The Universal Acknowledgement of Love, Shame, and Marriage

*Cue fireworks*

It was my first time watching the 2001 film, Bridget Jones's Diary, and I can honestly say I was quite pleased with it, especially as an English major. Unbeknownst to many, it is a modernized version of Jane Austen's famous romantic novel, Pride and Prejudice. 

The film does a nice job keeping the premise that women are often expected to settle down by a certain age. Tick tock goes the biological clock; with age, women become less and less desirable on the market. In Lizzy Bennett's case in the novel, she must find a husband with politics in mind, in hopes to secure financial stability, as women of the time were expected to do, considering the fact that women couldn't inherit their father's estate. Bridget Jones in the film is pressured by society to marry; she has a job and her own apartment, but she is primarily seeking a partner in hopes of ultimately avoiding the social shame that comes with ending up a lonely, alcoholic, overweight, spinster (that smokes too many cigarettes). Every time she is at a family party she's asked about her "love life"--cringe. There are many ironic similarities between both stories, and I found the modern adaptation of Austen's story to be relevant and profound. Also notable is Colin Firth, who famously plays Darcy, as he also did in 1995 miniseries version of Pride and Prejudice, which followed Austen's text more closely. Proceed to eat your heart out.

 Pride and Prejudice (1995)

My favorite of the similarities between Lizzy and Bridget is their witty personality, and their rebelliousness when facing the pressures of securing your life partner in a culture that insists you are incomplete without one. They both know darn well their tragic social/political circumstances, and yet unabashedly do their own thing. Both female protagonists end up meeting a Mr. Darcy in a public setting as well, and the two women's initial reactions to this character are famously parallel. Mr. Darcy at first does not appear to be of any love interest for the two female characters in both stories; he's rude, and he insults them in both cases, to which both Lizzy and Bridget end up writing off Darcy as someone very proud. It is not until about half way through the novel and the film that Mr. Darcy shows his true feelings to Lizzy and Bridget. To great pleasure of the audience, the stories both end happily, with them uniting with Darcy in the final scenes.

There are other instances when the modern adaptation refers directly to Austen's text; there is also notably a Wickham character, that Bridget initially thinks is "the one" she will marry. This character of the movie, Daniel, also has a history with the Darcy character in a vaguely similar way to the original text Austen wrote; he's attractive, a liar, a manipulator, and he's only thinking about himself. 

The differences in the film, mainly, are added to make it contemporary. The dialogue is not the same, and many social norms have changed since Austen's day. Austen's novel depicts Lizzy as 21, and Bridget mentions in the beginning of the movie that she is 32, therefore, social norms of when women are expected to marry have certainly changed over the centuries. Not to mention sexuality is clearly identified in the modern adaptation. Women's bodies are not as hidden as they were in 18th century middle class society. However, not only does Bridget have more agency in this society, and freedom of her voice, body, and sexuality, the film also mentions multiple times throughout that Bridget is "overweight" or must lose twenty pounds. Women are still being looked at as being commodities in this way. The film portrays the idea that women must remain sexually attractive to men in order to have appeal or be of worth. Fantastically, though, the movie also throws in a line from Darcy that he loves Bridget just the way she is, which implies that he doesn't need her to lose twenty pounds, become less embarrassing in public settings, and correct her neurotic mother, and so forth. What sweet liberation! This is very close to what Austen was implying with her original couple, Lizzy and Darcy, that not only do we deserve love in marriage, but we also deserve unconditional acceptance from our partners as well. I would absolutely reccommend this film, and can forsee myself watching the sequels in the near future. I am extremely partial to British humor; it is too good.

"The Lizzie Bennet Diaries," a Modern Take on a 19th Century Classic

"The Lizzie Bennet Diaries" tells the story of Pride and Prejudice from an interesting, modern perspective. In this web series, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Bennet is a communications grad student who starts a series of video diaries documenting her life. The series, while updated to reflect modern times, surprisingly follows the plot of Pride and Prejudice fairly closely. The web series includes many of the most famous scenes like Mr. Collins proposal, Darcy's confession, and Jane and "Bing Lee's" relationship. The scenes were however updated to fit with the modern time period. Instead of proposing marriage, Mr. Collins proposed a partnership to Lizzie. There are of course some differences, instead of five Bennet sisters, the show cut down to three, Lizzie, Jane, and Lydia, while Mary became their cousin and Kitty was Lydia's cat. The characters are all very similar to the source material. Lizzie is too prideful and witty, Jane is a shy but sweet person, Lydia is a wild child, Darcy is serious and collected. Even characters who do not appear on screen like Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are given accurate characterization based on Lizzie's acting. While the two never appear as their own character the way that all of the others do, Lizzie reenacts scenes for her blog using "costume theater" where she dresses up as different people and acts out different events.

This costume theater is also how we get to see how different scenes happened such as Lizzie's first meeting of Darcy, all of the different parties, and other events that didn't work in front of a camera. In this adaption we also get to see the relationship between Lizzie and Darcy evolve and grow in a slower but more realistic pace. The change from despising each other, to tolerating each other, to falling in love happens at a pace where it is completely believable that her feelings have changed.

This web series allows for a lot of interesting discussion of gender and how it is treated throughout the adaption. A lot of the show was showcasing the relationships between the Bennet sisters and female friendship in general. Lizzie and Charlotte's friendship is heavily defined and seen all throughout the series, a friendship that is often lacking in a lot of adaptions. The adaption also put in the effort to showcase more modern perceptions of gender which makes sense because it was a modern adaption. Lizzie jokes that her mother is a member of the "2.5 WPF Club" which stands for a home with 2.5 kids and a white picket fence. the very first installment starts with Lizzie holding up a t-shirt that says the traditional first line and claiming that her mother gave her the shirt and that she would never wear it.

