"Pride and Prejudice" adaptions have a place

“Pride and Prejudice” adaptations have a place

By EMILY CROWE

Staff Writer

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Jane Austen fans have strong opinions. As a new devotee to Austen, I am only really familiar with perhaps her most popular work, “Pride and Prejudice.” I, like most readers of this book, have many feelings toward the characters. Bingley is incredibly lovable, if a little acquiescent to his nasty sisters. Elizabeth is amazingly headstrong, if slightly prejudiced. Wickham is an abhorrent man, full stop.

Some of my strongest opinions on this story are regarding the many adaptations of it, so I decided to collect my thoughts in a definite ranking of them. Please peruse carefully, digest fully and if you disagree, do not tell me.

1. The book: At first glance a suspiciously long book, this work sucks in the reader with well-written characters and witty dialogue. The beautiful Jane, the willful Elizabeth, the brooding Darcy and the effervescent Bingley are contrasted by the pedantic Mary, the brash Lydia, the deceitful Wickham, and the overbearing Mr. Collins. The slow burn romance between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, along with the will-they-won’tthey romance of Jane and Mr. Bingley, make this 200-year-old novel a popular story to this day. “Pride and Prejudice,” while enjoyable in many other forms, is best in its O.G. form – the novel. 2. The 1995 miniseries: In my (correct) opinion, this is the best television or film adaption of “Pride and Prejudice.” Though I’ve only seen the first two episodes, the performance of Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy, along with the faithfulness to the book, has me eagerly waiting to watch the rest. In the words of one of my friends who probably loves Jane Austen more than me, the Mr. Collins of this series looks like “a boiled potato,” which I think is a remarkably accurate description for a man who wants his identity to be tied to the domineering matriarch of Rosings, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. While it is not perfect – Elizabeth being prettier than Jane is certainly an error in casting – this miniseries falls just short of the near perfection of the novel itself. 3. The 2005 film: While this film is excellent in a number of ways, Kiera Knightley is a wonderful Elizabeth and music is used beautifully alongside the plot, many of the other characters feel underdeveloped when compared to their novel counterparts. The relatively dreadful natures of Lydia, Kitty, Mary and Mrs. Bennett are underplayed, making it difficult to understand why Bingley’s sisters thought his match with Jane was not particularly advantageous. As this is a relatively crucial plot point, this fault is key in this film being ranked below the miniseries. 4. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Who asked for this? If I want a good action scene, then I’ll go watch a Marvel movie (RIP Bucky).