The conventional wisdom around the most recent cinematic take on Jane Austen’s Persuasion (2022) hardened almost immediately. Too Fleabag-y, too Bridgerton-y, and not Austen-y or Persuasion-y enough to tempt me was the consensus. I focus here mainly on U.S. based publications and reactions, but British GQ sums up takes from Britain’s papers. It’s worth slowing down to examine these takes in some detail to get a sense of the discomfort with this particular modernization of an Austen novel. And it’s worth thinking through why not just this modernization but modernization full stop is so fraught when it comes to the figure of Austen and the particularities of her novels. Doing…
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Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of): A Review
What would happen if Mr. Darcy’s letter to Elizabeth was not delivered? Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of), written and directed by Isobel McArthur, asks the audience to reflect on our unacknowledged erasure of servants as characters in novels, plays, and other cultural representations. Not quite a musical, this play nevertheless reimagines what an adaptation can do by turning to karaoke, with the actors grabbing microphones and singing modern songs to further the plot. The show originally opened in Glasgow in 2017 at the Tron Theatre, before gaining the support of eight regional producing theatres to produce a nationwide tour of the show. It officially moved to the West End on…
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لوگ کیا کہیںگے / Log Kya Kahenge
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (1813), describes a society whose members, constantly fearing the loss of personal reputation, ask themselves this question like a reprimand: What will people say? The title’s timeless alliteration also displays how words shape reputation’s near relation–memory. Soniah Kamal’s Unmarriageable (2019), a retelling of Austen’s novel, explores the way in which language impacts cultural and personal memory. Set in Pakistan in the early 2000s, the novel follows Alys Binat and her sisters as they navigate the marriage market, female identity, and British and Pakistani influences on their self-expression. Kamal translates “What will people say?” into Urdu: ” کہیںگے/ Log kya kahenge” (35). She applies a post-colonialist perspective to…
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Presumption: An Entertainment
Julia Braun Kessler (1926-2012) and Gabrielle Donnelly’s Presumptions: An Entertainment: A Sequel to Pride and Prejudice (1993) offers a continuation of the well-loved 1813 novel, from the perspective of Georgiana Darcy. Written under the nom de plume Julia Barrett, who has also written two other Austen engagements, Presumption introduces readers to the happy marriage of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, explores Georgiana Darcy’s coming of age, and follows the Bennet family through another set of crises. The focus of the novel is marriage, particularly the marriage of Georgiana Darcy. While echoing the beginning of Pride and Prejudice (1813), as any discerning reader will recognize, Presumptions opens with “If, as the prevailing wisdom…
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Pride and Peppermint
When I was perusing the closely placed bookshelves at a favorite cozy bookstore, I noticed books that were not books. These faux books were glossy tea tins of the NovelTeas tin collection. I immediately noticed the Pride and Peppermint tin and knew that I had to try it. It was snuggled in between Sencha Sensibility and Don Quixotea: Man of La Manchai. The tea tin, complete with a two-ounce bag of ‘Pride and Peppermint” tea brought puns, tea, and Austen references together. What kind of Austen fan would not love everything about it? The NovelTeas tin itself was very fun. Apart from the tea, it also came with a Mr.…
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Bridget Jones’s Diary
Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001) is a staple of many Christmas movie diets. Its popularity and appeal are no wonder as the film constitutes a melding of the well-loved genres of Christmas films, rom-coms, and Austen adaptations. Although its heroine Bridget (Renée Zellweger) bears very little similarity to Elizabeth Bennet from Pride & Prejudice (1813), there is one significant continuity at the heart of each work: each protagonist experiences challenges making a good romantic match in a society which systematically devalues them- albeit for disparate reasons. While Elizabeth experiences pressure to marry due to her lack of dowry and is critiqued as a result of her family’s dysfunction, Bridget’s primary issue-…
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Christmas at Pemberley Manor
Spoilers ahead! Hallmark’s Christmas at Pemberley Manor (2018) is an entertaining retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (1813). The movie follows event planning assistant Elizabeth Bennett (Jessica Lowndes), as she organizes her first solo project, a small-town Christmas festival. An issue with the venue leads her to approach Mr. William Darcy (Michael Rady), the owner of Pemberley Manor, and convince him to let them use the property for the town festival. Elizabeth’s main goal is to find her “one true love,” and Pemberley Manor’s caretaker, who is revealed to be Santa, wants to help her make this wish come true. The movie explores the disparity between demanding bosses and…
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Pride, Prejudice, and Mistletoe
Pride and Prejudice is one of the most recognizable stories of the literary canon, but does it truly fit in the holiday season? As a result of the popularity of the story, it has been adapted many times and has taken a central place in holiday movie culture. The Hallmark Channel’s Pride, Prejudice, and Mistletoe (2018) attempts to bring the plot of Pride and Prejudice to small-town Ohio with a gender reversed casting that pits Darcy Fitzwilliam (Lacey Chabert) against Luke Bennet (Brendan Penny). Pride, Prejudice, and Mistletoe quickly strays from the plot of the novel, the only similarities come from the names of characters, Darcy Fitzwilliam for Mr. Darcy…