One of the most interesting scenes that they adapted to a modern story line, was Lydia's running away and then marrying Wickham. in this adaption, Lydia ran away to Vegas and ended up hooking up with Wickham. Wickham later manipulated her into letting him film them together, claiming that if she loved him, she would let him film. without her consent he sets up a website that within a few days would release the sex tape. Jane and Lizzie both run home to their sister and help her through until the site is mysteriously taken down. during this scene we get to see the Bennet sisters care for one another as they help Lydia through this nightmare. A lot of this scene involves Lizzie constantly reminding Lydia that it was not her fault and that Wickham was taking advantage of her, a very modern and feminist approach to leaked nudes. Even in 2019 when a woman's nudes are released, far too many people's first reaction is to blame the woman for taking the pictures in the first place. In this adaption, not a single character tells Lydia that she is as fault for the abuse and Lizzie constantly reminds Lydia that even though she agreed to let him film, it was not her fault that Wickham abused that trust and put it online.

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: An Understanding <--- This clip shows Lizzie comforting Lydia while she is going through this traumatic experience. It's very emotional and shows the love between sisters as well as has a discussion about where to place blame in a situation like this and how the blame should never be directed at the victim.

This adaption is a wonderful retelling of the story in a way that is much more accessible to a wide audience but still keeps the spirit of the original story.

Warrior Daughters

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (dir. Burr Steers) is a 2016 adaptation of the original novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. This film follows the same framework as the original story, with the added twist of zombies. The film’s first line sums up the attitude of the adaptation: “it is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.” The film stays true to the source material, often echoing it in dialogue and mannerisms, yet transforms the work into an interesting, highly unique alteration of the original story. The film seems to take some inspiration from the 2005 film Pride and Prejudice in its use of more dramatized scenes and similar dialogue; even some of the filming locations are the same such as Netherfield Park. While zombies may be the largest change in this adaptation, the traditional masculine and feminine gender roles are re-imagined.

Gender, specifically the performative aspect of gender is at the center of the film’s storytelling. The characters are first introduced in the drawing room where they are polishing, sharpening, and cleaning weapons. This contrasts the traditionally feminine scene from the original story. This scene paints the Bennet daughters' warrior abilities as a natural part of them, as innate as drawing, reading, or playing the piano. The relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy is also defined by this warrior aspect. Upon first seeing her, Darcy is not taken with her and describes her as "tolerable." A few short minutes after, Darcy witnesses the Bennet daughters fighting zombies with ease and precision. Darcy then explains how beautiful and magical he finds Elizabeth, but it is not until after he sees her prowess as a warrior. On multiple occasions, Elizabeth and Jane save Darcy and Bingley, neither character is angry or put-off from being saved by a woman. That is something I really liked about this adaptation. The women's skills seemed so natural in this society and are never challenged. 

Lady Catherine de Bourgh is my favorite

character of the film. Her character saw a complete transformation in this adaption. While still maintaining her role as aristocratic aunt to Darcy, she is instead an amazing warrior woman known throughout England for her accomplishments. She wears more practical clothing, complete with an eye-patch which she wears because of an injury sustained during a zombie attack. I assumed this character would be the same as the source material; for the most part she was until her scene where she confronts Elizabeth. In this scene she fights Elizabeth and instead of storming out angry and frustrated, she tells Elizabeth she is not sure what she respects more her "skill as a warrior or [her] resolve as a woman." Lady Catherine shows Elizabeth great respect and continues it by offering her home as a safe haven for the Bennets during the zombie attack.

This film upsets the original gender roles of Austen's society and creates a unique story. The film does a great job of persuading the audience of the reality of this society and while, at times, the film is quite comical for those familiar with the source material, the film stands strong on its own. I have a new respect for Lady Catherine, her character had a complete redemption in my eyes. This film delivers its message on gender successfully and entertains just as well. 

Pride for Pride and Prejudice (Blog #1)

Pride for Pride and Prejudice: The Most Beloved Adaptation

by Samara Osburn

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is one of the most popular romance stories of all time. Thus, it's no surprise that dozens of directors have attempted silver screen adaptations. Some of these adaptations are straitlaced and focus on the preservation of Austen's dialogue and on historical accuracy while others simply use the classic as a loose framework for a more modern romance. Arguably, one of the most popular historically accurate adaptations is the 1995 TV miniseries staring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle as Darcy and Elizabeth, respectively. 

The TV series' representation of Darcy and Elizabeth's relationship varies little from the book, only adding a few extra scenes here and there, and almost completely relies on the tension created as a result of the strict social rules of the time. Many of the pivotal relationship interactions between Darcy and Elizabeth are relatively public, highlighting the Regency Era's gendered etiquette practices, regardless of the original scene writer. 

Elizabeth and Mrs Gardiner looking at Pemberley.

Perhaps the most famous additional scene in this series, that is, a scene not written entirely by Jane Austen, is the "Darcy Lake Scene." As Elizabeth and her Aunt and Uncle visit Pemberley, they stumble upon a dripping wet Darcy who had just taken a dive into one of the property's lakes. Although this scene was not in the book, its anxiety plays off of the norms of the time; unmarried men and women were chaperoned to avoid any "indecent behavior." Despite having two chaperones, Elizabeth was unable to evade this awkward and scandalous encounter.

