Pride & Prejudice
Premise - For young women in 1800s England, your sole worth is upon whether or not you can find an eligible match of a husband and protect your family value. Elizabeth Bennett, with her quick-wit and passion for knowledge, has marriage as a low priority for herself, against her mother's deepest wishes. She is especially mortified at the idea of marrying someone like the stoic Mr. Darcy, until he starts to reveal his true nature to her.
Review - I think we all know this is one of the most famous romance stories of all time, by one of the most famous classic female writers of all time. Similarly, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett are some of the most well known character names in the history of romance. The hate-to-lovers trope is one that withstands the ages.
I would be interested in knowing how prototypical, or how progressive, I would consider the feminism in Jane Austen's novels today from a modern lens if I were to reread the novel. Because part of the legacy of Jane Austen is her being a female writer, with substantive female characters, and writing romance through the female gaze. I would love to reread this and discover that some of the feminist underpinnings hold up, but I can't be sure. In all honesty, I haven't read the novel since junior high, nor have I read any of Jane Austen's other novels. My recent experience with this story has been with the 2005 film, which I also had not seen in several years.
My harsh opinion of the film (which I love, by the way, I'll get to that in a second) is that it emanates patriarchy from the sheer double standards in casting. I find myself having a hard time absorbing myself into the story when watching Kiera Knightley, with her unmatched beauty, stand beside a very mediocre looking man. It's Hollywood in a nutshell - the women have these ridiculous beauty standards, and the men can look like whatever they want so long as they're white and decent, and they'll still get A-list jobs. I think this is especially problematic for a character such as Mr. Darcy, whose entire personality reeks of patriarchy. Mr. Darcy is a character whose entire allure is based on privilege, wealth, stoicism, and mystery - so many of the toxicly masculine traits. Of course, the appeal of our main character is that none of those traits are enough to win her over like they would most women. She is able to see the softness of the man within the more she gets to know him. However, it's hidden so deeply in such a rigid outer shell that makes him so unappealing that it still feels somewhat unbelievable that she'd fall for him unless he was super attractive, which he is not. As I've joked among friends, he doesn't have the face to pull of the asshole personality and still come off sexy. He just comes off like an asshole. So therefore, a lot of the female gaze that the story is supposed to be predicated on falls flat. There are these scenes where Elizabeth is looking so passionately at Mr. Darcy, and I find myself struggling to believe it because I'm just thinking... this guy?! Maybe I'm just being super shallow in saying that Mr. Darcy should've
been more attractive. But my firm stance is that the appeal of any
personality like Mr. Darcy's (aka the stoic asshole type) is an appeal
rooted in toxic masculinity, and moments of tenderness do not
necessarily undo this. In fact, the female gaze is unsatisfied throughout the entire film because all of the men have horrible haircuts and sideburns. All of the women look gorgeous in their gowns and updo's. Almost like the film was made from a male director through the male gaze, hmm?
Contrast Mr. Darcy's character with Elizabeth Bennett, who has one of the most appealing personalities (no wonder even the heartless Mr. Darcy fell for her). She's beautiful and intelligent and witty and deserves so much of the world that the last thing she should do is settle. Part of the message of the story is that she refuses to settle, and only decides to marry when she genuinely falls in love with Mr. Darcy. So, critiques on patriarchy aside, I'm a hopeless romantic who says yes, no matter who the person is, if you love them, you love them. Who cares if Mr. Darcy isn't my type - if the character Elizabeth loves him and it comes across on page and screen, that's enough to sell the story.
The film sells the story incredibly well. I was particularly impressed with the camerawork that so cleverly frames events happening both in the foreground and the background - the film requires multiple watches in order to catch the level of detail captured on film. The cinematography is wildly precise and calculated, which is especially difficult given the number of long, extended shots that can go on for minutes. I can't even wrap my head around how to orchestrate the camera on some of those long shots when there is a ballroom full of people, and the timing has to be just right to capture the right moments at the right time. Beautifully put together. (92/100)
Quote - I'm going to quote the film as, while I'm sure the book has excellent quotes, I have not read it recently enough to pick a quote that isn't just from random googling. From the film, however, I love the parental support from the father here:
"Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins and I will never see you again, if you do"
And the classic:
"You have bewitched me body and soul"
What to read/watch for - In the film, look for those longer shots and really just stop to think and absorb how complex they are to orchestrate.
If you liked this book/film, I'd recommend Bridgerton! The character tropes are pretty much exactly the same as in Pride and Prejudice, except the main male character is extremely hot AND you get a "fake relationship" trope thrown into the mix.
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