We’ve gone a bit of a different route after wrapping up our reading of Pride and Prejudice. As with our last book, we decided to watch an adaptation, but there are so many out there for P&P that we actually chose four of those adaptations to watch and write about. Over four arduous days, we watched two movies, a mini-series and a musical production based on Pride and Prejudice to bring you our thoughts on them. There will be spoilers, so if you want to watch any of these adaptations before reading, pause here. 

Pride and Prejudice (1940)

R: The first movie we watched was the 1940 production with Laurence Olivier as Mr. Darcy and Greer Garson as Elizabeth Bennet. This adaptation was just under two hours long, so there were a great many plot elements that were left out. Among other things, Bingley only had one sister – Caroline, and several events were condensed, such as some of the balls and what happened at them being rolled together. I really enjoyed Edmund Gwenn, who also played Kris Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street, as Mr. Bennet. The story was more of a straight comedy, which was enjoyable, but did take out all the subtle wittiness that makes Jane Austen’s novels so good. 

One of the humorous elements I really liked was at the end when Lady Catherine shows up to yell at Elizabeth about her supposed engagement to Mr. Darcy. When Lady Catherine leaves, we see that Darcy was waiting in the carriage and had sent his aunt in to see how Elizabeth really felt about him. The first time I saw the movie, I wasn’t a fan of this part, but it grew on me and fit the tone of the rest of the movie. One element I didn’t care for was that the story was shifted to a later time period, not for any good reason, but so they could reuse costumes from Gone with the Wind. I much prefer the simpler lines of Georgian clothing.

Overall, it’s a fun adaptation and definitely worth watching.

S: I was pleasantly surprised by this happy-go-lucky, comedic adaptation set in the 1800s. Remembering that this was produced at the beginning of World War II, some of the choices made in this version make a lot of sense. There is little drama, and what drama there is is always followed by comedy. One very intriguing thing this movie does is make the Bennet family extremely close: the viewer sees that Mr. Bennet adores his wife and children, Mrs. Bennet is full of confidence, and the Bennet girls love both their parents equally. In the end, there is hope for all of the girls to marry well, and even Lady de Burgh is likeable. (Fun fact, the screenplay was written by Aldous Huxley.)

Pride and Prejudice television mini series (1995)

R: Next, we watched the 1995 mini-series produced by the BBC and A&E with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle as Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth. Coming in at about five hours, it does an impressive job of including nearly every important plot point. 

I’ve seen this mini-series so many times; it’s one of my go-to happy watches, and I cannot actually tell you anything they missed from the plot. It does such a good job of maintaining the integrity of the story that it’s difficult to tell what’s missing. There are a few, a very few, added elements like the opening scene with Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy looking down at Netherfield before actually renting it. Another addition is the famous Darcy-coming-out-of-the-pond scene, which most certainly is not in the book but is a delightfully awkward moment. I also love how they incorporated the well-known first line of the book into the dialogue by having Elizabeth say it in a sarcastic tone near the beginning of the first episode when Mrs. Bennet is informing the rest of the family of Mr. Bingley’s arrival.

The hardest part of this one for me to watch is when the Bennet family is at the Netherfield ball and each member of the family, except for Jane and Elizabeth, manages to act so inappropriately, including Mr. Bennet. It’s almost physically painful to watch each successive embarrassing moment.

S: The tone of the series is dramatic, but also has perfect comedic timing. I was struck by how bright the cinematography is; most scenes are filmed in sunshine and most of the main character’s clothing is in a bright colour palette. I very much enjoyed Mr. Bennet’s character in this adaptation.

Pride & Prejudice (2005)

R: Adaptation number three was the Keira Knightley version produced in 2005. To me, this movie does not feel like Pride and Prejudice. It was as if they just scattered some of Jane Austen’s dialogue into a completely unrelated movie. While the pacing of this version was better than the 1940 one, there ended up being huge gaps in the plot, though they weren’t obvious until near the end. We never see or hear about Aunt Gardiner’s letter explaining what Darcy did for Lydia, but Elizabeth seems to know all about it. Also, when Lady Catherine shows up in the middle of the night (which is ridiculous), all of the Bennets know who she is without introduction. The most egregious plot hole is that we don’t see any of Darcy’s growing admiration for Elizabeth before he’s suddenly declaring himself with a proposal. There is also hair down in mixed company and touching, which would have been highly inappropriate for the times. Along with this, it absolutely murders Austen’s wit by taking itself entirely too seriously.