Elizabeth overhearing Mr. Darcy & Mr. Bingley

Other changed scenes are not so drastically altered, such as Darcy and Elizabeth's first meeting. Darcy's infamous words during this interaction remain the same, but Elizabeth's response does not. In the book, Darcy simply walks off after critiquing Elizabeth and the rest of the night is glossed over. The 1995 adaptation purposely sends Elizabeth past Mr. Darcy towards her close friend Charlotte Lucas. As she passes her offender, she cannot help but smile to herself, obviously humored at the interaction (initially). Elizabeth immediately recounts the exchange to Miss Lucas, making subtle head tilts towards Darcy. In this scene, Elizabeth makes it perfectly clear that she's heard his unintended insults which only serves to add more tension to the story.

Elizabeth turning pages for Georgiana Darcy

In fact, a majority of added scenes (scenes not found in the original novel) fill in the blanks, so to speak, between major plot points or play on Elizabeth's relationship with Darcy. For example, in the TV series, when Darcy invites Elizabeth to Pemberley after their awkward lake encounter, Caroline Bingley makes a jab at Elizabeth about Wickham. The mention of Wickham's name causes Georgiana Darcy, who was playing the piano, to suddenly stop. Before any of the other guests notice the shared panic of the Darcy siblings, Elizabeth jumps to the rescue, verbally chastising herself for not turning pages for Georgiana and causing her to pause. Elizabeth and Darcy share a look during this instance, which can be interpreted in a variety of ways but undeniably layers their relationship for viewers.

Overall, the nearly 6 hour BBC miniseries sticks to mostly original content and, instead of focusing on the potential dramatization of their relationship, it highlights the natural anxiety of their interactions.
This stress is presumably natural due to the etiquette practices of the Regency Era. Because this adaptation of Pride and Prejudice focuses primarily on historical accuracy, instead of a renovation of the story, it represents traditional ideals concerning marriage and gender. We primarily see things through Lizzie's "abnormal" point of view, however the underlying social norms are still present.
In short, this adaptation hardly contributes to the conversation of gender-based treatment in any way that Jane Austen didn't. The original story of Pride and Prejudice does provide social commentary in variety of ways: Charlotte Lucas marrying Mr. Collins for money, Elizabeth refusing to reveal her age to Lady Catherine because she is considered too old, the entirety of the Wickham affair which could ruin the social status of the entire family. All of these instances are Austen's comments on a woman's place in Regency Era society and the BBC TV series refrains from altering Austen's words on these matters by not updating the treatment of gender to reflect the year the adaptation was released.

Pride and Prejudice a Latter Day Comedy review for the Jane Austen Lover By Kearstin Calhoun

Pride and Prejudice a Latter-Day Comedy
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1136501-pride_and_prejudice/reviews/ 

Over Bloomsburg University's Spring Break 2019 I was able to catch up on some much need relaxation time to watch Pride and Prejudice: A Latter Day Comedy, a film adaptation of Jane Austen's novel.This story's setting takes place in Utah in the ealry 2000's. The charcters are morman hence the whole "latter day comedy" phrase in the title.Admitedly I dont know enough about morman culture and things I shouldve been looking for in the movie based off of the katter day saint references. I believe theres much more to this movie to observe than just that unique aspect. 

From left to right: Jane Vasquez, Elizabeth Bennet, Lydia Meryton, and Kitty Meryton. Mary is not pictured. The girls minus Mary

The first major change from Asuten's version to the movie is finding out that the "five Bennet sisters" are not sisters at all in the
film. Instead, Mary, Jane, Lydia, Kitty and Elizabeth Bennetare all roomates with the exception of Lydia and Kitty being sisters
in the movie. Compared to the gentle, soft, fun girls in Austen's story sadly, the characters in the film adaptation cannot compare.
The descriptions of the girls in the movie are hilarious to say the least. Elizabeth is smart, funny, and an extreme feminist. She is

made to be the most sucessfull. Elizabeth attends graduate school, while writing a book looking for feedback to get it published,
all while working at her local bookstore. Mary, who may easily offend many lovers of Jane Austens book, (okay lets face it, all
of the characters are a little offensive to the classic story of Pride and Prejudice) is super nerdy and compared to the
"awkwardness of 100 first dates" by Elizabeth at the begining of the story. Lydia and Kitty Meryton are the quite stuck up,
snobby sisters who really only ever care about how the look and men with money.

The first sentence of Jane Austen's novel, Pride and Prejudice.

I think that, though there are vast amounts of differences from the book to the film, the movie isnt as horrible as one might say.
sure, the movie is upsettingly unidentical to the book but if you take a step back, there are some really witty and fun comparisons
to be made and Elizabeth and Darcys relationship still makes a heart pump a little faster. (Though arguably, it will never be done as
well as the novel).With a modern day Utah setting, director Andrew Black, is able to bring to life a new Elizabeth Bennet, who is
now a hard working writer and student. It really takes you back at first, not having Mr. or Mrs. Bennet in the movie.Elizabeth, who
is incredibly strong minded and very femenist (she brings this up in the movie a bunch of times) is as ignored by Darcy as Jane
is captivated by Bingley and Caroline, who is Bingley’s sister, watches Darcy like she owns him. There were times I had caught
myself thinking about how funny they could possibly be. But for the sake of keeping things modern, I did my best to try to
understand that taking out these two (amazing) characters was somewhat necessary for a movie in the 2000's. Lady Catherine is
also absent from the movie along many fewer scenes with our good old friend Williams.

