if he is in charge of her.
There is little chance their conversation can be overheard or interrupted as it might have
been in Austen’s setting. The impropriety of such a setting in Austen’s day would mark
Elizabeth as being, not quire ladylike and risk her reputation, while the novel puts
Wickham’s manners into question as he broaches the subject in a semi-private setting.
The novel might even suggest he meant to be overheard which is further supported by his
comment to Elizabeth, “I might proclaim to all the world: a sense of very great ill usage,
and most painful regrets at his being what he is” (75).

The single roll of thunder in the distance hints that something is amiss and could be
construed to indicate trouble is brewing, or perhaps it is Darcy’s anger as he rides away

33
from them. We also do not know what happened to Elizabeth’s sisters and might find it
difficult to imagine that a proper YOUNG lady of the times would be alone with a man in
such a secluded spot. After Elizabeth informs Wickham that Darcy had been in the area
about a month, the camera shifts to a close-up of Knightly looking up at Wickham as they
talk. Once again we see only a blurred partial image of Wickham’s coat and sword in our
peripheral view which again suggests his upstanding profession and his position over
Elizabeth in regards to his GENDER.

In a principal change from the novel, Elizabeth indeed asks “what she chiefly wished to
hear” as Austen tells us on page 74, and “could not hope to be told”. As Elizabeth begins
to ask Wickham about his “acquaintance” with Mr. Darcy, we see Knightly lower her
eyes, as if embarrassed to ask about Darcy. Indeed she should be as not only is the setting
improper but at this point Wickham is almost a stranger and it is, of course, improper
manners to question anyone, especially a stranger, as to personal matters such as
Elizabeth so desires to know. Knightly looks up as Friend explains his relationship.
Notice he turns away from her as he comments on their “cold greeting of this afternoon”.
As he assures Knightly that he will not be driven from the ball by Darcy and that he ,
meaning Darcy, must be the one to go, he does not look at her while saying so. He is
glancing around and then plucks at a leaf of the tree. Here the matter of manners or
propriety shifts again from those in the novel as Elizabeth breaks with manners and asks
a question she should not have asked, rather than Wickham volunteering the information
as in Austen’s novel that a real gentleman of character would not have offered, perhaps
even refused to offer as seen of Darcy. On page 74 Austen tells us that Elizabeth “dared
not even mention that gentleman” meaning Mr. Darcy, but that “Mr. Wickham began the
subject himself. These two lines in the novel give us the obvious connection to the well
mannered, but they also hint at something more, perhaps Elizabeth’s fear of knowing
something else about Darcy that might cast him in further shadows in her opinion of him
while attacking her growing, yet unrealized feelings for him.

The scene in the film continues with close-ups and long shots from various angles while
Wickham tells his story about his relationship with Darcy for about 2 minutes in total.
The closing remark of Wickham in the scene indicates the path of his sub-plot as he
describes himself as; “a poor foot soldier, too lowly to be noticed”. But with the changes
made in the film in the described 55 or so seconds of the encounter between Wickham,
Darcy, and Elizabeth and the beginning of the conversation between Elizabeth and
Wickham, the director, Joe Wright, effectively turned the impropriety attributed to
Wickham in Austen’s novel onto Elizabeth. This seemingly insignificant change,
effectively enabled Wright to almost eliminate Wickham from the major portions of the
film. It gives us the impression that it was Elizabeth who was ill-mannered and improper.
The change allowed Wright to produce what modern day movie goers would consider a
‘good love story’. Wickham is not seen again until the dinner scene after he and Lydia
are married and then the encounter with Elizabeth is minimal.

By eliminating many of the scenes in Austen’s novel which involve Wickham, and by
changing our view of him in this film clip, Wright removes a catalyst for the ways in

34
which Mr. Darcy is misunderstood and later redeemed. He has removed much of the
tension between Elizabeth and Darcy as Wickham is now out of the picture.

As any avid romance movie fan might tell you, the conclusion becomes obvious much
earlier in the film than in the novel and can be seen developing in the looks exchanged
between Darcy and Elizabeth even from the beginning of the film. By reducing the
Wickham sub-plot to fewer than five minutes of film time, we are denied many of the
subtleties that help us define our hero and heroine. Although Rupert Friend’s charming
portrayal of Wickham may endear him to us, especially if we have not READ the novel,
we are quickly diverted and he is forgotten until he turns up much later, married to
Elizabeth’s sister. His manner and position, as well as the way he is filmed, suggests
gentlemanly BEHAVIOR as he seems to somewhat hesitantly answer Keira Knightly’s ill-
mannered question. We might believe a real gentleman might consider answering her as
the proper response and that it would be quite rude not to answer a direct question from a
lady. Mr. Darcy, on the other hand appears to be brooding, snobbish, and even impolite
or ill mannered and we must be convinced, in the course of the film, that he is the better
man. It appears much easier to portray this without the tension of Wickham in the way.

Book to movie adaptations are often far from the book’s text, but Pride and Prejudice is,
for the most part, true to Austen’s work. The film does eliminate much of the subtle
interplay between characters, especially Wickham and Elizabeth, but in the end,
Elizabeth gets her man, as in the novel, and both primary characters discover new depths
of personality and character. While entertaining, the film cannot, however, relay the same
feeling of connection to the characters.

It has been said that a picture is be worth a thousand words, but the film can not offer us
the insights of the character’s thoughts as clearly as Austen’s novel. Even a small change
in the film, such as the scene I have described, can indeed, change the course of the story,
eliminate crucial elements of conflict or personalities, and reduce the classic novel to
about two hours of romantic tension between two characters that we suspect will
reconcile their differences and live happily ever after, cheating us out of the pleasure of
the discovery of the romance for ourselves through the nuances of the novel’s portrayal
of all the characters.

Works Cited

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Longman: New York. 2003.

Wright, Joe. Pride & Prejudice. Universal Studios. 2005

35
Pride and Prejudice
November 11, 2005

KEIRA KNIGHTLEY and MATTHEW McFADYEN star in Focus Features

“Pride and Prejudice.” ©2005 Focus Features.

In 1995, Simon Langdon gave us the highly-regarded BBC mini-series. Last year,
Gurindher Chadha threw a Bollywood spin on it. Now, as his first feature-length effort,
Joe Wright furnishes us with a opulent yet straightforward adaptation of Jane Austen’s
“Pride and Prejudice.”

Wright stated in a recent Q&A in Minneapolis that he deliberately avoided referencing

previous incarnations of Austen’s classic novel, wisely referring to the source material
for his sense of direction. The film opens on lush fields of green as Elizabeth Bennet
(Keira Knightley) walks a path, book in hand—absorbed in words.

Mr. Bennet (Donald Sutherland) is surrounded by his daughters, hounding him, as he

arrives home. This introduction to the Bennet household is like a cinematographic waltz–
weaving around and in and out of rooms. Most of the filming was done on location, in
real residences and not sets. The continuous tracking shots throughout the various
residences provide a great visual contrast between the cramped spaces of middle-class
citizenry and the immensely wealthy nobility of late, eighteenth-century England.

The girls attend a ball with their mother, Mrs. Bennet, played by Brenda Blethyn as the
eighteenth-century equivalent of the showbiz mother–carting her girls out to every social
function to meet noblemen with wealth and power. Mr. Darcy (Matthew McFadyen)
makes an appearance at the ball. I describe it in this manner because it connotes the
seemingly disinterested state of Darcy as he surveys those about the room. He’s flanked

36
by the outgoing Mr. Bingley (Simon Woods) and Bingley’s mannered sister, Caroline
(Kelly Riley).

Darcy and Elizabeth are polar opposites. “Do you dance, Mr. Darcy?” asks Elizabeth.
“Not if I can help it,” he responds. Then again, there’s a difference between seeming and
being cold. Of the two, Darcy is demonstrably possessed by the need to seem cold… but
is he, really?

Elizabeth notes, “I wouldn’t dance with him for all of Darbershire,” while Darcy relates
to Bingley that he finds Elizabeth “barely tolerable.” Elizabeth, of course, overhears him
say this. The game’s afoot when, later, in a philsophical sort of conversation between the
Bingleys, Darcy and the Bennets, Darcy asks Elizabeth, “So what do you recommend to
encourage affection?” Lizzie wryly replies, “Dancing…. Even if one’s partner is ‘barely
tolerable.’”

This is where Jane Austen’s work comes alive in Wright’s adaptation. While much of the
story has been greatly condensed (the BBC mini-series covers the book verbatim) for the
screen, there are expanses of deliciously witty exchanges that are mostly simple and
straightforward, yet occasionally revealing of one’s character between the lines. For
example, in a bedroom chat with her eldest sister, Jane (Rosamund Pike), Lizzie offers a
telling criticism Darcy, “I could almost forgive his vanity had he not wounded mine.” Is
she flaying him or admiring him? (Austen fans take note: This line is actually spoken to
Charlotte Lucas in the book. This screen adaptation does contain a number of such
changes.)

The story itself is not particularly complex, nor does it need to be. The title is quite
adequate in describing the basic elements of the plot. Both Darcy and Elizabeth have
presuppositions about one another, to which they cling tightly with fierce ego. There are
several subplots: One involves a romance between Lydia (Jena Malone), an ostentatious
flirt, and Mr. Wickham (Rupert Friend), an officer of the local regiment who has a
dubious history with Mr. Darcy. There’s also Charlotte, Lizzie’s friend, who finds the
Reverend Collins (Tom Hollander, in a delightfully morose performance) more agreeable
than does Lizzie.

There’s a particularly entertaining sequence when Collins calls on the Bennet household
to court their daughters. “What excellent potatoes. It’s been many years since I’ve had
such an exemplary vegetable,” he observes. Despite the fact that, as Lizzie observes, his
manners do seem somewhat rehearsed, Collins is not necessarily a duplicitous man. He’s
simply the wrong man, for the Bennets. But Collins is backed by Lady Catherine De
Bourg (Judi Dench), which represents a potentially significant elevation in status if one of
the Bennets were to marry him. Before Mrs. Bennet can resign her daughter’s hand to
Collins, Mr. Bennet interrupts in a loving, fatherly manner, while simultaneously getting,
if only for a brief moment, to wear the pants in the family.

37
Rather than spilling the entire plot, as there are some who may not have read or do not
remember all the details of Austen’s novel since last they had read it, I’d like to talk
about the cinematography, casting and other elements.

The director, Wright, told me he was “dubious about casting Keira,” and that she was
“too beautiful” to play Elizabeth. She’s described in the book as less attractive than her
older sister, Jane. The choice of Knightley came about because she clearly embodied the
same plucky, strong character that’s required of the role.

Despite some anachronisms in various aspects of the production design, which some
viewers found disrupting and others did not, Wright used several mechanisms to give a
sense of the period. He wanted to focus on “the importance of privacy,” he says, “People
delineated time more.” There’s a scene in the drawing room of Darcy’s mansion, for
example: As Caroline and Lizzie take a walk about the room, Mr. Darcy is preoccupied
with writing correspondence.

Also, as I mentioned before, Wright’s cinematographer, Roman Osin, dances the camera
through the Bennet household with almost the rhythm of a waltz, and uses long,
continuous takes through Bingley’s and Darcy’s mansions. This was, Wright informed
us, to give a sense of real space, as these were all actual locations and not sets. While the
technique is nothing groundbreaking, it’s sufficient to establish a sense of the settings and
the time.

There are interesting parallel shots at Bingley’s residence, with Lizzie sitting alone on a
couch, opposite the others in the room. In the first instance the shot is weighted to the left
of the frame by a painting—behind her—of another solitary girl. In another scene, she’s
sitting on the far end of the couch, with no one else. The other Bennet sisters are all
seated on the couch opposite her. These are, of course, formal compositions designed to
set Lizzie apart from her siblings—each of whom are hungry for a suitor, while she is
not particularly so.

To mark the evolution of Darcy’s and Elizabeth’s relationship, there are, yet again,
parallel shots—of Darcy’s hand. In the first, Darcy hand brushes Lizzie as he walks past.
It appears as though his hand stiffens out of disgust. However, as we come to know
Darcy and Elizabeth, both as individuals and as a pair, we realize he’s actually nervous
around her. In the reprise, Darcy’s hand is much more relaxed.

My one complaint is that it’s rather difficult to follow all that happens as there’s so much
stuffed into the 127 minutes of this film. The BBC mini-series, by contrast, covers much
more ground but spread out over several episodes. Some might find that easier to follow,
and others might also prefer such strict devotion to the book. That is not to say this isn’t a
good film. I saw this film twice, and on the second screening I felt I had a much better
grasp of everything that transpired as well as a greater appreciation for the
cinematography, settings and acting. Wright has done remarkably well for his first effort
at a feature and I’m encouraged to see how far he takes his abilities in the future.

