Pride and Prejudice : Novel and Movie.

  Hello, as a task of Thinking activity, here i write a blog on Pride and Prejudice : novel and Movie. 

    

Here we discuss about the novel "pride and prejudice". By jane austen. This is a romantic novel. And the satire.The novel follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the dynamic protagonist of the book who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreciate the difference between superficial goodness and actual goodness. The novel was first published in 28 January 1813. The novel is most intresting piece of that century. And still liked by many readers.

:- Which version of the novel is more appealing? Novel or Film adaptation? Why?

  During this modern era also people widely prefer to read novel, "Pride and prejudice". The novel also steals hearts of many film makers. And that make them think to creat a film from the novel. Many of the movies consists from novel. But when we compare novel with the movie, however movie is so intresting, there where lots of settings, beautiful sights, musical editions, and many of the beautiful characters etc, but still we find that movie is good but not best. Novel is more appealing, because there where many of the minor scenes and emotions which was not able to cover in two or three hour's film. In the novel, author describ everything in details. But in movie it's can't be possible to cover each and everything.

  The another point is, The whole Movie is particularly the point of view of script writer towards novel. So it's possible that other have different point of view for this. So give us a chance to read it by our own understanding, with our own point of view and imagine the scenes and characters by our own thinking power. So this is more pleasurable. And that's why according to me Novel is more appealing.

:- Character of Elizabeth Bennet :-

She is the main heroine of the novel. We can concider her as a protagonist. The whole story revolves around her and Mr. Darcy. And have happy ending, along with the love story of this both. Whole novel is about a love story of Elizabeth and Darcy. That what kind of problems they tackle and at the end they come together. This things are beautifully outlined there in novel. Here we now discuss about Elizabeth or Lizzie, is in detail.

 

   The novel’s protagonist. The second daughter of Mr. Bennet, Elizabeth is the most intelligent and sensible of the five Bennet sisters. She is well read and quick-witted, with a tongue that occasionally proves too sharp for her own good. Her realization of Darcy’s essential goodness eventually triumphs over her initial prejudice against him.

Woman with pride -

    The twenty year-old Elizabeth, sometimes Lizzie, sometimes Eliza, is a most attractive young woman. Not only is she beautiful, with eyes that made her irresistible to Mr Darcy, but she has an exceptional personality. She is high spirited but self-controlled, always guided by her good sense, which few of the other female characters in the novel have. She is self-assured, outspoken, and assertive, but never rude or aggressive.

Strong opinion :-

   Although Jane Austen is criticized for creating characters that reaffirm the expectations about female stereotypes it is clear that the character of Elizabeth Bennet challenges the expected gender norms of her time, particularly when compared with the other females in Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth is willing to express her opinions wherever she is, without fear, and has the confidence openly to challenge the views of those of superior social standing.  On her first meeting with Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Lady Catherine interrogates her and is surprised by the open, frank replies of the twenty year-old.

“Upon my word,” said her Ladyship, “you give your opinion very decidedly for so young a person. Pray, what is your age?”

This dialogue shows her strong opinionated attitude.

 Mature and controlled :-

    Elizabeth also behaves in an unorthodox fashion in her approach to marriage, and in a society where a woman’s security depends on a good marriage, and in a family where for at least one of the daughters finding a husband is a matter of social and economic survival, refuses two advantageous proposals. In doing so she challenges the traditional norm whereby women have a financial obligation to marry at the first opportunity.

In Elizabeth’s social setting her mother would be the arbiter in matters of marriage and Elizabeth would have been raised to understand and accept it. However, she defies her mother in refusing to marry Mr Collins and astonishes him. Given her lack of money and social connections he is unable to understand her rejection of his proposal and interprets it as insincerity. He persists, saying that all women refuse at first as a matter of coyness, and then Elizabeth puts him straight expresses herself in language that opposes gender norms. “Do not consider me now as an elegant female intending to plague you, but as a rational creature speaking the truth from her heart,” she says.A woman is not supposed to have a rational response to such things – rationality being reserved for men – and later, Mr Collins admits that she would have been too much for him anyway.