What it could've been like, had Mrs. Bennet been involved:( 
Pinterest*

For the most part the director of the film adaptation, Andrew Black, was able to keep some similarities when it comes to the girls and their
bahavior. Jane is not a white, blonde hair, blue eyed beautiful, favorite daughter but she is still a beautiful, standout argentinian
roomate who shares a room with Elizabeth whom she is best friends with. Black does a good job at portraying the "sisterly
friendship" between these two in a modern way. Kitty is a little dunsy but a follower of whatever her sister, Lydia wants to do
which typically entails being spoiled and getting whatever she wants.. and chasing after guys. All the while Mary, who really only
shows up for a few scenes, chases after an awkward Williams Collins the entire movie. I have to admit, the acting is awful but if
you can somehow laugh it off it becomes even funnier.

The romance that takes place between Elizabeth and 'Fitzwilliam' Darcy, who is a British publisher, is the heart of the story.
Although there is a "cheesyness factor" that is a little hard to overcome, it is actually really adorable towards the end of the film.
As I mentioned above, there are a lot of Mormon cultural things taking place in this film which is why I believe, marriage is able
to be brought up to regularly and fast. There is a good chunck of the movie taken up by the malicious Jack Wickham who is, dare I
say, "dating" Elizabeth, only because I dont think theres another word to describe their weird affair. Jack brings up marriage at least
3 different times to Elizabeth befor Elizabeth decides to "break things off" with him when he then SPOILER ALERT moves on to
Lydia and drives her off to tie the knot in Los Vegas. When Elizabeth comes into her first encounter with Darcy, she is working. This
is the first time we see this crazy, obbsessed over, Pink Bible, a book that teaches you " how to bring your man to his knees."

Youtube video link

I think that the Pink bible plays a huge role in the treatment of gender in this film. Even with it being one of the "newer" more "modern" films there is still a very thick line drawn between man and woman.. For instance, the way Darcy acts towards Elizabeth or the way the girls(minus Elizabeth) feel the need to get married. But we are also able to see a tremendous breakthorough from the original novel. Where it was always hush hush for a girl to speak out, now we have a girl envisioning dumping water all over someone in a resturaunt for not liking her book. Although- I still totally wish she wouldve actually done it! The way that women are able to make so many ore decisons for themselves and became so muhc more independent throughout the movie (even if independent sometimes means binge watching tv and eating kegs of ice cream that you bought) is spectacular. 

A screen shot from the movie... Jane and Elizabeth getting their 2 kegs of ice cream. LIVING THE LIFE

The confrontation between Darcy and Elizabeth takes place in a bookstore when Elizabeth tries to ask Darcy for help and Darcy later insults Elizabeth. AHHHHH ROMANCE <3 The relationship between the two gets even worse when Darcy is admitedly shameful about his "crush" on Elizabeth... If it were a text it probably would've been something like this.. 

When Darcy criticizes the book Elizabeth sends to his firm, which she had no idea was his, she immediatelty blames the fact that she had turned him down on his reasoning for critizing. their relationship takes a rocky turn but Darcy, much like the novel, writes a letter ( email) for Elizabeth explaining himself so that she can both understand him and the real Jack.  When Elizabeth goes out for one last hike before going on her study abroad trip to Europe, she falls asleep in the middle of the woods and "coincidentally enough"  is forced to take shelter from the heavy rain in a cabin in the woods that is Darcys. This scene reminds me a lot of the original film scene where Elizabeth takes a trip to their home and didnt know hed be there. This is a really adorable scene with Darcy, his sister and Elizabeth eating and enjoying their time together. This is where you really see the connection between the two flourish. 

I think that although the acting for this film couldve been fixed up. and the storylines couldve been better executed it is all-in-all a very cute, harmless film. I know as a Jane Austen lover myself, there are a few scenes that are unforgivable. But I recommend giving it a chance. It will be sure to make you laugh and its highly approproiate for the whole family. 

The Couple Who Slay Zombies Together, Remain Hombres Forever

This probably isn't what Jane Austen envisioned the Bennet sisters to look like when she sat down to write Pride and Prejudice over two centuries ago. Nonetheless, this modern day semi-romantic yet synthetically comical-action-horror adaptation provides viewers with the beloved story of Elizabeth and Darcy. In February of 2016, Burr Steers wrote and directed Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. When you think about it, people love Pride and Prejudice as much as those who can get enough of their zombie fix, but was putting these two together the hottest thing since sliced bread? The ratings speak for themselves, this adaptation seemed to be a hit or miss among critics for various reasons. While the story captures many of the popular scenes of the classic novel, the movie ultimately revolves around the zombie epidemic that threatens to outnumber the world.

 Set in 19th century England, Mr.Darcy is tasked with the slaying of a freshly bitten human wondering amongst company, glossed over. The introduction of the Bennets follows shortly after. Mrs.Bennet excitedly breaks the news about the new guy next door to her family as they all surround her, cleaning their, guns, swords and gouges. This isn't a typical representation of the women during this time. 

With news of the zombie outbreak, going to the ball requires complete protection against any unexpected attacks. Later that night Darcy offends Lizzy to no surprise, only in this version we see Elizabeth actively eavesdropping. Moving from her seating at the table, Elizabeth stays behind a wall long enough to feel the impact of his words cut deep into her pride.

