" Keep your swords as sharp as your wit": Pride + Prejudice + Zombies (2016)

In this 2016 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, based on the parody novel by Seth Grahame-Smith,  Mr Darcy (Sam Riley) and Elizabeth Bennet (Lily James) have to defeat an upcoming zombie apocalypse as well as the social restrictions of 19th century England.

Promotional poster for the movie. 

The movie takes the classic love story and adds in another element: the fictional history of a zombie uprising. Over the past 100 years, England has fought against bloodthirsty zombies and as result, the city of London has been encircled by the "Grand Barrier", a 100ft wall, and the "Royal Canal", with only one remaining bridge to separate the city from the rest of the country. At the time of the story, the army is preparing to destroy London to prevent the outbreak of zombies from taking over.

The official movie trailer.

Despite this humorous addition to the plot, the movie remains faithful to Jane Austen's original narrative, in particular, highlighting the class differences and social norms faced by Elizabeth and other characters. In this world, middle and upper class families are trained in martial arts to defend themselves from the undead, as the historical segment tells the audience, "...it became fashionable to study the deadly arts of the Orient: Japan for the wealthy, China for the wise."

We learn that the Bennet sisters are trained in Chinese martial arts as their father insisted, yet this later creates a clash between Elizabeth and the Bingley sisters when Elizabeth visits Jane at Netherfield. When Elizabeth declines to play cards with the Hursts, Mr Darcy and the Bingleys, Caroline Bingley says something in Japanese that Elizabeth doesn't understand, as a way to undermine her in front of Mr Darcy. Elizabeth mentions her training in China at the Shaolin Temple where she "learnt to endure all manner of discomfort". When Caroline asks about this discomfort, Elizabeth simply says "I'd much rather give you a demonstration. Here the movie recognises the original class conflict between the Bennets and the Bingley family, and applies it to the new situation of competing martial arts teachings, to reinforce the difference in wealth and background between the two families.

The importance of social norms is seen later in the movie when Wickham elopes with Lydia. In the original story, the Bennet family is shocked by this event, with Mrs Bennet becoming anxious at the future of her other daughters now that Lydia is "ruined". This idea is extended in the movie as Wickham kidnaps Lydia to take her to St. Lazarus, an isolated church where newly infected zombies are prevented from fully transforming by being given pigs brains rather than human ones. This is all part of Wickham's plan to lead the zombie army and take over the country. Here the notion of Lydia's social death due to the elopement is escalated as she now faces a possible literal death too.

Caroline Bingley

Lydia (left) and Kitty (right)

Despite retaining the traditional social values of the story, the film puts a feminist twist on the characters of the Bennet sisters and Lady Catherine. Each sister is trained in Chinese martial arts and capable of fighting back against the undead. We also see the use of gendered objects as they dress for the ball; not only do they tie each other into tight corsets and arrange their hair, they also lace on heavy boots and slip daggers into their garters. 

This proves useful when a zombie reaches the Netherfield ball and everyone panics, only for the Bennet sisters to step in and kill the creatures, rather than becoming damsels in distress:

As Mr. Bennet says, these daughters were "trained for battle, not the kitchen". 

Lady Catherine de Bourgh is "solely dedicated to the annihilation of the undead" and described by Elizabeth as "the most deadly swords-woman in all of Great Britain". Not only are women more than capable of fighting back, they are encouraged and celebrated for doing so. 

We can assume that these changes to the characters are tailored to fit a modern audience, but anyone familiar with Austen's novel understand that it wouldn't be unlike Elizabeth Bennet to slay zombies with ease while dishing out sarcastic one liners. If anything, I feel that the fight scenes are an extension of already feminist characters; we might recall that in the original text, Lady Catherine tells Elizabeth that she "gives [her] opinion very decidedly for so young a person", so turning the Bennet sisters into bad ass warriors doesn't feel out of place.  As a result, this makes the film more enjoyable for the audience, as we get to see powerful verbal exchanges between characters, as well as incredible fight scenes.

Here Elizabeth is confronted by Lady Catherine about her relationship with Mr. Darcy. The two battle, only to realize they are equally matched in skill, with Lady Catherine telling Elizabeth: "I do not know which I admire more. Your skill as a warrior or your resolve as a woman."

In contrast, we also see gender expectations subverted in the character of Mr. Darcy himself. We do see him hurt Elizabeth's pride at the Netherfield ball, telling Bingley that Elizabeth is "...tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me", which acts as the catalyst to create the tension between them as the film progresses. Yet this is somewhat undermined as Darcy watches Elizabeth slay the zombies moments later, with him telling Bingley: "Her face is rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes, and I'm forced to acknowledge her figure as both light and pleasing... And yet her arms are surprisingly muscular, but no so much as to be unfeminine." Darcy is taken aback and admires Elizabeth's skill, rather than being uncomfortable or intimidated as we might expect. We only see this anxiety manifested in the bumbling Mr. Collins; during his proposal he tells Elizabeth that he will "require her to retire her warrior skills as part of the marital submission", a request Elizabeth promptly refuses. 

In the famous proposal scene, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth not only exchange harsh words, but also clash swords. Again, this seems like an extension of Austen's original characters; having understood Elizabeth's anger and upset at Darcy's proposal in the book, it seems understandable that she would want to throw books at him... 

Elizabeth and Darcy realize they are equally matched in their fighting skills, and a sexual element is added as they manage to tear buttons from each other's clothing. This scene is not only another example of the movie's feminist ideals, but also of Darcy defying gender expectations, as he gives up and leaves the fight when he realizes Elizabeth could kill him if he doesn't back off. 

Unlike the original text, Elizabeth is the heroine of her own story, rather than being completely saved by Mr. Darcy. He comes to her aid during the zombie attacks at both the village and Netherfield ball, and we see them fight alongside each other, but in the climactic battle of London, Elizabeth rescues Darcy from Wickham and the horde of zombies:

In Austen's novel, the problems faced by the Bennet family - Jane being in love with Bingley, Lydia eloping with Wickham - are all solved by Mr. Darcy. We still see Mr. Darcy rescue Lydia from a zombie sacrifice, but unexpectedly, it is the Bennet sisters who rescue their male love interests, with Jane preventing Bingley's accidental death, and Elizabeth disarming Wickham and riding herself and Mr. Darcy to safety. 

Jane rescues Mr. Bingley from accidental death.

It's clear that the movie intends to reference other adaptations of Pride and Prejudice too. In various scenes, Mr. Darcy is seen in a white shirt, and as Elizabeth reads his letter, is seen diving into a pond, seemingly a tongue-in-cheek reference to the 1995 adaptation starring Colin Firth. 

Darcy dives into the pond.... Where have we seen this before?

Evidently, the makers of Pride + Prejudice + Zombies intended the film to preserve the original story and the social norms of 19th century England, but also wanted to add a fun, modern twist to the well known story. We might argue that the film can be enjoyed by an audience who are hearing the story of Darcy and Elizabeth for the first time, as well as those who have read and watched Pride and Prejudice many times before.