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Pride and Prejudice (1980) Mini-series – A Review

Posted in Blog Events, Jane Austen Adaptations, Pride & Prejudice Movies, The Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge 2013, tagged BBC, Elizabeth Bennet, Jane Austen, Jane Austen Movies, Masterpiece Theatre, Movie review, Mr. Darcy, Pride and Prejudice, Pride and Prejudice 1980, Pride and Prejudice Movies, The Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge 2013 on 8 May 2013 | 82 Comments »

This is my fifth selection for The Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge 2013, our year-long event honoring Jane Austen’s second published novel. Please follow the link above to read all the details of this reading and viewing challenge. Sign up’s are open until July 1, 2013.

My Review:

I have been blogging about Jane Austen here at Austenprose for over five years and I have reviewed many books and movies, yet I have held off writing about the one that really turned me into a Jane Austen disciple—the 1980 BBC Pride and Prejudice. When something is close to our hearts we want to keep it in a special place, so my personal impressions of Fay Weldon’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s most popular novel has remained my own. In this bicentenary year, I think it is time for me to share.

It first aired in five (55) minute episodes on the BBC in the UK in 1979, and on US television on Masterpiece Theatre between October 26 and November 23, 1980. I was a great fan of Masterpiece and period drama and remember being quite excited to watch the new series. I was not disappointed in the first episode—in fact I was mesmerized—and watched the episode again when it aired again that week on PBS. Considering that in 1980 disco music was all the rage and Magnum P.I. and Three’s Company were the most popular television shows, you might understand why this anglophile was entranced by a series set in Regency England with beautiful costumes, country houses, sharp dialogue and swoon worthy romance. I was totally hooked and started reading the novel for the first time while the series aired.

Now, considering that many of you who are reading this review where not even born by 1980, you might not get the significance of the way in which our entertainment was doled out to us in the those early days. There was the television broadcast, and that was it. In fact there were no VCR’s yet, so you could not tape a video. I had to wait another 10 years before I saw the series again. Shocking, I know. But remember that the Internet would not be born until the mid-1990’s and the concept of streaming video was totally unknown.

On reflection, why did I like P&P 1980 so much when it originally aired, and does it still stand up to the litmus test for P&P adaptations?

Even though the BBC had produced radio and television adaptations of Pride and Prejudice in 1938, 1952, 1958 and 1967 this would be the first time that a US audience would see a television series of Jane Austen’s novel. Some of us had seen the 1940 MGM move of P&P staring Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson, but it was hardly faithful to the novel and was a two hour theatrical movie. Very little of Jane Austen’s original language had been used and let’s not even begin the conversation about the changes that were made. Now for the first time we could hear Austen’s words and see the plot unfold as she imagined it—well not word for word or scene by scene—but screenwriter Fay Weldon did adhere much more faithfully to Austen intensions than we had ever seen before, nor since. Here is a list of the cast and production team:

Elizabeth Bennet – Elizabeth Garvie
Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy – David Rintoul
Mr. Bennet – Moray Watson
Mrs. Bennet – Priscilla Morgan
Jane Bennet – Sabina Franklyn
Mary Bennet – Tessa Peake-Jones
Kitty Bennet – Clare Higgins
Lydia Bennet – Natalie Ogle
George Wickham – Peter Settelen
Mr. Collins – Malcolm Rennie
Charlotte Lucas – Irene Richard
Mr. Bingley – Osmund Bullock
Caroline Bingley – Marsha Fitzalan
Lady Catherine de Bourgh – Judy Parfitt
Director – Cyril Coke

I will spare you the rehash of the synopsis and cut to the case. This adaptation flies freely by the strength of the screenplay and the interpretation by the director of the actors. They act like Regency era ladies and gentlemen and in the manner that Jane Austen intended. Elizabeth Garvie as Elizabeth Bennet is perfection. She is just as clever and impertinent as her book persona. If she has any defect it is that she is too perfect, appearing too controlled at every moment and not quite as spirited and flawed as one would expect. Her hero Mr. Darcy, portrayed by David Rintoul, is flawed, but that is his strength. He is stiff as a wooden solider, and we hate him until we meet him again at Pemberley two thirds through the story. But, his portrayal is as Austen wrote the character: noble, proud, arrogant, overconfident and infuriating. His transition to an open and engaging personality is a gradual shift which grows as his affection for Elizabeth does. His transformation from an arrogant prig to an amiable gentleman suitor for our heroine is a great character arch well worth waiting for.

Every director wants to put their own stamp on a classic. I cannot condemn Cyril Coke for taking his chance. He does not swerve off the garden path too far. There are two moments that are his creations that are memorable for me. The first was when Darcy hands Elizabeth the “be not alarmed, Madame,” letter after the first proposal. Elizabeth and Darcy meet along a path at Rosings Park and he hands her his letter. She accepts it and takes a seat on a fallen tree and reads it. We hear David Rintoul’s beautiful velvet voice, and perfect diction, as a voiceover as she reads the letter. As he walks away from her, the camera pulls back and follows him. As he gets father away we see both Elizabeth and Darcy in the frame become smaller and smaller. It is quite affective in relaying his presence and driving home the fact that as she reads his explanation of his behavior, and she has her “until this moment I never knew myself” revelation, we are left with the feeling that he has walked out of her life, and now how will she get him back?

The second great moment comes when Elizabeth and her Aunt and Uncle Gardiner are touring Pemberley. They think that Darcy is far away in Town. They are in a garden adjacent to the house and Elizabeth is admiring the facade and looks down to see Mr. Darcy’s dog appear around a corner of the building. His master soon follows and walks into the garden and is surprised to find Elizabeth at his home. They have an awkward meeting and Elizabeth is very uncomfortable. Now, Mr. Darcy does not have a dog in the original novel, but this addition of the well-trained spaniel, as proud and contained as his master, appearing as a foreshadowing to Elizabeth was brilliant.

The secondary characters really shine in this production too. Malcolm Rennie as Mr. Collins is just priceless. He is tall and toady and just the perfect smarmy buffoon. Peter Settelen as George Wickham is such a handsome, charming cad that we want to love him like Elizabeth is tempted to do. There is a scene where he and Lizzy are walking in the garden and all I can concentrate on are his canary breeches! Judy Parfitt gives us an imperious Lady Catherine de Bourgh that is quite younger than I had envisioned in the book, but still as imposing.

Since the 1980 P&P aired there has been one major miniseries filmed in 1995 and a movie in 2005. Everyone has their favorite and I have this pet theory why Janeites love one version and abhor another. Everyone seems to bond with the first version that they see, so for those who love the 2005 Keira Knightley version with pigs in the Longbourn kitchen and Mr. Darcy walking across a misty morning glade to find Elizabeth in her nightgown, or the 1995 version with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy taking a bath or a dip in Pemberley pond, think long and hard about what Jane Austen wrote about and what she wanted us to experience with her characters, and watch the 1980 version again.

And, what may you ask is the P&P litmus test? Why the first proposal scene of course. If the screenwriter, director, and actors can portray the misguided, passionate tension of Mr. Darcy and the cool indigence of Miss Eliza Bennet in Austen’s masterful scene as well as it unfolds in the 1980 version, then there is hope for the rest of the production.

5 out of 5 Regency Stars

Pride and Prejudice (1980)
BBC Worldwide (2004 re-issue)
DVD (226 minutes)
ASIN: B000244FDW

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A Closer Look at The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Finale: Episodes 90-100

Posted in Jane Austen Adaptations, Lizzie Bennet Diaries, tagged Jane Austen, Jane Austen Movies, Lizzie Bennet, Mr. Darcy, Pride and Prejudice, Pride and Prejudice Adaptations, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries on 19 April 2013 | 2 Comments »

From the desk of Virginia Claire Tharrington

This week I am wrapping up my look at The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. I can’t tell you how much I have enjoyed watching these videos. They are light, bright and sparkling, just as Jane Austen describes Pride and Prejudice, yet they also have serious modern themes that are relevant today and make the story more accessible to younger generations.

Jane and Bing (Episodes 90-92 & 95)

Bing comes back. He and Jane get a fresh start, yet Lizzie is still unhappy that Jane hasn’t made him beg her to take him back. Bing does try to make amends by bringing Jane snicker-doodle cookies (like she made him right after they broke up). Before their relationship really gets underway again, Jane gets a job offer from New York. Bing finds out about the job offer from Lizzie’s videos and seems hurt that Jane didn’t tell him herself. She was trying to spare both of them the pain that would be cause if he asked her to stay, yet Bing doesn’t ask Jane to stay. Instead he asks if he can go with her. He confesses that he quit medical school several months ago because he was so unhappy, so he too is looking to make a fresh start in NYC.

After Jane and Bing (Lydia calls them JING!) are happily settled in New York, Caroline (as a replacement for Lady Catherine in the novel) confronts Lizzie and accuses her of plotting to make Bing quit med school and runaway with Jane. Lizzie is shocked by these allegations but turns the tables on Caroline. Lizzie questions her about the “indiscretion” that Darcy saw at Bing’s birthday which caused Bing to break up with Jane in the first place. Caroline came up with a convoluted plan to have another guy kiss Jane right when Darcy was looking. This is what made Bing break up with Jane in the first place and it was all because of Caroline. Caroline also accuses Lizzie of trying to seduce Darcy. Lizzie baulks at this and says that, “Darcy is in charge of his own life and I am in change of mine.” (It is these lines that give Darcy hope when he watches the videos).

Lizzie and Lydia

Yet again Lizzie and Lydia have some adorable moments in these episodes. In episode 94 Lydia tells Lizzie that Darcy was responsible for the website publicizing the release of her private video with George Wickham being taken down. He bought the company that was releasing the video and shut it down. Lizzie can’t believe what Darcy did. Lydia is not as shocked and replied, “When you care about someone you will do anything for them whether they know or not because you can’t stand to see them hurt.” Lydia was hoping that George was the one who actually took the site down, but when she, “talked to some people,” she found out it was Darcy. Lydia hints that Darcy must still have feelings for Lizzie otherwise he would have no reason to go through all of the trouble of buying an entire company to taking down the video.

Lizzie and Lydia are continuing to get to know each other again. They are very sweet sisters. In episode 100 Lydia even gives Lizzie a new list called, “20 Reasons Why Lizzie Bennet Is No Longer Perpetually Single,” and says, “You are way to cool not to get any guy you want.” There is a new understanding and appreciation between the sisters that is lovely to watch.

Lizzie and Darcy

After Lizzie finds out what Darcy did for Lydia, she decides to call his phone, yet she doesn’t hear from him for 3 days. He shows up at her house on her 25^th birthday (March 18^th), so he can see her face when he asks her, “Why did you call me?” Their whole interaction is so delightfully embarrassing. She thanks him from her whole family for taking that video down. In reply he says, “I did it only for you.” Darcy then tells Lizzie that he doesn’t want to be just friends and that his feeling are still the same, if not stronger. At that point Lizzie kisses him.

(YOU GO GIRL! Take control and get what you want! Amen to that. I applaud Lizzie for making the first move like that and going in for the kiss). Darcy and Lizzie (Dizzy as fans call them) proceed to kiss a lot more throughout the episode, and it is super adorable.

On Lizzie and Darcy’s one-week anniversary Darcy tries to hijack Lizzie’s videos but ends up being fairly awkward in front of the camera by himself. Darcy says that the week with Lizzie, “…has been the best week of my life.” He also says, (what the viewers already know), “My name is William Darcy, and Lizzie Bennet is amazing.” Lizzie teases him about the first time they met which was, “The most awkward dance ever!” While Lizzie seems to enjoy these memories of their early encounters, she also presses Darcy about when his feelings for her started to change. Darcy says, “I honestly can’t remember. I was in the middle before I knew it has begun.” Lizzie says her moment of realization came when she saw the beautiful offices of Pemberley Digital. These light banters are wonderful. They are straight from Jane Austen’s novel, yet they are in modern speech.

Darcy offer’s Lizzie a job at Pemberley, yet she turns him down. She has decided to start her own digital media company and wants to move to San Francisco after graduation. Darcy is supportive of her move and of her decision to start her own company. He even offers to help her find potential investors, even though her business will be competing with him. I am so thankful that Lizzie did not just go to work for Pemberley. That would have been a let down. Lizzie defends her decision by saying, “I don’t want to be the girl who dates the boss.” I applaud her spirit and her desire to make it on her own and I think Jane Austen would too!

Lizzie and Charlotte

I am so pleased that the series does not end with Lizzie and Darcy. Rather Lizzie shares her 100thand final episode with Charlotte and Lydia. As much as I love Darcy and Lizzie’s relationship, I love Lizzie’s relationship with her friend, sister and herself more. I think it was a very brave choice for the creators not to have Darcy in the last episode. It concludes the theme that has been running through the series; the relationship between sisters (whether by birth or choice) is one of the most important relationships in a person’s life. I agree completely and applaud The Lizzie Bennet Diaries for their focus on women and female relationships. It was also delightful to watch Lizzie grown emotionally throughout the course of the series. As she started to see her own flaws, and while she still sees the follies of others, she might judge them less harshly or quickly in the future.

The girls’ faces are priceless in this picture

TWO SURPRISES AT THE END (Spoilers)

1st SURPRISE — At the very end of the 100th episode Mrs. Bennet walks into frame so the viewers can just see her torso and says, “Lizzie what are you and dear Charlotte doing in here?” It is an amazing moment since it has been a running joke through the series that Lizzie is trying to keep the videos from her mother.

2nd SURPRISE — As a little postscript after the final episode, the creators released some pictures on twitter of Lizzie, Darcy, Charlotte, Lydia and Ricky Collins hanging out at a bar celebrating Charlotte’s promotion and Ricky’s move to Canada to be with his fiancé. I am glad Mr. Collins makes one final appearance because he is just a fabulous character.

AWESOME LINKS

A giant thank you to Virginia for her insightful and passionate commentary on The Lizzie Bennet Diaries for the last eleven weeks. What a great series. We are looking forward to the production company’s next venture that was announced with a Kickstarter fundraiser:

Welcome to Sanditon

Based on one of Jane Austen’s unﬁnished novels, Welcome To Sanditon will be a full interactive experience that takes you to the beach town of Sanditon, California as it attempts to revitalize itself into a modern resort destination.

Through Gigi’s videos, you’ll meet the residents of Sanditon as she brings the beta version of Domino to reveal the drama in their lives. But we’re not stopping there.

In The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, you got to interact with the story. In Welcome To Sanditon, we’re taking things one step further — you’ll get a chance to be a part of the story.

We’re busy putting the town together now, and will reveal more details soon.

Welcome to Sanditon will launch in early May 2013.

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A Closer Look at The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Episodes 85-89 and Domino Videos

Posted in Jane Austen Adaptations, Lizzie Bennet Diaries, tagged Jane Austen, Jane Austen Adaptations, Jane Austen Movies, Pride and Prejudice, Pride and Prejudice Adaptations, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries on 12 April 2013 | 3 Comments »

From the desk of Virginia Claire Tharrington

This week on The Lizzie Bennet Diaries I will be looking at episodes 85-89 and Gigi’s Domino videos. There was just too much to get through with the Lydia storyline to add in Jane and Bing, so I will save that for next week. These are emotionally packed videos, though a lot of the action happens off stage like it does in Pride and Prejudice.

Lizzie and Lydia

Lizzie rushes home from her internship at Pemberley Digital, Darcy’s Company, when Charlotte tells her about Lydia and George Wickham’s website. George videoed an intimate encounter between he and Lydia and sold it to a distribution company. The website was advertising the count-down to the release of the video. When Lizzie arrives home she thinks that Lydia knows about the website. It is only after she confronts Lydia that she reveals she had no idea about the site. Lydia stares at the website in horror and disbelief. She just keeps repeating, “This is a joke right?” Yet Lizzie knows it is no joke. George sold the tape without Lydia’s knowledge and never returns any of Lydia’s text, calls or tweets.