On the positive side, Mr. Darcy is certainly handsome and I love his voice. The actual settings were well-done, crowded and not perfectly clean, actually looking like they are lived in. I did also enjoy the music and soundtrack. That said, this is probably my least favorite adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.

S: This adaptation places the story in the 1700s, makes it a more Gothic romance (the cinematography is a darker palette), and moves very quickly. There is one scene in particular that I think was very well done: When Mr. Bennet chastises Mary for playing the piano too long at one of the parties and she runs off, he immediately goes to look for her and the viewer sees him a couple of moments later giving her a hug and comforting her. (It must be noted that having Dame Judy Dench as Lady de Burgh is fun to watch!) The music for this movie is very well done.

Pride and Prejudice: A New Musical (2020)

R: Finally, we watched Pride and Prejudice: A New Musical put out by Amazon in 2020. We had no idea what to expect from this adaptation, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. 

Obviously, it was condensed for time and had to leave out a number of plot points, but it was humorous right from the start, narrated by Elizabeth. While they inserted a few anachronistic feminist ideas, it wasn’t as bad as I had expected. Unfortunately, the costumes seemed to be a mixed bag of different periods. 

The music was pretty, and the songs were mostly fun and catchy. I particularly enjoyed Darcy’s song ‘Bravado,’ which he sang when he realized he liked Elizabeth. It was hilarious and the actor did a phenomenal job. 

I also really enjoyed the portrayal of Caroline Bingley as bored and haughty. This really came through a unique element of the play. There are a lot of letters written in Pride and Prejudice and each character recited the content of letters they had written throughout the story. It was a novel and interesting way of conveying necessary information to the audience. I would recommend checking out this adaptation; it was just a lot of fun. 

S: The sets of this musical stage play were simple but effective and the songs are quite a bit of fun, making us laugh out loud a few times. The Bennet family’s interactions with each other is reminiscent of the 1940s version and the story itself was much less dramatic, with almost equal stage time for most of the characters. I enjoyed the side comments to the audience and the way one of the characters (Mary, I believe) let the audience know during the scene changes the location of the scene. 

R: If you only have a chance to watch one of these adaptations, I would highly recommend the mini-series. You get the whole story, with Jane Austen’s intent intact, along with wonderful acting, and beautiful costumes and scenery. I had a great time watching and discussing all of these adaptations of my favorite book!

S: Agreed! It was a lot of fun to see these adaptations so soon after finishing the book and so quickly one after the other. After finally reading Austen’s masterpiece, I am still convinced that, at least out of these four, the mini series is the adaptation that most closely follows the characters, the plot, and the world during the period in which the story is set and is also my favourite adaptation. 

After a hiatus, we aren’t sure how long of one, the next book we’ll be reading is Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. For the foreseeable future, we’ll also be going back to the once a month conversation due to increasingly busy schedules.

(This conversation will contain spoilers for the current chapters.)

S: I have decided that I am definitely not a fan of Lady Catherine de Bourgh. How arrogant and rude she is toward Elizabeth! I am glad Elizabeth is able to think clearly and hold her own. She even treats her civilly, though Lady Catherine does not believe her to do so. It all makes me wonder if Mr. Darcy has said something, or if Georgianna mentioned casually that she really liked Elizabeth. It also occurred to me as I read this chapter how similar Lady Catherine and Mrs. Bennet are: they both speak foolishly much of the time. 

R: Lady Catherine is definitely not a sympathetic character, but her visit is one of my favorite parts of the book. I think it makes Elizabeth finally confront and understand her own feelings for Mr. Darcy, and the whole scene is amusing. Personally, I believe that Lady Catherine probably got word via Mr. Collins, probably from a letter from Charlotte’s family or another Meryton friend, though I agree that Darcy and Georgiana themselves may have also mentioned Elizabeth in Lady Catherine’s presence. However she learned of it, I was surprised at her going to Longbourn personally. As Elizabeth pointed out, such a visit would be most likely seen as confirmation of the report of her engagement to Mr. Darcy.

S: I pointed out in our last discussion that Elizabeth must have talked quite a bit about how much she disliked Mr. Darcy because of her family’s reactions toward him; her father’s reaction to Mr. Collins’s letter, I think, proves just how much she had spoken ill of him. I understand Elizabeth’s feelings – she doesn’t know if Mr. Darcy loves her or simply thinks of her as a close friend. She is afraid that he mayn’t love her, and yet has not had a chance to speak with him to apologise for her previous behaviour, despite what he may feel.