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Pride and Prejudice (1995)

Adapted from the book "Pride and Prejudice" written by Jane Austen, this romance story
follows Elizabeth Bennet and her four other sisters as they go through a season of
courtship and marriage, as well as their family's relationship with two particular
gentlemen, Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy, who newly arrived to their estate located near the
Bennet's. The story also deals with the virtue of women, moral uprightness and the
manners of the society during the turn of 19th century. This BBC six episodes television
drama is adapted by Andrew Davies, produced by Sue Birtwistle and directed by Simon
Langton. The cast includes Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet, Colin Firth as Mr Darcy,
Susannah Harker as Jane Bennet, Crispin Bonham-Carter as Mr Bingley, Julia Sawalha
as Lydia Bennet, Benjamin Whitrow and Alison Steadman as Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, Lucy
Briers as Mary Bennet, Polly Marberly as Kitty Bennet, Adrian Lukis as Wickham and
David Bamber as Mr Collins.

The daughters of Mr and Mrs Bennet:

(From left to right)Lydia, Jane, Mary, Kitty and Elizabeth

I have not been a fan of romance themed movies but I am absolute captured by the
richness of the story, characters and their relationships in this movie adaptation of the
book. The movie overall story is divided into six parts which made each episodes start
and end satisfyingly. Each episodes consisted of its own unique subplot but doesn't run
away from it's main story. More than just a romance story between Elizabeth and Mr
Darcy, but the story delved into capturing the romance of the 18th century; the
importance of family status, the golden virtues of a woman, the importance of a married
women and its implication to the family, the status of a society as well as dealing with
aristocrats of that time and the manners and society rules in courtship and marriage. The
movie takes you back in time and gives you a glimpse through the eyes of Jane Austen
and her surroundings when she penned the novel.

39
The 17th century style of courtship

As mentioned in the title, the limelight of the story is on the Elizabeth's prejudice against
Mr Darcy and Mr Darcy's pride that has left him 'rather disagreeable' by many people
around him, especially to Elizabeth. That being painted in their relationship, made their
romance story interesting to follow. Their relationship can also be compared that with the
almost-perfect loving relationship of Elizabeth's oldest sister, Jane and Mr Darcy's friend,
Mr Bingley, and as well compared on the other end of the scale, Elizabeth's flirtatious
youngest sister, Lydia and her relationship with men. Setting up Elizabeth and Mr
Darcy's relationship is one of the finest stroke from Jane Austen's creativity, and the cast
who played them, did a brilliant job in portraying their characters.

Mr Darcy and Elizabeth

However, the conflicts and the tensions of the story are more than what is between
Elizabeth and Mr Darcy but also the struggle in the Bennet family when it comes to
marrying their daughters, keeping their family's integrity and reputation, as well as
dealing with people of a higher class. Not only do these conflicts captured the settings
and time of that era but they add tension to many of the character's relationship. It is
worth to take note that Jane Austen contrasted the lives of the Bennet's family with that
of Mr Darcy's, the character of Elizabeth with that of her sisters and every relationship in

40
the story compared with one another. Jane used them creatively in the plot to flesh out
and reveal much of each characters as well as keeping the story engaging. I believed the
movie fleshed them out very well.

Distress in the family.

The characters in this film, much like the book I believe, were very well written, adapted
and cast. Elizabeth and Mr Darcy showed great character development, from their
introduction that captured each of their characteristics to their first meeting in the
ballroom that carried forth the tension into their relationship with one another. Each
characters in the film are unique on their own and they play a great role into the story.
The actors and actresses who played them were absolutely brilliant, especially Jennifer
Ehle, Colin Firth and Alison Steadman in their respective roles. Annoying as Mr Collins'
character can be, I also find it quite interesting that David Bamber could pull off his role
very well.

"Oh, what a man have I become."

The characters were very well developed in the story, and they can very well be
contrasted to flesh out more of their characteristics. Take for example Elizabeth, she is
depicted to be a headstrong woman with a wit, a sharp tongue and a person who speaks
her mind while at the same time, she's caring and love her sisters and have a very

41
compassionate side. Compared that with her oldest sister, who is more gentle and soft
spoken, and that with her two youngest sister, Lydia and Kitty, who are more playful and
couldn't care less of a woman's virtue. Elizabeth too, can be compared with the sisters of
Mr Bingley, who lived in a more high class society, and her friend, Charlotte, who
appeared to be very much content with her life.

A sisterhood's moment in the garden

Comparison too can be found between the men, like Mr Darcy, Mr Bingley and Mr
Wickham. Relationships too can be compared with one another; the relationship with Mr
and Mrs Bennet in a 20 years old marriage, the relationship with Mr Bingley and Jane,
Elizabeth and Mr Wickham, Elizabeth with Mr Darcy, Lydia with a soldier from the
regiment, Mr Darcy and one of Mr Bingley's sisters. So, there's much to appreciate from
the novel and the film. Like a work of art, every time you look, there's so much that can
be analyzed.

Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy

Captured in this film as well, is the detailed 17th century backdrop. The film crew went
great length to create the props and the costumes, and scout for locations that pretty much
makes you feel like you're watching a film that was captured from that era, rather than
that of 1995. I love every details of each scene, especially the ones that involves dancing.

42
Jane and Mr Bingley dancing

I believe that to speak well of the movie is to speak well of the book. I find the story very
engaging and the characters and setting quite fascinating. My utmost praise goes to the
cast and their faithful portrayal to the book and as well as the great lengths that the crew
members went to create a believable romance of that era and to bring forth a faithful
adaptation. Fans and readers would definitely not be disappointed, and I believe romance-
movie goers would definitely find this more favorable film than the present day romance
films. Perhaps, the drawbacks in this film are the old appearance of the film's quality,
which cause many of the modern viewers preferring the 2005 version, and the
sophisticated english jargon in the lines, which may be quite difficult to hear. But that can
be solved by turning on the subtitles. If that can be overcome for the viewer, the lines
written can be a plus point and be as fascinating as watching the drama in the movie.
Overall, I would give this a 10 out of 10 Mrs Bennet's nerves.

Mr Darcy

43
An awkward moment

"Yes, I find this Pride and Prejudice novel rather amusing."

"Farewell! I shall be back in 2005 with the face of Simon Woods!"

Posted by Charles Lau at 8:31 PM

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Labels: Pride and Prejudice (BBC)

2 comments:

I read your detailed review. Your reviews are always very detailed by the way and thts a
good thing. Sounds like this shrt series is a winner due to the character development and
good story which u mentioned. However was the movie boring? I have shunt many
movies of this sort due their overtly feminine content and sleep inducing scenes.

But once you get a clear idea what they are saying, giving meaning to the situations
around them and you understand who is who in the movie, you'll definitely enjoy the
story. It is very engaging, creative and witty.

I had a difficult time at first going through the first episode, but after that, it is very
addictive. Another put off is probably the old-fashioned style of shooting and the camera
they used at that time. But if you adapt to that, it is very good. I believe this one is far
more superior than the Kiera Knightley 2005 version.

I enjoyed this movie as a form of art, it is also very much like reading a book, you are
meant to study the characters, their lines and the surroundings. It's not your popcorn kind
of movie. So, I have to warn you, there IS definitely a risk of being bored. I would salute
you as a true movie critic if you get through all six episodes of the movie.

About Book
Elizabeth is undoubtedly the most impressive female character, and therefore,
the heroine of the novel; while Mr. Darcy is surely the most impressive male
character, and therefore, the novel's hero. The major sub-plot deals with Jane
Bennet and Mr. Bingley. Then there are two other sub-plots, one dealing with Mr.
Collins and Charlotte Lucas, and the other dealing with Lydia Bennet and Mr.
Wickham. The novel has a compact structure largely because of its thematic
unity. All the stories have a common theme, which is love and marriage. The
novel presents the variety of forms in which love manifests itself, and the variety
of ways in which men and women come together and get married. The common
theme of all the stories unifies them all, so that a single structural pattern is
produced.
Diversity in Unity
In spite of the common theme, there is neither repetition nor monotony in
the novel. There is a diversity in the unity. Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy begin with a
mutual dislike but, in course of time, this dislike changes into a mutual attraction
which then leads, through several stages of development, to their union in
marriage. Jane Bennet and Mr. Bingley fall in love with each other in the very
beginning, and there seems to be an immediate prospect of their getting married.
However, their love-affair receives a setback on account of the manipulations by

45
Mr. Darcy and Miss Bingley. Ultimately these two also come together, and get
married. The case of Mr. Collins and Charlotte Lucas is entirely different. Here
we have a marriage of convenience. There is no love on either side. Mr. Collins
simply wants to get married, and do does Charlotte. The Lydia-Wickham affair is
different from all the above cases. Lydia falls in love with Mr. Wickham, but there
is no sincerity in the love which he has been professing for her. Mr. Wickham is a
seducer who would have forsaken Lydia after taking undue advantage of her.
Lydia, in eloping with Mr. Wickham, feels no doubt at all that he would marry
her. However, this marriage is brought about only by the intervention of Mr.
Darcy. The diversity of love-affairs and marriages thus becomes evident to us as
we go through the novel.
The Interweaving to the Sub-Plots with the Main Plot
The different stories in the novel are not just inter-linked by a common
theme. The stories are interwoven. Each sub-plot is brought into a close
relationship with the main plot. The Elizabeth-Darcy affair and the Jane-Bingley
affair begin almost simultaneously, the first with a mutual dislike, and the second
with a mutual attraction. Now, Elizabeth and Jane are sisters, while Mr. Darcy
and Mr. Bingley are close friends. Mr. Darcy is at first not at all attracted by
Elizabeth's physical appearance, though soon afterwards he begins to perceive a
certain charm in her face and in her figure. Elizabeth, having overheard Mr.
Darcy criticizing her physical appearance, begins to dislike him. Mr. Darcy is a
very proud man who is, in fact, disliked by everybody with whom he comes into
contact. Mr. Darcy begins to feel more and more attracted by Elizabeth but she
becomes more and more prejudiced against him. Elizabeth's prejudice against
Mr. Darcy deepens into a hatred for him on account of the account which Mr.
Wickham gives to her of Mr. Darcy's past ill-treatment of him. Mr. Bingley and
Jane would have got married by now if Mr. Darcy had not obstructed his friend's
wish and if he had not been assisted in this endeavour by Miss Bingley. On
account of the obstruction caused by Mr. Darcy and Miss Bingley, the Jane-
Bingley sub-plot comes to a stand-still for a time, but the Elizabeth-Darcy plot
continues to develop. Mr. Darcy proposes marriage to Elizabeth whose prejudices
against him prevent her from accepting the proposal. Mr. Darcy's obstruction in
the way of the marriage of Mr. Bingley and Jane becomes one of the several
grounds for Elizabeth's rejection of Mr. Darcy's proposal. However, when
Elizabeth learns all the true facts, her prejudice against Mr. Darcy begin to
crumble, and she then feels drawn closer and closer towards Mr. Darcy. After Mr.
Darcy's quiet withdrawal from the Jane-Bingley affair, the way becomes clear for
that pair of lovers to get married. Eventually, Mr. Darcy's pride having been
humbled, and Elizabeth's prejudices having melted away, they too get married.
As for the Collins-Charlotte affair, Charlotte promptly accepts Mr. Collins's
proposal of marriage which Mr. Collins makes after having been rejected twice by
Elizabeth. This marriage provides the reason for Elizabeth to visit Hunsford
where she meets Mr. Darcy after having separated from him at Netherfield Park.
It is at Hunsford that Mr. Darcy gets an opportunity to make his proposal of
marriage to Elizabeth who, however, rejects it, giving him detailed reasons for her
rejection. This, then, is the connection of the Collins-Charlotte marriage with the
main plot. As for the Lydia-Wickham affair, Mr. Wickham is first the means of

46
unknowingly aggravating Elizabeth's prejudice against Mr. Darcy, and then the
means of unknowingly bringing Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth once step closer to each
otherBut Mr. Wickham certainly plays a vital role by first widening the rift
between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, and later by providing Mr. Darcy with an
opportunity to render a valuable service to the Bennet family. This is how the
various sub-plots in the novel are interrelated, inter-connected, and inter-woven,
with the main plot.
Mr. Wickham and Mr. Collins, Not Entirely Aliens
It is noteworthy that Mr. Wickham is not entirely new to the social circle at
Meryton or Netherfield Park. He had known Mr. Darcy intimately long ago. In
fact, they had known each other from their boyhood and had been brought up in
the same environment. Similarly, Mr. Collins is not an alienat Longbourn. He is
the relative to whom Mr. Bennet's entire estate had been entailed; and he is the
man who will inherit all this estate at Mr. Bennet's death. Mr. Collins's arrival at
Longbourn has thus a strong basis because Mr. Collins wishes to make a mends
to the Bennet family for ultimately depriving them of their property. He wishes to
make amends to them by choosing one of the daughters of the family as his
would-be wife, so that one of the daughters may ultimately become the mistress
of her father's estate.
The Roles of the Minor Characters
All the characters mentioned so far are essential to the novel. Each of these
characters is indispensable from the point of view of either the main plot or one
of the sub-plots. But none of the other characters too is unnecessary or unwanted.
Each of the minor characters has a certain role in the drama of events. Mr.
Denny, a very minor character, plays an important role by the information which
he supplies about Mr. Wickham's motives and deeds, though he does so by
oblique hints and in an evasive manner. Colonel Fitzwilliam provides, though
unknowingly, an important clue to Elizabeth regarding Mr. Bingley's having
given up his intention to marry Jane. Mrs. Reynolds, the housekeeper at
Pemberley House, furnishes such information to Elizabeth about Mr. Darcy that
Mr. Darcy further rises in Elizabeth's estimation. Lady Catherine unknowingly
plays a vital role in bringing Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth closer still to each other.
No Digressions; and No Superfluous
Incident or Character
There are no digressions in the novel, and no deviations from the main plot
or the sub-plots in the novel. We are either reading the development in the
Darcy-Elizabeth plot, or watching the lack of progress in the Bingley-Jane sub-
plot or observing the appearance of Mr. Collins and of Mr. Wickham on the social
scene and seeing them pursue their respective plans. We are either being taken
into the working of the mind of Elizabeth, or being acquainted with the distress
which Jane is experiencing on account of the setback to her hope of marrying Mr.
Bingley. We are either being shown the way of life of Mr. Collins and Charlotte at
Hunsford, and their relations with Lady Catherine, or we are being told of Lydia's
going to Brighton with Mrs. Forster and then suddenly eloping one day with Mr.
Wickham who too is there. When we are taken to Hunsford, we are also shown
the magnificence of Lady Catherine's mansion and the manner in which Lady
Catherine and her daughter Miss de Bourgh are leading their lives. There is a