Judgemental and honest :-

  Elizabeth has a fine-tuned critical mind and is able to sum up most of the people around her. Although she fails to do that accurately with both Darcy and Wickham – the former because of the misinformation she receives about him and the latter because of the practiced charm of the con man that he uses on her – she gets it dead right with most of the other people she meets. Her assessments of Mr Collins, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and Caroline Bingly are spot on. The first is a fool, the second a tyrant, and the third a nasty piece of work. Elizabeth gets that very quickly and part of the story is about the way she deals with them.

However, her confidence in her own judgment is the thing that leads her to make some almost terminal mistakes and it’s only because of her ability to step back and honestly assess her own behaviour that she finally wins through.

Now after knowing about the Elizabeth let us discuss about the darcy also.

Character sketch of Mr. Darcy :-

    The son of a wealthy, well-established family and the master of the great estate of Pemberley, Darcy is Elizabeth’s male counterpart. The narrator relates Elizabeth’s point of view of events more often than Darcy’s, so Elizabeth often seems a more sympathetic figure. The reader eventually realizes, however, that Darcy is her ideal match. Intelligent and forthright, he too has a tendency to judge too hastily and harshly, and his high birth and wealth make him overly proud and overly conscious of his social status. Indeed, his haughtiness makes him initially bungle his courtship. When he proposes to her, for instance, he dwells more on how unsuitable a match she is than on her charms, beauty, or anything else complimentary.

   Elizabeth's rejection of his advances builds a kind of humility in Darcy. Darcy demonstrates his continued devotion to Elizabeth, in spite of his distaste for her low connections, when he rescues Lydia and the entire Bennet family from disgrace, and when he goes against the wishes of his haughty aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, by continuing to pursue Elizabeth. Darcy proves himself worthy of Elizabeth, and she ends up repenting her earlier, overly harsh judgment of him.

Man with Pride :-

    Mr. Darcy is a proud and arrogant man, particularly to those that he considers of lower social status.At the dance, he does not dance with any ladies outside of his own party because he believes them to be beneath him in class and beauty.

Introvert :- 

   Mention later on to Elizabeth that he does not find it easy to make new acquaintances and finds it hard to converse with people he does not know. This shows a sort of shy, perhaps even reclusive nature in Darcy that is not illustrated before this point in the book.

Silent lover :- 

   Vivien Jones notes that Darcy's handsome appearance, wealth and original arrogance signify to the reader that he is the hero of a romance novel. For example, He is in love with Elizabeth but still he can not able to tell her that he loves her.because he is shy and very introvert personality. So readers can concider him as a silent hero.

Darcy’s Pride :-

   Definitely, Darcy is proud in the beginning. His behaviour on his first appearance, is so appallingly insolent that few readers can entirely forgive him for it, and it is doubtful if Meryton could ever have learnt to make excuses for a man who slighted the whole neighborhood, refusing to dance and declaring audibly that none of the women present were handsome enough for him. He is contemptuous of the people below him in social status and feels no need to conceal his contempt. He acknowledges his own pride and conceit’ and his selfishness in caring for none beyond his own family circle and thinking meanly of all the rest of the world. At Netherfield he tells Elizabeth, “My opinion once lost is lost for ever”. And finally his proposal to Elizabeth at Hunsford parsonage is more eloquent on the subject of pride than of tenderness.

Darcy’s Superior Moral Nature :-

   Thus, Darcy is definitely proud in the beginning. Some of his coldness and reserve may be at least attributed to his inordinate shyness and his awkwardness in the company of strangers at a large ball. Also Darcy’s pride is to be seen as something other than mere snobbishness. As Catherine Lucas points out Darcy does have much, to be proud of and his pride is the result of a genuinely aristocratic consciousness of merit.