A main theme from this week’s videos is Lizzie and Lydia’s coming to terms with each other. Episode 87 makes me tear up every time I watch it. It is really wonderful, though it strays from Jane Austen’s original text which does not give Lydia and Elizabeth a chance at reconciliation. When Lydia returns home, she is gloating over her marriage to Wickham and pretends that her elopement was not scandalous. The fact that George abandons Lydia in The LBD is perhaps the best thing that ever happened to Lydia. It allows her to go back to her family instead of her remaining in his clutches.

In later episodes Lizzie blames herself for this fiasco. She thinks she could have prevented it if she would have just talked to Lydia or been there for her. Yet in episode 85, she acknowledges George’s power over people when she says, “George has a history of convincing smart women to do dumb things.” I think this is a direct reference to Gigi, but it might also be an indirect reference to herself. George helped to convince her that Darcy was rude, and spiteful. Lizzie and the viewers can see George’s power to manipulate women when we looks at how he treated Gigi, Lizzie, and Lydia.

Lydia was vulnerable to George. She fell for him hard and quickly. She believed that he loved her, and to prove her love to him she let him film them. She was cut her off from her normal source of support (her sisters), which made her dependent on him. Lydia is devastated by George’s betrayal and questions her own self worth. She says, “If he is all bad then what does that say about me?” Lizzie consoles her by saying, “You don’t deserve awful things to happen to you because you trusted someone who was there for you when no one else was.” Episode 87. These are powerful lines and really show Lizzie’s compassion for her sister. She doesn’t blame Lydia, but herself for not being there when Lydia needed her.

Lizzie proves that she is there for Lydia and apologies for not “really seeing her” before. Both sisters admit that they have been rather consumed with themselves and neglected their relationship with each other. This makes The LBD stand out from the novel by focusing on sisterly relationships. Lizzie and Lydia do reconcile in The LBD. In one of the most touching moments from the series, Lizzie hugs Lydia and cradles her in her arms saying, “I love you… I love you… You are not alone.”

The Domino Videos

Domino is a new communication application that is being developed by Darcy’s company, Pemberley Digital. Gigi Darcy (Darcy’s sister) does “test videos” to check out Domino’s features. Domino is suppose to be a “life revealing application.” The application can call by phone and video a conversation. The system is also suppose to auto-edit, auto-update and auto-upload the demo videos. In describing the Domino, Hank Green says, “Domino may be a fairly weird application in real-life terms, but it totally kicks ass for the purposes of this show in terms of giving us unedited real-time conversations that otherwise have no business being shared.” I think he is right. Domino might seems a little far-fetched, with its self editing videos and such, but I think it is mainly a plot device so that the application will auto update the videos even if Gigi does not want all of the information on the internet.

The Domino videos are interesting because they let us see more of Gigi, Fitz, and Darcy, and we get a glimpse into what they are doing to find George Wickham and take down the site. The videos are vague about how Darcy and Fitz are trying to take down the site, but we do know that they are working on it. Gigi also gets to play a role because she is the one who calls George and gets him to answer the phone and use Domino (thus download the app and accepting the terms and conditions which allows Darcy track him). We don’t exactly know how Darcy found him, or what they said to each other when Darcy confronted him, BUT I don’t think there were many nice words exchanged. Here are some of the tweets between Gigi and Fitz about the search for George

Jane Through It All

Jane is a wonderful support for both of her sisters throughout these videos. She comforts them and brings them tea saying, “Everyone deserves tea.” Her sweetness and astuteness really show how much she loves her sisters and how well she knows them. Jane truly is wise when she says, “It not about doing anything. Its just about being here and her knowing that she doesn’t have to go through any of this alone.” The sisters are there to remind Lydia that she doesn’t have to face the world alone. After the video comes down, Lizzie finally admits to Jane that she saw Bing when she was at Pemberley (but more on that next week).

THE VIDEO COMES DOWN

When the video is removed from the website in episode 88, Lizzie and Lydia are both grateful and thank whoever took the video down. They also apologize to each other. Lizzie says, “I am sorry I didn’t really know you.” and Lydia says, “I didn’t really let you.” Both sisters acknowledge their mistakes and move forward with their relationship.

These are the most serious videos in the series. They are also some of the most moving and most heartfelt because it is through adversity that the sisters begin to see each other in a new light. Though these episodes also stray from the novel, I think they stray in a way that makes the story stronger. Lydia is no longer a throw away character. The viewers have come to know and love Lydia’s much more in The LBD than the readers ever did in Pride and Prejudice. This investment in the character development is not wasted because Lydia is allowed to change and grow.

Next week I will be looking at episodes 92-100! I can’t believe the series is really over!

Don’t forget to check out the LBD Kickstart. They have some fabulous perks, and we want them to keep up the great work!

AWESOME LINKS

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A Closer Look at The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Episodes 77-84

Posted in Jane Austen Adaptations, Lizzie Bennet Diaries, tagged Jane Austen, Jane Austen Adaptations, Jane Austen Films, LBD, Pride and Prejudice Adaptations, Pride and Prejudice Movies, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries on 5 April 2013 | 2 Comments »

From the desk of Virginia Claire Tharrington

There are only 8 videos this week of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, but they are packed full of important information and plot developments. Here are some of the highlights and my take on them from these episodes.

Meeting Gigi Darcy:

Gigi Darcy, played by Allison Paige, is a pretty big departure from her character in Pride and Prejudice. In the novel Georgiana is EXTREMELY shy. In the LBD Gigi isn’t shy at all. She is fun and outgoing, even if a little inexperienced. She becomes a tour guide for the day to show Lizzie around and then seems to be confused by the fact that she can’t leave a school group roaming around Pemberley Digital by themselves. Yet it is clear that she likes Lizzie and wants to be friends with her. I love that Gigi seeks out Lizzie and watches her videos. Lizzie is a little hesitant about Gigi since she is Darcy’s sister, but the two do get along well from the very beginning.

Lizzie and Darcy Meeting:

I am biased, but this is my favorite video in the series. The meeting at Pemberley is one my favorite chapters in the novel also because that scene is so perfectly awkward in my eyes that it makes me cringe and laugh at the same time. So little is said, as described by Jane Austen, and no lines are actually given between Lizzie and Darcy, yet every reader fills in the lines for themselves.

“As they walked across the lawn towards the river, Elizabeth turned back to look again; her uncle and aunt stopped also, and while the former was conjecturing as to the date of the building, the owner of it himself suddenly came forward from the road, which led behind it to the stables.

They were within twenty yards of each other, and so abrupt was his appearance, that it was impossible to avoid his sight. Their eyes instantly met, and the cheeks of each were overspread with the deepest blush. He absolutely started, and for a moment seemed immoveable from surprise; but shortly recovering himself, advanced towards the party, and spoke to Elizabeth, if not in terms of perfect composure, at least of perfect civility.

She had instinctively turned away; but, stopping on his approach, received his compliments with an embarrassment impossible to be overcome.” (chapter 43)

The LBD version of the meeting at Pemberley Digital is equally delightful and uncomfortable, but in different ways. Gigi instigates the meeting instead of it happening by chance. I see why the creators did this. Perhaps it was so that it could more easily happen on camera. Perhaps they wanted Gigi to take a more active role in brining the couple together. Either way—I like it. Gigi‘s scheming is good-natured and well meaning. She seems to know her brother and Lizzie better than they know themselves because she sees that they are compatible. Gigi is able to give Lizzie and Darcy a second chance at getting to know each other and seeing each other in a better light. Gigi also seems to have a partner in crime for her scheming… Fitz! Check out their tweets to each other. They are adorable.

Bing–Boring—Lee:

Bing and Lizzie have some AWKWARD conversations. She seems semi-hostile to him and he seems like a sad puppy that is looking for some sort of consolation. Either way this is not my favorite part of the series. Bing also looks like he has been constantly crying because his eyes look red. Lizzie makes the remark “he is a med student… shouldn’t he be in class at least some of the time?” Overall I was totally bored by the Bing videos especially when compared to the other videos from this section. Bing without Jane=Dull… he should figure that out SOON.

Gigi’s Story:

Gigi decides to tell Lizzie what happened with George Wickham on the videos. Lizzie tells her she doesn’t have to, but Gigi insists. Wickham took advantage of Gigi when she was in school and became her swim coach. They started a relationship and Wickham moved in with her. Wickham’s motives seem to have been revenge on Darcy and to get money from him, or at least to mooch off Gigi for a while.

This is a particularly powerful episode since the story comes from Gigi herself instead of from her brother. Gigi explains her vulnerability when she says, “He said he needed me.” She was doped by George and taken in by his lies and promises. She dreamed that George really loved her and that she could convince her brother that their love was real. Darcy proved her wrong when George left so easily because of a check from Darcy. Gigi says she was drawn to Lizzie because nothing she said about Darcy comes close to what she has said about him to his face. She ends her story by telling Lizzie, “He [Darcy] really takes care of those that he cares about.” Gigi gives us a new perspective on Darcy and on George so that we can begin to see both of their true characters.

Lizzie and Darcy Development:

Lizzie, Darcy and Gigi spend the weekend sightseeing in San Francisco, and while there isn’t a video blog about their exploits there are their tweets!

Lizzie and Darcy’s relationship seems to blossom while she is visiting Pemberley, but since she knows he and sister watch the videos, she does not give much personal feedback on how she is feeling about their changing relationship. I understand why she couldn’t/wouldn’t post a video with commentary about her time at Pemberley and her actual thoughts about Darcy and Gigi, but I do wish we could have a little more.

Lizzie interviews Darcy, as the head of Pemberley, about his company, but he actually turns the conversation to be about her video diaries. He complements them and Lizzie. Then they have an interesting discussion about the costume theater and whether it is mocking or not. Both Lizzie and Darcy say that they have been too quick to judge others, and they are now trying to see things from other people’s perspective. This is a wonderful video that shows both Lizzie and Darcy’s growth and how they are becoming more comfortable with each other. Darcy REALLY lightens up when he impersonates Fitz in the costume theater. It is wonderful!

The Bad News:

And then to the bad news… Lizzie gets a new phone because her old one has been messing up so much, so she has not been able to talk to Charlotte for a day or so. When her new phone finally finishes authorizing she sees that she has 7 missed calls from Charlotte. Darcy is with her because he came to ask her to the theater that night for a date. She says she would be happy to go… BUT, then she gets the news about Lydia. She had no idea Lydia was dating George because she has not been watching her videos and has not talked to her sister since Christmas. Lizzie blames herself. She says, “I could have prevented this.” She is upset and frazzled, but Darcy steps in and tries to calm her down. He is level headed and offers to get her home right away and to send her stuff along after she leaves. Lizzie is grateful and says thanks, but she does seem very uncertain of what the future holds.

Overall the Pemberley episodes are my favorite. We meet Gigi who is a wonderful addition and a great modern take on the character of Georgiana. We see Lizzie and Darcy getting to know each other again and starting to like each other, and we see how they handle themselves in a crisis. We can really see the chemistry between Darcy and Lizzie in these videos since they are together so much more. There are several episodes where they both look at each other and the looks on their faces are just BRILLIANT!!!

Next Week, episodes 85-92, and Gigi’s Domino Videos

Awesome Links:

Check out Pemberley Digital Online
Visit Darceny to continue the conversation about LBD and Pride and Prejudice.
A great article by Bernie Su called on Balancing Transmedia and Lizzie showing/saying stuff that probably should be private.
Watch The Lydia Bennet Videos
Watch The Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Visit our The Lizzie Bennet Diaries archives

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A Closer Look at The Lydia Bennet Videos Episodes 1-29

Posted in Jane Austen Adaptations, Lizzie Bennet Diaries, tagged Jane Austen, Jane Austen Films, Lizze Bennet, Pride and Prejudice, Pride and Prejudice Adaptations, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, The Lydia Bennet Videos on 29 March 2013 | 2 Comments »

From the desk of Virginia Claire Tharrington

We have been taking a closer look at The Lizzie Bennet Diaries over the past few weeks. Lizzie has two sisters in this adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice: Jane and Lydia. While Lizzie is the main character of the novel, and this new series, her wild and outrageous younger sister Lydia often steals the show—so much so that she started her own spinoff videos. Today we will focus on LEE DEE YA and her own The Lydia Bennet Videos!

Lydia Bennet in The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is one of the biggest deviations from the novel, and I think it is one of the reasons why the series seems so modern and original. Lydia shows up in Lizzie videos frequently, but it is through her own videos that we really get to see her development and spiral to be under Wickham’s control. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries gives a much more sympathetic look at Lydia because we get to know her so much better than we do in the book; we see more of her mistakes, and (spoilers) she is able to redeem herself in the end.

Mary Kate Wiles plays a wonderful Lydia Bennet. She was actually the first part the producers cast. I am so glad that Mary Kate got Lydia because she brought such energy and vitality to that role in the beginning and we are totally drawn in when we witness her decline. Rachel Kiley was the writer who did most, if not all, of the Lydia Bennet videos, and I think she did an amazing job. The writing of Lydia and Wickham’s relationship I find particularly terrifying because it seems so true to life.

Storyline for The Lydia Bennet Videos:

Lydia’s videos are much more scattered than Lizzie’s because they start and stop depending on when Lizzie is out of town. Here are some highlights though through the videos:

Lydia goes to stay with her cousin Mary when the girls are at Netherfield.
Lydia gets even with some girls who were making fun of Mary.
When Lydia returns home, she continues to hang out with Mary because she is helping her study for her exams
Lydia starts skipping class more to go hang out with Mary.
Lydia runs off to LA to go see Jane and skips a lot of class.
Lydia and Mary get in a fight when she discovers that Mrs. Bennet has been paying Mary to tutor her, resulting in Lydia ditching Mary.
The girls come home for Thanksgiving and Lydia takes a break from making videos because Lizzie is home.

The next group of videos involves Lydia and Lizzie’s fight after Lydia’s birthday. Lydia takes Lizzie’s birthday gift as a criticism of her life choices and she freaks out on Lizzie. Both sisters are stubborn and refuse to apologize thus giving the Christmas videos a lot of tension. Lydia posts a video to Lizzie called “Dear Lizzie Video” where she talks about how lame Lizzie is and how Lizzie needs to get a life. It is a pretty mean spirited video and Lizzie doesn’t like it at all. Lydia then goes to Vegas for New Years with her friends because she wants to be around fun people and not lame people like Lizzie. Yet even when she is in Vegas “partying it up” she is still fixated on Lizzie because many of her videos are rants against her. George Wickham and Lydia meet in Vegas though we only hear about this later when he says, “After what I did for you in Vegas?” It is never clear what Wickham did for her, but they do talk about kissing on New Year’s.

Wickham is back in town and Lydia starts hanging out with him a lot more. Even though they are in a new relationship and are just starting to hang out they still seem to be fixated on Lizzie. He talks about her and, “to her through the camera” several times. This is really where we begin to see the darker side of Wickham because he seems to be doing this to get back at Lizzie. He starts manipulating Lydia very early on. It is also clear that there relationship is moving very fast because Lydia has been spending so much time at Wickham’s apartment and spending the night. George seems to be being a gentleman and loving on Lydia just so he can break through her comfort zone and make her dependent on him.

I actually found it hard to watch Lydia’s last videos. I think speaks to the powerful writing and acting. We all know the story. We know what is coming for Lydia, so it is hard to watch her be so happy only to know that it will be snatched away from her very shortly. George and Lydia fight only to have him tell her that he loves her. The he realizes that it was the first time he said it and that it was on the videos. This seems to be obvious manipulation on Wickham’s part because he is trying to control Lydia and make her fall deeply in love with him.

Lydia’s last video is the saddest of all. She is talking about how much she loves George and how happy she is to be with him while all the time looking sad and alone. George has isolated Lydia even more than her fight with Lizzie did. Lydia use to love her family and her sisters but now she doesn’t care what they think about her relationship with George. She is under the misguided impression that George “puts her first.” She says she will do anything for him. She struggles with the idea of “real love” and “family love.”