47
comic touch about the scenes in which Lady Catherine and her daughter appear.
Besides, Lady Catherine contributes to the theme of pride in this novel. The
portrayal of Lady Catherine contributes also to the picture of the social scene
which is an important ingredient of the novel. The scene in which we meet Mr.
and Mrs. Gardiner or Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are equally relevant to the stories of
the novel. Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner play a vital role by taking Elizabeth to
Derbyshire and to Pemberley House where Elizabeth again meets Mr. Darcy
whose changed manner raises him in her estimation. Besides, Mr. Gardiner plays
a very useful role by joining Mr. Bennet in the latter's search for Lydia who has
run away with Mr. Wickham. Mr. Gardiner also acts as a cover for Mr. Darcy who
does not want the Bennet family to know that it is he who, by bribing Mr.
Wickham and putting pressure on him, has persuaded him to marry Lydia. But
for Mr. Darcy's intervention, Mr. Wickham would not have married Lydia, and
Mr. Darcy would not have further risen in Elizabeth's esteem. Thus there is
nothing superfluous in the whole novel just as none of the characters is
superfluous. The structure of the novel is well-integrated; and the construction of
the plot could not have been more skillfully handled. In the words of a critic,
everything is in its proper place and in proper proportion; there is nothing too
much, nor anything too little; no excess, nor any deficiency.
The Symmetry of the Novel
The symmetry of Pride and Prejudice has been commented upon by several
critics. A number of events occur in the novel at various stages to balance each
other. Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy arrive at Netherfield Park in the very beginning
of the novel; then they both leave and remain absent for a certain period of time;
and once again they both arrive there. Their first arrival creates hope and good
cheer in most feminine hearts, but ends in gloom. Their subsequent arrival comes
amid gloom but leads to the fulfillment of several hopes. Of the quartet of
marriages in the novel, one takes place soon after the beginning, and one takes
place just before the end. Similarly, in the beginning, Mr. Darcy intervenes in the
Jane-Bingley affair only to bring about aseparation between the lovers who were
expected to get married soon; but the same Mr. Darcy intervenes towards the end
in the Lydia-Wickham affair, this time bringing about a marriage which would
not otherwise have taken place.

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Can someone explain to me lydia and wickham's marriage in pride and
prejudice?

Wickham took Lydia with him, because he could. He was self-indulgent and would never
deny himself any pleasure in his power. He knew that - to put it bluntly - Lydia
would be a good companion because he could persuade her to "sleep" with him.
Lydia was "crazy" about Wickham, and Mr. Wickham would never forgo the
pleasure of sex when available.

You have to understand the time period to understand why the family freaked out. At
that period in time, ladies did not even kiss a man who was not either her husband or
a family member (excluding male cousins, with whom women could wed). By Lydia
running off and living with Wickham without the benefit of marriage, she had ruined
her reputation and damaged the reputation of her entire family. She would be
considered a loose woman or fast, and no man of good family would ever consider
her "marriage material." In other words, she was damaged goods, and she ruined her
sisters' chances of making eligible marriages, too.

Mr. Wickham still was planning on making his fortune by marrying a woman with
money. Therefore, Mr. Darcy had to, in fact, pay Wickham (and pay off his debts).
He also helped him get a new commission in the regular army, which Wickham
couldn't have done by himself.

By Mr. Darcy arranging for Wickham to marry Lydia, he preserved not only her
reputation but also her sisters' reputations. He removed the disgrace from the Bennet
name. Yes, Elizabeth thanked him for restoring Lydia's reputation, because Mr.
Darcy not only had to use his own money to do so, but he had to reason and be often
in the company with a man whom he - justly - detested.

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“Sometimes the last person on earth you want to be with is the one person you can’t be
without.”

Three types of people will enjoy this film: those who have not read the book, those who
have read the book, and those who are “Janeites”-ardent fans of Jane Austen. For the first
two groups, the movie will be enjoyable because it is a good love story, with believable
character development, interesting settings, and a brisk pace which makes the film’s
length seem shorter than its satisfying 127 minutes. The Janeites will fuss and quibble,
but eventually they’ll concede that it’s better than the 1940 Lawrence Olivier/Greer
Garson, if not quite as satisfying as the fuzzy-lens romanticism of the 1995 BBC mini-
series starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle that is everyone’s favorite. (Warning: small
spoilers ahead.)

For those unfamiliar with Pride and Prejudice (1813), its premise begins with one of the
most famous first sentences in English literature: “It is a truth universally acknowledged,
that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” The
problem in the book and movie is a superfluity of potential wives. Mr. and Mrs. Bennett
have five daughters: Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Lydia, and Kitty. Although Jane and
Elizabeth have a fetching mixture of sense and sensibility, Mary, alas, is all sense, while
Lydia and Kitty regularly dissolve into paroxysms of laughing, crying, and whiney
importuning.

Elizabeth, or Lizzy as she’s called, is played by Kiera Knightley. The whole story
revolves around her personality and much depends on casting. Those who know the book
know Lizzy Bennett as one of the wittiest and most attractive women in English
literature. It’s no small feat for an actress to fill this role convincingly and Kiera
Knightley almost succeeds.

The film’s title derives from the faults of the two characters. Lizzy must overcome her
tendency to prejudge people on insufficient evidence while Darcy, the romantic love
interest played by Matthew McFayden, must overcome his pride. The charm of the story
is in showing how this is accomplished, and the movie, to everyone’s relief, accomplishes
this in a credible manner. McFayden does a good job of underacting, while Knightley
nearly manages to eclipse the disadvantage of her youth in portraying a complex
personality.

The real star of the movie is Joe Wright’s direction. While I confess to not liking some of
his aesthetic decisions concerning setting, make-up, and dress, he does bring a dynamic
quality to the story that is lacking in other period films. He explains the reason for this in
an interview with The London Times:

It’s the idea of making it less formal and shooting it in the tradition of British realism.If
something is contemporary, people shoot it with zoom lenses and handheld cameras, and
if something is period, then they want to shoot it with a static, formal composition. But,
actually, zoom lenses are incredibly exciting, because they mean you can move with the
moment and improvise. To shoot “Pride and Prejudice” in a so-called contemporary style

50
brings it into fresh relief. The Times:
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,14931-1713921,00.html)

Cinematically, there are three distinct qualities to look for in this movie. The most
obvious, and to most people, the most negative quality, is the film’s general condition of
deshabille in hair, clothing, and interior/exterior shots. Many of the characters have hair
that is loosely arranged or greasy, wear clothing that is untidy or dirty, dwell in rooms
that are inordinately cluttered, while the house itself looks like a pile of bricks set in the
middle of a large pig stye crowded with chickens, geese, cows, dogs, horses, and pigs.
This is the aspect of the movie that Janeites will dislike the most. Austen’s interiors were
always tidy. Indeed, to show otherwise was to imply a moral judgment against those who
live in disorder. Sloveliness would not be an art form until the 20th century.

The second most interesting stylistic effect is Wright’s camera work. The ballroom
scenes will make Austen fans claustrophobic because Wright crowds so many people into
so small a space. The viewer can feel the closeness and almost smell what no amount of
hair powder and perfume could completely disguise in 1797 (the year of Austen’s first
draft of the novel). But after an initial moment of panic caused by the viewer’s fear that
the whole movie would be as frenetic as an MTV video, Wright regains the viewer’s
confidence by establishing a cinematic rhythm that is brisk without being nauseous.

There is one especially masterful shot which takes place at Bingley’s ball. Wright has a
backward tracking movement that indiscriminately shows much of the crowd while at the
same time telling a backstory of the film’s major characters: we see Lizzy provoked,
Mary humiliated, Collins disdained, Jane pursued by Bingley, and then Mary again,
comforted by her father (a nice touch that isn’t in the novel).

Thirdly, because Wright shoots in a realistic, as opposed to an objectively static style, the
camera often acts as a bystander. This is figured by the amount of peeping that takes
place in the movie. Wright uses Mrs. Bennet to establish the theme by showing her
smiling at something and then tracking across the room to the private parts of a pig that is
walking by. It is a shocking moment, but one that Wright nearly pulls off without being
offensive because of the general disorder of the place and the portrayal of Mrs. Bennett as
an earthy, foolish woman from whom we would not expect more. Lizzy Bennett peeps
around doorways, between cracks, through ribbons, and often lets her gaze fall where a
polite lady of her time wouldn’t be caught looking. Presumably, no one sees but the
camera, but it is still a poor reflection on the iconic idea of Elizabeth Bennett as being
above a child-like curiosity of private areas.

Another aspect of this trope is Wright’s interest in hands. On at least three different
occasions he frames a character’s hand flexing, hanging in repose, or slyly grasping the
back of a woman’s dress. Eyes and hands are the body parts most figured in this
interpretation as opposed to the distracting, low-cut empire-style dresses of the Regency
period which riveted everyone’s attention on the women’s busts.

51
For Janeites and for those who have a professional interest in Austen as I do, the movie is
mostly satisfying. Certainly, Kiera Knightley was not the best choice for Elizabeth
Bennett for a number of reasons. First, her style of acting is in the contemporary mode of
the female action hero, the equivalent of casting Bruce Willis as Darcy. Knightley
swaggers, smirks, sneers, curls her lips, licks her fingers, and ends nearly every sentence
with an open-mouthed Valley Girl expression that diminishes the impression of the
character’s intelligence, Elizabeth Bennett’s most striking quality. There is too much of
Miss Knightley’s mouth in this movie and not enough of her mind.

In that regard, I would rather have seen an actress like Reese Witherspoon whose work
communicates intelligence, regardless of the role she plays. Also, Knightley strikes
emotional notes that don’t ring true to the character. She is at times a little too shrill, a
little too disdainful, a little too hateful in some of her expressions. It doesn’t help that
Deborah Moggach gave her lines that Austen never wrote and Elizabeth Bennett would
never say, as when she snaps at her mother: “She may well perish with shame at having
such a mother!”

Those quibbles notwithstanding, the movie is an enjoyable experience whose most

interesting statement is likewise not in the novel. When Mr. Bennett (Donald Sutherland)
states that Lydia must be allowed to go to Brighton else they would never have peace in
the house, Lizzy states in a moment of moral clarity: “Peace? Is that all you care about?”
The implication here is that the sloveliness of the house is due to the sloveliness of
manners that the head of the house has established. For the 18th and 19th centuries,
manners were morals. As Lizzy walks out, the film seems to implicate Mr. Bennett’s
callousness by showing him twirling a moth specimen that is spitted on a pin, a dark and
highly effective moment of characterization. On the other hand, the movie seems to
exonerate Mrs. Bennett in the end by having her respond to Lizzy’s comment about
marriage: “Wait til you have five daughters and see what you think about.”

Although the movie is too eccentric in its look and Knightley is not quite convincing as
Elizabeth Bennett, this version of the novel will do nicely until the right actress comes
along to stamp the character with the kind of timelessness that Gwynneth Paltrow
imparted to the character of Emma. As a moral tale of the faults of pride and judgment,
the film communicates well that none of us are perfect and that we must never judge
hastily, or compromise our principles for selfish pleasures or for the expedience of a
moral complacency.

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Lydia Bennet Timeline and Summary
• Lydia likes to go to town to flirt with soldiers.
• She is miserable when she realizes the regiment is leaving town. Upon receiving
an invitation to go to Brighton with the colonel and his wife, she wheedles
permission from her parents.
• Lydia runs away with Wickham. They are eventually married and Lydia seems to
have no understanding that her elopement was a shameful, shameful act.
• After Elizabeth marries Mr. Darcy, Lydia writes to Elizabeth asking her to give
her and Wickham money from time to time since they’re forever in debt.