I'm not even sure if this amount of steam was comprehensible in 19th-century romance or necessary. What is described as a non-physical altercation in the classical proposal scene has turned into a realm of destruction as weapons are drawn and bodies ar wrestled to the floor. You can feel the sexual tension seeping from the screen. 

         There were also several sweep kicks administered by both parties that I couldn't resist adding in. It's hard to grasp without seeing it, and even harder once seen.   

The modernization of this adaptation allows for the female voice to not only be heard but seen through the heroic actions of undead combat. The freedom present in these women warriors allows for the narrative to move forward. Throughout the movie Lizzy saves, Darcy, Bingley and possibly kills Lady Catherine's (who happens to be the deadliest swordswoman in all of Great Britain), bodyguard. To be a modern woman of 19th-century England for Elizabeth could have resulting in her death, the death of her lover Mr.Darcy and the pain of her sister mourning Mr.Bennet. One of Lizzy sisters maks a comment about her never finding a man who will settle down with a sword swinger. Elizabeth notes that the right man would never ask her to give up such an intimate part of her life. Elizabeth remains progressive in her view femininity to be expressed as she desires but that notion is quite stronger in this adaptation as we see on multiple occasions. For instance, while Lizzy watches everyone play cards, Miss Darcy implies that her Japanese training is far superior to that of Lizzy's Chinese training. Elizabeth asks her if she wants to come to find out, of course, Miss. Darcy wants no smoke. 

In order to keep up with the zombie elements of the movie, there are moments that a pride and prejudice viewer may miss causing them to feel short of their all too familiar take on Jane Austen's work. With a release date of 2016, it seems fitting to empower women in a way their genre otherwise abandons or forbids. 

     Before the Fall [Adaptation of Pride and Prejudice]

Figure1: Before the Fall cover
 https://www.pinterest.com/pin/410742428505608941/?lp=true

         Turn "Pride and Prejudice" into a gay romance they said; it will be great they said... and it was! As most avid readers know, Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice has set a trend. Writers, artists, and producers from all over have taken it upon themselves to try and recreate this masterpiece. Producer Byrum Geisler makes a brave attempt at directing this film and allowing his audience to picture Elizabeth Bennett's role in Pride and Prejudice played by a man. 

          In this 2016 film adaptation, we are introduced to Lee Darcy, our Elizabeth of this story, who is played by Chase Conner. He plays a raggedy welder and a drunk at the beginning of the film who has an unfortunate aggressive encounter with his girlfriend.  We then meet Ben Bennett, our Darcy, played by Ethan Sharrett who is perceived as a high-end arrogant attorney in a small backwater town in Virginia. He indirectly makes the statement "some drunk beat up his girlfriend" in court one day not knowing that Lee is behind him and overhearing his preconceived idea of who he is as a person. While these two continuously have awkward interactions throughout the whole movie, we still get to slightly enjoy the relationship between Jane Gardiner, our Jane, played by Brandi Price and Chuck Bingley, our Mr. Bingley who is played by Jason Mac. Following in the original footsteps of Pride and Prejudice, these characters all meet at a business party Ben throws at his home. Ben's two gay best friends Kitter Frost (Bryan Pridgen) and Lyle Jennings (Daniel Wallen) tell him beforehand that he needs to get himself out of there and find himself a romantic partner. They were under the impression that Chuck Bingley was gay and decided they would throw the party to test the waters. At this point, Lee attends this party with Chuck but is struggling with his sobriety. Ben sees Lee and admires him and continues to admire him from a distance, but recognizes as Lee is about to depart from his home that they have seen each other before. He then recalls the rude comment he had made in the courtroom that day and understands how awful he must look to Lee.

          While Jane and Chuck's relationship grows a bit we get to infer on some of Lee's internal challenges. The audience is aware of his alcohol abuse, but it took time to truly understand why he was abusing. We come to find out that Lee is using alcohol to try and suppress an essential part of his identity that he had not come to terms with yet: the fact that he is gay. I thought that this addition to the film and Lee Darcy's character created such a deep relationship between him and the audience. His situation allowed us to sympathize with him and enjoy this particular dynamic.  It presented us with more unique self-reflective, self-overcoming trials for this storyline and it truly assists in the paving of Lee and Ben's relationship. 

Figure 2: Lee and Ben
https://www.filmdoo.com/blog/2017/08/31/interview-byrum-geisler-talks-before-the-fall/


Although Ben and Lee started out rocky they gradually bond over multiple hiking trips, along with Chuck and Jane. As both relationships progress, we notice the accuracy of Pride and Prejudice when lee overhears Ben speaking to Jane in his office hallway talking about why Jane and Chuck shouldn't be together. Ben questions Chuck's way of life, his living arrangement and his status and did not approve of it for Jane. This gives Lee another reason to pull himself away from all dealings with Ben seeing him as a terrible individual for separating two people who seemed to be happy with one another. Lee confronted Ben after Jane left and told him that he was the person he thought he was from the beginnings. Ben feeling regretful, he tries to undo his wrongs and make some rights. He speaks with Jane, telling her to go back to Chuck. Best of all, he threatens to blackmail a lawyer named George Wickham (Jonathan Horvath), a man who was a potential love interest to Ben. Until he found out that Geroge was still in the closet with a wife and children. Ben forces Wickham to represent Lee Darcy in court due to a false report Lee's neighbor made about him saying he was going to "kill" his girlfriend. Essentially, Ben, had all of Lee's chargers removed out of the love he had for him. 