As the book proceeds, we come to discover the truth about Darcy. He is complex, sensitive and intelligent and – on the whole he is superior to all the other males in the story, including Bingley. He is not morally blind either and recognizes the vulgarity and ill-manners of the Bingley sisters and is as much embarrassed by Lady Catherine’s behavior as he had been by Mrs. Bennet’s vulgarity. He realizes that good manners are not the monopoly of any particular class and observes how cultured and brilliant Elizabeth is.

   Darcy and Elizabeth both are the totally referent from each other and still the best loving couple of the novel. Here we discuss about both and now let we see the society around them. And the role of society in the novel.

Give illustration of the society of that time :-

   This are the several point to understand the role of society in novel or movie.

Love -

   Pride and Prejudice contains one of the most cherished love stories in English literature: the courtship between Darcy and Elizabeth. As in any good love story, the lovers must elude and overcome numerous stumbling blocks, beginning with the tensions caused by the lovers’ own personal qualities. Elizabeth’s pride makes her misjudge Darcy on the basis of a poor first impression, while Darcy’s prejudice against Elizabeth’s poor social standing blinds him, for a time, to her many virtues. (Of course, one could also say that Elizabeth is guilty of prejudice and Darcy of pride—the title cuts both ways.)

   Austen, meanwhile, poses countless smaller obstacles to the realization of the love between Elizabeth and Darcy, including Lady Catherine’s attempt to control her nephew, Miss Bingley’s snobbery, Mrs. Bennet’s idiocy, and Wickham’s deceit. In each case, anxieties about social connections, or the desire for better social connections, interfere with the workings of love. Darcy and Elizabeth’s realization of a mutual and tender love seems to imply that Austen views love as something independent of these social forces, as something that can be captured if only an individual is able to escape the warping effects of a hierarchical society.

   Austen does sound some more realist (or, one could say, cynical) notes about love, using the character of Charlotte Lucas, who marries the buffoon Mr. Collins for his money, to demonstrate that the heart does not always dictate marriage. Yet with her central characters, Austen suggests that true love is a force separate from society and one that can conquer even the most difficult of circumstances.

Reputation -

    Pride and Prejudice depicts a society in which a woman’s reputation is of the utmost importance. A woman is expected to behave in certain ways. Stepping outside the social norms makes her vulnerable to ostracism. This theme appears in the novel, when Elizabeth walks to Netherfield and arrives with muddy skirts, to the shock of the reputation-conscious Miss Bingley and her friends. At other points, the ill-mannered, ridiculous behavior of Mrs. Bennet gives her a bad reputation with the more refined (and snobbish) Darcys and Bingleys.

    Austen pokes gentle fun at the snobs in these examples, but later in the novel, when Lydia elopes with Wickham and lives with him out of wedlock, the author treats reputation as a very serious matter. By becoming Wickham’s lover without benefit of marriage, Lydia clearly places herself outside the social pale, and her disgrace threatens the entire Bennet family. The fact that Lydia’s judgment, however terrible, would likely have condemned the other Bennet sisters to marriageless lives seems grossly unfair. Why should Elizabeth’s reputation suffer along with Lydia’s? Darcy’s intervention on the Bennets’ behalf thus becomes all the more generous, but some readers might resent that such an intervention was necessary at all. If Darcy’s money had failed to convince Wickham to marry Lydia, would Darcy have still married Elizabeth? Does his transcendence of prejudice extend that far? The happy ending of Pride and Prejudice is certainly emotionally satisfying, but in many ways it leaves the theme of reputation, and the importance placed on reputation, unexplored. One can ask of Pride and Prejudice, to what extent does it critique social structures, and to what extent does it simply accept their inevitability?