Character Analysis

If the military was a rock band, Lydia would be considered a groupie. From the way she
carries on in Pride and Prejudice, it’s obvious that she cares only for officers. Petty,
small-minded, selfish, and completely lacking an understanding of social propriety, she is
truly her mother’s daughter. She has the maturity of a twelve-year-old (not surprising,
considering that she’s about fifteen), and she flaunts her runaway marriage like it’s a
great accomplishment. Austen describes Lydia as a "wild animal," and we think that’s
about right.

Lydia is almost an exact copy of Mrs Bennet and as such shares her same speech style:
loose, exclamatory, self-centred, vain and shallow.

Emotional and immature, Lydia is the Bennet daughter who most takes after her mother.
Lydia's misbehavior stems from a lack of parental supervision on the parts of both her
mother and father. Her marriage to Wickham represents a relationship that is based on
physical gratification. Lydia does not think, she simply acts upon her impulses, and that
impulsiveness, combined with negligent parents, leads to her near ruin.

The youngest of all the Bennet girls, Lydia is still a teenager, and turning into a terrible
flirt. All that interests her are parties and boys. Her older sisters are afraid that one day
her impulsive nature is going to get her into trouble, but her mother can't see any problem
with Lydia's flighty behaviour, and only encourages her.

Lydia is the emerging type of bold, dynamic energy in a society in transition. Bereft of
the top dressing of the old and unadorned by the apparel of the new, she is the nascent
energy, nakedly forging ahead. Had she not settled as a wife, she might not have
degenerated merely into a girl on the street. She might even have spearheaded a
revolution of the street girls for their right to live as they choose. Her endowment is
shamelessness and an ever-increasing energy. She is irrepressibly cheerful in pursuit of
her desires and proud of everything she is.

Wickham and Lydia are characters ever happy in marriage or outside. They live in the
ever-present. The wide world is their society. Their elopement is an opening for social

53
evolution. Through it Eliza rises. Their marriage is a social cover-up, but a biological
success. Even if Lydia were not to marry, she would have been blissfully buoyant and
free of regret. In the changed social context, Lydia benefits monetarily and escapes the
fate of being abandoned or scandalized or left to become an old maid, which would have
been her likely destiny in an earlier period. From her point of view, money spent to
restore her to respectability is a fool’s errand, or at best meets some meaningless social
requirement. Lydia’s elopement is a social shame but a creative act of freshness in life
that brings unexpected consequences. Her shame is life’s door to luck for the family.

Wickham’s father was in the legal profession, most probably as a lawyer’s clerk like Mr.
Philips, before he became steward to Darcy’s father at Pemberley and took responsibility
for management of the estate, a position of considerable power and influence. Yet, his
father did not earn sufficient money to support the lavish spending habits of his wife.
Wickham grew up at Pemberley as Darcy’s boyhood friend and acquired all the manners
of the aristocracy. This close association generated in him an aspiration to rise to Darcy’s
level, either by merit or by deceit. He was cleverer and more handsome than his friend,
and unencumbered by Darcy’s scruples.
Apart from a pleasant face, charming manners, good address and a basket of ever-fresh
lies, Wickham has nothing to distinguish him by way of character or action. His
attractiveness is biological and every woman adores it regardless of his behavior. It is a
basic instinctive response in nature. He has little energy. Even the elopement with Lydia
was initiated by her. Because Wickham is handsome, no lady is able to be angry with
him. He is constantly in debt, a reflection of his mother’s inability to limit her
expenditures within the family’s income.

Quotes Lydia
Chapter 41, when Elizabeth goes to her father to try to get him to change his mind about
allowing Lydia to go to Brighton with Colonel and Mrs. Foster, has many quotes which
will tell you Lydia's character. For example:

"If you were aware,'' said Elizabeth, "of the very great disadvantage to us all, which must
arise from the public notice of Lydia's unguarded and imprudent manner; nay, which has
already arisen from it, I am sure you would judge differently in the affair.''

Elizabeth goes on to say:

54
"Our importance, our respectability in the world, must be affected by the wild volatility,
the assurance and disdain of all restraint which mark Lydia's character. Excuse me -- for I
must speak plainly. If you, my dear father, will not take the trouble of checking her
exuberant spirits, and of teaching her that her present pursuits are not to be the business
of her life, she will soon be beyond the reach of amendment. Her character will be fixed,
and she will, at sixteen, be the most determined flirt that ever made herself and her family
ridiculous. A flirt, too, in the worst and meanest degree of flirtation; without any
attraction beyond youth and a tolerable person; and from the ignorance and emptiness of
her mind, wholly unable to ward off any portion of that universal contempt which her
rage for admiration will excite. In this danger Kitty is also comprehended. She will
follow wherever Lydia leads. -- Vain, ignorant, idle, and absolutely uncontrolled!"

This is just one set of examples which reveal Lydia's true nature. You can search for
words and phrases in the story at http://www.online-literature.com/austen/… The
Literature Network. Check for every mention of Lydia, and you will come up with quite a
number of quotes.

There is the fact that Lydia refused to listen when her Aunt Gardiner talks to her after the
infamous elopement, the fact that Lydia never heeds anyone she doesn't choose to hear,
her complete disregard of her sister Mary and much more.

Elizabeth's internal dialog in chapter 50 ( http://www.online-literature.com/austen/… ),

after Lydia and Wickham are found, pretty much sums up Lydia's character as
extravagant, selfish and immoral. Here is a part: "How Wickham and Lydia were to be
supported in tolerable independence, she could not imagine. But how little of permanent
happiness could belong to a couple who were only brought together because their
passions were stronger than their virtue, she could easily conjecture."

55
How has Lydia Bennet been a disgrace to the Bennet family?

Lydia ran off with Wickham. At that time period it was not acceptable for young ladies to
be alone with men like that. When they were found livining together alone it disgraced
her and as a consequence her whole family. They were quickly married to try and cover
up the indescrtion but the damage was already done.

Review Film 2005

Synopsis
Elizabeth Bennet (Keira Knightley), the second of five sisters from a well-to-do family
living in Early Nineteenth Century England, is searching for love. When she first meets
Mr. Darcy (Matthew MacFadyen) at a ball, she finds him so cold and arrogant that she
detests him. Over time, however, she comes to see his innate decency and realizes that he
may be the man for whom she is looking.

Analysis
Joe Wright's adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Pride & Prejudice is a pleasant, well
made, and consistently engaging film.

The director is largely successful at intriguing the moviegoer with the various
machinations and troubles of his movie's heroines. The viewer is, as a result, likely to
find himself caught up in the worries of Elizabeth's mother, who is ever concerned about
the matrimonial prospects of her five daughters, moved by the spitefulness of some of the
persons Elizabeth encounters, and captivated by the hidden motives or half revealed lives
of others. Moreover, besides being interesting on their own, each of these elements also
contributes to the increasingly intense romantic feelings which dominate the movie. Such
emotions, which Wright arouses with his depictions of the mingled attraction and
animosity Elizabeth feels for Mr. Darcy, as well as with his presentations of the latter's
surprisingly shy and touching infatuation with the former, are thus so enhanced that the
moviegoer is left with a poignant sense of the profound love these two come to share.

Fortunately, most of the individuals around whom the film's events revolve are nicely
brought to life by the actors. While I cannot say that many of the performers are
especially impressive, and a few do exaggerate somewhat, the majority of the members
of the cast are enjoyable to watch. Keira Knightley, in particular, brings a real vivacity
and charm to her role. What is more, not only does she have an appealing on screen
presence, but she also has a subtle but potent sexiness that infuses her character with a
definite allure.

I should additionally note that the costumes and sets the director has used are both
uniformly attractive and evocative of a bygone age. By crafting such an elegant and
captivating world, Wright allows the viewer to lose himself in his engagement with the

56
movie's characters. In fact, the lovely, idealized vision of an imaginary past filled with
quaint country homes, vast palaces, and green fields and woodlands is, by itself, likely to
charm many viewers. Pride & Prejudice is, on the whole, very pleasant to look at.

In spite of its simple accomplishments, the film is by no means flawless. Perhaps its
greatest weakness is its inclusion of a number of anachronistic touches. There are, for
instance, times when the characters behave in very modern ways. Some of the young
female protagonists are particularly liable to moments of defiance and vivacity which are
more reminiscent of the behaviors of women of our own age than of persons from the
time in which the film is set. While these various mannerisms, as well as a few comedic
touches, do draw the viewer out of the Early Nineteenth Century, they also, very
probably, make the characters more approachable than they would otherwise have been.

Although never brilliant, and occasionally anachronistic, Pride & Prejudice is an

entertaining, touching movie that is certainly worth seeing.

The passion translated: literary and

cinematic rhetoric in Pride and
Prejudice (2005).
Significant tropes and identical stylistic techniques emerge from the analysis of the
rhetorical devices employed in the novel Pride and Prejudice and in its film adaptation
released by Universal in 2005. (1) Many scholars have focused their studies on what
Alice Chandler has called "Jane Austen's indirections" (391), for example, the rhetorical
codes adopted by the author to conceal the characters' corporeity and sexuality without
erasing them completely. In her essay, "A Pair of Fine Eyes: Jane Austen's Treatment of
Sex," Alice Chandler offers an interesting analysis of the sexual connotation of literary
allusions, puns, body language, and imagery. With a wider perspective, Tony Tanner's
study of Jane Austen's works dedicates attention to the description of illness as the
physical outcome of an excessive sensibility, to the symbolic value of objects such as
portraits and letters, and to the importance of body language and physical activity. The
Flesh Made World: Female Figures and Women's Bodies, by Helena Michie, reflects on
the construction of feminine corporeity in literature and points out how work, hobbies,
and physical activities such as walking are "overlaid with sexual connotations" (40), and
physiognomy and synecdoche are used to depict female sensuality. Anna Paschetto, in
her search for romance structures in the novels of Richardson, Austen, and Charlotte

57
Bronte, proposes the analysis of the technique of dramatization and of the use of
focalization in the construction of Mr. Darcy's character. (2)
Other critics have concentrated their attention on the erotic potential of costume films
(including the adaptations of Austen's novels) and on their use of voyeurism and visual
repression to increase desire. The importance of visuality and its effect on the
transmission of meaning from novels to adaptations has been studied, for instance, by
Jakob Lothe, who talks about the "oddly superficial nature" of films and describes the
reliance on sight as the tendency "to peep for a couple of hours without participating"
(11). In the same way, Neil Sinyard identifies in voyeurism one of the most effective
instruments to increase the pleasure of spectatorship and the sensuality of the scenes.
Stella Bruzzi, in her Undressing Cinema: Clothing and Identity in the Movies, studies the
"power of clothes fetishism" (38) and its metaphoric value, and underlines how in
nostalgia films the male body becomes a primary object of sexual interest. Focusing
specifically on Austen, Esther Sonnet's article "From Emma to Clueless: Taste, pleasure
and the scene of history," explains how, in costume films, visual pleasure is enhanced by
"an intentionally solicited experience of repression" that imbues with sexuality "clothing,
landscape, piano-playing, letter writing and conversation" (57). Finally, the book Jane
Austen on Screen, a collection of essays edited by Andrew and Gina Macdonald, is
entirely dedicated to the study of Austenian adaptations. Every aspect of cinematic
transpositions is analyzed, and the added scenes of blatant sexuality, the new focus on the
body, the role of symbolism, and the importance of the glances among the characters are
all seen as aspects that contribute to transform Austen's novels into a visual, and sensual,
experience. (3)

There is a direct correspondence between the rhetorical and stylistic techniques chosen by
Austen to transform and mitigate the destabilizing power of passion and the visual
equivalents employed by the cinema. This article, the result of a wider analysis of all
Austen's novels and film adaptations, focuses on Pride and Prejudice because it is the
work that, more than any other in the last ten years--from the 1995 BBC version, passing
through You've Got Mail, Bridget Jones's Diary, and Bride and Prejudice, to the latest
2005 film--seems to have haunted the romantic reveries of the modern cinema. The use

58
of tropes, such as synecdoche and metonymy, and of the stylistic technique of
focalization, finds its effective counterpart in the filmic grammar that includes close-ups,
insert shots, subjective shots, eyeline matches, and reaction shots. The analysis that
follows presents a comparison of the corresponding rhetorical devices from small details
to long sequences.

Eyes and hands: how to revive a dormant synecdoche

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the privileged trope in literature to deviate the
erotic attention from the whole body to a single and "decorous" detail is the synecdoche.
The Austenian body is usually fragmented and transmuted into eyes to be admired, hair-
locks to be bestowed, hands to be kissed, and feet to be touched. Pride and Prejudice
singles out Elizabeth's "pair of fine eyes" (VI, 25) as the complete embodiment of Darcy's
passion for her. From the beginning, his attraction for Elizabeth is aroused by "the
beautiful expression of her dark eyes" (VI, 23), but, once he understands the nature of his
admiration, the "fine eyes" become the recurring symbol of Elizabeth's charm.