Figure 3: Love

 http://celebrategaylove.tumblr.com/post/161654081679

Throughout the film when it comes to Lee Darcy Ben has been nothing, but kind, nervous, passive, and willing. The sweetest part of this movie is when Ben is trying to return Lee's AA journal. In the journal, there are three lines that say: I am an alcoholic. I love myself.  I need to care for myself. Underneath each of those sentences Lee wrote I hate myself. When Ben found his journal he wrote under each sentences saying " You are a recovering alcoholic, You are loved, You need to learn to forgive yourself. Towards our end, Ben and Lee end up meeting at a tree at the top of their hiking path. Ben openly confronts Lee about his feelings and ask for his in return. Lee lashes out and tells Ben that "[he isn't] that way". Lee turns around and heads back down the hill in deep thought while the camera faces itself back to Ben standing at the top of the hill left lonesome and hurt that his feelings were not reciprocated. The camera flashes back to Lee, holding for a minute, while we watch Lee with this pondering look on his face. There, at that moment we as the audience come to understand that Lee finally accepts himself for who he is and goes back up the mountain for a powerful kiss with Ben. 

This adaptation alone is so profound because of its delivery and representation of the male gender. Even within this movie, there was no overlapping of power between them. It purely represented both journeys for self-growth as captured in Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice. This film provides us with solid implications of genders roles and the experienced and expressed levels of cognitive dissonance males face when coming to terms with who they really are in society or should I say how they allow others to perceive them in our society. 

The BBC Does it Again: Pride and Prejudice (1995)

By Breyana Rolon

Pemberley
http://janeaustenfilmclub.blogspot.com

It took me only two days to get through the entirety of the six-part BBC miniseries adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, directed by Simon Langton (1995).  It felt as though I was being sucked right back into Jane Austen's beautiful novel of hilarious wit, heartbreak, and, of course, romance. I was convinced by the short clip watched in our class of Mr. Darcy's first proposal to Miss. Elizabeth Bennet that I would have to choose this adaptation to watch fully and discuss. I was happily surprised that my boyfriend, who is in no shape or form a fan of watching anything overtly romantic or dramatic, was as entranced by the work of director Langton as I was. The great thing about this series, though, is that while it is, in fact, romantic and beautiful, it is in no way dramatic or showing romance in a way that many would describe as "disgusting" or "mushy." I truly hope that, if she were alive to see it, Jane Austen would have been proud of the work that came out of her novel and put on the screen.

Simon Langton's adaptation of Pride and Prejudice follows the images I had in my head fairly well that were developed from my reading the novel. The use of the dialogue from the novel was amazing with the way in which Langton organized and constructed the characters. The actors themselves were phenomenal in their portrayal of characters I've quickly grown to love. Having this stretched out in six 45- to 50-minute episodes allowed for director Langton to include much more information from the novel than adaptations such as the 2005 film adaptation directed by Joe Wright, which, in comparison, is a serious disappointment. Throughout the span of this miniseries, we get a deeper look into how the Bingleys and Mr. Darcy see the Bennet family. While it is clear from the novel how embarrassed Lizzie and Jane get by the rather blunt and silly members of their family, seeing the progression of the family's decline in reputation with my own eyes was so close to perfect through this adaptation.

Jane Austen's novel is making fun of the society she was forced to be a part of, and BBC's miniseries does an excellent job of showing just that. There were a few details that the series included that I found interesting. One of those was the choice to make Jane blonde where the rest of the family had dark hair and dark eyes. Jane looks like the milkman's daughter in a way that never seemed to be more accurate. Mrs. Bennet was blatantly rude in a way I had not imagined her being in my mind, especially and particularly towards Mr. Darcy. Lydia and Kitty were also painted as even sillier than I had imagined: being pushed on the swings by the soldiers, yelling across the road to the soldiers, whispering in their ears. They were far cringier than they already were in my head. What was even worse was when Lydia did choose to run away and Kitty made it seem as though that were a perfectly normal and reasonable thing to do.

The Bennet Sisters
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Kitty's inability to look at Lydia's situation in the same way that everyone else did, however, does seem to point to a progressive new wave of women growing up within the time period. Lydia is shown as being quite the sexual creature, boasting about having sex before any of her older sisters to Mr. Wickham in a way that would have been seen as disgusting to any onlookers, but is something many young girls today talk about frequently. Lydia's inability to hold back her excitement at her situation as if she'd won some grand prize was just a tad shocking to me: "Lord, it makes me want to burst out laughing when I think that I have done what none of my sisters has. And I the youngest of them all." While I definitely appreciated her determination to get exactly what she wanted, it's impossible for me not to be disgusted by the situation she put herself and her family in with her wild behavior.

Lydia Bennet laughing hysterically
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The role that gender plays in the miniseries is an old tale with the wonderful twist of both Jane Austen and director Simon Langton. While I knew that Mrs. Bennet, Lydia, and Kitty were always laughing, sharing too much information, or being the loudest any room they inhabited, I hadn't quite thought of them as such a drag on the family's name as they actually were. In the novel and in the series, Mr. Darcy made it absolutely clear that, aside from Jane and Elizabeth, the three wild women had a way of taking away any shred of respect from the Bennet name that would exist otherwise.