Lydia, who has always seemed so self-confident and fun, now says, “I feel good enough good enough for somebody for once… Is that weird… it is really nice.” There is no more heartbreaking line in the entire series. Lydia’s vulnerability here is so evident and yet she also just seems like a normal teen trying to figure out true love. It makes me so sad to think that the LEE-DEE-YA from LBD episode 20 has become this Lydia.

There is redemption for Lydia. I think this is the biggest difference between LBD and the novel. We have not watched the episodes yet, but if you don’t already know instead of running off with Wickham, he makes a sex tape and sells it to a company who will release it. I will talk more about this next week, but I do want to mention that unlike the novel Lydia is redeemed because she breaks from Wickham, has remorse for what she did/let him do, and starts to put her life back together with the help of her family. In the novel Lydia seems like a lost cause. She is still devoted to Wickham in the final chapters and we want to ring her neck for it. In the LBD Lydia’s tryst with Wickham causes her to see her mistakes. She learns about his betrayal and that she must really rely on herself and her family for support instead of him. Lydia has always struck me as the type of person who gets her happiness from other people. I think she learns in later episodes that she must get her happiness from within herself, and while this will be a learning process for Lydia, I think she is capable of it.

The Lydia Bennet Videos are truly a rollercoaster of emotion because they start out so fun and light hearted, but Wickham sends Lydia into a very dark place. I think this Lydia Bennet will rise up from that place though and will be an even stronger and smarter woman, though I don’t know if she will keep her same exuberance as she did in the early episodes.

Next week I will be talking about Episodes 77-85 of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.

A Few Announcements:

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries are officially DONE! TEARS, WEEPING, and NASHING OF TEETH, ENSUE. The final episode was yesterday, and all I must say is that it did not disappoint. WELL DONE and THANK YOU to everyone involved.
Sanditon, Jane Austen final unfinished novel is going to be the next mini adaptation that the team does. I am very intrigued by this project because I don’t think there has ever been an adaptation of Sanditon. Gigi Darcy will play a role in it and she is one of my favorite characters from the original series.
The Lizzie Bennet Diaries started a Kickstart campaign to raise money for the DVD’s, the new mini-series — Sanditon, and to pay the actors, writers and creators royalties since they have been working for very little pay on the first series. As of Tuesday, the Kickstart campaign has raised almost $300,000 and has had about 4,500 contributors. This shows you the devotion of the fans to the LBD and the stories they will be creating in the future. There are lots of great incentives for those willing to give. The creators also announced that they are coming out with a special edition of Pride and Prejudice along with the DVD.

Awesome Links:

A new fan site devoted to P&P and LBD – They will be hosting extensive discussion groups about comparing LBD and P&P over the summer. I have already signed up!!
Reasons why Lizzie Bennet is Perpetually Single
Mary Kate Wiles Chats with the LBD Seahorses
Hypable’s Interview with Mary Kate Wiles
Watch The Lydia Bennet Videos
Watch The Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Visit our The Lizzie Bennet Diaries archives

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A Closer Look at The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Episodes 67-76

Posted in Jane Austen Adaptations, Lizzie Bennet Diaries, tagged Jane Austen, Jane Austen Movies, LBD, Pride and Prejudice, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries on 22 March 2013 | 1 Comment »

From the desk of Virginia Claire Tharrington:

This week on The Lizzie Bennet Diaries Lizzie comes home from Collins & Collins and celebrates the holidays. Episodes 67-76 don’t introduce any new characters (though we do see Mary from Lydia’s videos in Lizzie’s videos for the first time), but there is significant character development of Lizzie, Jane and Lydia. The girls catch up on news from Jane, like that she never heard from Bing when she was in LA, and Charlotte tries to get Lizzie to explain more of what was in Darcy’s letter. Lizzie does do a “story time” where she talks about Darcy and Wickham and how Wickham squandered all his money for college in one year, but she does not mention Gigi at all. Lydia then takes over Lizzie’s vlog while she is in the library studying for exams. Lydia says that the girl’s “summer friends” (Darcy, Caroline and Bing) have “toes filled our lives with drama and annoyance” (Episode 69). She “liked it so much better when it was just you and me and Lizzie and Charlotte and Mary.” Lydia shows her love for her sisters when she says, “It’s almost New Years and that means new people and new places and new super fun times. No more anx’ and drama and stupid people who don’t matter.” While Lydia remains vivacious and lively, this is a slightly more serious side of Lydia because she seems lonely and to be looking out for her sisters and wishing that they could go back to the way they were before Lizzie started her vlog. Lydia says, “We work best just us.”

This, new side of Lydia, is contrasted later by the fight that she and Lizzie get in after her birthday party extravaganza. Lizzie gives Lydia a book as a birthday present called Where Did I Park My Car? A Party Girl’s Guide to Becoming a Successful Adult. Lydia is really hurt by Lizzie’s gift when she realizes that it isn’t a joke. Lydia sees the gift as a condemnation from Lizzie of Lydia’s behavior. Lydia thinks that Lizzie has been influenced in her opinion of Lydia’s actions by Darcy and Caroline and their criticism of Lydia. While Lydia might have a point she seems to be blowing this out of proportion in Lizzie’s eyes and continues to hold a grudge against Lizzie. This will be one of the factors that drives Lydia into the arms of George Wickham.

The girls celebrate Christmas and New Years where Lizzie makes a New Years resolution. She wants to “find out where I am suppose to be” (Episode 76). It is a New Year and a new Lizzie. While I like the old Lizzie just fine, I do think she is growing and changing to become an even brighter, smarter and funnier woman. Lydia is off to Vegas to celebrate the New Year and though the sister are fighting, Lizzie confesses that she is hard on Lydia but that is because she does not want Lydia to make bad decisions and get hurt by the world. As we will soon find out Lizzie’s protection can only go so far.

Lizzie ends by saying that she is taking a week off vloging so she can get ready for her trip to go shadow Pemberley Digital. Then she says “Why does that sounds so familiar?” (I don’t know Lizzie but you are going to be in for heck of a shock when you find out)

Narrative Voice of the Lizzie Bennet Diaries

This is a topic that I have been pondering for a while, narrative voice the LBD v Pride and Prejudice. Having Lizzie narrate the videos gives an interesting twist on the story since in the novel there is a 3rd person narrator most of the time, yet sometimes the reader does get Lizzie’s free indirect discourse where we follow her train of thoughts as if it was narration. Jane Austen was an early writer to experiment with free indirect discourse so it is wonderful to see the vlogs experimenting with this type of narration compared to other adaptations.

Free indirect discourse involves both a character’s speech and the narrator’s comments. What distinguishes free indirect speech from normal indirect speech is the lack of an introductory expression such as “He said” or “he thought.” Free indirect discourse can also be described, as a “Technique of presenting a character’s voice partly mediated by the voice of the author, or, the character speaks through the voice of the narrator, and the two instances then are merged.”

Her astonishment, as she reflected on what had passed, was increased by every review of it. That she should receive an offer of marriage from Mr. Darcy! that he should have been in love with her for so many months! so much in love as to wish to marry her in spite of all the objections which had made him prevent his friend’s marrying her sister, and which must appear at least with equal force in his own case, was almost incredible! (Pride and Prejudice chapter 34)

This seems to me to be what The Lizzie Bennet Diaries are when Lizzie looks directly at the camera and tells us her thoughts and feeling. We lose the boundary between narration and her thoughts. This is so interesting because the free indirect discourse is what almost every other adaptation lacks. The 1980s version comes as close as any when it did a voice over for Elizabeth saying, “till the moment I never knew myself”.

All the other versions require dialogue or facial expressions for the viewer to see how Lizzie feels. With The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Lizzie tells us exactly how she is feeling and what she is thinking. While this isn’t exactly free indirect discourse, because Lizzie is speaking to the camera, it is as close as I have ever seen in an adaptation. This is one thing that makes The LBD so unique and actually so like the book.

Next week I am going to focus on the Lydia Bennet Diaries before going back to look at Lizzie’s videos. We need to see her relationship with Wickham progress. ENJOY!

Favorite Quotes of the Week:

“Is that a Darcyism?” – When Lizzie thinks she might have quoted Darcy (Episode 68)
“We work best… Just us.” – Lydia talking about her sisters (Episode 69)
“Yeah 21! And we are going to go out and celebrate your 21^st the American way… by going to a bar and getting card and showing your real ID for once.” – Lizzie talking about Lydia’s birthday (Episode 71)
“Stain in all colors, a small fire out back that was luckily put out before it burned anything other than a shrub and someone keeps spiking volleyballs at the garden gnomes.” – Lizzie describing the insanity of Lydia’s Birthday Party (Episode 72)

Awesome Links:

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A Closer Look at The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Episodes 51-66

Posted in Jane Austen Adaptations, Lizzie Bennet Diaries, tagged Elizabeth Bennet, Jane Austen, Jane Austen Adaptations, Jane Austen Movies, Mr. Darcy, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Virginia Claire Tharrington on 15 March 2013 | 3 Comments »

From the desk of Virginia Claire Tharrington

This week I will be looking at episodes 51-66 of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries starting with Lizzie’s life while she is visiting Collins and Collins. We get to meet several knew characters and get to see some of the most beloved ones in a new setting. Did I also mention that we get to see DARCY for the first time!

Lizzie goes to visit Charlotte at Collins and Collins. She meets Lady Catherine and her dog Annie Kins (though we never get to see Lady Catherine we just see Lizzie’s impressions of her). We also get to meet one of my favorite characters in the novel and in the series, Fitz, who comes with Darcy to look at Collins and Collins and give Lady Catherine a report on its progress. Darcy finally shows up in the videos and tells Lizzie he loves her. She flatly rejects him and tells him off for his rude behavior towards her and others and she also tells him to watch her videos. He returns later with a letter and having watched videos. Lizzie reads the letter but refuses to share its contents even with Caroline who comes trying to snoop and find out what is in the letter. Lizzie and Charlotte face off against Caroline and call her out for her manipulation of Bing. Collins flits in and out of several episodes mostly causing havoc by making Charlotte dress as a condiment or trying to make Charlotte work over Thanksgiving. By the end of these episodes Lizzie is ready to go home because home would probably be less stressful. In episode 62 Lizzie says, “This is definitely messing with my world view. Its like I don’t know myself anymore” (I consider this line akin to Austen’s “Till this moment, I never knew myself.” It is the turning point in the book for Elizabeth’s character)

Here are some highlights from Episodes 51-66:

We meet Fitz:

Colonel Fitzwilliam is one of my favorite characters from the novels. I have always had a crush on him because I found him to be so much nicer than his cousin. In some alternative universe I really think he and Lizzie would work out (even though he is a younger son and has no money).

In the alternative universe of the Lizzie Bennet Diaries Fitz (Craig Frank) and Lizzie can’t work out as a couple because he is gay. I think this modernization is BRILLIANT because it allows Fitz and Lizzie to be good friends, but it is known from the start that they will never be more than friends. Fitz in the LBD is a smart and well-established business executive (he can see two bridges from his corner office) but he is also super fun. I automatically want to be his friend and so does Lizzie. Lizzie wonders why Darcy can have such nice friends when he is so cold and stiff. Fitz explains “The guy doesn’t always make the best first impression, and he has the social skills of an agoraphobic lobster.” (episode 56). Fitz does a fabulous impression of haughty Darcy and really enjoys goofing off on the videos. He says “Well what is life if you cant have a little fun? Am I right Lizzie B? You know you should meet Gigi… because she is a cool kid and I think you too will like each other” (episode 56). Fitz seems to be a nice guy who cares about his friends and has his head on straight yet a guy who can also loosen up and have a lot of fun.

Catherine de Bourgh and Annie Kins

I hate that we never to get see Catherine de Bourgh but Lizzie’s impressions of her make up for this loss. Her daughter Anne is transformed into a snaggletooth, asthmatic dog named Annie Kins that Catherine dotes on. Mr. Collins prepares Lizzie for dining with Catherine de Bourgh by giving her a long list of dos and don’ts and by telling her “so if you will simply choose the least offensive outfit you have brought along with you, I am certain that will be more than satisfactory.” (episode 53). Catherine still tries to but into everyone’s conversations and adores Caroline Lee for her accomplishments even though it is unclear what Caroline does or if she even has a job or goes to school.

Charlotte and Mr. Collins Dressed as condiments

Mr. Collins is full of hair-brained ideas about improving the company morale. One if his ideas involves a “spirit week” of sorts culminating in a Halloween party where he and Charlotte dress up as condiments. Seeing Charlotte as a giant ketchup bottle is pretty amusing, but Mr. Collins as a giant mustard bottle takes the cake. His sincerity and seriousness make him even funnier. Collins tries to make Lizzie come to the party but Charlotte steps in and shows her control and handling of him. Mr. Collins might be the head of the company but Charlotte is the neck and she can turn the head anyway she chooses.

Darcy:

Darcy, Darcy, Darcy… everyone freaks out when Darcy is finally shown. Not this girl. I am going to try and keep my talk of Darcy to a minimum for several reasons:

We don’t see that much of him.
I don’t like Darcy Hype.
He does come off as a pretty big jerk.
I agree with Lizzie about him.

The viewership of the Darcy episode almost doubled compared to other episodes. Episode 60 (where we first see his face) has had over 466,000 views. Don’t get me wrong– he will improve, and I do think the writing on his episode is fantastic; I just hate Darcy hype. These are called the LIZZIE BENNET DIARIES and that is who the story is about, so I applaud the writers and creators for putting off introducing Darcy till 3/5 of the way through the series.

Ok, now on to Darcy. Daniel Vincent Gordh plays Darcy and does a very good job. He comes off as haughty and austere early on but does loosen up in later episodes. The writing for the proposal episode is a wonderful modernization of the scene from the book. I was worried that they would stray too much from the novel in his insults to Lizzie or that they wouldn’t have him insult her, but they did. Darcy says “I have been fighting against this for months now but Lizzie Bennet I am in love with you… I cant believe it either; that my heart can completely overwhelm my judgment.” Lizzie responds, “I hope that your judgment can be some solace in your rejection because those feelings are not mutual.” (Episode 60) In his video about the episode, one of the creators of the series Hank Green talks about how much effort and time went into writing this episode because they knew it was so important. Hank and his wife Katherine had a lot of input into who they chose for Darcy and the scene. Overall I applaud the series portrayal of Darcy because he does come off as a pretty big jerk at first and then starts to soften so that maybe you think he is just super awkward instead of a jerk. I could also do without the suspenders and skinny jeans, but I see why they did it.

Darcy hand writes and wax seals his letter to Lizzie, which is pretty cute and shows his quaintness. I thought they might do his letter as an email but I like that Darcy hand writes it and says that sometimes he has trouble expressing himself in words so he has to write things down. I think this is just the beginning of Darcy opening up. He also watches Lizzie’s videos because she tells him about them. He says, they were “illumining… you called me a robot and a newsie.” (Episode 62)

Lizzie and Charlotte v Caroline

Caroline Lee shows up to try and see what was in the letter. Charlotte and Lizzie question her motives in befriending Lizzie and helping Lizzie with her videos since Caroline hasn’t spoken to Lizzie since they left. This betrayal by Caroline seems worse than in the book because in the book Lizzie never thought that Caroline was her friend. The fact that Lizzie and Jane are both hurt by Caroline’s lack of communication with them shows Lizzie’s vulnerability in a new way. Caroline comes off as manipulating, conniving and superficial. The nicest thing I can say about her is that she has great hair. Lizzie and Charlotte call Caroline out for her behavior, and I say, “You go GRILS!” If only Lizzie got to tell Mrs. Bingley off like that in the books. I think it would be very therapeutic to her.

I am leaving out Lydia’s videos from this weeks article because I want to be able to do them justice in an article all to themselves.