At first, Darcy confesses to a surprised Miss Bingley that he has "been meditating on the
very great pleasure that a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman can bestow" (VI,
25). Some days later, Elizabeth's appearance at Netherfield, flushed after the long walk
and showing a "scandalous" petticoat "six inches deep in mud" (VIII, 32), provokes Miss
Bingley into observing that it must have "rather affected [Darcy's] admiration of her fine
eyes" (VIII, 33). However, he replies that, on the contrary, "they were brightened by the
exercise" (ibid). Not only does his attraction for Elizabeth seem to be growing stronger,
but also, Elizabeth's sensual energy, expressed through the physical activity, is perceived
by Mr. Darcy and is reflected in his comment. As Elizabeth's stay in Netherfield
continues, Darcy's admiration slowly changes into something deeper and the author
informs us that "Darcy had never been so bewitched by any woman as he was by her" (X,
46). This feeling is translated into the amusing conversation between a jealous Miss
Bingley and an imperturbable Mr. Darcy. Trying to mock the latter about the
"impossible" hypothesis of his marriage with Elizabeth, Miss Bingley suggests that he

59
should not commission a portrait of her "for what painter could do justice to those
beautiful eyes?" (X, 46). His reaction is, however, unexpected: "It would not be easy,
indeed, to catch their expression; but their colour and shape, and the eyelashes, so
remarkably fine, might be copied" (ibid). His feelings, which cannot be expressed in
other ways, are unfaltering and so is his avowed admiration for Elizabeth's eyes. Finally,
after several months, a marriage proposal, a refusal, and an unexpected meeting at
Pemberley, we are informed that Darcy's feelings are of "ardent love" and that Elizabeth's
are of respect, esteem, gratitude, and "a real interest in his welfare" (XLIV, 216). Almost
ready for the happy ending, the reader is still waiting for the public avowal of Darcy's
love and it happens, a few pages later, through the re-transformation of the synecdochical
fragment into the entire body. When Miss Bingley openly attacks Elizabeth's
beauty--"[...] as for her eyes, which have sometimes been called so fine, I could never see
anything extraordinary in them" (XLV 221)--she forces Darcy to recognize and declare
publicly his admiration for Elizabeth: "[...] it is many months since I have considered her
as one of the handsomest women of my acquaintance" (ibid). When love and passion
need no longer be hidden, the "indirection" can finally be redressed and the truth can be
confessed without fear or repression: the eyes can finally be again a part of a whole body.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Film adaptations have always acknowledged such synecdochical translation as highly

effective in the visual medium and have rendered it by using its primary cinematic
equivalent: the close-up of the heroine's face. In the film, the script presents a curious
choice: Darcy's admiration for Elizabeth's eyes is cut out and so are all the dialogues
referring to it. However, the camera often focuses on Keira Knightley--Elizabeth's eyes as
the centre of the public's attention. In particular, at Darcy's first appearance at the
Assembly Ball, his attraction for Elizabeth is underlined, a little too prematurely, with
this technique. A close-up on Knightley followed by a reaction shot on Matthew
Macfadyen/Darcy leaves the spectator with no doubts about how the whole story will
develop in the following two hours.

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However, since the cinema makes great use of close-ups as the starting points of eyeline
matches, another body fragment must be chosen as a privileged synecdochical
translation. The choice seems to be the same in many adaptations including this one: the
hand. In the novel, Austen seems completely unaware of the synecdochical value of
idiomatic expressions that use the hand as a "surrogate" for women and instead employs
them in a conventional way. So, during the ball at Netherfield, Elizabeth "found herself
suddenly addressed by Mr. Darcy, who took her so much by surprise in his application
for her hand, that, without knowing what she did, she accepted him" (XVIII, 77).

During the famous marriage proposal, as well, Darcy expresses "his hope that it would
now be rewarded by her acceptance of his hand" (XXXIV, 157). (4) These conventional
phrases, however, are employed only as ritual formulas, dormant synecdoches that have
lost, in time, their complex visual power.

The film adaptation chooses to "revive" the dormant synecdoche and to exploit it
extensively, not only as a substitute of the body, but also as the most effective way of
expressing the erotic potential of physical contact. The director makes use of the image of
the hand to underline Darcy's and Elizabeth's physical attraction and he employs it as a
substitute for Darcy's admiration of Lizzy's "fine eyes" during the Netherfield sequence.
When the Bennet sisters leave Netherfield after Jane's illness, Darcy helps Elizabeth to
get into the carriage by giving her his hand. In the sequence, an anticipated reaction shot
reveals Elizabeth's surprise at the physical contact with Darcy's hand, a detail shown a
second later by an insert shot. After their departure, Darcy goes back to the house and the
camera once again frames his hand, with a cut-in, as it seems to be quivering. The same
frame is presented after their casual meeting at Pemberley: their hands do not touch but
the camera shows us, again, the close-up of Darcy's hand. His hands have become the
symbol of the couple's physical attraction; they are "contaminated" by passion. It goes
without saying that, at the end of the film, at the moment of the second marriage
proposal, Elizabeth does not reply directly but takes Darcy's hand--saying only "Well

61
then. Your hands are cold"--and kisses it (a subversion of customary behavior which,
considering her characterization in this screenplay, is no surprise).
Focalization: an eye for an eye

A novel that in its draft version was titled First Impressions, must necessarily be based
upon the emphasis of subjective perceptions. Through the intense use of focalization, a
stylistic technique that transforms the look, at the same time, into the subject and the
instrument of narration, Austen shapes the bodies of Darcy and Elizabeth as objects of
their mutual attention. Whenever they are in the same room, they immediately become
the starting and ending points of focalized observation. At Lucas Lodge:
Elizabeth was far from suspecting that she was herself becoming an
object of some interest in the eyes of his [Bingley's] friend. (VI,
22)

At Netherfield:
Elizabeth could not help observing [...] how frequently Mr. Darcy's
eyes were fixed on her. She hardly knew how to suppose that she
could be an object of admiration to so great a man; and yet that he
should look at her because he disliked her was still more strange.
(X, 45)

At the Netherfield ball:

She could not help frequently glancing her eye at Mr. Darcy. (XVIII,
84)

At Rosings Park:
His eyes had been soon and repeatedly turned towards them with a
look of curiosity. (XXXI, 143)

And at Pemberley:
It was not often that she could turn her eyes on Mr. Darcy himself;
but whenever she did catch a glimpse, she saw an expression of
general complaisance. (XLIV, 214)

The focalization is visually translated by the cinema through subjective (point-of-view)

shots: the camera eye, in fact, allows the film director to have total control over point of
view and over what the spectator can see (contrary to what happens in the theatre, where
the audience is able to choose where to focus attention). The subjective shots make
spectators see through the characters' eyes or, in the case of mental point-of-view shots,
through their minds. The film does not employ this technique very often but two episodes
are worth noticing. A classic subjective shot is performed with a pan during an
interlocutory scene: in order to communicate the cycle of the seasons and the passing of
time between the announcement of Charlotte's marriage with Mr. Collins and Elizabeth's

62
visit at their parsonage, the scene depicts Elizabeth sitting on a swing in her garden and,
as she turns, the camera pan shows us through her eyes the changing landscape and
human activities. The second sequence is a mental point-of-view shot that is extremely
relevant for the subject under analysis: Darcy and Elizabeth dancing together at
Netherfield ball. While the couple dances, the conversation grows more heated and, in
order to communicate that the characters are completely absorbed by it, the director
shows us an empty room where they are the only human beings dancing and staring at
each other. It is not easy in this case to individuate whose is the mind that makes all the
other guests disappear from the room (perhaps it is the director's) but the meaning is
clear: even if they quarrel, in their mutual presence Elizabeth and Darcy cannot see
anything else but their partner.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

In fact, focalization does not only mean seeing what a character sees, it also implies not
seeing what he cannot see. Austen is perfectly aware of this, so, when she writes,
"Elizabeth dared not lift up her eyes. How Mr. Darcy looked, therefore, she could not
tell" (LIII 271), the reader too is kept in the dark. The film does the same thing, and
chooses a very interesting moment: the renowned scene of the "petticoat six inches deep
in mud." When Elizabeth arrives at Netherfield (after a long walk through muddy fields)
and enters the room where Darcy and Miss Bingley are having breakfast, Darcy's
subjective shot is immediately focused on Elizabeth's face and is fixed there until she
leaves the room so that, when Miss Bingley pronounces her well-known critical remark,
(5) Mr. Darcy cannot reply: neither he nor the spectator, in fact, has seen the petticoat for
even a single instant!

Metonymy: undercover love

The Austenian body is not always translated into synecdochical fragments; sometimes it
is also deviated and transmuted into something different, a separate object that becomes
its objective correlative. The relocation of the character's essence into external recipients
invests handkerchiefs, bunches of flowers, miniature portraits, and every other kind of
tokens with metonymical meanings. The object that belonged to the beloved, the gift that
has been bestowed or the portrait that represents his or her figure, becomes the
representative, the tangible--and touchable--substitute of the person. Austen employs
metonymical translation most widely in Sense and Sensibility but in all the novels and
film adaptations the fetishist component is crucial. In Pride and Prejudice the traditional
associations are avoided (6) and the privileged metonymical relocation appears to be the
portrait, where the depiction replaces the depicted.

If gazes, first impressions, and prejudices are the central themes of the novel, the act of
drawing a (mental) picture is fundamental for the plot. At first, during the Netherfield
ball, Elizabeth's attempts to make up her mind about Darcy are immediately associated

63
with the idea of representation through the use of words belonging to the pictorial
semantic field:
Darcy. "This is no very striking resemblance of your own character,
I am sure," [...] "How near it may be to mine, I cannot pretend to
say. You think it a faithful portrait, undoubtedly."

Elizabeth. "I must not decide on my own performance"

Darcy. "I could wish, Miss Bennet, that you were not to sketch my
character at the present moment, as there is reason to fear that
the performance would reflect no credit on either." (XVIII, 78,
80)

The discovery of the whole truth about Darcy and Wickham is rendered by Elizabeth
with the idea of having been "blind" (XXXVI, 171) in her opinion concerning them and
herself: "Till this moment, I never knew myself" (ibid). In fact, if the mental
"representation" stands at the basis of the attainment of the truth, the inability to "see"
represents the main obstacle to be overcome.

The portrait that up to this point seemed a mere metaphor of mental activity turns into a
real metonymical substitute at Pemberley, where Elizabeth can contemplate Darcy's real
picture. When the metaphor becomes a metonymy, when the idea becomes an object,
Elizabeth can no longer ignore it: visiting Pemberley with her aunt and uncle she cannot
but see the truth in the way Darcy and Wickham are depicted. Darcy's letter has already
"opened her eyes" but Elizabeth is not yet ready to acknowledge all of his virtues: the
belief in Darcy's irredeemable pride still accompanies her at the beginning of the visit and
saves her "from something like regret" (XLIII, 202) at the sight of the splendid rooms.
However, once faced with the miniatures of Wickham and Darcy and listening to Mrs.
Reynolds's impassioned defence of the latter:
"He is the best landlord, and the best master," said she, "that ever
lived; [...] Some people call him proud; but I am sure I never saw
anything of it. To my fancy, it is only because he does not rattle
away like other young men." (ibid)

Elizabeth completes the inner evolution begun many chapters before. She is finally ready
to see the real Darcy portrayed in a life-sized picture, which provokes an emotional
reaction in her that goes well beyond the appreciation of a "striking resemblance":
She stood several minutes before the picture in earnest
contemplation [...] There was certainly at this moment, in
Elizabeth's mind, a more gentle sensation towards the original than
she had ever felt in the height of their acquaintance. [...] as she
stood before the canvas on which he was represented, and fixed his
eyes upon herself, she thought of his regard with a deeper sentiment
of gratitude than it had ever raised before; she remembered its
warmth, and softened its impropriety of expression. (XLIII, 205)

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The portrait is not only the metonymy of the man; it is also the embodiment of her
opinion and feelings for him.