Class -

    The theme of class is related to reputation, in that both reflect the strictly regimented nature of life for the middle and upper classes in Regency England. The lines of class are strictly drawn. While the Bennets, who are middle class, may socialize with the upper-class Bingleys and Darcys, they are clearly their social inferiors and are treated as such. Austen satirizes this kind of class-consciousness, particularly in the character of Mr. Collins, who spends most of his time toadying to his upper-class patron, Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

    Though Mr. Collins offers an extreme example, he is not the only one to hold such views. His conception of the importance of class is shared, among others, by Mr. Darcy, who believes in the dignity of his lineage; Miss Bingley, who dislikes anyone not as socially accepted as she is; and Wickham, who will do anything he can to get enough money to raise himself into a higher station. Mr. Collins’s views are merely the most extreme and obvious. The satire directed at Mr. Collins is therefore also more subtly directed at the entire social hierarchy and the conception of all those within it at its correctness, in complete disregard of other, more worthy virtues.

Through the Darcy-Elizabeth and Bingley-Jane marriages, Austen shows the power of love and happiness to overcome class boundaries and prejudices, thereby implying that such prejudices are hollow, unfeeling, and unproductive. Of course, this whole discussion of class must be made with the understanding that Austen herself is often criticized as being a classist: she doesn’t really represent anyone from the lower classes; those servants she does portray are generally happy with their lot. Austen does criticize class structure, but only a limited slice of that structure.

Family -

   Family is an integral theme in the novel. All of the characters operate within networks of family connections that shape their decisions and perspectives. For the female characters in particular, the influence and behavior of their family members is a significant factor in their lives. Because “the business of [Mrs. Bennet’s] life was to get her daughters married”, the Bennet sisters constantly have to navigate their mother’s plans and schemes. While male characters like Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley have much more social and financial independence, they still rely on the judgment and opinions of female family members like Caroline Bingley and Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Individuals are judged according to the behavior of their family members, which is why Darcy points out to Lizzy that he is doing her a favor by proposing even though she comes with embarrassing family connections. The theme of family shows that individuals never lead totally autonomous lives, and that individual actions have wider communal implications.

Integrity -

    Elizabeth Bennet considers herself to have very high standards of integrity, and she is often frustrated and disappointed by the way she sees others behaving. She complains bitterly to her sister, “The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it, and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters.” She behaves in ways she considers consistent with her definition of integrity by refusing to marry both Mr. Collins and Mr. Darcy (when he proposes the first time): Elizabeth thinks it is very important to only marry a man she loves and respects, despite the pressure to achieve economic security.

    By the end of the novel, Lizzy's commitment to integrity has been rewarded because she marries a partner who will truly make her happy. She has also come to see that she can sometimes be too rigid and judge too quickly, since she was initially mistaken about the nature and ethics of Wickham and Darcy. The novel endorses the importance of integrity, but it also reminds readers not to be too quick to pass judgment on who has it and who doesn’t.

Gender -

    Gender is a key theme in Pride and Prejudice. The story takes place at a time when gender roles were quite rigid, and men and women had a very different set of options and influences. Marriage is a pressing question for female characters like Charlotte Lucas and the Bennet sisters because marriage is the only way women can achieve economic stability and autonomy. As upper-class women, they would not have been able to work to earn a living, or live independently. Marriage offered one of the only ways to move beyond their birth families. However, a woman’s marriageability relied on an impeccable reputation for chastity, and for women like Georgiana Darcy or Lydia Bennet, a reckless decision to trust the wrong man could permanently ruin their future prospects. Lydia’s elopement causes Lizzy to exclaim with horror that “she is lost forever.” If Lydia is living with Wickham without being married to him, her reputation will be destroyed.

Compare the narrative strategy of novel and movie :-

   The 2005 movie starred Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennett and Matthew Macfadyen. The movie was filmed in England and was marketed towards a mainstream audience. Originally, the movie was going to be very true to the book. All the dialogue was kept the same and almost the entire movie was going to be from the perspective of Elizabeth (like the book). In the end, the dialogue in the film varied between being exactly the same as the book in some scenes, while most scenes had altered dialogue.

  The movie also features scenes from the perspective of Mr. Darcy, these are additional and not in the book. This was done to show Darcy as more human as well as to show the genuine closeness of his friendship with the character of Mr. Bingley.