Next Week 67-76

Favorite Quotes of the Week

“If Lydia ends up with in anyway involved with someone who traces back to Darcy I swear I am going to steal a plane and crash land onto a desert island. I can totally survive on coconut and crabs… assuming there is wifi.” (Lizzie in episode 54)

“He is like a robot with buggy programing for social interaction”– “Darcy- bot Malfunction” (Lizzie on Darcy in episode 55)

“He was probably just looking for an air conditioned place to drink his probiotic hemp latte”- (Lizzie guessing why Darcy keeps stopping by to see her in episode 57)

“I am pretty sure the guy read Tolstoy for you”

“Even if that is true the virtues of reading Russian literature are far out weighted by the fact that he disinherited George. Oh yeah and he broke up Bing and Jane” (Charlotte and Lizzie talking about Darcy in episode 61)

“You should see the texts I have been getting from Lydia about this OMG… WTF… WHATEVS… YOLO… FTS… PQZ!!!!” (Lizzie talking about Lydia’s reaction in episode 62)

Awesome Links:

“If you are in the Raleigh, North Carolina area this weekend please join JASNA NC for a discussion of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. The talk will be held on Sunday March 17th at 2:00 at the Cameron Village Regional Library. Virginia Claire Tharrington will be showing clips and leading a discussion about the adaptation. We would love to see you there. Thanks VC”

Images courtesy © The Lizzie Bennet Diaries 2012; text © Virginia Claire Tharrington 2013

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A Closer Look at the Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Episodes 35-50

Posted in Jane Austen Adaptations, Lizzie Bennet Diaries, tagged Elizabeth Bennet, Jane Austen, Jane Austen Adaptations, Jane Austen Humor, Lizzie Bennet, Mr. Collins, Pride and Prejudice Adaptations, The Lizzie Bennet Diaires on 8 March 2013 | 7 Comments »

From the desk of Virginia Claire

There is a lot to cover this week for the Lizzie Bennet Diaries. One announcement before we get started; the series will be ending on March 28th with the 100th episode. (mass hysteria and sobbing ensues!). Sadness I know but the book does come to an end and so much the LBD. On a happier note we are just reaching the halfway point of looking at the vlogs so there is still a more discussion to come. I also can’t wait to see which book the creative team of Hank and Bernie do next. I myself am voting for Emma, mainly because I want to see a modern Emma more than a modern Anne (I am huge fan of Persuasion, but Anne Elliot is just not a blogger the way Emma would be)

This week I watched episodes 35-50 and then Charlotte and Maria Lu’s spinoff from Collins and Collins. Lizzie starts off episode 35 by saying “and everything is as it should be.” This pleasant feeling doesn’t last long for Lizzie because Mr. Collins arrives and annoys her to no end. He offers her a job, which she refuses but which Charlotte then takes. Then Charlotte leaves for the job with Mr. Collin. Next Wickham comes and tells his story of woe at the hands of Darcy to Lizzie, which makes Lizzie hate Darcy even more. After Bing’s birthday party Bing, Darcy and Caroline leave for LA without telling anyone. Jane finds out about the move from Twitter. She is broken hearted and decides to move to LA for a job promotion and a change of scene. Wickham then takes a job with the Meryton Marines and goes off to flirt and party with other girls. Lizzie isn’t broken hearted over his departure but she does wonder, “why is everyone moving on but me?” Episode 50. In Charlotte and Maria’s spinoff we see the reconciliation that will happen between the friends. Charlotte too misses Lizzie and her sister has her watch Lizzie’s videos to see how much Lizzie misses Charlotte. Maria’s videos are a cute spinoff that shows us a glimpse at Charlotte in a new light but I don’t think they are as funny as other spinoffs like Lydia’s and Gigis’; they seem more like a plot device then stand alone vlogs.

Now I want to look at some of my favorite moments and characters from these episodes.

Mr. Collin: Mr. Collins is by far my favorite character (other than Lizzie) in the novel and in the Lizzie Bennet Diaries. I find his so delightful obtuse yet verbose that he is irresistible to me in his ridiculousness. I interviewed Maxwell Glick who plays Mr. Collins and he was so thoughtful and wonderful that he sent me some wonderful answers to my questions. I am including a handful below.

How do you think you make Mr. Collins different or special?

Max-I wanted to bring something to Mr. Collins that took the perception of him as this rather repulsive character, and made him actually have more dimensions and real feelings. I took the approach that he just “doesn’t get it” – not that he is a terrible person or intentionally says hurtful things. He has poor social skills, but I don’t think his heart is in the wrong place. I wanted it to appear that everything he says is carefully scripted, albeit poorly, sometimes. I also wanted to add a touch of humor to the guy. After all, he is far from a boor. I wanted the audience to say “Oh I totally know someone like that.”

What do you think was the hardest aspect of Mr. Collins to adapt into modern times?

Max-Mr. Collins is a clergyman in the book, and that would be a tough storyline in modern times, so the way the writers made him a venture capitalist interested in online video, was just genius.

I think the “first proposal” followed by the “your pitch needs work” episodes are brilliant in terms of Mr. Collins character. Do you have a favorite scene or episode?

Max-I have two favorite moments. The Proposal where I keep bringing out an increasingly larger envelope is just hysterical to me. I love that. Also I love my episode with Lydia. This was one of the most fun times for me on set. I got to bring out Collins’ incredibly uncomfortable emotions, as Lydia got closer to him. That was just a blast. I wish I had some more episodes with her.

(hopefully I will get to post the entire interview at a later date because it is very interesting)

It was so wonderful talking to Max about Mr. Collins. He gave lots of insight into how he played Collins and how he thought about the character. Max is a hilarious guy. Check out his Flashback Friday Videos from his closet. These are adorable and entertaining videos where he sings top 10 songs from different years with no music. It is cute so check them out.

Lydia v Mr. Collins: Episode 37 is perhaps my favorite episode thus far. It combines two of my favorite characters Lydia and Mr. Collins. Lydia puts Collins in his place from the beginning and makes Mr. Collins increasing uncomfortable till he runs away leaving Lydia alone when she says “and that my nerdy older sister is how you properly get rid of Mr. Collins. BOOM!” Lydia wins and I love it.

“Your Pitch Needs Work”: Episode 41 is pretty brilliant because we see Charlotte’s guidance of Collins and how she influences him. Charlotte is very subtle in her manipulation of Collins. She isn’t portrayed in a negative light but we do see that she is in control of the situation and “fishing for an offer” from him. I am not condemning Charlotte in the least because she knows exactly what she is getting into with Collins, and I think it is a very conscious decision on her part.

Charlotte and Lizzie: Charlotte is a voice of reason for both Lizzie and Collins, so when Charlotte chooses to take the job with Mr. Collins, Lizzie feels completely crushed. The girls get in a huge fight over Charlotte’s decision in episode 42, which shows a more selfish side. of Lizzie. It is only through Maria showing Charlotte episode 43 where Lizzie laments not talking to her bestie that Charlotte calls Lizzie and invites her to come, stay and see Collins and Collins.

George’s Intro: In episode 45 we meet George Wickham! I am going to skip the Darcy v. Wickham story because it just isn’t as funny as George himself. George is looking at Lizzie bookshelf when he says “I have to make sure you don’t have any red flags like books on serial killers or anything shady or with shades.” Later in the episode Lydia runs in with a solo cup “accidentally” spilling water all over him, then casually suggests that he just takes his first off. I don’t know if this is a funny nod to the 1995 “wet t-shirt scene” but it is funny none the less. Lizzie and Lydia both get a little distracted by Wickham’s excellent body and abs.

Snickerdoodles: On a more serious note episode 48 is very sad because we see Jane break down from her normal happy self to distraught and upset Jane who is just looking for answers from Bing. The viewers are in the same boat as Lizzie when she says “and if I could find Bing Lee and smash him over the head with a frying pan to knock some sense into him then I would.” At this point it is very unclear why Bing broke up with Jane and will not talk to her anymore, but we will find out more in later episodes.

Next week we will watch episodes 51-66. Enjoy!

Favorite quote of the week: “What do you think it is? Maybe George has incriminating photos of Darcy. Maybe George has videos of Darcy in a boy band” Episode 44 – Lizzie trying to figure out the dark history between Darcy and George Wickham.

Further Reading:

Texts from the LBD – A funny website.(as if there wasn’t enough transmedia to keep up with)
The Today Show video on the why of LBD
Reflection on the use of Transmedia in the Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Visit our The Lizzie Bennet Diaries archives for previous blogs
The Lizzie Bennet Diaries website

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A Closer Look at The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Episodes 27 – 34

Posted in Jane Austen Adaptations, Lizzie Bennet Diaries, tagged Jane Austen Adaptations, Lizzie Bennet, The Lizzie Bennet Diaires on 1 March 2013 | 3 Comments »

From the desk of Virginia Claire Tharrington

Some rather dramatic changes occurred this week in episodes 27 – 34 of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Jane and Lizzie go to NETHERFIELD—we meet Bing (Christopher Sean) and Caroline (Jessica Jade Andres)—and hear an awful lot about Darcy (don’t worry, the suspense only gets worse because we will not see him for another 25 episodes). Lizzie has a lot of visitors in these episodes because she has new characters to introduce, she is living in someone else’s house so there is less privacy, and she has a lot of narrative to relate.

At first, Lizzie thinks that Caroline, Bing and Darcy don’t know about her vlog, but in today’s world of instant Google, this doesn’t seem very well thought out since she does use her name in the vlogs and tweets about the videos. Caroline finds out about the vlogs and becomes very “friendly” with Lizzie, though she promises not the tell Bing and Darcy. While Caroline and Lizzie do have a “friendship” over the course of Lizzie’s time at Netherfield, there is certainly a sense that Caroline might have ulterior motives in becoming her friend and wanting to be in her vlogs. The good news about their friendship is that Caroline adds variety to the vlog and they are very funny together. Caroline in The Lizzie Bennet Diaires is a vast departure from Jane Austen’s Miss Caroline Bingley in the novel where she is never really friendly with Elizabeth Bennet (Lizzie), and never nice. She is consumed with Darcy and shows him excessive amounts of attention, “I am afraid you do not like your pen. Let me mend it for you” (P&P Ch.10). In the novel Elizabeth or the narrator observe and comment on Miss Bingley’s attentions to Darcy, “the perpetual commendations of the lady either on his hand-writing, or on the evenness of his lines, or on the length of his letter, with the perfect unconcern with which her praises were received, formed a curious dialogue, and was exactly in unison with her opinion of each” (P&P Ch. 10). We can see here Elizabeth observing and judging both Miss Bingley and Darcy along with the narrator. She sees Miss Bingley’s attention contrasted with Mr. Darcy’s coldness and indifference.

The vlog removes us from the actual scene so that the viewers get a slightly less accurate picture of the conversations that go on. Lizzie does say “I forget nothing” when she is doing her animated costume theater interpretations. People remark on how good her memory is for recalling exactly what people say, yet getting the words verbatim doesn’t change the fact that the audience is getting a bias version of the events through Lizzie’s eyes. Now I will grant you, the narrator in the novel is not necessarily unbiased, (Caroline and Louisa) “declared that they were miserable. They solaced their wretchedness, however, by duets after supper” (P&P Ch. 8). That is a fairly snarky narrator, and while Lizzie does give us some sass when describing the dialogues, it is not quite the same as being in the room with everyone as the reader is in the book. The costume theaters discussing Darcy and Elizabeth’s famous battle of wits is also a little strange since Caroline is the one taking part in it, but it is still delightful and very memorable.

The viewers also get to meet BING LEE (the Charles Bingley character) in these episodes, but he does not know that he is on Lizzie vlog. He just thinks that Lizzie and Jane are sending video letters to Charlotte. Lizzie struggles with the ethical line here. She is torn between wanting to show Bing on the vlogs and her desire for him not to know about the videos since he is the topic of many conversations between the girls. This is a fine line to walk. I think it is admirable that the writers show Lizzie’s hesitation about this continuing lie because one interesting thing about the novel, to me, seems to be about the power and importance of frank communication.

Bing Lee is just as wonderful, sweet, and endearing as Charles Bingley in Pride and Prejudice. He dotes on Jane when she has a cold, which leads to the adorableness of Episode 28. Caroline rightly says of Bing, “Have you met my brother? When he sees a spider in the house he catches it and releases it into the rose garden. He probably gives it a checkup and a lollipop before letting it go” Episode 29. Lizzie certainly starts to like Bing more and more because he is so sweet to Jane and to herself. He also doesn’t have much competition from Darcy in the sweetness category. Lizzie does get frustrated with how nice Bing and Jane are and how they both hate confrontation.

Lizzie’s descriptions of her disdain for Darcy and what she believes to be his equal aversion of her are some of the best episodes so far. She refuses to see that he might be interested in her for any other reason other than to criticize her. She is blinded by her own dislike of him to see what the others see; that Darcy is very interested in her. Caroline certainly sees this and it is most likely her motivation for her fake friendship with Lizzie. When Darcy tries to ask Lizzie to dance she just ignores him at first and then rebuffs him in a very similar way to how she does it in the novel. It is absolutely brilliant and hilarious.

By the end of her stay at Netherfield, Lizzie is VERY ready to go home, and frankly so am I. I want Lydia and Charlotte back in the videos. Caroline and Bing are great and all, but they just don’t have the sassiness that Lydia and Charlotte bring to this series. Jane is the one who finds out that their parent’s house renovations have been completed for a week and that their mother has just been lying to them to make them stay at Netherfield longer. Needless to say, Lizzie is not a happy camper when she finds out and packs up right away!

LYDIA’S TURN

While her sisters are off at Netherfield, Lydia descries to start her own vlog with her cousin Mary and her cat (Kitty Bennet even gets her own episode!!!). Lydia’s vlog is called “The Lydia Bennet” and has it own story line of her dying of boredom, meeting boys, renting out Mary’s attic to a stranger, and getting revenge on girls that made fun of Mary. Overall, these videos are delightfully entertaining because they expand the characters of Lydia and Mary, and we get fantastic dialogue. Lydia explains her problem solving skills when she says “Well if you want my advice, I always solve my problems in these three easy steps 1. Alcohol 2. Pretend the don’t exist 3. More alcohol… it’s a universal truth!!” (Episode 4) We also get to see the cute Kitty Bennet (the cat) who is just adorable and should be in more videos.

Check out the archives on the LBD website because the twitter feeds are great between Caroline, Darcy, and Bing. Gigi (Georgiana Darcy) also gets mentioned which is exciting for those people paying very close attention because we don’t meet Gigi in person for many more episodes. There is also a lot of information in the archives about choices the creators made and other insights. It is a great source and you can really addicted by reading all of it. (I fight this addiction a lot).

That’s all for this week. Next week we will be watching episodes 35-50 with Mr. Collins and Wickham!

Great Quotes from Episodes 27 – 34:

“The bad… I am living under the same roof as Darcy… WHAT THE F?” – Lizzie talking about staying at Netherfield episode 27.
“Hey this mister is soon to be a doctor” – Bing to Jane in all of there adorableness in episode 28.
“Have you met my brother? When he sees a spider in the house he catches it and releases it into the rose garden. He probably gives it a checkup and a lollipop before letting it go.” – Caroline talking about Bing in Episode 29.
“Some women are considered together if they know how to tip a waiter and go to the gym twice a week.” – Lizzie describing what Darcy said about put together (accomplished) women with Caroline. They reenact this conversation by playing a “Darceny (Darcy + Scrutiny)” game show in episode 30. BRILLIANT
“When the two of them are together its like an agreeable-off. I want to put my eye out with a spork!” - Lizzie describing how nice Jane and Bing are in episode 31.
“Well his arrogance is comical. We should have just laughed at him.” – Lizzie talking to Caroline about how to reprimand Darcy for his rude comments about them walking around the room in episode 32.
“I am always civil” – Lizzie defending her behavior toward Darcy to Jane in episode 33.
“Darcy doesn’t like anything except himself and wearing scarves during the summer” – this line is so funny that it speaks for itself from episode 33!