Mrs. Bennet having her usual heart attack
http://www.frockflicks.com

In a witty and deft response to Lady Catherine de Bourgh's outburst to her family's situation in life, Elizabeth points out that her family's station is not really that much below that of Mr. Darcy if one is only looking at titles: "Lady Catherine, in marrying your nephew, I should not consider myself as quitting that sphere. He is a gentleman, I am a gentleman's daughter. So far we are equal." Jane and Elizabeth see no reason to marry for fortune rather than love. They both, as we know, do find that fortune through their matches, but doesn't finding someone economically independent remain an important factor for relationships today? Not only that, but it was well known then that women in their situation had no other option than to find wealthy husbands just as those with money would happily marry into more money in order to build their fortune. So why was a mother being excited about such "an advantageous" union really be such a big deal? Such brassy language, of course, is still seen as unseemly. Even I got a bad taste in my mouth every time I heard one of the girls giggle too loudly or Mrs. Bennet discuss marriage at a ridiculous volume in a room packed full of people. It makes me a bit uncomfortable to have to watch women work so hard to get not only what they want in a partner, but also the life that has been maintained for them their whole lives.

Pride and Prejudice vs Bridget Jone's Diary

It is not a hidden fact that Bridget Jone's Diary is a spin off of the classic Jane Austen novel, Pride and Prejudice. The movie adapts the relationship of Elizabeth and Darcy in some similar ways, but the differences stand out especially with the little details. The film adapts their relationship by using lots of humor and focusing on just those two, no other daughters or distractions besides her mother of course. The characteristics of Bridget that are seen as turn offs, are more modern and prevail throughout the story compared to Elizabeth's opinionated and outspoken ways. For example, her drinking and smoking problem are not parallel to the original novel. Also, Bridget is made to make herself more of a target in public settings than Elizabeth ever did, which always happens to be right in front of Darcy. Some of these examples are the outfit at the opening Christmas party, her bunny costume, and her press introduction and the book release. However, in Bridget Jone's Diary, the man who Bridget happens to keep finding herself not able to escape is also named and referred to as Darcy. In Bridget Jone's Diary, Bridget is much more straight forward with her feelings of Darcy or regarding him compared to Elizabeth's in Pride and Prejudice.
The movie makes it a point to highlight the background details of Darcy and Elizabeth's relationship by using specific elements like music. At the opening scene at her mothers buffet, the background music when she enters the room and is about to see Darcy, the song talks about not being able to keep your eyes off of another individual. While they are talking, the music goes on to talk about how you need the other and nothing else. As soon as Bridget overhears his insults of her, the music slows down and switches to talking about being lonely. The music added to the effect of their relationship throughout the movie. In terms of little details, a big difference I noticed between Pride and Prejudice and Bridget Jone's Diary is the proposal scenes. The setting and intensity in Pride and Prejudice is much more interesting. The nervousness is written all over Darcy and he is unable to hide it. In Bridget Jone's Diary, it is not as serious thanks to body language and no fierce eye contact. The little details show the major differences between the interpreted version of the classic novel.
The treatment of gender throughout Bridget Jone's Diary stands out in a unique way by using female empowerment to prevail, but there is also the idea of a happy heterosexual marriage is the only possible end goal. While Bridget is still her own heroine, she is constantly running circles around Mr. Cleaver and Darcy. I believe this movie reinforces both new and old stereotypes of gender. For example, Bridget is a stand up woman who is not afraid to be herself. She acts the way she believes if okay and is rarely discouraged to be who she is. On the other head, this movie reinforces the sexualizing of the female body and turning it into a selling point. There are many comments made about Bridget's body, such as; her little boobs, her underwear she wears, the firehouse video zooming in up the skirt, and the bunny costume she wears. The word choice of this movie when talking about Bridget and her body causes viewers to sexualize her or experience her as a window item.

Below is a video comparing the two proposal scenes of Pride and Prejudice and Bridget Jone's Diary. The differences in body language and meaningful conversation can be easily seen.
Proposal Scenes

Lost in Austen

Lost in Austen, a t.v. series produced in 2008 starring Jemima Roopert and Elliot Cowen, provides a unique twist on Jane Austen's, Pride and Prejudice. The series starts out with Amanda Price living a rather bland life, longing for a truly romantic relationship. While her boyfriend appears to be lazy and unwilling to go above and beyond for her, Amanda reads Pride and Prejudice as a way to escape her real life. After a couple days of reading this book, Amanda goes to the bathroom to find Elizabeth Bennet. Lizzie claims to have traveled through a door in her fathers house resulting in her appearance in Amanda's home. Amanda then goes through the door finding herself thrown into the novel. After spending several days in the novel and falling in love with  Darcy herself, Amanda finds herself back in modern day London. While trying to find Elizabeth in this modern world, Amanda discovers that Darcy had followed her to confess his love.

This adaptation of Pride and Prejudice remains fairly true to the original story. Mrs. Bennet is as frazzled and overwhelming as ever, Caroline is equally as off-putting, and Darcy is just as stoic as his character in the novel.While many aspects of the novel and Price's experiences living within the novel are quite similar, there are many differences as well. Her presence in the story throws several of the key relationships that take place in this great romance novel to be altered. Jane isn't with Bingley, Lydia isn't with Wickham, and most importantly, Elizabeth isn't with Darcy.

Rather than Elizabeth being with Darcy, Amanda finds herself falling deeply in love with him herself despite her knowledge of the way the romance story should take place. The relationship that Amanda and Darcy have is extremely similar to that of Darcy and Elizabeth in the novel. Both individuals fight the desire to be with one another even though they are fully aware that a deep connection sparked between them. Much like in the novel, Darcy and Amanda overcome several hardships with another and decide that the love they have for one another is a driving factor in everything they do. The intense desire for true love overcomes all barriers the couple is faced with.