The movie has other differences than just the dialogue. In the movie, Elizabeth keeps secrets from her family and grows apart from her older sister Jane. This is different from the book, while Elizabeth does become frustrated with events related to her family, she never keeps secrets from them. She also confides in her sister after difficult events, they never grow apart. The movie also portrays Mr. Bennett as a warmer, more sympathetic father than he is in the book. His role in the family misfortunes, caused by him spending money on the wrong things, is downplayed. His relationship with his wife is much more loving in the movie. However, the movie also makes the Bennetts look poorer than they were in the book. Elizabeth also comes across as much more bold and impatient in the movie, she never yells at her parents in the book.

   Joe Wright's 2005 adaptation Pride & Prejudice had more differences from the Jane Austen novel than just changing the time period, making the film more realistic and romantic in the process. Starring Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennet and Matthew Macfayden as Mr. Darcy, the film was a major departure from the previous, more faithful, BBC miniseries that aired ten years prior. Joe Wright took a more romantic approach to the novel, grounded in realism, that turned Pride & Prejudice into a critical success for blending traditional period-film traits with a modern approach. Wright collaborated with Keira Knightley again after Pride & Prejudice with another critically acclaimed adaptation, Anna Karenina.

Write a note on a scene you like the most :-

1] The conversation of Elizabeth and Darcy at the first ball :-

This is one of the best scene in the movie. we see controversy between Elizabeth and Darcy. And here we first found Elizabeth's feminist attitude. Also we able to consider that in the starting they both hate each other but their quarrel turns into the love at the end of the movie.  So the journey of movie is this from quarrel to love. That's why also the scene is very important. 

2] Elizabeth and Darcy's most romantic moment during second proposal scene :-

For the first time Elizabeth rejected Darcy because she has a lots of prejudice in her mind for Darcy. But when she started understanding him and the truth reveals out of all Fogg of lie created around Elizabeth. So Darcy propose her second time and that was the most beautiful scene. The fog, and early morning, his coat and his intentional gait, and the way he stumbles over the words 'I love you!' It was beautiful.

3] Mr. Bigley proposes miss Jane Bennet :-

When Mr. Bingley proposes to jane, She happily accept and say, "yes, A thousand times yes." And after that we found a big - big simle on the face of both Bigley and Jane. Which is look so so cute and steal my Heart. Also during this scene we found that Darcy himself is a scary guy and very introvert personality, but still he is there with his friend Bingley to help him. This reflect their Friendship goal.

4] quarrel between Elizabeth and Lady Catherine :-

  When Lady Catherine finally comes to know that Lizzy also started loving Darcy and she will going to accept his proposal. Lady Catherine yell at her, and tell her that she is not allowed to marry Darcy. But Elizabeth isn't taking any survivors. She let Lady Catherine say her piece, and then she kicks her out. So this thing shows Elisabeth's best courageous nature and deep love towards Darcy.

5]  dinner event at Lady Catherine's house:-

   The scene where everyone in the dinner at Lady Catherine's home. Lady Catherine asked several things to Elizabeth like in what she intrested or what is she know how to play piano. And at that time when Elizabeth told her that she don't know how to play piano, Lady Catherine look her so strangely and told that she don't even know how to play piano.but Lizzy answered very cool, without being guilty or anything, that no she don't know how to play piano. So in this scene her honest nature and how she steak to her point that i like a lot.

6] Bingley's Ball party :-

   The scene when Elizabeth and Darcy dance at Bingley's Ball, during that time darcy started showing his love and true simp nature. And then everything around them disappears and it's just them, the Dance, and those major heart eyes. Steals our heart.

If you were director or screen play writer, what sort of difference would you make in the making of movie? :-

  If i am writer or screen play writer, i tried to be more loyal towards original novel, "Pride and prejudice". And might avoid changes as much as possible.

Thus to conclud we can able to consider that pride and prejudice is the best romantic novel of the era and also a great satire to society of that time. As specially based on a theme of marriage and gender differences. I like the novel as well as movie.

Words :- 4137

Reference :-

1) sites. Psu. Edu

2) sparksnotes. Com

3) study. Com

4) Wikipedia