Best Lydia Quotes: (really hard to pick because every line she says is pretty fantastic)

“This phone is my only connection to the outside world. If you are receiving this communication I may already be dead… of BOREDOM.” – Lydia’s opening line to her vlogs
“That’s Mary. She my cousin who likes things like reading and darkness and having no facial expressions” – Lydia’s description of Mary
“I heard that someone stuck hundreds of unicorn stickers all over their car windows… apparently there has been lots of nail breakage in attempts to scrape them off.” – Mary describing Lydia’s revenge on the girls who made fun of her. “Totes Adorbs!”

Further Reading:

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A Closer Look at The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Episodes 17 – 26

Posted in Jane Austen Adaptations, Lizzie Bennet Diaries, tagged Jane Austen, Jane Austen Adaptations, Pride and Prejudice, The Lizzie Bennet Diaires on 22 February 2013 | 7 Comments »

From the desk of Virginia Claire Tharrington

Last week we were introduced to our heroine Lizzie Bennet, her sisters Jane and Lydia, and best friend Charlotte. This week in The Lizzie Bennet Diaries episodes 17- 26, the Adorbs steals a show, Jane gets Binged, and we meet Mr. Collins! So I lied last week. We don’t get to meet Wickham in these episodes, he is just mentioned through discussion. Sorry for the let down, but we do get to meet, my favorite character Mr. Collins.

Wickham’s militia is modernized into a swimming competition that descends on the town every year. Lizzie is not impressed by the swimmers eloquence or astuteness when she and Lydia go to Carter’s bar. However, she is impressed by George Wickham’s gentlemanly manners. Lizzie says they met when he put his coat over a beer puddle. She commented “gentleman are an endangered species” to which George replied “yeah but they are making a comeback like mix tapes and tandem bicycles.” (well, isn’t that the cutest line ever!) He and Lizzie also exchanged numbers and start texting. Lizzie is obviously excited when she is telling Jane about this new boy because he seems different from all of the other swimmers. Lizzie thinks that Wickham might not have the same thinly veiled ulterior motives and all around douchebagginess of the other swimmers (who pretty much sound like frat boys). We will see how he turns out later.

Lizzie continues to try and sabotage her mother’s master plan of thrusting Jane and Bing together. We see a slightly more serious side of Lizzie and her family during these episodes because she hints at their difficult financial situation. Lizzie even tries to explain her mother’s obsession with getting her daughters married so that they “can get out of the house before they don’t have a house to get out of.” Lizzie becomes more worried about her family’s situation over the course of the videos.

Ly-Dee-Ya steals Lizzie video in episode 20 because Lizzie is swamped with work and Lydia has blackmail on Charlotte. Lydia, “the Adorbs,” is absolutely wonderful. She explains her plot of getting Bing to have a party. She says “nothing gets done without alcohol—talk about a truth universally acknowledged. Am I right?!” We begin to see more of her vivacious personality in every episode. She loves sock slides, partying, and Kitty Bennet (her cat). Lydia also says that Lizzie criticizes her for her “over use of air quotes.” I say air quote away Lydia because while you might be a little on the wild side, you are completely delightful to watch in these vlogs.

While Lizzie and Lydia are a lot alike, they are also very distinctive. Both girls are very animated, though in different ways. Lizzie’s liveliness seems more subdued and sarcastic, while Lydia’s exuberance is more of a cheerful reckless energy. Both girls love telling the Internet all about themselves and their friends. Thinking about the girls’ posting themselves on Youtube makes me think about Darcy’s line in the novel when he says “we neither of us perform to strangers.” [Chapter 31]. In The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Lizzie is more like Lydia in the fact that she is “preforming for strangers” by posting her life online for of all the world to see. While it isn’t a huge divergence from Elizabeth’s character in the novel, I do think it makes Lizzie more like Lydia.

Lizzie is very concerned with her sister’s love life and posts her thoughts online with little hesitation. When Jane stays over at Bing’s after the party Lizzie is consumed with talking about it adding lots of puns: “Jane got Binged last night.” Charlotte questions Lizzie about her fascination with Jane and Bing, which makes Lizzie consider her involvement in Jane’s love life and what she really wants for Jane. These are interesting points because in the novel they are almost nonexistent. Of course Jane and Elizabeth are going to be involved in each others affairs and want the other one to get married; there were almost no other options for a woman at that time. The modernization of this however is a little harder because our views of privacy and women’s independence have shifted. Lizzie is concerned about her involvement in Jane’s love life perhaps because she knows that she is starting to sound more like her mother even though she makes fun of her in many episodes. Lizzie is also torn about Jane’s relationship with Bing because she doesn’t want to lose her sister or for her to get into a relationship to quickly. Lizzie’s preoccupation with Jane’s love life seems like a hint of her mother coming out (though I think Lizzie would violently protest to this comparison) but it makes me laugh because Lizzie Bennet is still delightful in everyway and especially because she cares about her sister so much.

Finally Mr. Collins!

Lizzie, Charlotte and Lydia go to Vidcon, (which is a real event created by Hank and John Green for people who love online video) as a way to network and meet people in the video blogging world (Hank Green is also a co-creator of LBD, vlogbrothers, and DFTBA, so he is brilliant on multiple levels). This is where we meet the wonderful Ricky Collins, played by Maxwell Glick. As soon as he comes on the screen I just start laughing. Ricky Collins speaks about 1,000 words a minute, always uses 10 words when 1 will do and tries to see how many 3 syllable words he can get into a sentence. He is excited to see Lizzie and Charlotte again and is at Vidcon because he has started a web video company backed by the venture capitalist, Catherine de Bourgh. His enthusiasm however is checked by Lizzie’s rude behavior when she kicks him out of her video. I adore Max’s performance of Collins because he takes a new spin on my favorite character in the novel (other than Lizzie of course). We will be spending more time with Mr. Collins when Lizzie goes to see his company in Rosings—so for now I will just tell you how wonderful I think Ricky Collins is.

Next week the girls are off to Netherfield because their scheming mother “blew up” the house so that it needs foundational repairs. Bing offers to let Jane and Lizzie stay with him while Lydia and her parents are off to cousin Mary’s. Be sure to watch episodes 27-34 in preparation for my next week’s article.

Great Quotes from Episodes 17-26

“What is it with you and coupons? Reason number 15 why Lizzie Bennet is perpetually single” – Lydia talking to Lizzie
“[Being a gentleman] is making a comeback like mixed tapes and tandem bicycles.” – Wickham to Lizzie but reenacted by Lizzie and Jane in episode 18
“Lydia’s Law #1– Nothing gets done without alcohol– Talk about your truth universally acknowledged. Am I right?!” – Lydia in episode 20
“Not over using of air quotes” – Lydia episode 20
“Drunken Hookup — Marriage. FTW- for the win” – Lydia’s plan to get Jane with Bing episode 20
“Jane got Binged last night!!” – Lizzie episode 23
“What? Don’t you want more viewers?” – When Lydia tries to kiss Lizzie episode 23
“I am nice.” – Lizzie defending her rude behavior towards Mr. Collins to Charlotte. Episode 25

Further Reading:

Visit the website for The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

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A Closer Look at The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Episodes 1 – 16

Posted in Jane Austen Adaptations, Lizzie Bennet Diaries, tagged Lizzie Bennet, Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Pride and Prejudice, Pride and Prejudice Adaptations, The Lizzie Bennet Diaires, Vlogs on 15 February 2013 | 6 Comments »

From the desk of Virginia Claire Tharrington

Last week I wrote about my passion for the web vlog The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and introduced you to the concept of this new Pride and Prejudice adaptation and its main characters. This week I will cover Episodes 1 – 16.

What I love so much about these first episodes is that they really are all about the heroine Lizzie Bennet. We see her family, her friends, her thoughts, and her life, quirks and all. These episodes are really about her expressing who she is as a person in that moment, and it is delightful to watch.

So often with Pride and Prejudice adaptations the focus goes right to the hero Mr. Darcy (1995 version) and I am not saying that is all bad; it is just a different view than I have of the novel. While we hear about Darcy in the early episodes, we do not see him, which gives us purely Lizzie and her friend’s viewpoints. I see Pride and Prejudice as a story about Lizzie’s self-awareness. In the LBD we are left to focus on Lizzie, which I think is Jane Austen’s whole point. Yes, Darcy is fine and dandy, BUT Lizzie Bennet is the greatest character to grace the pages of a novel (or grace a computer screen). Immediately in the vlogs we see Lizzie’s wit, charm, and personality, which is key to her character. We also see her ability to laugh and not take her self too seriously. Lizzie tells us in the second video that she loves rain, classic novels and Colin Firth movies (This tells me that we are really meant to be best friends, so move over Charlotte Lu!).

In the first few episodes we meet the Bennet sisters Lizzie, Jane and Lydia and Lizzie’s best friend Charlotte. Each is a delightful modernization of their counterpart from the novel, but they also stand alone as characters for the series even if you have never read Pride and Prejudice or seen one its many film adaptations before. The transformation from Regency-era to the 21^st-century is so well done that I have very little to critique about them.

Laure Spencer plays Jane Bennet. She is the oldest Bennet sister and just as adorable as I ever could imagine the character in the novel to be. Jane is excessively sweet, but she doesn’t come off as fake. She is totally genuine, if a slight space cadet, and she is a wonderful sister to Lizzie and Lydia. She sees the best in everyone just like in the novel. Jane does come off as a bit naïve, but she sticks up for herself and her sisters when she needs to which I admire. She is also funnier than the Jane in the book, which is refreshing. In episode 15 she does a great impression of Darcy, and it is simply irresistible.

Julia Cho plays Charlotte Lu, Lizzie’s best friend and the video editor of Lizzie’s vlog project. She is a fairly dramatic departure from her character in the novel. We can see why she and Lizzie are drawn together. They are both smart, funny young women who obviously enjoy each other’s company and goofing off. Charlotte also pranks Lizzie several times in the editing of her videos, which is a cute detail. Charlotte is more pragmatic than Lizzie about the real world and her chances after grad school. Charlotte doesn’t have the “soon to be old maid” anxiety that she does in the book. Instead, her worries come from school loans and family financial problems. This is a pertinent modernization because it gives Charlotte the same urgency to find “stability and success.” In the novel she finds it through marriage to the odious Mr. Collins while in the LBD she finds it through her job. It is also very relatable for students today who are struggling to find security in their financial situations

Lydia… Lydia… Lydia. Where to begin with Lydia? First off Mary Kate Wiles is the most engaging Lydia I have ever seen. We see her party girl ways in these early episodes but we also see how open she and how that could/will lead to conflict down the road. She loves life and seems to be enjoying every minute of it. Her bantering interactions with Lizzie are brilliant. They have a sisterly affection that has been lacking in many other adaptions. Elizabeth (in other adaptations) sometimes seems very aloof and judgmental of Lydia, yet they are sisters and spend huge amounts of time together, so they have to get along to some degree. While in the LBD, Lizzie and Lydia might not appreciate each other fully, they clearly care for one another and have a good time together.

They also are pretty hard on each other. Lydia is constantly getting on Lizzie for being “lame” or a “nerd” and Lizzie calls Lydia a “slut” several times and voices her opinion about Lydia’s poor life choices. I think these are some of Lizzie’s weaker moments because she is not seeing Lydia’s vulnerability. My favorite moment with Lydia is when she is hung over from a night drinking at “Carter’s Bar” and sleeping in Lizzie’s bed. Lizzie wakes Lydia up to help her with a video by blasting music in headphones. Lydia is a wild 20 year-old who is looking for a goodtime everywhere she goes. She just does not seem to see long term consequences of any of her actions. We also see her infatuation with Lizzie’s vlogs because she is always barging in and trying to give the camera her best angle. She seems to be seeking attention everywhere she goes. In the Q&A videos we learn that Lydia’s fake ID say “Mary Crawford” and that she is 26. This is a great little detail for Janeites who know the worldly and wild Mary Crawford from Mansfield Park.

While these are the only characters we actually see in the early episodes we hear about many more thought Lizzie’s “costume theater” where she dons hats and uses props to portray of characters important to the story. Through her we learn that her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, are an oddly matched couple, but I wish the LBD had more about their relationship. We hear a lot about Mrs. Bennet desire for her daughters to get married (this does seem slightly dated for todays world but I see why they had to do it) and Mr. Bennet’s ability to aggravate his wife. But I miss seeing these memorable characters in the flesh.

While I love all of Lizzie other impersonations, her take on her mother does bother me because she has a southern accent. As a young Southern woman (who has a fairly strong accent and a mother who has never tried her hand at matchmaking or stalking) I can tell you I don’t like the fact that Mrs. Bennet seems to be a “traditional Southern lady” and desperate for her daughters to get married (I keep thinking she is going to say she wants to go home to Tara but she never does). I do see the humor is Mrs. Bennet; I just hate that she has to be a “traditional Southern lady” stereotype because she sounds like a husband-hunting, match-making, coupon-cutting lunatic and most Southern women I know are nothing like that.

Mr. Bennet is also lacking because we never get to see him, hear his cutting wit, or see his flaws as a father. Mr. Bennet is a wonderful and witty character in the novel, but in the LBD we just hear that he is cloistered away all day reading, enjoying his bonsai trees, or playing with trains instead of seeing him. Lizzie does tell us that he enjoys winding his wife up which sounds exactly like Mr. Bennet from the novel. In LBD, he seems like a jolly, slightly eccentric, model train loving man rather than the caustic, witty and negligence father that he is in the novel. Throughout the series there are no “adults” shown in the vlogs. Lizzie explains that since her parents are openly discussed in the vlogs, she would rather they not know about it. However, I really do miss Mr. and Mrs. Bennet.

Lizzie also tells us about Bing Lee his sister Caroline and their friend William Darcy. The Bennet’s meet them at a wedding, the modern interpretation of the assembly dance in the novel. In many respects the early encounters with Bing and Darcy parallel the book. One interesting thing is how similar Lizzie and Darcy sound in their personalities when she is describing the wedding events. Both are described as standing back from the crowd observing others rather than taking part in the festivities themselves. It is interesting that even from the beginning we can see how similar they really are even though our heroine can’t. Lizzie and Darcy are forced to dance together because Lizzie catches the bouquet, and Darcy catches the garter. Lizzie says that her dance with Darcy was the most awkward dance EVER, and she hates him even more after he slights her by saying, “Lizzie Bennet is decent enough.” She describes him as obnoxious, rude, snobby, and a douchebag. Really I can’t do Lizzie justice in this area so just go re-watch the video because it is hilarious.

Even though we hear a lot about Darcy and Bing in these early episodes, critics could say that they consume too many episodes, I think these vlogs are still much more focused on Lizzie than any other adaptation because we only get these commentaries from Lizzie’s perspective (and once from Charlotte and Jane who step in because they feel Lizzie isn’t telling the whole story). Of course Lizzie isn’t telling the whole story because it is her story with her bias of it. She is out narrative voice in the vlogs which I will talk a lot more about this in a later blog. We only have her as our guide, though I would argue she is a story teller and would follow her anywhere!

I will talk more about Darcy, Caroline, and Bing in later articles so don’t worry, we aren’t done yet. Next week I am watching episodes 17-26 where we meet WICKHAM and COLLINS!

