The Weiled West: A Truth Universally Acknowledged

My thoughts now turn to that famous work by Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice. After viewing two film verisons and most recently reading the book, I feel somewhat qualified to offer my comments.

The story (well-known to many who will read this page) follows the lives of the five Bennett sisters of the lower gentry in England during the Napoleonic Era (the period also referred to as the "Regency"). The young women have no high connections in society, and so their mother despairs of them ever marrying well. Marriage is the theme of the story. The title of this post comes from the novel's famous first line: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." The story begins with a wealthy young man named Mr. Bingley renting a mansion in the Bennetts' neighborhood, and almost immediately a match is made with the eldest sister, Jane. Mr. Bingley's even wealthier friend, Mr. Darcy, also appears. Darcy is a very proud man, and early on offends the second Bennett daughter, Elizabeth. Many humorous turns occur throughout the story, and though Jane and Bingley face their challenges they end up together. The main focus is on the relationship between Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. Over the course of the story their opinions of each other change greatly, and they too end up happily married despite the disparity in weath between their families and their mistaken first impressions of each other.

This story is considered the original romantic comedy, and has been adapted to film several times, most recently in 2005 with Kiera Knightley (of Pirates of the Carribbean fame) in the lead role as Elizabeth. The story has quite a following among young women who grew up in Utah, as I have found, though I suspect that a great many young women everywhere find it fascinating and enjoyable.

I must admit that I too find the story enjoyable. The book is well-written, with detailed and interesting characters and events. One of my favorite parts of the story is the relationship of the Bennett sisters' parents. Mrs. Bennett is very excitable and talkative and has a sometimes abrasive personality, while Mr. Bennett seems to enjoy teasing and vexing his spouse (often by pretending to ignore her). It reminds me in some ways of the relationship my grandparents have. Most middle-class Americans will find at least one character (usually more) that reminds them of someone they know in real life. The characters in the book are more composites or even caricatures of real people, but they resonate in very humorous ways with people we know.
I give the book five antelopes for anyone looking for something a bit deeper and more interesting than your average light romantic comedy.

A note on my ratings system: I now live in the American West, so I have to incorporate the local wildlife. Antelope Island on the Great Salt Lake inspired my use of an antelope. The scale is one to five, with five being the best (I'll add a rating to my review of Once Upon a Time in the West).

The film versions display a great variability in quality, however. The first film veriosn I saw was the BBC/A&E miniseries starring Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth and Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. This series is five hours long, and I feel it takes that much time to adequately capture the detailed characters and their transformation throughout the story. The actors really fit their characters well. Their facial expressions are especially evocative, and really carry the spirit of the book onto the screen. Mr. Bennett steals many scenes with the looks of exasperation on his face as his wife is heard or seen shouting at him. This series also gets five antelopes.

The 2005 movie version was nice enough. It was easy on the eyes (beautiful cinematography and actors), but it really felt like only a highlight reel of the whole story. All the major parts were depicted well, but one did not get to fully experience just how difficult and time-consuming the changes in Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy were. Still, with only 2 hours and 10 minutes, the filmakers did an admirable job adapting the novel. If you want a nice introduction to the story without all the time commitment, then this version won't lead you far wrong. I give it four antelopes.