Whenever my sister and I used to visit my Nona’s growing up, we’d pile in front of the television and go through all of her VHS tapes. While I would lean towards The Little Mermaid or We're Back, my sister would never fail to pick up the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. By the time she was ten, she knew virtually every word, and I'd scowl and then nap on the bean bags beside her.
So it was kind of weird actually reading Pride and Prejudice. I had this intimate knowledge of the story from having halfheartedly watched the series so many times, but when I had to sit down with the physical book at seventeen in my first year of university, I was really surprised by my reaction to it. Because I really, really loved it.
Jane Austen is on fire in this story of love and hate and sisterhood and station. It explores a lot of the same territory as Sense and Sensibility, but the story layers in a much more complex fashion, and each character appears more defined. In the former, the roles of the youngest sister and the mother felt a bit thin on the ground, but Pride and Prejudice really revels in fleshing out those roles and making you love each and every character, no matter how silly or light they might be.
But the real charm is in the Jane/Bingley and Lizzie/Darcy romances which feel electric, even years later. Austen beautifully ties both together and when they unravel (in more ways than one), it's a total punch in the heart. I can't recommend this book highly enough. It's a survivor of a story, and reading it, it's easy to see why.
But the real charm is in the Jane/Bingley and Lizzie/Darcy romances which feel electric, even years later. Austen beautifully ties both together and when they unravel (in more ways than one), it's a total punch in the heart. I can't recommend this book highly enough. It's a survivor of a story, and reading it, it's easy to see why.
The Adaptations
There have been so many adaptations of this book, it's hard to know where to start. The 1940 film starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier is delightful but barely resembles the story we know and love. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries webseries is a great modern update, but not as great as Bridget Jones' Diary. The 2005 film is pretty good (especially with Rosamund Pike as Jane), but nothing beats that old 1995 one, no matter how many times I've seen it.
