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?

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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!