R: Oh, the scene between Elizabeth and her father is so uncomfortable! I retract what I said last time about not thinking Elizabeth had spoken badly of Darcy that much. I feel bad for Elizabeth. She’s dug herself a bit of a hole and doesn’t know how to get out of it. If she tries to defend Darcy, no one will believe her because no one knows what he’s done to help her family. Indeed, as we see later, that is the exact problem she has.

S: When they were finally able to talk, I was so happy! I couldn’t help smiling as I read through their conversation. They both appear to have grown much in character from when we first met them, and seem to be much more understanding and humble.

R: It’s definitely one of the best conversations in literature. I had forgotten about Darcy asking her to burn his letter, and I loved Elizabeth’s understanding response. The reader can see how much they’ve both changed as the conversation goes on, especially when he informs her that he confessed his part in keeping Bingley from knowing Jane was in London. I love how Elizabeth shows that she’s learned some restraint with her teasing at the end before they part. ‘She remembered that he had yet to learn to be laughed at, and it was rather too early to begin.’

S: Elizabeth’s conversations with her different family members make me chuckle, Mr. Bennet’s being the most amusing, and the letters written to the extended family made me both smile and laugh out loud. It gives me great satisfaction to know that Mrs. Collins is extremely pleased that Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy will be married. I never wanted their friendship to end. Even though we don’t get to see a lot of it, it did seem as though they had developed a very strong relationship.

R: I think I would have expected Elizabeth’s conversation with Jane to have gone better. I think I always thought that Elizabeth becoming more restrained would have made Jane understand that her feelings had changed about Darcy. I guess I also thought that the conversation about what Wickham had done would have changed her opinion about Darcy. Elizabeth regrets her earlier comments about Mr. Darcy when she speaks to her father, which is a good lesson for us all. If you talk badly about someone behind their back, you can’t really take that back. Gossip, slander, it’s all devastating. It can ruin the subject’s life, even if it’s not true.

I do love to see that Mr. Bennet is willing to give Darcy a chance and actually get to know him. And Elizabeth’s letter to Mrs. Gardiner is hilarious, as is Mr. Bennet’s to Mr. Collins. 

I agree about Elizabeth’s friendship with Charlotte. I’m glad that they are able to continue as friends. I’m impressed with Darcy’s restraint with all of Elizabeth’s family and neighbors. It must have been difficult for him. Even if you have made changes in behavior, it’s easy to slip into old habits.

S: It makes me sad that it appears Mr. and Mrs. Wickham never grow out of their childish ways and that their marriage ended rather sadly. 

R: A happy ending most of the way around. The Wickhams were left to the consequences of their own behavior. I was glad that the Darcys were eventually able to reconcile with Lady Catherine, and that even Caroline Bingely became, at least on the surface, more amenable.

This is my favorite of Jane Austen’s books and I’ve really enjoyed reading through it again with you!

S: I’ve enjoyed reading it for the first time and discussing it with you, and the ending makes me so happy! Really, I enjoyed the book quite a bit, and am glad to have had the opportunity to read it slowly and enjoy the story. I honestly thought it would be laborious to get through, but it didn’t move too quickly and I felt keenly the character’s highs and lows.

Coming up next, we will have one, perhaps two, posts that discuss four of the movie adaptations of Pride and Prejudice!

(This conversation will contain spoilers for the current chapters and possibly for future chapters.)

S: So much has happened in these chapters that they feel like a book unto themselves. 

What a sad thing to not be able to attend the first marriage of the family! It’s difficult to think how the Bennet girls feel, though there’s probably quite a mix of emotions.

R: It’s really interesting, too, because in Austen’s day, I believe it was fairly unusual for a younger daughter to be married before an elder, let alone the youngest of five married first.

S: Lydia’s silliness and childishness grates on me, but I suppose we’ve come to expect that from her. It makes me wonder if she will ever really feel the consequences of her actions, or if she will go through life not caring in the least. Still, one good thing came about from her staying so long at Longbourn! Elizabeth finds out that Mr. Darcy was present at the wedding.

R: Lydia continues to be thoughtless and self-centered, especially in the way she asserts her preeminence over her sisters. She seems to have no understanding of the impact of her actions on her family.

S: When we read about why Mr. Darcy was present, it is astonishing. As the reader, of course, we can understand why he did what he did since we have the view of what the Gardiners think as well as the narrative, but it’s still somewhat surprising that Elizabeth is so surprised at Mr. Darcy’s behaviour. I’m really enjoying the plethora of thoughts we see come from Elizabeth during this time.