Favorite Quotes: Episodes 1-16

“What if he is a gay serial killer?” (when Lizzie is thinking about Bing Lee)
“And what makes you think he has 500 teenage prostitutes?” (Lizzie talking to her mother)
“Are there any hot chicks that you want to slip your man banana into, Darcy, my homie?” (Lydia trying to reenact how Bing Lee might talk to Darcy – perhaps a cute nod to the fact that Jane Austen never had two men talking alone together in her novels because she didn’t know what they would say)
“Lizzie Bennet decent enough” (Lizzie telling us about Darcy’s slight of her at the wedding)
“There is still a Bennet sister with a longer track record of bad decision making” (Lizzie talking about Lydia)
“And the people in this town — enjoying top 40 radio, laughter and non-organic produce — so uncivilized” (Charlotte pretending to be Caroline)
“Mary Crawford… 26!!!” (Lydia’s fake ID)

Further Reading:

A Great Article by creator/writer Hank Green explaining why there are only 3 Bennet sisters instead of 5.
Here are some other FAQ that I found interesting. My favorite one– “Why are all the Bennet sisters gingers?”
Pride and Prejudice at 200: Stop Looking for Mr. Darcy – I love the discussion about the LBD being a more faithful adaptation than many others.
Visit the website for The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

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Intro to The Lizzie Bennet Diaries – A New Pride and Prejudice Adaptation

Posted in Jane Austen Adaptations, Lizzie Bennet Diaries, tagged Jane Austen, Jane Austen Adaptations, Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Pride and Prejudice, Pride and Prejudice Adaptations, Video Blogs, Vlogs on 8 February 2013 | 44 Comments »

From the desk of Virginia Claire Tharrington

“The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is a modern day online and immersive adaption” of Pride and Prejudice created by Hank Green and Bernie Su and a team of excellent writers. The 4-minute episodes are posted on Monday and Thursdays at 9:00 A.M. Pacific time (I can assure you I am waiting by my computer at that time for the next installment). They are slowly telling the story of Pride and Prejudice through online video blogs, twitter and other social media outlets. It is a very interesting adaptation of the story and look at the uses of social media as a medium of story telling. There have been 80+ videos posted to date so while this adaption is winding down there is still plenty of time to catch up before the end.

I cannot speak enough praise for this innovative new adaptation of one of my favorite novels. I have found it to be so entertaining and yet unorthodox at the same time. I am normally a Jane Austen purest, but I find this series to be hilarious, relatable, and intriguing. It is certainly geared towards a younger generation because the videos are uploaded to YouTube. It engages its viewers not just through the videos but also through other social media to make the characters truly come to life through their Twitter accounts and Facebook pages. There is even a Lizzie Bennet Tumblr, and Jane Bennet even has a Pinterest page!

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries seems like the story of Pride and Prejudice transplanted in to the real modern world. Lizzie is a young woman searching to find a balance between herself, her family, her friends, her school and her work. (Who can’t relate to that?) Lizzie makes mistakes, and she has to deal with the misconceptions that she has made about people in her life including Darcy, Charlotte, Wickham, her sisters Lydia and Jane, and several of the other characters throughout the story. As the story progresses, Lizzie finds herself through her experiences and it is as beautiful to watch as it is to read in the novel. Pride and Prejudice to me seems like a coming of age story and a story of self-discovery. The Lizzie Benent Diaries allow the viewers to experience Lizzie’s life and feelings in a new and modern way so we too are discovering Lizzie as she does.

One of the highlights of this series is the cast behind the classic characters. I will talk more about the individual actors in later posts, so for now I will just tell you about the wonderful actress playing Lizzie who parallels the heroine Elizabeth Bennet of Pride and Prejudice.

The very talented actress Ashley Clements plays Lizzie, a 24 year old grad school student who is studying mass communications. Ashley’s Lizzie is effervescent, witty and I instantly wanted to be her best friend. She is doing these vlogs (video blogs) as her thesis project for her graduate work. Young, modern, funny, and smart Ashley resembles the Elizabeth Bennet we know and love from the novel. We see some of Lizzie’s flaws in the videos as well. She is rather judgmental, sometimes harsh and even a little self-centered. These character traits however do not take away from her charm; in fact, they enhance her appeal by making her a more complex character. Elizabeth Bennet in the novel is by no means perfect, though sometimes I forget that because I love her so much. Lizzie Bennet has similar flaws and I appreciate her for them because no one is perfect and it makes her more thought provoking.

The other characters are also interesting and engaging. Lizzie’s sister Jane Bennet is a fashion buyer who is the picture of sweetness and wholesomeness. Her best friend Charlotte Lu (Charlotte Lucas) is Lizzie’s sassy, goal oriented BFF who also helps her edit the videos. Bing Lee (Mr. Bingley) is a shy but generous medical student. Fitz William (Colonel Fitzwilliam) is a fabulously gay businessman who should have his own show. George Wickham (Mr. Wickham) is a beautiful swim coach with a great body. He also just exudes Wickham because he is too good-looking, charming and funny for his own good. From the beginning he just seems too good to be true. Gigi Darcy (Georgiana Darcy) is a young graphic designer who instantly likes Lizzie because she watches her videos and actively tries to get Lizzie and Darcy together. Gigi is a delightful character though she doesn’t really resemble the tremendously shy character from the book.

Lydia Bennet, Lizzie’s younger sister steals the show in many early episodes. She is a wild child and is known for her marathon style partying, double jointed arms and super sassy attitude. Lydia gets her own vblog later in the episodes where we see her emo cousin Mary and her relationship with Wickham progress. Even Lydia’s cat “Kitty Bennet” has her own twitter. I will not spoil the brilliant plot twist that the writers and creators came up with for Lydia and Wickham, but I think it is the perfect contemporary twist on Lydia’s elopement.

Ricky Collins (Mr. Collins) is a personal favorite of mine. He is an owner of a big company who offers Lizzie a great paying job in language that makes you cringe and want to look way. Collins is excessively self-confident, rather incompetent and reliant on his investor Catherine de Bourgh for ideas and money. Charlotte and Ricky have great connection. Charlotte’s subtle manipulation of him is very well done. Catherine de Bourgh is never seen (along with the Bennet parents which is a loss) though Lizzie does reenact all of them in her “costume theater” which is one of the best parts of the vlogs.

And last but certainly not least, William Darcy (Mr. Darcy). Darcy is a hipster, well maybe not a full blown hipster but he certainly dresses like a hipster. He wears suspenders, red bowties or skinny ties, and Lizzie even calls him a “Newsie” (what is a great line!). I actually HATED it at first but after some reflection I think it is completely appropriate and a smart decision on the part of the creators. By making him a haughty hipster Darcy automatically comes off as socially awkward, stiff, and pretentious. Darcy is a character in name only until episode 59 (when we see his body but not his head). We don’t get to see Darcy really until episode 60, though we hear a lot about him. This might seem annoying but I think it does two important things for the show:

It built up the suspense for the audience seeing Darcy since we hear so much about him.
The first 58 videos focus so much on Lizzie, her life, her perspective and her views of Darcy that it puts the audience much more in her shoes than other adaptations where the audience sees Darcy from minute one and sees his growing attraction to Lizzie.

In the LBD we are just left with Lizzie’s view of him. This is a brilliant device by the creators who are battling the audience’s very strong preconceived ideas about Darcy. Darcy owns a big company in San Francisco called Pemberley Digital, which is coming out with a new product called Domino. I suspect Domino will play a major part in upcoming episodes to capture some of the final scenes.

Image from I h8 Everything Tumbler by Ginia

I am so invested in this story that I not only watch the videos; I read the tweets and view the Tumblrs, and Facebook posts regularly; follow Jane on Pinterest; and follow the actors on Facebook. What I am so intrigued by about this adaptation is that the creators designed the story to be so multi layered just like Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. On the first viewing of the videos, just like with the first reading of the novel, a viewer will understand the story, but on further viewings, and investigation into the cross platform social media extravaganza that has been created, a viewer will get a more personal view of the characters and the ingenious subtleties of the plot. I have found this adaptation to bring the characters more to life then any other adaptation. I feel like the characters are relatable, engaging, and young which is so refreshing.

Over the next few weeks I will be posting a weekly article about groups of episodes of the LBD and some of the things that I love them. I will be talking more about the characters, themes, modernization, cute quirks and anything else that strikes my fancy about this entertaining adaptation.

Feel free to send me links, comments and responses all about the Lizzie Bennet Diaries because I think this adaptation fosters a wonderful conversation especially for a younger generations just discovering Jane Austen. So start watching right away, and if you are a dedicated follower take this time to re-watch the early episodes so they will be fresh in you mind.

Further reading:

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An Austen-inspired Weekend in Seattle

Posted in Austenesque Authors, Austenesque Books, Jane Austen Adaptations, Jane Austen Stage Productions, tagged "You Are Passionate Jane", Diana Birchall, Jane Austen, Jane Austen Made Me Do It, Jane Austen Sequels, JASNA, Puget Sound JASNA, Syrie James on 20 August 2012 | 18 Comments »

It’s almost been a week since my august guests, authors Diana Birchall and Syrie James, departed from Seattle to their homes in Los Angeles, but the memories of their visit are as sharp and engaging as the moment when they transpired. What a whirlwind of Austen-packed five days we had together. Much talking, eating and laughing ensued! I have never been in such company of clever, well-informed ladies who had such a great deal of conversation in my life! Jane Austen herself would have been highly amused. I, dear reader, was in a constant state of amazement and laughter.

How this Austen weekend came to be is a great story in itself that I will of course share with you! I had visited both Diana and Syrie in Los Angeles, not once but twice last year when I was promoting my anthology, Jane Austen Made Me Do It. Both ladies are contributors: Syrie’s “Jane Austen’s Nightmare” and Diana’s “Jane Austen’s Cat” are amazing pieces of Austen-inspired para-literature. After their gracious entertainment, I was selfishly determined to get them up to the Pacific Northwest and show them the wonders of my adopted State. (“What are men to rocks and mountains?”) Fate would present an opportunity through my Puget Sound Chapter of the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA), who needed a guest speaker for their August meeting. Hmm? My mind started whirling. Didn’t Diana write a playlet about Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen meeting in heaven that she sent me last year? Yes. Would they be interested in performing “You are Passionate, Jane” for my group? Definitely! After playing agent and negotiating with the chapter on their behalf, the wheels were set in motion. It was that easy, sort of. I felt quite pleased with myself for about 10 seconds until I realized the challenge ahead of me. My cottage needed primping and the garden? Oh good gracious, the garden. It was sadly lacking in proper shrubberies to walk in. *gulp*

You may well ask what one does to entertain such witty and well-traveled ladies in a fashion that they were accustomed to? I asked myself the very same question after I dreamt up this scheme. I knew the bar was high. Syrie has traveled to England, Italy, France and Greece in the past few years – and – lived in France and traveled throughout Europe as a young girl with her family. Diana had journeyed to England no less than thirty times, let alone trips to Italy and goodness knows where else. If Mr. Darcy thinks young ladies should improve their minds with extensive reading, then I would argue that extensive travel should be added to his list in the twenty-first century. These two ladies would definitely be among his list of “half a dozen, in the whole range of acquaintance, that are really accomplished.” Ack!

After months of planning and planting a garden at Woodston Cottage, they arrived on Friday, August 10th, a day that will live in infamy (for me). To say that I was all anticipation is an understatement. Mrs. Bennet had loaned me a dose of her nerves and only she knew how I suffered! But from the moment we were reunited at the Alaska Airlines baggage claim carousel number 14, all my fears were assuaged. It was just the lovely Diana and Syrie, and not Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen, the two authors that they were portraying in Diana’s play on Sunday, that had arrived. Now, on to having fun.

Our first stop was at the famous Queen Mary Tea Room in Seattle. I had planned an author get-together with fellow Seattle area Austenesque authors Shannon Winslow (The Darcys of Pemberley) and Susan Mason-Milks (Mr. Darcy’s Proposal). Five Austen authors and two hours later, we had chatted, ate scones, tea sandwiches and drunk tea until we would pop. Susan gives the blow by blow in more detail on her post at Austen Authors. Stealing among fellow tea drinkers not-with-standing, I lifted her lovely photo that our gracious waitress snapped of the group. To say the least, we had a great get-together. Now, off to my Barnes and Noble in Lynnwood to sign copies of the ladies books and meet the staff, then off to Woodston Cottage for the grand tour of my home and garden. Evening would bring a trip to Redmond for the welcome dinner at the Three Lions Pub with the JASNA – Puget Sound members: Charlene, Marion, Julie, Jeanne, and Ken, the token male who sported a bow tie emblazoned with the British flag! This was just the first day. Phew!

Since my home (Woodston Cottage in Snohomish) is very snug, Diana was staying in Redmond with JASNA chapter member Julie Arnold and her cat Lord Byron. He is a British Shorthair and has the attitude befitting his namesake: mad, bad and dangerous to know! Diana is quite a cat lover and Julie the perfect hostess, so it was a great match from the start.

They arrived at Woodston (sadly without Byron) on Saturday morning for our excursion to the city of Snohomish for a day of antiquing and, yes, wait, wait, eating. For the benefit of anyone who has not visited this historic town on the Snohomish River, it is filled with oodles of antique shops. And when I say oodles, I am not exaggerating. One exits ones car and does not know which way to head. Every window reveals enticing delights. It took about five steps and one window before we were waylaid and already buying goodies at DMarie Vintage. The selection of clothing and accessories was amazing. Then, on to refuel at The Cabbage Patch for Dungeness crab Louie salad and more scones. Jane Austen may have written in Mansfield Park that “A large income is the best recipe for happiness”, but I think she forgot to add scones into the mix. After prying Diana away from shopping, we closed down the street and headed to my favorite local fruit stand Stocker Farms to buy fresh blackberries for a pie and local corn for our salmon dinner back at Woodston Cottage.

Once home, Syrie collapsed on my sofa!

We dined in the garden at twilight!

Here is the pie. Thanks for taking a photo before we consumed it Diana!

Dinner of salad, salmon, fresh corn and sour dough bread was enjoyed by all but my kitty Herman who is not used to so much commotion in the cottage and lived behind the sofa for most of the weekend.

Sunday was all about the playlet, “You are Passionate, Jane”, and it was an amazing day. We all met on Mercer Island where the play would be performed at the Aljoya. Beforehand, I set up the display of the seven gift bags filled with Jane Austen-inspired books, DVD’s, CD’s and jewelry for the raffle. Here is a picture of the lovely Julie and her shocking pink raffle tickets. How apropos.

You can read a full description of “You are Passionate, Jane” here, but in short, Jane Austen is the gatekeeper in heaven for literary souls. When author Charlotte Bronte arrives, they meet and Jane must decide based on their interview if Charlotte will pass into literary heaven. Considering the long standing debate about Bronte’s view of Austen’s writing style, you can only imagine our sharp tongued Jane asking some piercing questions of the passionate Charlotte Bronte. The performance was delightful. Syrie, author of The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen, looked fittingly ethereal all in white as Jane Austen, and Diana, the author of Mrs. Darcy Dilemma, was all in black looking passionate and moody as Charlotte Bronte. “You are Passionate, Jane” was a clever imagining of what their conversation was like: Jane pert and perceptive in her evaluation of Charlotte’s life, and Charlotte, defensive and dramatic in her delivery. The chapter members and guests laughed and hissed and had a merry time. Happily, Janeites will be pleased to know that our Jane had a bit of an ego and won the throw down. No contest!

Sunday evening found us exhausted, but ready to eat (again) a wonderful light (ha) Chinese meal and then head home to collapse. Whoever said that you are soon hungry after eating Chinese food got it wrong! After day three of eating, and eating, I was stuffed and ready for bed, but no, Syrie and I found our second wind and talked and watched Crazy, Stupid, Love until the wee hours! Too fun.

Monday, our last full day together, would have a Box Hill picnic theme. Both Diana and Syrie love nature and hiking, so I was determined to show them the local scenery. Literally in my backyard (2 miles) is the Bob Heirman Wildlife Preserve with an easy 3 mile hike to the Snohomish River. Even though it is a short drive from my cottage, and it had been highly recommended, I had never visited it before. So, we headed out in my carriage (sending the servants ahead of course) arriving in the hot midday sun, (an unusual event in the Pacific Northwest). It was in the mid 80’s so we applied sunscreen and bonnets and headed out through the pristine alder woods and meadow. Not far into our walk, we encountered a group of handsome young gentlemen bearing fishing poles and entreated them to take our picture which I entitle: a country walk sans sense and servants. Emma Woodhouse, Jane Austen intrepid heroine had the right idea about a country outing to Box Hill. Send the servants ahead with the picnic and pillows. Arrive in your barouche landau driven by coachman James and alight in a delicate frock with a parasol looking the picture of ladylike perfection. Our modern version is, as you can see, in the picture: four Janeites comfortably attired: no makeup, in a state of inelegance, but having a great time. We lost the trail only once. I got us back on track and we made it to a large rocky beach to view the beautiful Snohomish River, but alarmingly, no shady grass for our picnic! Drat! With nowhere comfortably to alight, we rested for a while in the shade of a tree and then headed back to a stretch of verdure by the parking lot that mercifully contained a cool breeze and soft grass. Then, home to Woodston for more talk and eating, of course.