The film employs the same metonymical translation with only a slight variation: the
Pemberley sequence is set at Chatsworth House and it exploits the beautiful sculpture
gallery as the setting for the episode. The crucial point is that here the miniatures and the
portraits have become statues: real bodies, cold and marble white, but with a surprising
"physical" consistency. Instead of traditional family pictures, Elizabeth lingers among the
naked bodies of maidens and warriors (Canova's Sleeping Endymion, Albacini's
Wounded Achilles, Tadolini's Hebe, cup-bearer to the Gods, Schwanthaler's Paris and
Oenone, and Bartolini's A Bacchante, among others). The camera spins around the
gallery to frame a sequence of close-ups of Raffaele Monti's Veiled Vestal Virgin and of
Elizabeth's face. The framing and camera movement communicate a complex symbolism.
The close up of the Veiled Vestal Virgin is the immediate visual translation of Elizabeth's
inability to see and the circular pan with which the camera frames a succession of the
faces of the two women suggests a possible identification between them. The statue of
the woman whose eyes are covered by a veil makes Elizabeth understand her blindness
and prepares her to "see" what is waiting for her at the end of the gallery. After this short
sequence, the camera stresses details of the naked bodies of the sculptures through close-
ups and reaction shots on Elizabeth's face, filling this emotional moment with
unmistakable erotic suggestions. So, when she finds herself in front of Darcy's bust the
camera slowly brings his face into focus and the final reaction shot on Elizabeth clearly
communicates the inner journey described in the novel.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

One last metonymical translation is worth pointing out, an exclusively cinematic device:
the bedroom scene. Austen never goes into the privacy of her characters' bedrooms
(except in the case of illness), while the cinema seems to choose these locations as
appointed spaces where the most private feelings can be revealed. In the film the bed is
the cradle where Elizabeth and Jane lull their amorous expectations. The image of the bed

65
(the container that replaces the content) transfers into every sentimental discourse an
erotic note impossible to miss: the two sisters share the same bed and talk about Bingley
and Darcy before sleeping. In one sequence we see them talking under the blanket:
visually there is no more effective way of conveying the thought of their lovers into their
bedrooms and between the sheets. The original shot-reverse-shot shows the sisters' faces
under the sheets, framed from the surrounding setting, and communicates a moment of
deep intimacy that, through the evocation of Bingley and Darcy, anticipates for the
spectator the final outcome of the film.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The Austenian passion is translated and transformed into tropes in a delicate balance
between repression and desire. The techniques analyzed here are only a few significant
examples of a transfigurative attitude that embodies different but parallel exigencies both
in the novels and in the films, and that suggests a formal, structural, and semantic analogy
in these different media. The social and cultural necessity that led Austen to transfigure
passion and corporeity in her novels finds its counterpart in the cinema: in an age when
naked bodies are overexposed and sex is a common topic of discussion, costume films
rediscover a taste for visual repression. Through the concealment of the bodies and the
translation of their sensuality into other objects, both voyeuristic and fetishist sensations
are enhanced. The spectator savours the pleasure of discovering the characters' feelings
through clues and allusions, in the same way as must be done in the novels. The result of
this process is the heightening of the sensual apprehension of the story: if passion is
nowhere expressed it means that passion is concealed everywhere. Eyes and hands,
paintings and sculptures: Jane Austen's narrative brims with sensuality and this certainly
contributes to her continuing success in literature and the cinema.

Roberta Grandi

Catholic University of Milan

66
Notes

(1) Pride and Prejudice; dir. Joe Wright; perf. Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen,
Donald Sutherland, and Judi Dench (Universal Pictures, 2005).

(2) Other interesting works dedicated to this subject are: Patricia Beer, Reader, I married
Him: A Study of the Women Characters of Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Elizabeth
Gaskell and George Eliot (Basingstoke and London, MacMillan, 1974); LeRoy Smith,
Jane Austen and the Drama of Woman (Basingstoke and London, MacMillan, 1983);
John Wiltshire, Jane Austen and the Body, "The Picture of Health" (Cambridge,
Cambridge UP, 1992); Mary Annd O'Farrell, "Austen's Blush" in Novel: a form of
fiction, vol. 27 (winter 1994) (Providence, Brown UP, 125-37).

(3) Two other books are dedicated to Austen's adaptations and appropriations: Suzanne
R. Pucci and James Thompson, Jane Austen and Co.: Remaking the Past in
Contemporary Culture (Albany, State U of New York P, 2003); Linda Troost and Sayre
Greenfield, Jane Austen in Hollywood (Lexington, UP of Kentucky, 2001).

(4) Other examples are: "Mr. Darcy with grave propriety requested to be allowed the
honour of her hand, but in vain" (VI, 25); "You could not have made the offer of your
hand in any possible way that would have tempted me to accept it" (XXXIV, 159); "If he
is satisfied with only regretting me, when he might have obtained my affections and
hand, I shall soon cease to regret him at all" (LVII, 291).

(5) The film alters Miss Bingley's cue, making her say: "My goodness, did you see her
hem? Six inches deep in mud. She looked positively medieval."

(6) The film borrows from the traditional romantic iconography the image of the
handkerchief (bestowed, slipped out, and picked up) to point out the fact that Wickham
collects every handkerchief he finds (Lydia's and Elizabeth's)--a clear symbol that his
feelings are not "exclusive."

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Works Cited

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. London: Penguin, 1996.

Bruzzi, Stella. Undressing Cinema. Clothing and Identity in the Movies. London and
New York: Routledge, 1997.

Chandler, Alice. "A Pair of Fine Eyes: Jane Austen's Treatment of Sex." Jane Austen:
Critical Assessments, Vol. I/IV. Ian Littlewood. Mountfield: Helm Information, 1998.
390-404.
Lothe, Jakob. Narrative in Fiction and Film: An Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000.
Macdonald, Andrew, and Gina Macdonald, eds. Jane Austen on Screen. Cambridge:
Cambridge UP, 2003.
Michie, Helena. The Flesh Made World: Female Figures and Women's Bodies. New
York and Oxford: Oxford UP, 1987.
Pride and Prejudice. Dir. Joe Wright. Perf. Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Donald
Sutherland, and Judi Dench. Universal Pictures, 2005.
Paschetto, Anna. No she said no I won't NO. La trama rosa nella letteratura alta: Pamela,
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre. Milano: Unicopli, 1988.

Sinyard, Neil. Filming Literature: The Art of Screen Adaptation. London: Croomheld,
1986.
Sonnet, Esther. "From Emma to Clueless: Taste, pleasure and the scene of history."
Adaptations: From Text to Screen, Screen to Text. Deborah Cartmell and Imelda
Whelehan. London and New York: Routledge, 1999. 51-63.

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Differences between the bookand the adaptation
Mrs. Bennet wishes she had had sons, in front of the girls. In the book, she never says so
Mary philosophizes on life’s trials, Lydia declares she is hungry. Jane and Elizabeth talk
about their hopes and prospects of marriage. Jane wishes her family goodnight before
going to bed. Mr. Bennet is going over the accounts. All of this, though characteristic of
the family members, is not in the book Mr. Bennet is surprised that Darcy slighted
Elizabeth, she says she doesn’t care. To Mrs. Bennet’s suggestion that she never dance
with him even if he asks her to later, she says she can safely promise never to dance with
him. In the book, on returning to Longbourn after the ball, Mrs. Bennet describes Darcy’s
insult to Mr. Bennet, neither his reaction nor Elizabeth’s is mentioned.

Leah Burgin: The many adaptations of Austen

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that any adaptation of Jane Austen’s timeless
classic “Pride and Prejudice” will be met with either hostility or obsession, but will most
definitely grab the fanatic attention of Austen disciples. And it will most likely make
money. Most recently, “Pride and Prejudice” entered my life through a staged romantic
comedy adaptation my family saw over spring break at the Cincinnati Shakespeare
Company. While I thoroughly enjoyed parts of the show, I thought it was miscast and the
characters reduced to annoying shells of their most recognizable traits. Elizabeth was
confident and witty, but in a “shut up, no one wants to listen to you” way, and Darcy was
reserved and bitter, but to the point of seeming constipated.

Despite my criticism for the adaptation, people seemed to go gaga for it. Not only was
the show’s run extended, but each performance sold out — an unprecedented event for
such a small theater with a niche audience. This is the power of “Pride and Prejudice” —
even a mediocre performance of the beloved story can draw in more people and revenue
than Shakespeare’s greatest masterpieces. How can this be? Why is “Pride and Prejudice”
so prone to adaptations that keep Austen’s fan base spellbound?

On the “Pride and Prejudice” Wikipedia page, there’s an entire section devoted to
adaptations, ranging from the 2005 film with Kiera Knightley as Elizabeth Bennet to
“Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” — the 2009 novel that adds the living dead to the
social circle of 19th-century England. Colin Firth stars in both the classic six-hour BBC
made-for-TV miniseries and the clever rom-com adaptation “Bridget Jones’s Diary.”
Dozens of books start where Austen left off, imagining the lives of the beloved characters
post-last page, or telling the story from Mr. Darcy’s point of view. Another BBC
miniseries, “Lost in Austen,” features a modern 30-something (obsessed with “Pride and

69
Prejudice”) who finds a portal in her bathroom directly leading her to the attic in the
Bennet house. She swaps places with Elizabeth and everything goes crazy. There is also
Sir Elton John’s rumored film adaptation “Pride and Predator” which adds an alien
invasion to the rolling farmland of Longbourne.

A sense of timelessness isn’t the only reason “Pride and Prejudice” has stayed in the
public eye and creative mind for all these years — the book is also boundless. There
seems to be no tweak too bizarre for the fans. You could place the Bennet sisters at the
bottom of the sea, with shell bras and fish fins, and I bet people would lap it up. It’s
already been made into a musical and a Bollywood film, but where is the Disney version,
complete with talking animals and an Alan Menken soundtrack?

I’m sure that, for some, these adaptations are blasphemous taints on the holy ground upon
which the sacred work of fiction sits. Others may be amused by these new spins, but
uncompromisingly claim that the book will always be better than any variation. And for a
lot of girls in my high school, it was the idea of a sexy, misunderstood Mr. Darcy —
played by either the simultaneously regal and adorable Firth or the much rawer and
emotional Matthew Macfadyen — that kept the pages turning and the obsession ignited.

But the universally acknowledged truth remains that if you love “Pride and Prejudice,”
any mention of it in a contemporary context is going to set your heart pounding. My
grandma and aunt have a theory: It’s the brilliance of Austen’s writing, her ability to
make the inane drama of an average fictional family seem relatable to readers — but also
magically illusive — that captures our attention and that of the adapters who offer their
own spin on the Bennets. Austen (probably not intentionally) balances between
identifiable characters and enough wiggle room for adaptations to be born.

As a self-proclaimed Austen fan, I believe that my kind and I swarm to adaptations

because they give us something new to talk about, swoon over or laugh at. The novel
isn’t novel anymore — it was written over 200 years ago. Everything that can be said
about the original has been said. The only novelty comes with adaptations — sometimes
the more ridiculous, the better. It’s like Shakespeare. Contemporary casts are striving to
find new lenses through which to perform classics like “Hamlet” or “Romeo and Juliet.”
Like adaptations of “Pride and Prejudice,” these interpretations range from interesting —
like switching gender roles — to ridiculous, like having the characters bounce around on
jazzercise balls.

And, for me, the adaptations of “Pride and Prejudice” represent something more
important. Jane Austen is a bridge between the generations of women in my family.
Maybe my grandmothers, aunts, and mother won’t appreciate “Pride and Prejudice and
Zombies” — which, as connoisseurs of the weird, my sister and I find hilarious — but we
all went to see the somewhat-biographic “Becoming Jane” together in theaters and spent
quality time with each other. While I can’t begin to fully understand why adaptations of
“Pride and Prejudice” continue to captivate an audience that changes with each passing
generation, I can hope to be continually amused by adaptations of “Pride and Prejudice”

70
 — I’m looking at you Elton John — and to keep sharing the Jane
Austen experience with my family.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

½
2005, PG-13, 127 mins.

Elizabeth Bennet: Keira Knightley / Darcy: Matthew

Macfadyen / Mrs. Bennet: Brenda Blethyn / Mr. Bennet:
Donald Sutherland / Charles Bingley: Simon Woods / Lt.
Wickham: Rupert Friend / William Collins: Tom
Hollander / Jane Bennet: Rosamund Pike/ Lydia Bennet:
Jena Malone / Lady Catherine: Judi Dench / Kitty Bennet:
Carey Mulligan / Mary Bennet: Talulah Riley

Directed by Joe Wright / Written by Deborah Moggach /

Based on the novel by Jane Austen

I’ve seen two completely divergent films that have starred Keira Knightly this year. First, there
was this fall’s DOMINO, which – hyperbole aside – was like being kicked right in the jaw with a
Cardiac steel-toed work boot. That film was as lifeless as it was soulless. Now comes Knightly in
yet another re-telling of Jane Austen’s PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, and this film was like being
kissed softly on the cheek by a pair of luscious, soft lips. Her earthy, light-hearted, and fiercely
spirited performance reminded me of the miraculous and oftentimes soft-spoken power that quiet
and patient films can have, especially in our otherwise polluted cinematic world of MTV-inspired
epics of viscous, visceral overkill. I felt dirty after watching DOMINO. Now along comes PRIDE
AND PREJUDICE, a film that has thoroughly cleansed me of my past viewing ills.

This is the third adaptation of the Austen’s famous tale that I have seen recently, and the second
alone this year. Is the film industry so bereft of ideas that they need to turn to the well and
regurgitate yet another revisionist tale of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE? Not really, especially when
one considers how drastically different all of the recent versions have been. First, there was the
magnificent 1995 BBC Television version, which gave the novel some much needed scope to
breathe and a running time to do it thorough justice. For the definitive Austen experience, this is
the one to look out for on the video store shelves. Then there was an equally energetic and
whimsical BRIDE AND PREJUDICE from early this year, a film that I loved as it was an
effervescent and lively amalgamation of the conventions of a Bollywood musical with the narrative
trappings of Austen’s work. In terms of limitless imagination and creativity, this adaptation proved
to be an odd, yet winning, look at the world of strong willed women surrounded by a cultural and
social world that oppresses their status.