In the final episode of the series, Amanda finds a way to have Jane and Mr. Bingley be together and live a happy life; an annulment. When Amanda tells Jane of this exciting news, Jane rejects the idea out of fear for what the community will say about her. During this time period, couples were not granted the ability to leave one another once a marriage had taken place, especially a woman. Amanda, however, allows Jane to see that regardless of societies views, Jane's happiness is what matters the most. This twist on the  role females had during this time period allows the characters in the novel, as well as viewers watching the series to see what taking power back for yourself as a woman looks like. By helping Jane finding a way to free herself, Amanda gives her the chance to grant herself power in the process.

Lovers Who Slay Zombies Together, Stay Together

http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2015/10/watch-first-full-trailer-for-pride-and-prejudice-and-zombies

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies hit the big screen in 2016 and since added itself to the list of Pride and Prejudice adaptations. The movie throws this Georgian era romance for a loop by throwing it in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. With the zombies closing in around them, the Bennet sisters must prioritize finding a husband. In the middle of this chaos is Elizabeth and Darcy, one of the most famous romantic couples in literature. Can love blossom on the battle field? This movie seems to think so!

Elizabeth and Darcy:

Their Dynamic:

Lizzy and Darcy were already verbally combative in the book, but in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, they’re also physically combative on top of that! Just like the original story, Darcy undermines Elizabeth at the dance, and in return he’s met with Elizabeth's jeers. This is shown in the movie too. Darcy has flies that seek out dead flesh, and he uses them to detect zombies. He uses these flies on Jane to make sure she hasn’t turned, and Lizzy picks them right out of the air and hands all the dead flies back to Darcy. It was one of my favorite scenes, and who doesn’t love the battle of wits between Lizzy and Darcy?

https://weheartit.com/entry/297526981

However, in regards to more physical confrontations, Lizzy is portrayed as one of the more skilled fighters of the Bennet daughters, and she and Darcy engage in a fight after he proposes. The scene is both misplaced and satisfying. It’s misplaced because they dispute their prejudices while sparring which proves to hinder their ability to talk, but it’s satisfying because they’re each knocked down a peg for being so consumed by pride! The fight scene also has serious sexual undertones as they cut buttons off each other’s clothes with blades and pin each other down. This was just a huge eye-roll for me, but I guess they wanted to portray Elizabeth and Darcy’s love as being more rebellious and more sexually exciting. There’s really no other scene in the film that is the least bit sexual (besides the very passionate kiss at their wedding), so it’s interesting to see it happen during the most out-of-place part of the movie.

https://makeagif.com/gif/pride-and-prejudice-and-zombies-elizabeth-and-mr-darcy-fight-scene-RZVif1

As Characters:

In the movie, Darcy is an expert at eliminating zombies and holds high responsibility for controlling the spread of the infection. He eliminates an infected individual no matter the status they upheld while they were alive. This is shown in the beginning of the movie when Darcy visits a social gathering rumored to have an infected person, and he releases his flesh-hungry flies. The minute it lands on a suspicious man, he terminates him immediately. Although zombie infections are a normality in the universe, the other party guests are still shocked that the execution is done on the spot and without formality. Although he conforms to basic social behavior, he steers clear of any emotional participation. His disenchantment towards societal traditions in the original story coincides with this inability to deal with death in a humane way. By making Darcy a cold killer, it emphasizes the emotionally unavailable portion of his character. 

In the book, Elizabeth is already portrayed as a rebellious character, but by placing her in this universe, her rebellious spirit is exaggerated. In the original story she in considered rebellious because she desires to marry for love, but in this film it is her warriorship on top of her desire for love that defines her. Elizabeth explains to her friend Charlotte that she would not have to give up her fighting skills for the right man, implying that the wrong man would. Unlike Darcy, Elizabeth leads with both her brain and her heart. She is passionate and lets her heart lead the way, but at the same time she is always ready for a fight. This is why she makes an awesome protagonist!

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Gender Roles:

In this film the movie contradicts itself with its gender roles. On one hand, it’s incredibly progressive. Women aren't just encouraged to fight, but their expected to! Their combat training is a huge part of their marriage resumes. A woman’s skills in the deadly arts is a matter of status. Lady Catherine is a zombie slaying machine, and her ability to kill is closely related to her social class. Then we have Mr. Collins who wants his future wife to “put down the sword” for him. Not only does it go against the societal norm, but it also conflicts with function! In this universe, if you can’t fight zombies, you will die! Whether it’s simply because he’s a religious man or it’s because he’s a pacifist, I guess the film needs someone to oppose the zombie-slaying women. I also think it’s interesting that only the Bennet sisters, Lady Catherine, and Darcy are seen fighting zombies. Most of the zombie slaying in this movie is by the hands of women! Mr. Bingley is not one for fighting, and with the other females it’s only implied. We don’t actually get to see them fight. It’s pretty cool how we see more females than males fighting against zombies.

https://www.hercampus.com/school/gwu/why-i-love-pride-and-prejudice-and-zombies

Final Thoughts:


I actually liked this movie and the way it played with the book’s conventions. However, I can see how hardcore Pride and Prejudice fans would dismiss this film. The plot is sped up to fit in all the action, and the back-and-forth exchange between Elizabeth and Darcy is not at all as subtle as originally written. Nevertheless, if you are as interested in bloody horror with a bit of romance as much as I am, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!