Tuesday brought a trip to the airport and sad adieus. How could it be over? So many months of planning – but what memories. Many thanks to the JASNA – Puget Sound Chapter for presenting the premiere of “You are Passionate, Jane”, to member Julie Arnold and Byron the cat for hosting Diana at their lovely condo, and to my dear friends Diana and Syrie. I am already planning your trip next year!

Cheers,

Laurel Ann

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Sense and Sensibility 1995 – Revisited

Posted in Jane Austen Adaptations, Reading Challenges, Sense & Sensibility Movies, The Sense and Sensibility Bicentenary Challenge 2011, tagged Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Gemma Jones, Greg Wise, Harriet Walter, Hugh Grant, Jane Austen, Jane Austen Movies, Kate Winslet, Movies, Period Drama, Sense and Sensibility 1995 on 22 June 2011 | 27 Comments »

Nominated for seven Academy Awards®, the 1995 movie Sense and Sensibility remains one of my most cherished interpretations of a Jane Austen novel. Everything about this film project seems to be touched with gold; from the award winning screenplay by actress Emma Thompson; to the incredible depth of British acting talent: Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman, Gemma Jones, Harriet Walter, Greg Wise, Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson; stunning film locations in Devonshire; and the fine brush-work of the Taiwanese director Any Lee. The movie touched many and introduced Jane Austen’s classic story of two divergent sisters searching for happiness and love to millions. I never tire of viewing it, basking in its beautiful cinematography, enjoying its thoughtful performances and marveling at its exquisitely crafted screenplay – both reverent to Austen’s intentions and engaging to modern audiences.

There has been so much discussed online already about this movie that I doubt I can add any new insights. I can however share with you what I find so moving about it: the performances, the music, the language and the filming locations. I feel that the movie can say it so much more than I, so here are a few video excerpts for your enjoyment.

The trailer

Edward Ferrars and Elinor listen to Marianne play the pianoforte

Mrs. Jennings tries to winkle information out of the young Miss Dashwood’s and Col. Brandon meets Marianne.

Mr. Palmer is quite rude today!

Good God Willoughby!

Elinor, where is your heart?

Miss Lucy Steele calls on Elinor – and so does Edward Ferrars!

Marianne goes in search of Combe Magna in the rain

All’s well that ends with a wedding!

5 out of 5 Regency Stars

This is my sixth selection in the Sense and Sensibility Bicentenary Challenge 2011, my year-long homage to Jane Austen’s first published novel, Sense and Sensibility. You can follow the event as I post reviews on the fourth Wednesday of every month and read all of the other participants contributions posted in the challenge review pages here.

A Grand Giveaway

Enter a chance to win one DVD copy of Sense and Sensibility 1995 by leaving a comment by midnight PT Wednesday, July 6, 2011 stating who your favorite character is in the 1995 movie or what intrigues you about a movie adaptation of Sense and Sensibility. Winners will be announced on Thursday, July 7, 2011. Shipment to US or Canadian addresses only.

Sense and Sensibility 1995
Sony Pictures (1995)
DVD Region 1 (2h 16m)
UPC: 043396115996

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Sense and Sensibility at the Book-It Repertory Theatre in Seattle – A Review

Posted in Jane Austen Adaptations, Jane Austen Stage Productions, Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen's Works, tagged Book-It Repertory Theatre, Entertainment, Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, Stage play, Theater, Theater Review on 14 June 2011 | 9 Comments »

“Happy, happy Elinor, you cannot have an idea of what I suffer.”

“Do you call me happy, Marianne? Ah; if you knew! And can you believe me to be so while I see you so wretched!”

- Sense and Sensibility, Chapter 29

Happiness and suffering, and the emotional extremes that cause it, is an important theme in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility that was well served in a new stage adaptation of her novel premiering at the Book-It Repertory Theatre on June 3rd at the Centre House Theatre, Seattle Center. It is the Rep’s fourth Austen novel to stage production after the highly successful Pride and Prejudice in 2004, Persuasion in 2008, and Emma in 2010. Their interpretations of Austen are always brisk, lighthearted and memorable. Jane Austen has been very good to the Rep, and obviously, audiences have felt that the Rep has been likewise to Jane Austen.

Even though Sense and Sensibility is not as light, bright and sparkling as Austen’s beloved Pride and Prejudice, it may be the most adaptable of her works for the stage. At 200 years old it remains a compelling tale touting a favorable list of dramatic attributes: dual heroines with divergent personalities; three red herring heroes who are really anti-heroes in disguise; and an incredible assortment of unscrupulous and humorous minor characters that add levity and balance to a story that is quite seriously entrenched in 19th century British inheritance laws and the plight of women who were ruled by them. Heady stuff for any playwright to embrace and adapt. Even more so for the lucky audience if they get it right.

The two heroines of this cautionary tale are Elinor (Kjerstine Anderson) and Marianne (Jessica Martin) Dashwood – one with too much sense, and the other with not enough. Each of the sisters reacts differently to their life tragedies and budding romances. Jessica Martin’s Marianne was all pure unbridled emotion: extreme, exuberant, exasperating! Never loving by halves, she gushed about dead leaves, poetry and her beaux Willoughby with a passion leaping into Bronteism. Marianne also dips into the depths of despair after being thrown-over by her suitor, wearing her down and into a serious illness. We had wished this had been given more attention and that Marianne had not rebounded back to herself with such cheerful alacrity.

Kjerstine Anderson as the solid, staid and correct sister Elinor was surprisingly regal, imposing and privately snarky – a different interpretation than I had experienced in my reading of the novel, or in any of the movie adaptations. Questioning my previous conclusions, was Austen’s Elinor as introspective, subtle and guarded as I had thought? Anderson did a commendable job as Austen’s anchor of reason and rationality, albeit too emotionally at critical moments. I am uncertain if this change in characteristics was artistic license or by direction, but it altered the divergence in the sisters personalities and lessened some of Austen’s critical plot points.

The three heroes (or anti-heroes): Edward Ferrars (Jason Marr), Col Brandon (David Quicksall) and John Willoughby (Aaron Blakely) were sensitively cast as the affable nerd, the gallant geezer and the charming cad to extreme satisfaction. Austen gave us an interesting assortment of suitors for our heroines. Often we are uncertain who the hero is because of major character flaws that act like red-herrings. In this interpretation (happily) Edward did not stutter, but he was so innocuous we wonder what Elinor saw in him. Really wonder! Marr was more than a bit of a milquetoast, and so was Quicksall as Col. Brandon who barely uttered a line for several scenes (to disconcerting effect) until he finally finds his voice making it all the more moving and admirable. Well done. When Blakely’s Willoughby gallantly arrives to rescue the injured Marianne in a billowing greatcoat, our expectation of a Byronic hero was totally fulfilled. *swoon* The fact that he looked like a young Jonny Lee Miller did not hurt either. No wonder Marianne lost all sense. Who wouldn’t? He was equally convincing in relaying his conflicted loyalties of money vs. love.

The minor characters in Austen’s tale are so endearingly flawed and humorous, supplying the comedy to offset the tragedy. Of note were the scheming and duplicitous Miss Lucy Steele (Angela DiMarco); selfish and manipulative Mrs. Dashwood (Emily Grogan) and her equally unappealing husband Mr. John Dashwood (Shawn Law); gossipy matchmaker Mrs. Jennings (Karen Nelson); and the jovial and obliging Sir John Middleton (Bill Johns). They brought levity to Jen Taylor’s energetic dramatization which at times had its charms and foibles. The narrative faithfully followed Austen’s own right down to some exact quotes. Huzzah! Gone though were Austen’s cynical underpinnings, subtle puns and measured pacing – all replaced by an emphasis on humor and breakneck speed. Scenes quickly altered with the draw of a curtain across the stage taking us from London to the country within seconds. Actors changed costumes by adding layers as they delivered lines on stage. Spoken dialogue shifted to narrative recited directly from the novel in one breath. It was exhausting and exhilarating. Austen encapsulated and accelerated for the modern stage.

We enjoyed every line and every moment, but we were happy to wind down afterwards with a cup of tea and the novel.

Book-It’s Sense and Sensibility runs at the Center House Theater thru June 26th

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Preview of Sense and Sensibility Stage Play at Book-It Rep in Seattle

Posted in Jane Austen Adaptations, Jane Austen Stage Productions, Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen's Works, tagged Book-It Repertory Theatre, Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility on 28 May 2011 |

We are very fortunate to have one of the nation’s premiere small theater companies right in our own backyard. For the last 20 years the Book-It Repertory Theater of Seattle has been exclusively adapting written work for the stage. Among the sixty plus world premier adaptations they have presented are stage productions of three Jane Austen novels: Pride and Prejudice (2004), Persuasion (2008) and Emma (2010). Now in honor of the bicentenary of the publication of Jane Austen’s first published novel, Sense and Sensibility will premiere on Friday June 3, 2011 at the Center House Theatre.

In Austen’s first published novel (1811), the Dashwood sisters find that love is an unpredictable struggle against the most important social values: family, honor, and wealth. As teens, Elinor and Marianne’s family fortunes take a turn when they lose their father, and their welcome in his home, now owned by their half-brother and his overbearing wife. With a move and a few chance meetings, Elinor falls for the intelligent and reserved Edward Ferrars, while Marianne dotes upon the handsome John Willoughby. Through Elinor’s sense and Marianne’s sensibility, this sprightly tale wends along the twisting path of love among the English gentry.

Directed by Makaela Pollock and playscript by Jen Taylor, of all of Jane Austen’s novels, Sense and Sensibility might prove to be the most adapatable. We are all anticipation of its high voltage emotional elements and endearingly flawed characters being brought to the stage. Just the thought of drama-queen Marianne Dashwood emoting in body and spirit sends shivers and chills, and the humor of the Middletons and the Misses Steeles should keep us laughing.

Marianne (Jessica Martin) & Elinor (Kjerstine Anderson) Dashwood

in Book-It’s Sense and Sensibility

After attending their production of Persuasion in 2008, I am looking forward to experiencing Book-It’s unique style where the actors recite much of the text as it was originally written – but with the added benefit of costuming, lighting and the excitement of a live production. I will be attending on Sunday, June 12 with a group of Janeites so be sure to check back for my review.

Sense and Sensibility at the Book-It Repertory Theatre, Seattle
May 25 – June 26, 2011
Pay-what-you-will previews: May 25, 26, 31
Subscriber Preview: June 2
Opening Night: Friday, June 3

2007 – 2011 Laurel Ann Nattress, Austenprose

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Giveaway Winner Announced for The Sense and Sensibility Screenplay & Diaries

Posted in Jane Austen Adaptations, Reading Challenges, Sense & Sensibility Movies, tagged Book Blog, Books, Emma Thompson, Jane Austen, Jane Austen Movies, Memoirs, Nonfiction, Sense and Sensibility 1995 on 12 May 2011 | 3 Comments »

45 of you left comments qualifying you for a chance to win a paperback copy of The Sense and Sensibility Screenplay & Diaries, by Emma Thompson. The winner drawn at random is CJ who left a comment on May 2nd.

Congratulations CJ! To claim your prize, please contact me with your full name and address by May 18th, 2011. Shipment is to US and Canadian addresses only.

Thanks to all who left comments, and for all those participating in The Sense and Sensibility Bicentenary Challenge 2011. We are reading many Sense and Sensibility inspired novels, watching movie adaptations and delving into Jane Austen’s classic novel this year in honor of the bicentenary of its publication in 1811.

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The Sense and Sensibility Screenplay & Diaries, by Emma Thompson – A Review

Posted in Blog Events, Book Reviews, Jane Austen Adaptations, Jane Austen's Novels & Letters Book Reviews, Sense & Sensibility Movies, The Sense and Sensibility Bicentenary Challenge 2011 on 27 April 2011 | 47 Comments »

Reading The Sense and Sensibility Screenplay & Diaries written by Emma Thompson and introduced by the movie producer Lindsay Doran was such a pleasure. What a labor of love this movie was for both actress/writer Thompson and producer Doran who spent fifteen years to bring it to the screen. This highly acclaimed film won the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar and Golden Globe in 1996 for Thompson and the praise of hundreds of film critics and fans. Her acceptance speech at the Golden Globes was so witty and Austen-like that the film clip is a perennial favorite on Youtube. This book contains the complete screenplay, over fifty photos of the actors and scenes from the film and Thompson’s candid and often hilarious daily entries of what it was like to be involved in this incredible project. Here is a great excerpt:

Tuesday 11 April: No one can sleep for excitement. Costume designers John Bright and Jenny Beavan wish they had three more weeks but have done truly great work. The shapes and colours and inimitable. Lindsay’s already in Plymouth frantically trying to cut the script. It’s still too long. The art department object to us bathing Margaret in the parlour. Apparently they always used a kitchen or bedroom in the nineteenth century. Perhaps the Dashwoods are different, I suggest, unhelpfully.

“Thompson’s rare and personal perspective makes The Sense and Sensibility: The Screenplay and Diaries an irresistible book for students of film and Austen devotees, as well as for everyone who loved this extraordinary movie.” This is a must read for Jane Austen and period movie fans, and I highly recommend it.

5 out of 5 Regency Stars

This is my fourth selection in the Sense and Sensibility Bicentenary Challenge 2011, my year-long homage to Jane Austen’s first published novel, Sense and Sensibility. You can follow the event as I post reviews on the fourth Wednesday of every month and read all of the other participants contributions posted in the challenge review pages here.

A Grand Giveaway

Enter a chance to win one copy of The Sense and Sensibility Screenplay and Diaries, by Emma Thompson by leaving a comment by midnight PT Wednesday, May 11, 2011 stating who your favorite character is in the 1995 movie or what intrigues you about a movie adaptation of Sense and Sensibility. Winners will be announced on Thursday, May 12, 2011. Shipment to US or Canadian addresses only.

The Sense and Sensibility Screenplay and Diaries, by Emma Thompson
Newmarket Press (2007) reprint of 1995 edition
Trade paperback (288) pages
ISBN: 978-1557047823

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Lady Catherine vs. Elizabeth Bennet in the Prettyish Kind of Little Wilderness

Posted in Jane Austen Adaptations, Pride & Prejudice Movies, tagged Elizabeth Bennet, Jane Austen, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Pride and Prejudice on 31 March 2011 | 15 Comments »

One of my favorite scenes in Pride and Prejudice, and quite possibly in all literature, is the confrontation by Lady Catherine de Bourgh and Elizabeth Bennet in the prettyish kind of little wilderness at Longbourn. Lady Catherine has just heard an alarming report that her nephew, Mr. Darcy, was shortly to be engaged to Miss Bennet. The conversation, cat and mouse to be sure, is one of the most amazing dialogues in print. I will leave it to the reader to decide who is the cat, and who the mouse!

Each of the movie adaptations has made their attempt to capture Jane Austen’s incredibly civil, uncivil conversation between two opposing forces. Here are film clips for comparison created by Lelablue on Youtube for your enjoyment. Watch each of the versions and vote for your favorite.

P&P 1940: staring Greer Garson as Elizabeth Bennet and Edna May Oliver as Lady Catherine

P&P 1980: staring Elizabeth Garvie as Elizabeth Bennet and Judy Parfitt as Lady Catherine

P&P 1995: Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet and Barbara Leigh-Hunt as Lady Catherine

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Sense and Sensibility 1981 – A Review

Posted in Blog Events, Jane Austen Adaptations, Reading Challenges, Sense & Sensibility Movies, The Sense and Sensibility Bicentenary Challenge 2011, tagged Jane Austen, Jane Austen Movies, Movies, Period Drama, Sense and Sensibility (1981) on 24 February 2011 | 24 Comments »

This is my second review for the Sense and Sensibility Bicentenary Challenge 2011. *throws confetti* It is my year-long homage to Jane Austen’s first published novel, Sense and Sensibility.