Now comes Joe Wright’s more faithful in spirit film adaptation, which sort of begs the question,
“Do we need another remake of this ageless tale of love?” The short answer is "yes" in the sense
that this version demonstrates how one can effectively appropriate a world-renowned novel and
make a succinct and successful film version of it within a very sparse two-hour time frame. Fans
of the mini-series may cringe at that thought, but there is no denying that this version of the story
still remains as indelible and charming as ever as it creates a story that is as fresh and
entertaining as anyone before it. That they spin new life into this tale with such a modest running
time is a small miracle in a way. The makers of the latest HARRY POTTER film could learn a lot
from this adaptation of an equally famous book. This PRIDE AND PREJUDICE carefully edits out

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material that does not lend itself to being faithful to the spirit of Austen. This is not a rigid, flaccid,
and laboriously faithful adaptation that can’t leave anything on the cutting room floor like the
recent POTTER films; this one is tight, taut, and gets the job done in an agreeably fine manner.

This story has limitless and timeless appeal on so many intimate levels. The overall plot has
always carried an aura of romantic ferocity and immediacy at the same time. Love and romance
in Austen is both real and manufactured. Marriage – at times – is not so much about finding Mr.
or Mrs. Right, falling in love, getting married, and then living happily ever after. It's more like a
business commodity that is started by a parental figure – a sort of social stock market. The key
to the effect of Austen’s work is that - yes - love seems so much like an undesirable exchange of
goods.

Mothers have daughters that all want to fall in love and get married, whereas the mothers already
have keen ideas on whom they will marry more often because of the suitor’s level of social
respectability, status, and wealth. The exasperating and, in turn, immersing element of Austen is
the fact that we, the audience, hate to see love treated as an exchange of human cargo. Love
should be real, legitimate, natural, and passionate. In Austen’s work we usually have characters
who look beyond love as a business transaction but nevertheless can’t for the life of them realize
that – dang it – they love one another in genuine ways. These men and women both hate and
love each other and despise the institutions that impede their ability to get together. This is
crucial to the work’s overall effect. By the end, if the two don’t end up as a couple, we will feel
dramatically stabbed in the back and betrayed.

Nothing is more bothersome when the barrier to love is money. Maybe that’s why the new
neighbour to the Bennet family is Mr. Bingley, who is widely known to have an income of “four or
five thousand pounds a year." It is not so much the idea of a good, strong-willed, and caring man
that Mrs. Bennet (the delightfully funny Brenda Blethyn) has her sights on. Her vision is clouded
by dollar signs. Yes, Bingley is okay on the eyes and is an affable chap, but it's just that Mrs.
Bennet wants to see her eldest daughter end up with this wealthy man and be set up for life…or
else. Bennet bachelorette number one is the eldest daughter, June. As Austen presented in her
book, there is an order to life and, thusly, daughters are to be married off in order of age. Jane
seems to be a willing participant, but her sister Elizabeth (Knightly, more on her later) is a bit too
sassy, smart, opinionated, and independent to believe in such rubbish. Nevertheless, all of the
Bennet women find themselves at a dance attended by Bingley and other potential suitors. Judy
seems to be falling for Bingley. He has brought his friend Darcy (Matthew MacFadyen) and it
soon becomes clear that he and Elizabeth are falling in mutual dislike of each other very fast.
Why? Well, maybe it has something to do with Elizabeth overhearing the ice-cold and stoic
Darcy telling a friend that he finds her “Tolerable, but not handsome enough,” or maybe that she
“loathes” him for his candor?

The plot, in true Austen fashion, grows thicker by the minute. It may appear that, initially at first,
there is no way that the spunky and intelligent Elizabeth could ever love a man that deeply
wounded her pride. To make matters more emotionally trying for Liz is the terrible news that she
uncovers about Darcy. She later discovers from a handsome and congenial British officer,
Wickham (Rupert Friend) that Darcy sabotaged his financial future when they were both
childhood friends. To make things even worse, she soon begins to believe that Darcy may have
had something to do with Bingley cooling off things with her sister June. Then, to further throw a
wrench into the machine, Elizabeth becomes the object of affection to a man she most definitely
does not want to marry, Rev. Collins (Tom Hollander).

Mrs. Bennet loves Collins’ wealth, but Mr. Bennet (the very commanding Donald Sutherland)
loves his daughter’s happiness more. Collins does propose and the mother is higher than a kite.
Elizabeth, seeing Collins for the prudish, dry, and boring prig that he is, vehemently refuses. She
wants another man in her life and, even if they both don’t want to freely divulge it, it is Darcy. The
inevitable does in fact happen, which needs very little embellishing on my part.

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There is such a joyous economy with this adaptation, and many subplots have been omitted from
the source material, maybe for the better. The Bingley/Jane relationship subplot is there, but sort
of pushed off to the side to focus more on Darcy and Elizabeth. Perhaps the one truncated area
of the film that I think does not work well is the ill developed character of Wickham, who truly
becomes a catalyst for the decisions of other characters later. He is hastily established as a
romantic adversary to Darcy for Liz’s love, but his role is so abbreviated here. The subplot that
involves him running off with Lydia Bennett seems haphazardly established and under-written.
More than anything, Wickham feels too much like a manipulative plot device than a full-fledged
character. A similar character in BRIDE AND PREJUDICE was much better handled.

However, this does not overly dissuade me from the film’s overall worth. This is an expertly
directed work of Austen as I have ever seen. Joe Wight gives so many individual moments such
a rich pageantry. His camera glides effortlessly through the proceedings, careening around
corners and brushing past characters as they interact with one another, almost like a silent,
invisible and neutral bystander. He shots the film with such a simple elegance. The overall look
of the movie feels more realistic than in other past adaptations. The settings have a much more
lived-in and used look, and appear refreshingly less like glorious and colourful drawings on an art
director’s table.

And, yes, there is that great Austen dialogue (wonderfully handled by the uncredited ghost writer,
Emma Thompson) that is that formal, overly semantic, and preachy everyday diction where
characters take twenty words to describe feelings and emotions where a few might have
sufficed. Yet, this is a society of rigidity in terms of ethics, morals, and code of conduct. It’s not
sufficient to simply tell a cute gal that you love her. In Austen’s world, a guy like Darcy has to tell
Liz, “You must know - surely you must know that it was all for you... I would have to tell you, you
have bewitched me body and soul and I love and love and love you. And never wish to be parted
from you from this day forward.” I mean, when he tells her that, you sure feel that he means it.

The central and integral love story is given the prominence it deserves, and the performances by
the leads are crucial to our buy in. Knightly is simply luminous as Elizabeth. She's gorgeous,
cordial, playful, sumptuous, and many times very vulnerable and timid. Knightly knows intuitively
how to play such a strong Austen heroine. She is a woman that has insecurities, to be sure, but
she speaks her mind with a frankness that cuts viscously through any simple level of sensitivity.
During the film’s most powerful moment - during a heated argument with her and Darcy in the rain
- she lashes out at him, “From the first moment I met you, your arrogance made me realize that
you were the last man in the world I could ever marry.” Her forcefulness in her portrayal is never
contrived. Her words and wits are her weapons, and she hits all of the right spots. She plays Liz
with masterful conviction and tenacity.

Darcy, on the other hand, is the trickier role to play in my mind. MacFayden – at first –
garners our contempt and then later must gain our trust and sympathy. We like Liz from
the beginning, but we have to grow to like Darcy. His transition from an emotional
detached man of affluence to a sensitive and caring suitor is the film’s biggest transition,
and MacFayden seems equal to the challenge and manages to have instant chemistry with
Knightly. Some of the other supporting players are also brilliantly performed. Tom
Hollander seems to have a lot of fun playing Collins as a man of such rehearsed formality
that every sentence he utters seems humorously stilted and prepared. Blethyn is a
boisterous presence as the mother with guerrilla style tactics when it comes to finding
suitors for her daughters. Sutherland just may have done his best work in years as the
father who loves his family and tries to appease all sides equally. PRIDE AND
PREJUDICE is streamlined Jane Austen that works efficiently as an enchanted delight
from beginning to end. This is a nearly complete entertainment – flawlessly acted,

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confidently directed, and pitch perfect in terms of not betraying the original novel's tone
and mood. This new version of the classic tale is not religiously and stridently devoted to
the source material, nor does it ever aim to be. This film version of Austen’s immortal
tale of love feels more at home with capturing the nuances of her novel, both in terms of
period detail as well as on it's human levels. On the basis of instilling in the audience an
involving tale of the confusion, eagerness, and yearning for love, this is one of the better
ones to come around.

Elopement!

• Jane writes to say that Lydia has eloped from Brighton with Mr
Wickham. Mr Darcy comes to the inn to see Elizabeth, and finds
her still reading the letter. Elizabeth is very upset and Mr Darcy
is very upset on her behalf. He excuses himself. Elizabeth thinks
he is ashamed to be associated with the sister of someone like
Lydia and doesn’t expect to ever see him again. That makes her
even more upset as she is by now falling in love with him.
• They rush back to Longbourn. Little do they know that Darcy has
rushed off to London to try to find Lydia and Mr Wickham. This is
because (a) he thinks it is all his fault, for not telling everyone
what an appalling character Wickham is, and (b) he thinks he
will be more likely to find Wickham since he knows a few of the
dodgy characters Wickham mixes with.
• Mr Gardiner and Mr Bennet go off to London. Eventually Lydia is
found and Wickham is paid to marry her. Mr Bennet thinks Mr
Gardiner put up the money. Actually Mr Darcy paid, but he made
Mr Gardiner promise not to tell anyone about it, because he
doesn’t want Elizabeth marrying him out of gratitude, even
though he did it for her sake.
• Lydia and Wickham call at Longbourn on their way to Wickham’s
new job in the regular army in Newcastle. Lydia lets slip that Mr
Darcy was at her wedding. Elizabeth writes to her aunt to find
out what really happened and discovers the truth. She realises
she is in love with Mr Darcy.

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STRUCTURE AND STYLE

THE PLOT

Jane Austen has great skill in constructing her plots at it's simplest level. It is the place of
a novel in Pride and Prejudice. First of all we see that she is telling the LOVE STORY of
two young people. This story falls into an easily observed symmetry:

1. The FIRST PART deals with the meeting of DARCY and ELIZABETH and shows
how they form impressions of each other and how Darcy becomes so much in love.
Then he asks Elizabeth to marry him. The CLIMAX of DARCY'S PROPOSAL and
ELIZABETH'S REJECTION of it.

2. The SECOND PART shows how both of the lovers come to a BETTER
UNDERSTANDING of each other. They are about to become united when an
obstacle appears (Lydia's elopment, the shame of the Bennet family) which threatens
to ruin their affections. However this is overcome and they are united at last.

There are also SUB-PLOTS which influence the main plot. For example:

1. Bingley's courtship of JANE. This runs parallel with Darcy's courtship of

Elizabeth. (They interreact when Darcy separates Bing and Jane. This reinforces
Elizabeth's prejudice against him).

2. Charlotte Lucas's marriage with Collins. This is necessary because it causes

Elizabeth to go to KENT where she again meets Darcy. One event is well connected
and linked to the other.

3. Darcy's relations with Wickham. (At Meryton Wickham prejudices Elizabeth

against Darcy).

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Lydia Bennet and Mr Wickham

I hope you have all enjoyed the Pride and Prejudice

adaptation that has just finished on TV in the US. I loved this version and I thought Julia
Sawalha was a fantastic Lydia, petulant and precocious but still managing to be very
funny! Adrian Lukis was perfect for Wickham too, just the right combination of charm
and charisma to convince us in the beginning that he is an ideal partner for Lizzy but also
imbued with a certain sleaziness, which soon shows us his true character. Poor Lydia
cannot see this and believes herself to be in love with him

Villain in Pride and Prejudice – George Wickham

Every novel has its own villain and Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice isn’t any different.
George Wickham, a suave middle class gentleman, takes on the role of a villain as his
character reveals him to be an affected and an egotistical young man. The villainy of his
character serves to reinforce the concept of pride and prejudice within the novel.
Furthermore, Austen enhances the meaning of the novel by creating in Wickham a foil
for the aristocratic Mr. Darcy.

George Wickham is first introduced to the reader as a man of “fine countenance, a good
figure, and very pleasing address”. His good looks and fine manner win him an easy
acceptance as he becomes “the happy man towards whom almost every female eye was
turned”. From the very beginning George Wickham acts as a foil to the aristocratic and
proud Mr. Darcy, who shuns all company and becomes notorious for his arrogance and
rudeness. However, the good and the evil in the characters is soon reversed as we find out
the villainous nature of Wickham. A selfish, money-loving man of pretense manners,
Wickham often leaves nothing but enemies and debts as traces behind him. His attempt to
elope with the aristocratic Gerorgiana Darcy when the latter was only fifteen not only

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reveals a breach in his manners but foreshadow the true extant of his villainy as it
exposes itself towards the end of the novel. Crucial to the further exposure of Wickham’s
character are his affectations to Mary King, a girl with a fortune behind her, and his lies
concerning Mr. Darcy’s cruel disposition. The villainy is finally brought home when
Wickham elopes with Lydia Bennet, a girl he had had no intention of marrying until
offered a bribe by Mr. Darcy. There can therefore be no doubt that Wickham’s villainy
revolves around his selfishness and irresponsibility where money matters may be
concerned. He cares for neither affection nor reputation – be it his own or somebody
elses.

