Saturday, September 3, 2011

Pride and Prejudice (1940)

I like Pride and Prejudice and have to admit the Greer Garson version is my favorite - she is Elizabeth Bennet; though the Colin Firth version (he is Mr. Darcy) is a close second. I also like the scene of Keira Knightly standing on the cliff with the wind whipping at her, yet she stands strong against it. I actually have to admit I like something about all of the versions I have of Pride and Prejudice in my dvd and vhs cupboard.

The novels of Jane Austen, especially Pride and Prejudice dramatize the economic inequality of women, showing how women had to marry undesirable mates in order to gain some financial security.

Jane Austin is also good at capturing human nature and society as it was in the early 1800s, what is unique is some of her characters exist in social settings today – who among us doesn’t know a Mr. Collins or Lady Catherine De Bourgh. I like Jane Austin’s novels and would recommend them as a good read beginning about fifth grade though I did not discover her myself until I was in my 20s.


Sidenote:

Movie and TV Versions

Movie

Pride and Prejudice (1940) Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson
Pride and Prejudice (2005) Matthew Macfadyen and Keira Knightley

Loosely Based (Has some attributes of the original story):

You’ve Got Mail (1998) Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan
Bridget Jones Diary (2001) Colin Firth and Rene Zellwegger
Pride and Prejudice: A Latter-Day Comedy
Bride and Prejudice (2004) Martin Henderson and Aishwaryra Rai

TV

Pride and Prejudice (1938) Andrew Osborn an Curigwen Lewis
Pride and Prejudice (1952) Peter Curshing and Daphene Slater
Pride and Prejudice (1958) Alan Badel and Jane Downs
Pride and Prejudice (1967) Lewis Fiander and Celia Bannerman
Pride and Prejudice (1980) David Rintoul and Elizabeth Garvie (BBC)
Pride and Prejudice (1995) Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle (BBC)

Play adaptations are too numerous to mention.
Book adaptations are too numerous to mention.

Quotes

Mrs. Bennet: Look at them! Five of them without dowries. What's to become of them?
Mr. Bennet: Yes, what's to become of the wretched creatures? Perhaps we should have drowned some of them at birth.


Mary Bennet: Did you tell him you had five daughters, Papa?
Mr. Bennet: Well, I told him if he ran into five of the silliest girls in England, they would be my daughters!


Mr. Bennet: Well, we're hoping Elizabeth can manage to catch a cold of her own and stay long enough to get engaged to Mr. Darcy. Then, if a good snowstorm could be arranged, we'd send Kitty over. But if a young man should happen to be in the house - a young man who likes singing, of course, who can discuss philosophy - Mary could go. Then, if a dashing young soldier in a handsome uniform should appear for Lydia, everything would be perfect, my dear.


Caroline Bingley: ...and her sisters Jane and Elizabeth were seen running down Market Street in an attempt to escape their disgrace. Isn't that exquisitely funny, Mr. Darcy?
Mr. Darcy: Exquisitely. Just think how you would roar with laughter if it happened to yourself.

Plot Summary

It’s about 1813, give or take a year or two. There was a division of classes and rarely did one overstep or understep your class.

A woman earning a living was unheard of during this time period; instead society demanded that a woman marry in order to secure her place in life. A society woman’s goal was to get married and be the proud owner of a home – preferably one in London and one in the country, a certain number of carriages and horses and pocket money – the more pounds the better. Love had very little to do with marriage and might come after an heir was produced, but then again it might not. Most women accepted this as their lot in life, but some didn’t and Elizabeth Bennet was one of those women who believed love ought to count in the equation.

Enter the Bennet Family…

Mrs. Bennet is a mama on the hunt and the prey she is hunting for is husbands for her five daughters. Beautiful, each of the five girls are as different as night and day, Jane is the gentle one, Elizabeth is the one with common sense, Mary is the studious one, Kitty is the follower, and Lydia, the youngest, is the impulsive one.

Enter Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy…

There is fresh pickins in town as Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy become the targets of all the husband hunting mamas in the countryside after, Mr. Bingley (with Mr. Darcy in tow) decides to summer in the country.

What happens next is a “smart” story that will entertain you….

Life Lessons

I do not know why I associate Jane Austin with the holidays, but I start re-watching her movies every fall or every other fall – I quilt by them and I don’t even have to look up at the screen except at my favorite moments – I suppose I actually listen to them now more than watch them because I know her stories and my movie versions that well. Jane Austin, a warm fire, a quilt to work on, and a cup of tea – that is my idea of heaven.

It is important to create moments of “you time” like this in your life. Maybe quilting and a Jane Austin movie doesn’t fill that bill for you – that’s all right – experiment a little and find out what does “fill the bill” for you.

Participating in activities that give you joy helps reduce your stress level, lowers your blood pressure, and allows you to get off the “life” treadmill – think of it as your own “free” health insurance policy against stress-related diseases – one more thing you can do to be the healthiest you, you can be.

Pride and Prejudice Movie Cast

Greer Garson as Elizabeth Bennet
Laurence Olivier as Fitzwilliam Darcy
Mary Boland as Mrs. Bennet
Edna May Oliver as Lady Catherine de Bourgh
Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane Bennet
Ann Rutherford as Lydia Bennet
Frieda Inescort as Caroline Bingley
Edmund Gwenn as Mr. Bennet
Karen Morley as Charlotte Collins
Heather Angel as Kitty Bennet
Marsha Hunt as Mary Bennet
Melville Cooper as Mr. Collins
Edward Ashley Cooper as George Wickham
Bruce Lester as Mr. Bingley