R: I love how Mrs. Gardiner almost outright states that she and Mr. Gardiner suspected that Elizabeth and Darcy were engaged, or at least had an understanding, even to the point of inviting herself to Pemberly! It’s easy to miss because she just calls it ‘P’ at the end of her letter. ‘Pray forgive me if I have been very presuming, or at least do not punish me so far as to exclude me from P. I shall never be quite happy till I have been all around the park. A low phaeton, with a nice little pair of ponies, would be the very thing.’ 

Elizabeth’s shock is understandable, I think. Even with Mr. Darcy’s altered behavior toward the Gardiners, the news about Lydia and Wickham only strengthens his original case against marrying her. That he would put himself to so much trouble to help her sister certainly shows that his feelings for her haven’t changed. 

S: I don’t know if Mr. Wickham ever realised or even cared that Elizabeth knew the truth about his behaviour toward the Darcy family, but it makes me sad nonetheless. I can’t say that I like him or Lydia, but I do wish that they were less self-centered. 

R: When Wickham and Elizabeth have their very careful conversation, I almost feel like he’s trying to feel out how much she does know, because he’s aware that she’s spent time with Darcy and others who are close enough to the matter to know the truth about his actions. Elizabeth basically lets him know that she’s wise to him and they leave it at that. Wickham knows he won’t be able to ingratiate himself to her any longer, and Elizabeth feels there’s no need to say anything further about it.

S: It was a pretty funny, albeit uncomfortable, exchange! 

I was so excited that Mr. Bingley returned! I waited with bated breath to see if he did still really love Jane.

It surprises me that everyone in the family absolutely disregards Mr. Darcy, save for Jane and Elizabeth. It didn’t seem to me that Elizabeth talked so negatively about him often, but from everyone else’s words throughout the book I suppose she did, we just didn’t read about it.

R: I was glad to see Bingley, too! And I feel so bad for Darcy. I’m not sure it was Elizabeth talking about him, but the behavior they all saw at the Meryton ball and talk about the village. Other than with Jane, Elizabeth seems to keep her thoughts to herself the majority of the time. I certainly wouldn’t say anything I didn’t want repeated to the rest of her family!

I feel so sorry for Elizabeth. She’s angry and confused, angry with her family’s rudeness and with herself, and confused by Darcy’s presence. She knows that her family owes him everything, really, for his intervention in the situation with Lydia, but is not able to share it with them.

S: Poor Elizabeth, and really poor Mrs. Bennet! Elizabeth is embarrassed yet again over her mother’s behaviour, and her mother just cannot speak kindly to Mr. Darcy. This section reminded me of Proverbs 18:7, which says, ‘A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul’. 

R: Indeed. Mrs. Bennet is a perfect example of how one shouldn’t  behave.

S: I do laugh at Elizabeth’s vexation over Mr. Darcy’s indifferent behaviour! Isn’t that just what we tend to do sometimes: worry about what someone is thinking, or why they’re acting a certain way? The entirety of Chapter 54 is so funny, but you can also hear Jane’s difficulty in trying to not get her hopes up over Mr. Bingley.

R: It’s so cute how Jane is trying not to get her hopes up, but Elizabeth knows she’s already gone on Bingley again, and he is obviously still in love with Jane. What man of leisure would show up before breakfast, before the ladies are even dressed, otherwise?

S: True! I hadn’t thought about that, and that makes it even more sweet. I am so happy that Mr. Bingley and Jane are going to be married! You can just feel the joy the entire family feels after such a difficult time with Lydia. And how quickly people’s minds change. At the end of this section we learn that the Bennet’s neighbours all thought them very unlucky, and yet only a few weeks later decided that they were very lucky. The human mind is fickle, indeed.

R: Jane and Bingley are so cute together! Mr. Bennet’s comment about their marriage always makes me laugh: ‘I have not a doubt of your doing very well together. Your tempers are by no means unlike. You are each of you so complying, that nothing will ever be resolved on; so easy, that every servant will cheat you; and so generous, that you will always exceed your income.’

Jane has also learned her lesson about her blind faith in others’ goodness. She understands, finally, that Miss Bingley must have had a part in concealing her presence in London from Mr. Bingley, and that she will have to proceed with caution in renewing a relationship with her. 

S: Now we just need to see if Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner are correct in their assumptions that Mr. Darcy loves Elizabeth!