Throughout the novel, Wickham enhances the meaning of the work by representing the
concept of impulsive prejudice, all the while acting as a foil for Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth
Bennett, an acquaintance of both young men, falls into the trap of hasty prejudice when
she befriends Wickham for “his smiles and his easy address” while criticizing Darcy for
his arrogance and immoral demeanor. However, just as gradually as Wickham begins to
fall in Elizabeth’s eyes, Darcy begins to rise. Set against the superficial character of
Wickham, Darcy appears to be all the nobler. Therefore, when the elopement between
Wickham and Lydia takes place, Wickham is reduced to a state of villainy while Darcy is
elevated to a state of heroism. The fact that both men are the opposite of what they appear
adds meaning to the idea of impulsive prejudice within the novel.

Wickham’s villainy enhances yet another meaning in the work – that of pride. It is
Wickham’s elopement with Lydia that allows Darcy to admit to Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner
his own “mistaken pride”. However, while Wickham remains unchanged in his faults,
Darcy realizes that his own pride has been his obstacle for many years. He casts his pride
aside when he decides to help Lydia and to win Elizabeth’s admiration, if not love. Yet it
is Wickham’s role as Darcy’s foil that allows the reader to appreciate Darcy’s final
transformation. It may therefore be said that the villainy of George Wickham enhances
the meaning of faulty pride and impuslive prejudice in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

Pride and Prejudice Plot Analysis

Most good stories start with a fundamental list of ingredients: the initial situation,
conflict, complication, climax, suspense, denouement, and conclusion. Great writers
sometimes shake up the recipe and add some spice.

Initial Situation
We meet the Bennet family: five single daughters with no money. And then
a young, rich, single man moves into the neighborhood.

This is clearly an initial situation because there’s way too much instability in this system.
Pushy mother? Poor, single daughters? One rich, single man? Anyone else predict that
the pushy mother is going to be pushing her daughters on the single man?

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Conflict
Bingley starts falling for Jane, but his sisters and friend don’t approve.

An obstacle in the path of true love and familial happiness! Yes, this is conflict. To make
matters worse, Darcy has developed a crush on Jane’s sister Elizabeth, and all the
objections he has to Bingley marrying Jane (lower class family with crazy family
members) also apply to the prospect of him marrying Elizabeth.

Complication
Bingley’s sisters and Darcy succeed in dissuading Bingley from marrying
Jane; Darcy sinks lower and lower in Elizabeth’s estimation.

Tough. Our lovers seem as far away from each other as possible: Bingley’s sisters
effectively quarantine him from seeing Jane, and Wickham drips (figuratively) poison
into Elizabeth’s ear about Darcy’s character. While before Elizabeth simply disliked him,
she now feels full-on disgust.

Climax
Mr. Darcy shows his heart; Elizabeth learns her errors in judgment.

All the festering feelings come to a head here. Darcy finally tells Elizabeth how he feels,
saying he can repress his emotions no longer, and Elizabeth counters with a, "if you were
the last man alive, I still wouldn’t marry you." OK, those weren’t her exact words, but
they were pretty close. She finally vents all her anger over what Mr. Darcy has done to
Jane and to Mr. Wickham.

But! That’s not the end of the climax! Darcy gives Elizabeth a letter that exonerates him
from all the charges she leveled against him. Both characters question their identities. As
for Elizabeth, who prides herself on being a great judge of character, she learns that
people’s exterior masks can fool her. This is the climax of the novel because the greatest
attitude shifts come here, towards the end of Part Two. It’s all smoother sailing from here
on out for our two main characters.

Suspense
Lydia runs off with Wickham, potentially ruining the Bennet family name
forever.

If Lydia goes off with Wickham to "live in sin," it will destroy any chance at happiness
for Elizabeth and Jane. No respectable man will marry a woman who has a fallen sister.
Don’t know about you, but we’re biting our nails.

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Mr. Bingley proposes to Jane; Mr. Darcy proposes to Elizabeth

Mr. Darcy uses money to force Wickham to marry Lydia. The Bennet family is saved.
Whew. Here’s the ending we’ve been waiting for – couples reunited, misunderstandings
cleared up, in-laws chucked out the window…

Conclusion

The happily ever after – the last chapter serves as a bit of an epilogue.

Our two favorite married couples are doing well, but Lydia and Wickham’s marriage
unravels and they become broke. Charles and Jane Bingley move out of Netherfield after
a year because they can’t stand Mrs. Bennet, Mary becomes less sanctimonious, and
Kitty blossoms under the guidance of her two oldest sisters. Oh, right. Jane moves to an
estate practically next door to Pemberley. That all sounds quite peachy.

Adaptations
Film, television, and theatre

See also: Jane Austen in popular culture – Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice has engendered numerous adaptations. Some of the notable film
versions include that of 1940 starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier,Pride and
Prejudice (1940) that of 2003 starring Kam Heskin and Orlando Seale Pride and
Prejudice (2003) (which placed the characters of Pride and Prejudice in a Mormon
university, and was directed by Andrew Black See Jennifer M. Woolston's "'It's not a put-
down, Miss Bennet; it's a category': Andrew Black's Chick Lit Pride and Prejudice,"
Persuasions Online 28.1 (Winter 2007). Jasna.org and that of 2005 starring Keira
Knightley (in an Oscar-nominated performance) and Matthew Macfadyen.Pride and
Prejudice (2005) Notable television versions include two by the BBC: the 1995 version
starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, and a 1980 version starring Elizabeth Garvie and
David Rintoul. A 1936 stage version was created by Helen Jerome played at the St.
James's Theatre in London, starring Celia Johnson and Hugh Williams. First Impressions
was a 1959 Broadway musical version starring Polly Bergen, Farley Granger, and
Hermione Gingold.First Impressions the Broadway Musical In 1995, a musical concept
album was written by Bernard J. Taylor, with Peter Karrie in the role of Mr Darcy and
Claire Moore in the role of Elizabeth Bennet.Pride and Prejudice (1995) A new stage
production, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, The New Musical, was presented in
concert on 21 October 2008 in Rochester, New York with Colin Donnell as Darcy.Pride
and Prejudice: The New Musical The popular film Bridget Jones's Diary is a

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contemporary retelling, starring Renee Zellweger as a modern day Elizabeth, and Colin
Firth, once again, as Mr Darcy.

Bride and Prejudice, starring Aishwarya Rai, is a Bollywood adaptation of the novel,
while Pride & Prejudice: A Latter-Day Comedy (2003) places the novel in contemporary
times. The off-Broadway musical I Love You Because reverses the gender of the main
roles, set in modern day New York City. The Japanese comic Hana Yori Dango by Yoko
Kamio, in which the wealthy, arrogant and proud protagonist, Doumyouji Tsukasa, falls
in love with a poor, lower-class girl named Makino Tsukushi, is loosely based on Pride
and Prejudice. A 2008 Israeli television six-part miniseries set the story in the Galilee
with Mr Darcy a well-paid worker in the high-tech industry.

Pride and Prejudice has also crossed into the science fiction and horror genres. In the
1997 episode of science fiction comedy Red Dwarf entitled "Beyond a Joke", the crew of
the space ship relax in a virtual reality rendition of "Pride and Prejudice Land" in "Jane
Austen World". The central premise of the television miniseries Lost in Austen is a
modern woman suddenly swapping lives with that of Elizabeth Bennet. In February 2009,
it was announced that Elton John's Rocket Pictures production company was making a
film, Pride and Predator, based on the story, but with the added twist of an alien landing
in Longbourne.

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- Pride And Prejudice -
Stage and Screen Adaptations

Why dramatise "Pride And Prejudice"? It’s a beautifully crafted, tightly written novel -
what is the attraction of changing it into a film, a TV series or a play?

Firstly, the wish to bring to life and actively engage in the world of a well-loved story.
Secondly, there is the particular nature of Pride And Prejudice itself. Jane Austen’s ear
for dialogue is superb, defining characters’ foibles with deadly accuracy in the way they
phrase themselves.

The first chapter is almost all dialogue and at key moments we hear the characters’ exact
words, such as when Mr Darcy makes Elizabeth’s ears burn in Chapter Three. The
famous opening sentence has the feeling of the prologue to a play, addressing the reader
directly and alerting them to the themes of the story to come. Even the structure of the
novel, originally published in three volumes, mirrors the three-act plays of the time.

It's hardly, surprising, then, that Pride And Prejudice should be Jane Austen’s most
frequently adapted novel. The BBC alone has been responsible for six TV adaptations as
well as several more on radio. The first stage version was in 1906 and there have been
plenty more, including a version by AA Milne, the creator of Winnie The Pooh, called
Miss Elizabeth Bennett.

Staying true to the book

Dramatising a novel has the effect of introducing it to a wider audience, even if it is a

classic that has been in print for centuries. The huge popularity of the 1995 BBC
adaptation put Pride And Prejudice back on the bestseller lists and glossy new editions
were put out, featuring stars from the television version on the covers.

There is a downside to dramatisation, however. Purists, and even fans, feel that the
nuance and sly irony of Jane Austen’s prose is almost impossible to translate into any
other medium. It has been said that “seeing a movie or television adaptation of any of
Jane Austen’s works is like hearing a symphony played on a harmonica” (Nattcafé,
Swedish television).

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Aldous Huxley, an acclaimed writer, considered his 1940 screenplay of the novel for
MGM “a major falsification of Miss Austen” (he wasn’t wrong). To begin with, that film
was set in the Victorian era (“Old England”), which is later than the writing or
publication date of the novel. This was to capitalise on the popularity with audiences of
the Victorian hooped skirt look as sported in Gone With The Wind.

The whole story was condensed into under two hours, a great deal being crammed into
the last ten minutes, and Mr Collins was transformed into a librarian to afford giving
offence to vicars. The studio wanted “to keep it light, bright and pleasant” (compare Jane
Austen’s own comment on the novel, “the work is rather too light, and bright, and
sparkling”) but their marketing ploy was to emphasise the man-eating nature of the
Bennett women. The publicity promised “Five charming sisters on the gayest, merriest
manhunt that ever snared a bewildered bachelor! Girls! Take a lesson from these husband
hunters!”

The musical version

More true to the novel, in some ways, more wayward in others, was the 1959 Broadway
musical, First Impressions (the original title of the book). It was based on Helen Jerome’s
successful play of Pride And Prejudice (the same which had inspired Harpo Marx to
suggest it to MGM) with lyrics by Robert Goldman and George Weiss and music by
Glenn Paxton.

Broadway veteran Abe “show doctor” Burrows was brought in to direct, although Guys
And Dolls may not have been the most obvious preparation for tackling Jane Austen’s
wit! The show was set in 1813 and had 15 musical numbers - a Broadway score with 19th
century colour. Farley Granger as Mr Darcy did not have much of a singing voice and
spoke-sung most of his numbers in an appropriately disdainful fashion. The show,
possibly due to the casting of Hermione Gingold (a larger than life British star) made
much of the role of Mrs Bennett and her presence dominates the story.

The Firth factor

The focal point of Regency high society was dancing

©TopFoto.co.uk

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Later adaptations on film and television have been rather more concerned with fidelity to
the novel and historic accuracy. The last BBC adaptation, the celebrated 1995 version
with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle, took an unprecedented five hours to tell the story and
was obsessed with the details of fabric prints, food and garden flowers.

The setting was 1797, around the time the novel was written rather than published, so the
girls skip about in diaphanous Empire-line dresses, with rather more plunging necklines
than would have been acceptable. This was in line with adaptor Andrew Davies' gentle
sexing up of the story - Mr Darcy’s infamous emergence from a quick dip in the lake
being the most famous example.

The 2005 feature film starring Keira Knightley and an immensely grumpy Matthew
Macfadyen is also ravishing to look at in its late 18th century setting. Screen writer
Deborah Moggach gives Donald Sutherland more depth as Mr Bennett, placing emphasis
on his relationship with Elizabeth and the darker side of his anything-for-a-quiet-life
philosophy.

Modern-day twists

The popularity and pervasiveness of Pride And Prejudice is born out by the number of
updatings and re-workings the story has received, often relying on knowledge of the
original for appreciation of the spin-off. Gurinder Chadha’s Bollywood-style Bride And
Prejudice and the American teen movie Pride And Prejudice: A Latter Day Comedy are
both examples of this.

But surely the most original realisation of Jane Austen’s themes and characters must be
the canine version. Between 1995 and 1998 Wishbone was an American television
programme portraying a Jack Russell terrier who daydreamed himself the hero of various
classic novels where dilemmas from his everyday life were resolved with reference to
their plots. The title of the Pride And Prejudice episode was Furst Impressions.

Another film - Becoming Jane - is in the pipeline, starring Brokeback Mountain actress
Anne Hathaway as Austen. The story will revolve around the author's flirtation with Irish
politician and judge Tom Lefroy. Some believe he may have provided the inspiration for
the character Mr Darcy, although no evidence has been found to back this up.

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