This 1981 BBC seven-part miniseries of Sense and Sensibility is a solid but flawed adaptation of Jane Austen’s masterpiece. In my mind, the character of Marianne Dashwood is always the benchmark for a superior adaptation. She is a complicated creature driven by emotion and racked with vulnerability, and if the actress portraying Jane Austen’s most melodramatic character can play her as intended, the whole production can rest on her shoulders. Tracey Childs as Marianne Dashwood exuded all the frantic emotion and romantic “sensibilities” that Marianne should at all the right moments, and Irene Richards as her sister Elinor was equally convincing, and at times touching, as her stoic, stable and guarded counterpart. However, my disappointment in the male characters: Edward Ferrars, John Willoughby and Colonel Brandon, pushed this production below my expectations. Part of this can be attributed to the loose adaptation of dialogue by screenwriter Alexander Baron and partly to Austen herself, who chose to craft male roles that are weaker than the two female ones. Yes. Not everything in Sense and Sensibility is balanced, and that was Austen’s point. Even though this imperfection is one of its charms, it can be unsatisfying. Here is the description of the production by the distributor.

Offering equal measures of humor and drama, this magnificent remastered BBC production is an utterly charming version of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility.

This delightful story tells of two sisters attempting to find happiness in the tightly structured society of 18th century England. Elinor, disciplined, restrained and very conscious of the manners of the day, represents sense. Outspoken, impetuous, emotional Marianne represents sensibility. Attracted to a man already promised to another, Elinor suffers silently to keep scandal away from her family. Marianne enjoys a flirtation with a handsome scoundrel that could lead to her downfall. Through their experiences with men and their relationship with each other, they learn that neither sense nor sensibility alone is enough, but that one must strive for a balance of the two.

The “magnificent remastered” boast makes one wonder what they had to start with? Considering that this was originally videotaped instead of today’s standard of digital film, we must allowances, but it is still blurry and faded in comparison. The film locations are mediocre too. I have been truly spoiled by the 1995 Ang Lee and the 2008 John Alexander productions magnificent locations. The costumes exhibited the oddest colors and most unflattering of Regency styles in *gasp* polyester fabrics, and the screenwriter Alexander Baron chose to eliminate little sister Margaret entirely! (For shame) What saves this 3 hour adaptation is the acting. Irene Richards, who you might recognize from her portrayal as Charlotte Lucas in the 1980 BBC Pride and Prejudice, is a solid oak who bends with the wind of change and shades her sister and mother from her own romantic pain. Her scene where Colonel Brandon asks her to inform Edward Ferrars of this offer of a church living was really moving. Tracey Child as Marianne happily did not play the melodrama over the top like Ciaran Madden did in the earlier 1971 production. I was amazed at the similarity of her interpretation to that of Kate Winslet’s 1995 version. Minor roles of note were Julia Chambers who plays cunning vixen Lucy Steele to a tea, and Amanda Boxer as stingy Fanny Dashwood. The scene where Fanny discovers that Lucy Steele and her brother Edward have been secretly engaged might be one of the best screaming scenes on film! Overall, an enjoyable but flawed production that could have benefited from more of Jane Austen’s beautiful language.

Elinor Dashwood – Irene Richards
Marianne Dashwood – Tracey Childs
Mrs. Dashwood – Diana Fairfax
Edward Ferrars – Bosco Hogan
Colonel Brandon – Robert Swann
John Willoughby – Peter Woodward
John Dashwood – Peter Gale
Fanny Dashwood – Amanda Boxer
Mrs. Jennings – Annie Leon
Sir John Middleton – Donald Douglas
Lady Middleton – Marjorie Bland
Lucy Steele – Julia Chambers
Ann Steele – Pippa Sparkes
Robert Ferrars – Philip Bowen
Charlotte Palmer – Hetty Baynes
Screenplay – Alexander Baron
Directed by – Rodney Bennet

Film locations:

Norland – Babington House, Babington, Somerset, England, UK
Barton Cottage – C ame Cottage, Dorchester, Dorset, England, UK
Barton Park – Came House, Dorchester, Dorset, England, UK
Mrs. Jennings House in London – Cowcombe Court, Crowcombe, Somerset, England, UK
Cleveland – Hatch Court, Taunton, Somerset, England, UK

A Grand Giveaway

Win one copy of the BBC Sense and Sensibility 1981 by leaving a comment by midnight PT March 2, 2011 stating what intrigues you about this adaptation of Sense and Sensibility or who your favorite character was. Winners will be announced on Thursday, March 3, 2011. Shipment to US addresses only.

Sense and Sensibility 1981
BBC Warner Video
DVD (174) minutes
UPC: 794051168320

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Preview of Jane Austen’s Emma: A Musical Romantic Comedy at the Old Globe

Posted in Jane Austen Stage Productions, tagged Jane Austen, Jane Austen's Emma, Jane Austen Adaptations, Jane Austen Musicals, Stage Musicals, Theater on 31 December 2010 | 7 Comments »

Jane Austen’s Emma, the new romantic comedy from Tony Award nominated composer Paul Gordon and directed by Tony Award nominee, Jeff Calhoun, is a musical production of Austen classic story of our favorite nonsensical girl. It premiers January 15, and runs through February 27, 2011 at the Old Globe Theatre in Dan Diego, California.

Emma, a timeless love story from one of the most widely read writers of all time, is now a musical, and will once again entice modern audiences to fall in love with one of Jane Austen’s most adored characters. Emma, a beautiful and clever young woman who prides herself on her matchmaking ability, is preoccupied with romance yet is clueless to her own feelings of love. When she takes on a young friend as her latest project, her well-intentioned efforts misfire, leading to a whirlwind of complications. Deliciously charming, this new romantic comedy from Tony Award nominated composer Paul Gordon and directed by Tony Award nominee, Jeff Calhoun, brings Jane Austen’s masterpiece to musical life.

Cast

Emma Woodhouse – Patti Murin
Mr. Knightley – Adam Monley
Robert Martin – Adam Daveline
Miss Bates – Suzanne Grodner
Mr. Elton – Brian Herndon
Mrs. Bates, Mrs. Elton – Kelly Hutchinson
Mr. Woodhouse – Jerry Lanning
Harriet Smith – Dani Marcus
Mrs. Weston – Amanda Naughton
Mr. Weston -Don Noble
Jane Fairfax – Allison Spratt Pearce
Frank Churchill – Will Reynolds

Complete cast and creative team

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From Prada to Nada – Jane Austen Goes South of the Border

Posted in From Prada to Nada, Jane Austen Adaptations, tagged Alexa Vega, Camilla Belle, From Prada to Nada, Jane Austen, Jane Austen Movies, Movies on 27 November 2010 | 4 Comments »

Mark your calendars Jane Austen fans. From Prada to Nada opens in the US on January 28, 2011. Here is the official movie poster. The story might spark some memories. Two privileged young ladies from Beverly Hills are left penniless after the death of their father and must depend on the kindness of an estranged aunt in East Los Angeles for a new home and social connections. Sound familiar Jane Austen fans? Yep – you guessed it. Shades of Marianne and Elinor Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility. Here’s the official studio synopsis:

It’s a whimsical fish-out-of-water story of two spoiled sisters: Nora (Camilla Belle), a law student, and Mary (Alexa Vega), an undergrad party girl, living with their father in a luxurious mansion in Beverly Hills. Mary has become so “90210″ she refuses to admit she is of Mexican descent. When dad suddenly passes away, their posh lives are turned upside down. They discover they have been left penniless and are forced to move into their estranged aunt Aurelia’s (Adriana Barraza) modest but lively home in the Latino-centric Boyle Heights neighborhood of East LA. They are terrified to leave their world of privilege; neither Nora nor Mary speak Spanish or have ever had to take on actual responsibility. The girls gradually adapt to their new environment; their BMW and Prius are traded for the public bus and a used car. As they embrace the culture that for so long they refused to accept, they both discover romance, the true meaning of family, and they learn that the life of PRADA actually means NADA without love, family and community.

Here is the official movie trailer. Directed by Angel Gracia, the cast looks fresh faced and perky. I am really looking forward to seeing it.

Visit the From Prada to Nada official movie website

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Austen Film Locations: Pemberley – Pride and Prejudice 1995

Posted in Jane Austen Adaptations, Jane Austen Film Locations, Pride & Prejudice Movies, tagged Film Locations, Guest blog, Jane Austen, Jane Austen Film Locations, Lyme Park, Movies, P and P Tours, Pride and Prejudice, Pride and Prejudice (1995), Sudbury Hall on 28 July 2010 | 8 Comments »

The 1995 BBC/A&E miniseries of Pride and Prejudice staring Colin Firth and Jenniffer Ehle as Jane Austen’s most famous couple Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet is renowned for its period accuracy, sumptuous costuming and stunning locations. Please welcome guest blogger Helen Wilkinson today as she takes us on a tour of the two locations, Lyme Park and Sudbury Hall, used to stand in for Mr. Darcy’s palatial estate Pemberley in the 1995 production.

“Elizabeth was delighted. She had never seen a place for which nature had done more, or where natural beauty had been so little counteracted by an awkward taste. They were all of them warm in their admiration; and at that moment she felt that to be mistress of Pemberley might be something!” The Narrator, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 43

When location researchers were scouting the British countryside for the perfect house to use as Pemberley in the 1995 Pride & Prejudice film production, they knew this was the house they had to get right.

“Houses on the scale of Pemberley are few and far between. It is supposed to be in Derbyshire which would give it a distinctive northern look, and it has to be very big and set in stunning scenery. Some people think Jane Austen was thinking of Chatsworth as Pemberley, but in fact Chatsworth was referred to in its own right in the novel.” Sam Breckman, P&P 1995 Location Manager

Once the BBC had settled on Lyme Park near Manchester everything looked set to fall into place. But a change of management at Lyme meant that shortly before filming began, the interior was no longer available. So a last minute search began for an interior which would match Lyme – it had to be a house of the same look, age and feel which wouldn’t jar with viewers. The interior they settled on was miles away at Sudbury Hall, a house which looks very different to Lyme Park from the outside, but had just the elegant interior that Sam Breckman and the production team were looking for. The flow of rooms at Sudbury, and the exquisite long gallery provided the marvellous scenes where the house-keeper leads Lizzy and the Gardiners through Mr Darcy’s home. As the camera follows Lizzy through one elegant room to the next, her heart is melting towards its owner.

“I still haven’t been inside Lyme Park – it would spoil the illusion in my head. Whenever we take people to Lyme I like to believe that the interior is the same as the screen version. In our minds we think we have seen Jennifer Ehle looking out of the windows and seeing the lake – but in fact it’s all down to skilful editing.” Maddy Hall, Production expert & tour guide

For many people, the moment when Lizzy sees Pemberley and its lake, is a highlight of the entire series. She is only half joking when she tells Jane that she fell in love with Darcy when she first saw ‘his beautiful grounds at Pemberley’.

Helen Wilkinson, P and P Tours

P&P Tours visit both locations for Pemberley as part of their tours. Visit their P and P Tours website for further information and bookings details.

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Austen Film Locations: Barton Cottage – Sense and Sensibility 1995

Posted in Jane Austen Adaptations, Jane Austen Film Locations, Sense & Sensibility Movies, tagged Barton Cottage, Emma Thompson, Jane Austen, P and P Tours, Sense and Sensibility, Sense and Sensibility 1995 on 6 June 2010 | 7 Comments »

Guest blog by Helen Wilkinson of P and P Tours

Actress Emma Thompson recalls her time filming Sense & Sensibility for the 1995 movie directed by Ang Lee,

“The house representing Barton Cottage is one of the most beautiful spots we’ve ever seen. It took the curse off a six-day week.”

The film location researchers knew they had found a world-beating location when they stumbled on the glorious eighteenth century stone cottage on the private Flete Estate in south Devon. It is not only near the Plymouth mentioned in Austen’s novel, but also close to the small town of Newton Ferrers which many believe was an inspiration to Jane for her hero’s surname of Edward Ferrars. Jane and her contemporaries would have passed signs to the small town on the old coaching route between London and the south-west.

Many key scenes in the movie were filmed at Barton; Willoughby carrying Marianne, driving the custom-built yellow curricle, Edward proposing to Elinor, and a piano being delivered to Marianne from Col. Brandon. Director Ang Lee raved about the location, although he found the estuary swans a little too ‘romantic’ and often asked for them to be excluded from shot.

The researchers had stuck closely to Jane Austen’s description of the cottage in chapter 6.

“A view of Barton Valley, as they (Mrs Dashwood and the girls) entered it, gave them cheerfulness. It was a pleasant, fertile spot, well wooded, and rich in pasture. A small green court was the whole of its demesne in front; and a neat wicket-gate admitted them into it. As a house, Barton Cottage, though small, was comfortable and compact; but as a cottage it was defective, for the building was regular, the roof was tiled, the window shutters were not painted green, nor were the walls covered with honeysuckles. A narrow passage led directly through the house into the garden behind. On each side of the entrance was a sitting room, about sixteen feet square. Four bed-rooms and two garrets formed the rest of the house.”

I am fascinated to see how closely the Flete Estate cottage matches Jane’s description. It too is a perfectly proportioned Georgian house, in a wooded valley exactly as the novel describes, with the wicket- gate and the small green patch in front, almost as if Jane was describing it from life.

In contrast, the later 2007 BBC/PBS Andrew Davies production of Sense & Sensibility used a shepherd’s cottage in wild Hartland, Devon – not the sort of place a genteel widow and her daughter would have settled. It is the kind of property the Georgians would have described as a ‘hovel’ and is only picturesque to a 21st-century audience. The 1995 Barton is well-proportioned, neat and – in comparison to the glories of Norland – a very modest property.

In 2010 we were thrilled to be able to include Barton in our S&S May tour. It was such an enormous hit with the clients – none of them could bear to leave – that we’ll be including it in several of our future trips. There are no cars, and no sounds except the estuary birds which beset the film crew until Ang Lee demanded could someone shut up the geese! The geese won of course!

Helen Wilkinson, P and P Tours

P and P Tours accommodate up to 10 clients at Barton Cottage in Devon as part of their tours. Visit the P and P Tours website for further information and booking details.

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Sex and the Austen Girl Premieres Today on Bablegum.com

Posted in Sex and the Austen Girl on 17 May 2010 | 4 Comments »

The wait is over. Make haste to Bablegum.com to see the first of twenty episodes of Sex and the Austen Girl, the new web series inspired by Laurie Viera Rigler’s best-selling novels Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict and Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict. Here is the series description from the website:

Two women who have inexplicably switched bodies, time periods, and lives — one from Regency England, the other from 21st-century Los Angeles — debate the pros and cons of life and love in today’s world vs. Jane Austen’s world.

Sex and the Austen Girl was developed with Laurie by Gerber Rigler Producing and Executive Consulting and marks the first co-directing effort by executive producer-directors Brian Gerber and Thomas Rigler.

We have seen many of Jane Austen’s novels adapted into popular television mini-series and theatrical movies, but Sex and the Austen Girl is the first literary work to inspire a webisodic series. Leave it to our fellow Janeite Laurie Viera Rigler to break new ground and create a new way for Austen fans to feed their addiction. Brava Laurie!

Staring Arabella Field as Courtney Stone and Faye Masterson as Jane Mansfield, episode one, “Meeting Men”, broaches a subject that has changed more than a bit in 200 years.

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Marianne (Jessica Martin) & Elinor (Kjerstine Anderson) Dashwood

in Book-It’s Sense and Sensibility

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Helen Wilkinson, P and P Tours

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Guest blog by Helen Wilkinson of P and P Tours

Helen Wilkinson, P and P Tours

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